Buying new Toyota Sienna - sell or trade in the old one?

[Anonymous]

I have a 2012 Sienna that has been great, but we want to replace it. I think we will get the exact same model (3 kids), as a new 2021 van. Is it best to trade in our old one with Coleman Toyota and get the new one there, in a single transaction? Or it is smarter to sell it at Carmax snd then buy the new Toyota in a separate transaction? (We're not interested in selling it privately, although I know that is probably the way to get the most $ for it.)

[Anonymous]

Go get the Carmax estimate before you go to Coleman and use it to negotiate a better deal from Coleman if necessary.

We had a 2011 to sell last fall. I sold it private for about $11,000 after Carmax offered me just under $8000, so expect a lowball there.

Plus, I believe in MD you don't pay sales tax on the portion of the new car price paid with the trade-in, so Carmax has to beat Coleman by 6% to come out even.

[Anonymous]

Thank you! This is such helpful feedback. I appreciate you taking the time.

[Anonymous]

Just take some pictures and put it on craigslist. There are plenty of people waiting to pay top dollar for your used Toyota. They will chuckle to themselves thinking of how much money they saved. Think of it as doing your civic duty to make them feel good about themselves. Of course, it helps that you'll be well compensated for delivering this strong sense of personal satisfaction to them.

[Anonymous]

Have you test drived a new Sienna? Make sure you actually like Hybrid. The battery replacement is pain.

[Anonymous]

Now is a great time to sell/trade in a car. I hate the hassle of private sales. 3 weeks ago I traded in a highlander and got 30% higher than I was offered 2 months earlier. I liked getting the tax break too from the trade in as well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you test drived a new Sienna? Make sure you actually like Hybrid. The battery replacement is pain.

I am in the market for a sienna as well, and would like to hear your pain points with replacing the battery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you test drived a new Sienna? Make sure you actually like Hybrid. The battery replacement is pain.

I am in the market for a sienna as well, and would like to hear your pain points with replacing the battery.

The battery replacement is very expensive. Toyota drivers tend to keep their cars for long and will likely experience the battery problems, which happened to my parents.

Having said that I just found that Toyota extended the warranty for batteries from 100k miles to 150k miles so you should be good.

[Anonymous]

We are considering a 2021 Sienna but worry about it not coming with a V6 engine and also it is not a plugin hybrid. We have not owned a hybrid before and are a little worried. But, it is the only 2021 van we like.

[Anonymous]

I have owned two hybrids. I have never had to replace the batteries, and I just traded one in after 10 years.

[Anonymous]

I have a 2021 sienna and love it. Huge upgrade from my 2008 sienna!

[Anonymous]

Not a minivan, but I bought my hybrid Camry in the Fall of 2007 and it still runs well - no battery replacement.