Tacoma vs Montero

[Jammer]

I know these two vehicles are very different (SUV vs Pickup), but I am facing a dilemma.

I bought a certified 2011 Tacoma DCLB TRD Sport a year ago. It currently has 36k on it. The payments are not bad at all and the taco is everything I could ever ask for in a vehicle and then some! I have some minor upgrades...one size larger Cooper Discoverer AT3's, TSB rear leafs w/ Air Lift helper air springs, Bilstein 5100's to level the stance, and just replaced the battery.

I am looking at a very clean 2002 Montero LTD with only 66k on the odometer! They dealer wants $7k and will pay off the taco in full.

I am considering this to save some cash. I don't 'need' to do this, but freeing up more money is always good!

Fears...having never owned a Montero, and buying a 12 year old Florida vehicle, am I opening up a can of worms? Should I stick with the Taco's incredibleness and suck it up with payments, OR get rid of it and get the Montero and free up that cash?!

I have been trying to research these Montero's a lot lately and everyone seems to LOVE them!
Some common issues seem to be:
Valve guide seals
transfer case/ center diff switches
exhaust manifold
brakes

The Taco so far has been the perfect vehicle for me, I just hate car payments.

What would you do?

 

[paranoid56]

stick with the taco,

 

[zscott]

Not knowing a ton about montero's I would never trade in a Toyota for a Mitsubishi just to save on car payments. An older toyota maybe but my experience with makes other than honda and toyota is the older they get the more repairs you make and it ends up being like a car payment each month.

 

[T.Low]

I don't understand how $7k gets you into a Montero AND pays off your loan.

It's either sales bull**** to get you mentally out of Taco into old used wagon (aka bait and switch pricing), or your loan payoff is substantially less than the $7k, in which case just payoff the Taco and eat your cake, too.

How much do you owe?

 

[BlueCruiser88]

I think you would be the first man in existence to trade in a Tacoma for a Montero.

I am sure they are nice vehicles, but look elsewhere in your daily spending to free up some cash.

There must be something dumb you spend money on ( I personally got rid of DirectTV and saved 60/month)

I stopped eating out so much (saved 400/month)

It is the little things that add up.

Your truck is an appliance and you need it to work for you. Gambling with a used vehicle with unknown history is not wise in my humble opinion.

The Irony is that the Montero Owner probably traded it in on a Tacoma!

 

[Jammer]

Lol, thanks everyone! I expected nothing less! All valid points and it is exactly how I fell...partially. I have been doing a ton of research on the 2002 Montero and it is no slouch in the ability & reliability areas either.

I love my Tacoma! For me, it is the perfect vehicle...but

Currently, my pay off on the taco is $24,800. I would be free and clear of that and it's $174/mo payment over the next 5yrs.

The dealer is currently at $7300 otd on the montero (which I plan on pushing back harder on that price)

Reasons for me even considering this is that I currently owe $8000 in back taxes from a business I owned, am $36,000 in debt with school loans, would like to buy an engagement ring this year, and a house next year.

I already dropped the taco payment from $450 to $375 by refinancing with my credit union which dropped my rate from 5.25% to 2.25%

I can commute to work on my bicycle 2-3 days a week which would save me a minimum of $100/ month in gas expenses.

My thoughts were a (hopefully) quick fix...save a bunch of money and get caught up on other expenses and in another 2-3 years, sell the Monty and put the money down on another Taco.

 

[Arktikos]

About how many miles do you drive per year? If it's low, ya never should have bought a new rig in the first place. Do you really use the truck bed, or would more seating be better for your needs? A 2002 Montero with 66K would be the newest and lowest mileage rig I have ever owned, so it's not looking like an "old" vehicle to me.
But, I don't like your plan is to sell the Montero in a couple years and buy another Taco. That just sounds like an excellent money losing proposition. Keep the Taco.

 

[Ryanmb21]

If the following equation equals a positive value, consider the deal, if not, walk away.

(Value of your tacoma + $7200) - (payoff of tacoma + value of Montero)

 

[austintaco]

It sounds like you really want or need to lower your monthly outflow. Car payments, when you are strapped, are a huge burden. I would never let a dealer "help" me out if I were in this situation. Right now, you have a known payment on a known reliable vehicle. Anything else is opening yourself up to some risk. How much is that risk worth to you?

Selling your Tacoma to a private party would probably be a wash. Assuming you sell your truck for the payoff, you are then free to buy/lease whatever you want. Buy a reliable hatchback that gets good gas mileage, lower your payment, and do some car camping while you pay off your bills. Your soon to be fiance won't leave you because you don't have a truck, but she will get tired of Ramen noodles. Lots of adventures can be had in State and National parks. Buy her a bike and you two can explore them together.

 

[Jammer]

I don't use the bed "everyday", but having it when needing it is priceless to me. The DC has plenty of room for me, the girlfriend, our dog, and on occasion..passengers.

Its like a utility sedan!

It isn't that I need the seating of the Montero, but that I won't just drive/ own anything, and all of the research I have done pegs the Monty fairly high.

I did buy the taco on a whim as I have always wanted one and just got a better paying job. But having had to move back to an area where housing is much more expensive, after all said and done at the end of the month I have very little money left over.

But my dilemma is...am I just digging a bigger hole if the monty (or any other inexpensive used car) turns out to be a mechanical nightmare?

thus far in life I have been very lucky with all of the cars I have owned. and out of the now 15 cars I have owned, only 2 were brand new (both vw's), and only one was a pile of junk (a '77 vw rabbit).

I bought the taco as a certified pre-owned last year with 17k on it for just under $28k. It now has 36k on it (moved 1200 miles away, went on an almost 3k road trip vacation, and live 15 miles from work).

I am and always have been leaning more toward keeping the taco, but freeing up around $300/ month would surely be nice!

 

[BlueCruiser88]

You mentioned you want to purchase a home. I will tell you that they look VERY hard at debt to income ratio and a vehicle payment does not help at all.

When I purchased my first home I was driving a 94 Hilux that I paid cash for...the bank likes that.

When I purchased my second home I was driving an 88 Land Cruiser I paid cash for, they really loved that as well.

The truck payments do help your credit history though, and the absence of a car payment also hurt me in ways ( I don't understand the credit agencies logical gymnastics with that) but its an indicator to show proof you can pay your larger bills.


I am not discounting the Montero as a capable vehicle, I am sure it will give you years of service.

If you are serious about the house stuff, go into a small credit union and ask to speak to a Loan officer and ask their advice regarding your overall financial snapshot and pick their brain. They Approve and decline people all day long with similar situations.

My truck payment is 600/month if that makes you feel any better!

 

[BlueCruiser88]

It sounds like you really want or need to lower your monthly outflow. Car payments, when you are strapped, are a huge burden. I would never let a dealer "help" me out if I were in this situation. Right now, you have a known payment on a known reliable vehicle. Anything else is opening yourself up to some risk. How much is that risk worth to you?

Selling your Tacoma to a private party would probably be a wash. Assuming you sell your truck for the payoff, you are then free to buy/lease whatever you want. Buy a reliable hatchback that gets good gas mileage, lower your payment, and do some car camping while you pay off your bills. Your soon to be fiance won't leave you because you don't have a truck, but she will get tired of Ramen noodles. Lots of adventures can be had in State and National parks. Buy her a bike and you two can explore them together.

This is great advice!

Best camping times I had was in my 84 Volvo wagon..and car payments were for the suckers!

 

[Jammer]

I will be talking to my banker (who helped me consolidate my cc debt into one very low interest rate card, and refi the taco) on Monday to dig a little deeper into all of this.

I make what I feel is decent money. My girl is a teacher, and in the South, that means not a ton of money. But I know with our two incomes things should not be so difficult. But, with high rent, cc debt, student loans and two car payments, we are both living paycheck to paycheck. We prefer having 'nicer/newer' vehicles with little to worry about other than the payments.

I have mostly owned cheap hatchbacks my whole life and out of 15 cars, only had long term payments on the past 4/5.

I know the taco could be the last vehicle I buy for a very very long time, that is partially why I bought it.

But is it worth the payments when not fully enjoying it do to little money for recreation? Maybe/maybe not.

If the monty or any other inexpensive vehicle proves just as reliable, then maybe it's worth the trade. BUT, if the replacement vehicle spends as much time in the shop as out on the road then all I did was trade a car payment for car repair bills. Then, not so good.

We camped out of the back of the taco this summer but would both prefer a small camper or offroad teardrop of sorts.

I don't really wheel any of my 4x4's I prefer to keep them in nice condition, but love the ability when needed. Sort of the "be prepared" mentality...better to have and not need then need and not have.

 

[4Rescue]

I don't understand how $7k gets you into a Montero AND pays off your loan.

It's either sales bull**** to get you mentally out of Taco into old used wagon (aka bait and switch pricing), or your loan payoff is substantially less than the $7k, in which case just payoff the Taco and eat your cake, too.

How much do you owe?

^^^
This... The concept doesn't really make sense. yes they'd be getting a newer/more valuable truck in trade, but... Just sounds fishy.

Although, a Montero, depending on the model, is not, in any way, a real "downgrade" (except in maybe engine power) nor is it a truck to scoff at. The Axles are very strong as is the IFS and frame (probably stronger then the Taco's rear C-section frame actually), and often they have factory rear lockers. I don't like the later 4wIFS versions, but they've all proven to be hell for stout trucks, the later models included. The Pajero (as it's called everywhere else) has has done exceedingly well as an off-road vehicle the world over and even won the Paris Dakar MANY times. Have a look at "LAoutbackTrails" (member name here on the EP... LOVE his Montero) and several others in the Mitsu section to see how awesome a truck they can be.

I'm a Toyota guy through and through and I don't see the logic (or how this "dealer" thinks he's going to do this deal) in trading your Taco (a truck you know) for the Mitsu, unless you REALLY need a wagon and this all turns out to be on the up and up, but there's nothing wrong with the Montero... It's a VERY good vehicle with very solid underpinnings.

... the absence of a car payment also hurt me in ways ( I don't understand the credit agencies logical gymnastics with that)...

Yeah, seriously, it reminds me of dealing with insurance companies... Most all Banks/Credit companies are horrible business entities (2nd only to insurance companies) with completely lopsided service concepts. I have two CC's that I rarely use and always pay off and they seem to really not like that because it means I'm not doing my "American Duty" to serve their needs of having as much of my money as possible pass through their hands. I already pay taxes to people who can't figure out how to be fiscally responsible/honest (especially the Grand Old Elephantine kinds), I can't afford to just support collapsing industries nor do I believe in allowing these A**Hats to keep on playing fast and loose with our money simply because they know they'll always get bailed out.

Cheers

Dave

 

[Jammer]

Maybe my 1st post is not worded correctly as to the deal with the two vehicles.

The dealer is selling the montero for $6991.

At first offered me $24,000 for my tacoma on trade. My payoff is $24,831.

I said "no way". I never actually mDe an offer on the monty other than asking if they would deal. I already knew the answer before he said it. Standard rhetoric of " we are a no hassle dealer, and we use blah blah company with a room full of analysts to determine our prices" HA!

This is a Mercedes Benz dealer no less.

He was playing the game and lying about not playing games. Typical.

At thiz point it was 8:10pm (they close at 8) and my gf just showed up having just learned what I was considering.

He asked the standard "what will it take question" and I chuckled and said. It didn't matter as I wasn't going to buy right then anyway. He looked confused and said "what if I got my mgr to add another $500 o. Your trade. I said no. It had to be paid off completely.

I asmed to show my gf the mo ty and we walked out to the lot again. He then of course came out and said..." I'm surprised but he is going to pay off your tacoma in full"

This is why I left car sales, and I was selling vw's which I love with a great dealer filled with hard core vw enthusiasts as employees.

Anyway. That was Thursday night. And I have found the same car on ebay with a "best offer" option.

So...I think I will see what my credit union guy has to say about the whole scenario and if its ok I may offer the dealer $5000 + payoff on my Tacoma take it or leave it.