Reply to Buying 2nd car used. Which is better? VW bug or Toyota small car?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Just to add, if you do want a Toyota, a used one that's 2-3 years old is going to be not much less than a brand new one. I recommend either a fairly old one at 7-10 years old, or just buy new.

People who buy 2-3 year old Toyotas are irrational. [/quote]

I guess that depends on what your definition of "not much less" is. You can easily save 5k on a vehicle that only has 40k miles. They will go for at least 300k, so 40k is nothing.[/quote]

+ 1     I just purchased a 2018 Camry with 14,000 miles and paid about $ 6,000 less than if I would have bought new.  It’s certified pre-owned  with a a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty and life time guarantee on the engine.  That’s a better warranty than you’d get with a new car and it was completely worth it for me to buy used.[/quote]

I doubt it is 6000 less. Provide the trim level, options and price you paid and we can figure out how much you really saved. Most likely you saved about 2k-3k at the most.[/quote]

I purchased the L trim which is the bottom level.  It’s nothing fancy, but has the safety features that I need.  It’s a commuter car and is perfect for that purpose.  I’m averaging 41 miles a gallon.

All of the new camrys that I looked at were in the $23,000 range and they weren’t willing to negotiate, which was a surprise. The used car that I purchased had been on the lot for about 6 weeks, and they kept dropping the price online  by $500 each time.  They knocked off another $1,500 while I was there, bringing the price down to $17,100.     They gave me $2,700 more for my trade than the three other dealers I met with.   100% happy with my decision to purchase used.

[/quote]

The trade-in complicates the issue, because it's not possible to determine what was the true market value of the trade - you can try punching in the numbers of your old car in KBB and see what number comes out. You can also try getting a quote from Carvana and Vroom, both of which buy used cars for decent prices.  It's not surprising for dealers to low-ball a trade, which is why I generally don't trade in cars.

The L trim is very rare as the LE is only $500 more. Generally, people are getting 18% or more off of MSRP for Camrys:

https://www.toyotanation.com/threads/what-did-you-pay-for-your-camry-gen-8.1505418/post-14170875

Here's an contemporaneous example where someone was offered a new 2018 Camry SE for $19,909, also well over 18% off:

https://amp.reddit.com/r/askcarsales/comments/871xc1/is_21800_otd_cash_for_a_new_2018_camry_se_from_a/&ved=2ahUKEwi72t7rkannAhVSg3IEHdnWAMEQFjAQegQICRAB&usg=AOvVaw12fV7yaO5RRQcGooBlyZSp

Given that the 2018 MSRP of the L trim was about $24,000, we would expect a 18%-off deal to be about 19,680 for a new one. So if we are to ignore your trade, you saved about $2580 by buying this car used, exactly as I predicted. 
[/quote]

As far as my trade, I tried Carvana and craigslist.  Carvana wouldn’t even give me an offer because the car had mechanical issues and couldn’t be driven more than a mile or two without overheating.   The highest offer I received on Craigslist was $3000, other dealers offered around $2000.  The dealer that I purchased from gave me $4,700, way over KBB.  That was sight unseen and they sent a tow truck to my home a week after I bought the Camry.

I can’t speak to the 18% off MSRP.  I started out looking for 2019 Camry’s because it was the end of December and I thought I would get the best deal. Surprisingly there weren’t  that many 2019’s left within 100 mile radius and the ones that were available were not being discounted very much.

I used car guru for my search and the Camry that I purchased was listed as great deal, several thousand below average.  That was before the dealer discounted the car further.   The examples you are citing aren’t local and I know some incentives are based on region.

Either way, I’m happy with the car and the price I paid.  I’m especially happy with what they gave me for my trade given that it wasn’t even drivable.  
[/quote]

PP here. I'm glad you are happy with your car, that's all it counts. I am sure it will provide you with many ears of reliable service. I'm a huge fan of Toyotas. My first car was a Toyota Tercel Wagon and I drove that thing everywhere. Looking at more current reliability ratings, Honda has fallen off while Toyota continues to maintain their focus on reliability. [/quote]

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