Tacoma Dude

Yeah, I'm still debating it

I was wondering, from your experiences - what is most valuable for trade-in?

COMPLETELY stock?

Or do small things help like, for example, my WAAG grille guard and the PIAA fog lamps?

Around what kind of percent of Kelly Blue Book value should I expect? They're still trying to unload 2003s right?

Thanks guys!

Bud

take your add-ons off. They wont give you much from it.
Have you considered selling your truck thru auto-trader?
You should have no problems selling the truck since its a quadcab.

Why not wait for the 05 to be released this fall? It may be to your liking. if not, you can a great deal on 04's.

Tacoma Dude

okay... add-ons all off.

Unless, of course, I find someone who wants them.
Cool.

I just don't know if I want to deal with multiple people coming over and requesting test drives.

dexter

im in the same boat (kinda) eventually in the next 1-2 years were gonna trade in my runner for an 01or02 with all the options i want/need and a lot less milage than i have now. and am wondering if i should tell them when i do it about all the mods perfromance, interior, exterior etc etc

Bob_98SR5

peter,

as bud said, take off your mods. sell them on ebay. especially on a trade in, dealers typically do not give you anything for your mods.

you'll get more $$$ on a private sale than a trade in. been there done that.

you probably won't get as many test drives as you might think. in fact, you'll get around doulbe the calls and its fairly easy to tell whose serious or not. 80% of the non-serious people are high school kids w/ pricing questions. most have to get approval from their parents. at that point, you just ask them to have their paretnts call you---and most dont.

anyways, i highly recommend selling to a private party. worth the effort.

bob

Tacoma Dude

Can anyone suggest other places to put my truck up for sale? If I do this I'm tossing in all sorts of goodies with it and hopefully that'll attract attention.

I've got autotrader from Bud.

I don't know if it's going to make any difference but I'll most likely be posting here, TTORA, customtacos, etc - although seems kind of stupid to do so since 99% of the people already own what they want

Anybody?

Anybody?

Ric

IF you have an after market stereo, take it out, and put the CHEAPEST radio in there you can find with either a cassette or cd, the dealer with only give $25 for the stereo NO MATTER with brand it is, this happened to me, about 10 yrs ago we traded a truck in for a saturn that had a $250 head unit in it, they said they will only give us $25 for it, that i should take it, and replace it with a wal-mart brand for $20 they will still give $25
Ric

Tacoma Dude

No aftermarket here... I'm satisfied with stock and don't want to give thieves a reason to pop my windows (at the thieves, not you Ric )

I'm thinking that a private party sale is the way to go as opposed to the trade-in. I've got too much to undo to get it back to stock.
Anyone have experience in this? What should I expect?

Thanks for the suggestions you've already tossed out, Bob

Ric

lol,, i didnt take it that way,, but thankx

BT17R

Peter!, I've used AutoTrader (print and online), Yahoo, eBay, and classifieds. I almost always wind up selling through a 3-line classified ad, and closer to retail price, than the other media. Always list a price, mileage, color, year, and model. Sorry if that's obvious, but around half the other ads omit one of those. If you're desperate, a dealer will buy it from you in minutes, but you won't like their offer.

If you go classifieds, and a qualified buyer shows up, have the KBB printouts ready for retail, private party and wholesale. Use whichever makes your price look good. Have your truck in showroom condition. A new set of Toyota floor mats helps. Always advertise mileage a thousand more than actual. You won't believe the calming effect this has on a buyer once they realize they're dealing with an honest seller who didn't understate mileage. Have a current Carfax ready, that'll also provide additional reassurance to the buyer. Make a file folder with all service and accessory receipts, along with the owner's and warranty manuals. Mention that you're replacing it with ANOTHER TOYOTA. That will leave a positive impression about yours. Copy the page of the Consumer Reports annual auto issue with owner's reliability reports. Of course your model will look better than any of the other brands they might be considering. They also like it if you have a copy of a favorable magazine road test from that era. Give them a set time frame when the vehicle will be available for inspection, you don't want to waste a whole day waiting for someone who may not show (an infrequent but possible PIA in private party sales). Treat every prospect as if they're the only ones that'll show up. Seriously consider their offer, but don't be quick to accept. A long, drawn out pause after their offer is usually worth several hundred $.

When you deliver the car, demonstrate every feature and have a little gift package ready. I put the same polish, wax and leather conditioner I used on the vehicle in a box. They melt over that one. Always call three days after the sale and ask if they have any questions. That's soon enough for them to have one, but not late enough for anything to have broken already. Although when I sold my last 'Runner I got a panicky call a half-hour later from the buyer thinking he was stranded. He didn't know the "wiggle the steering wheel" trick to get the key to work. I have people I sold vehicles to years ago calling back to see what's available next.

I do this 4-6 times/year, and usually do well, but am always looking for ways to improve. There's a recent change on eBay that provides CarAd auction templates for ~$12, though you can get something similar from Andale for ~$10. I've noticed that those vehicles always go for more. The common theme is lots of pictures, sometimes dozens, and a pretty layout. I'm going to try CarAd again when I sell the Prius in June.

There are a few more subtle things to do during the presentation that will improve your closing rate and sales price. Most are covered in negotiation books, but the bottom line is to be yourself, show your product knowledge in a calm manner, and have a take-it-or-leave-it attitude. That's the biggest advantage a private seller has over a "professional" car salesperson. Most people leave my house (with their new vehicle) saying they'll never buy from a dealership again.

I have another "secret weapon" or two that I've developed over the years. If you decide to sell privately, PM me then.

Tacoma Dude

Wow Bob, excellent advice!

A couple things like overstating the mileage - excellent to know!
I was actually thinking of unloading some other stuff too. I'm getting prepared to possibly market this as beginner off-road ready or something like that. I have a whole bunch of Griot's stuff I was going to include as well as the CA duster, maybe even an extra case of Amsoil 5W-30 (anyone have any good place online or otherwise that'll show the advantages of this stuff?) - even some 15" steel rims in case they see a sale on tires that won't fit the factory 16"


Actually - this is looking kind of good!


Check your PMs, I'm always for some Top Secret information

My99

I agree with taking off any extras and selling them separately. I also wanna say i'd recomment selling the truck before the 05's come out. When they do you can expect the value of your truck to go down a bit.

Spectre

I used Autotrader.com for both my 1993 toy pickup, and my 1991 4runner... and both sold in less then a week, the 4runner sold in 3 days. I would try them first..its cheep too.

I also just parked the 4runner in front of my house with just a for sale sign in the window and had about 20 calls off of that... every where I went with it ( store, and work) I had the sign up...got many calls, but it was the Autotrader.com that did it..a family from Dallas ( 2.5 hours away) bought it..

also, I too would take everything off..infact I was talking with the dealers in dallas when I was buying my 2001 about that and they said, they do not sell the same as stock, and they would give you less for it, and more times then not, the guys working in service would take off the stuff for themselves and put stock stuff on anyways...so I would take it odd and give them as little as you can.

Todd

BT17R

Spot on. It was my first thought, and part of my buy/sell strategy posted in other threads, but forgotten above. It'll be especially important because of the radical change coming on the '05's with what's sounding like only a nominal price increase. And to answer your original question, I'd sell it stock. Some of your mods could be viewed as strong negatives by some prospects, and you'll be able to sell most everything here or on eBay.

Hmm, a case of synthetic oil is getting a bit rich for my blood, but the Griot's stuff along with the free detailer's handbook (where's Brian?) should be fine. So, when will you sell?

Tacoma Dude

Who knows? I'm waiting to see if there are any incentives on the 04s...

Tacoma Dude

*Sigh*
Time to start undoing stuff I guess...

...shoot, need to get rid of the muds.
Should I leave the toolbox in? Otherwise I have a few more holes in my bed that'll be hard to explain

I'll probably leave my WAAG stuff on (don't really want it) and the PIAAs too. Not sure about the CB.
Air horns will need to go out, don't know how I'm going to explaine the deckplate mod :pat:

Maybe I should just pick up a new truck first and then trade stuff over

Cebby

I've never sold a car private party and wanted to know what paperwork is involved, how payment is arranged, etc.

PoBoy

I've sold 2 the past year. I took a casheirs check from Jason Demello mainly because I knew he was a good guy. But I only took cash for the Jeep since I had no clue who the buyer was. There are a lot of fake cashiers checks floating around since ebay has blown up.

As far as paper work goes...you need a signed bill of sale to keep for your records. You're title will probably tell you anything else you need to know. Most likely it will be notorized when signed by both parties. When I bought my 85 I didnt get it notorized and had a heck of a time getting AZ MVD to accept it. However, Jason Demllo nor the guy that bought my Jeep had any difficulty getting their cars titled and registered w/o the title notorized.

BT17R

Yeah, it depends on your state and the state you're selling into. You'll usually need to sign an odometer disclosure, too.

For any sale, be absolutely certain you include the CYA legalism "AS IS, WITH NO WARRANTIES OR GUARANTEES EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED". I use all caps and bold for that phrase on my BOS for everything. For the newer stuff where I'm the first owner I'll add "with the following exceptions", and then bullet point list any representations I've made like:

• Subject vehicle carries the balance of the manufacturer's warranty.

• Subject vehicle has never had any collision, fire or flood damage or repairs of any kind.

• Subject vehicle had the oil changed to Mobil 1 at XXXX miles using OEM parts.

• Subject vehicle has no liens or encumbrances of any kind except for...

And so on. Just don't get carried away with representations and be prepared to put anything you tell the buyer in writing.

Biff

Peter, when and if you do sell make sure you have a scratch pen that confirms bills are real. When I sold my truck two years ago I got a counterfit hundred dollar bill, no fault of the buyer and was eventually replaced. I was ready with my pen(bought at office depot) when I sold my accord last year.

Also check out Cars.com I've used them for my two sales and the vehicles went within a week.