Right now I have a 2015 4Runner with 98 miles on it for which I owe 14k due to be paid off in 30 months. I pay 550/month for they payment, probably around 560 a month in gas…(two 70 dollar fill ups a week) and then another 200 for insurance. Most of my driving is 70 miles round trip on a flat highway to and from the hospital I work at. In total I probably drive around 14 thousand miles a year.
I was considering trading the 4runner something electric. I like the Bolt, Tesla Model 3 Long Range and the Kona EV. Is it ever possible to do something where a the dealer would pay out whatever equity I may have in my vehicle I’m turning in towards the next purchase and pay off the remaining loan? What do you guys think? I don’t envision gas getting much cheaper again
Wow 98 miles…not used much eh?
If you are trading it in to ‘save money on gas’ well…I don’t know if that’s wise.
So you’ve got a 7-yr-old 98(K)-mile SUV that you have 30 payments on @$550 ea? Dang, that’s not good. Have you gotten any buy bids on it from Carvana/Vroom/Carmax/etc? Do you actually have any equity? Yes, dealers take in trades all the time and would happily apply any equity towards your new car.
Doesn’t that not add up. a 7yr old car with almost 3 years of payments left?
Bought used with a horrible payment rate?
I bought it used with 60k miles for 30 grand at 3%ish I believe. I mean it’s been a nice car
this guy was living it the covid era, before the covid era
There really isn’t anything for $550/month (BUY) in the EV range right now. You might get 5-10k if you sell it to a local dealer (Carvana might not touch it due to Age/Mileage)
A new EV car like the ones you listed is going to run you even more than that $550 payment (way over) you have now. (You can’t really lease with your mileage requirements)
Honestly, stay in that car, it’s a Toyota and yes you will be putting some cash each year for Maintenance, but nothing what you are about to drop in payments for a new EV.
OR trade that car in for a Tacoma or Santa Cruize or Maverick and save some money.
Yet…
So, we really need to know hard numbers and if OP is underwater on it. I would think so, but market is nuts. OP, as I said, if you haven’t, get buy bids on it to know where you stand. If you have negative equity, you need to sit tight. No amount of fuel savings is going to overcome thousands in negative equity in any reasonable amount of time.
Bruh 
Actually I meant he could walk away with 5-10k (If he’s lucky). A quick browse of pricing for similar cars with same mileage is $29k, so if he’s shrewd he can get at least 20k (+5k).
Yes I have 14.7k left on the loan that finishes in 2023. I got the car in October 2018. Had I had known I’d be moving farther from work and the world was going to go crazy with Covid I would’ve gotten something else. I mean the cars been good to me but I think I can do better. I mean I was comfortable with paying for it then and still am but I didn’t realize electric cars were a thing back then otherwise I probably would’ve tried one out from the jump
I’d try carmax in CT. I sold my 2010 GX460 with 153k for a decent price.
Why is everyone giving OP so much shade? There’s an entire thread about what you would buy for $10,000 that’s very active. I would gladly pay $15,000 for a 7 year old 4 runner with 100k miles over any car listed on that post.
OP, as others have said, you have positive equity in the 4Runner. But would be pressed to get into any of the mentioned vehicles for a lower payment than you currently have on the 4runner. The current auto market is terrible and finding a deal is nearly impossible. That’s why there’s 20,000+ comments on the Wrangler 4xe.
You could sell the 4Runner to the highest bidder and take the equity plus $5-6000 and do a one pay on a Wrangler, but it would likely equate to the same monthly payments as your currently making.
If it were me, I would continue driving the 4Runner and making the monthly payment. Even a 100k mile 4Runner has very few issues. You will always have equity as many 4Runner pushing 200K miles are still selling for $18-20k.
Check back in 12-18-24-30 months. The status of the market may drastically improve and you can find a more suitable commuter car. Plus more EVs are coming to market and technology is improving every day.
Another thought would be take the positive equity and finance a Camry or Accord hybrid. Both should get north of 30 mpg and lower trims financed could yield a lower monthly payment with $8-10k down.
Yes that happens all the time.
If you need an EV look at the Leaf Plus. That being said, I think something in the Corolla or Prius segment is also worth considering
Do you anticipate that your living situation (as in, remaining in the same geographic area) and workplace will remain stable for a few yrs? I ask only b/c, if there’s a high chance the geographic location of one might move closer to the other in the near future, than it might be better just to hold onto your current car.
And can you charge easily at work or at home?
If you’re literally spending ~$600/mo just on gas, then, yes, it makes sense to sell the car and use the equity to get something more full efficient. As other have said, you might want to get a quote from a 3rd party dealer to see if whatever the Chevy/Tesla/Hyundai offers you is relatively competitive.
Get a Nissan Leaf SV if you can find one and sign a lease for 18 months. After that sell your 4runner to highest bidder from the car buying websites.
The 4R is the best normal vehicle in the world in terms of depreciation, it basically doesn’t.
If you take a quick gander the lowest priced 2015 4R with 178k on used car websites start at $21K, so unless this vehicle is basically in shambles (accidents or rusted through), I think you shall be at least made full on that loan if you take the lowest offer (which I assume you being on this forum you wont). The 4R community is speculative heavy, and literally almost every new Toyota BOF has a second or 5th owner ready to jump in at any price (different breed of folks lol).
That being said, switching to an EV is going to be pricey or any other vehicle will have a huge upfront cost. I’d sit down and calculate Total Cost to Own, and figure out where you would stand with credit wise to make sure you get the best deal possible. Check incentives that you qualify from the mfg, fed and state, and utilities. Long term though you’ll be ahead, or dare I say break even but depends on how long you intend to stick with the EV replacement.
My living situation is not going to change as we have our house now. I can easily charge at home as well as charge at work. I was even taking a look at the Corolla hybrids that are out now and was just thinking about slapping winter tires on them in case I have to get to work in the winter time. Snow driving was primarily why I got the 4runner. It’s essential I get to work in bad weather
@ 70 miles RT, a PHEV Jeep will suffice, only a few miles of gas per day. Look into the 4xE thread.
I buy back all cars and get all new cars wholesale if you are in the market for a new car I would be happy to get you some quotes!
917-685-3492