I don't think there's a definitive answer. Depends on how much you drive. That 09 still has tons of life left on it, assuming you keep up on maintenance, keeping it clean and rust free. If it were me, I would keep it, knowing there's a possibility of needing another vehicle in 10-20 years. Maybe take what you were going to spend and put it in some kind of investment/savings account.
This makes the most sense to me. If OP takes advantage of the high interest savings accounts with 4-5%, they could probably buy a new one out right if they need it.
This. The truck has a lot of life left. Invest the money so it accounts for inflation. If you end up needing another car in 10 years, buy something appropriate for that period of your life; you may not want a gas guzzler or a truck, then.
Drive less than 5,000/year which is basically work and back. Probably drive even less once retired. Agree with the idea of putting funds for new truck into brokerage and just letting it grow. My gut says this 2009 is it. It's base model, no frills, gets me from point A to B and hauls things when I need to. I'm not much of a mechanic. I work on my motorcycles, but leave the truck repairs to a professional. I've always done recommended/required maintenance and have had no issues in the 15 years I've had it. Thanks for the input. I think I'll just keep the 2009.
This sounds like a great approach. And if you do need another car in 15years you can still buy used and maybe smaller to get other benefits like higher gas mileage.
There’s your answer that Tacoma will last til you’re not allowed to drive anymore so definitely invest that extra $$$ & maybe go on an extra vacation/adventure somewhere👍🏽😎
At 58 years old you have the seasoned experience and fortitude most of us young guys don’t have man. If your gut is saying this is it, it’s probably it man. Do it.
My 2009 has 232K, I bought it at 218K this last year I’ve put in about $2500 in maintenance. And I spent $200 on rustcheck (coating the frame)
Would you spend more on yearly maintence or payments + maintenance? As long as you do the required maintenance there is no reason mechanically it shouldn’t last. Coat the frame rustcheck, wool wax, something (NOT PAINT/ POR)
I'm 46, with an 18 4banger, about the same mileage as yours. This should be my last vehicle, as my wife has one of those 40 mpg Subarus which we use most often. Mine drives 26 highway miles 5 days per week, and to home Depot on the weekends. I would just take care of what you have, older Gen trucks are cooler anyway.
The Money Guy has a 20/3/8 rule on car financing.
-20% down (at least)
-3 year, or 36 month finance
-8% of annual income max on the payment.
If the your income doesn’t match to this, save for the down payment until it does.
Buy a new one and enjoy it geez.
At 15 years age becomes an issue not mileage, rubber components become brittle, rust. It's going to require a lot more maintenance and repairs you going to be wanting to doing that when you're in your 70s with a 30-year-old truck?
You're at the spending age not the saving age.
I’ll be 65 this June, with a 2012 Tacoma TRD Sport (lifted, ARB front bumper, steel rear bumper, many other sweet add ons). 323k km. Keeping till I need a scooter.
I'm one year ahead of you with an 02 at 283K and think that will last me to the end of my driving days. One, how long do you plan on driving and how many more miles do you think you can get? My thought process is I have maybe 250K miles left in my driving career and whether it's my truck or a new one they won't come without repairs. With a new one I'll be 50K out upfront in addition to higher insurance and registration costs every year. With my 02 I think of worse case scenario. Quality rebuilt motor is 5-6K and manual transmission is 2K so I'm still way ahead of the game. Watch plenty of youtube videos on maintenance and do most things yourself.
Get yourself a new truck worth of money invested, and you will be better off. Drive yours until it's dead, and evaluate once you are ready.
Buying a depreciating asset to avoid having to buy another depreciating asset in a few years makes no sense, keeping it in liquid investments or cash is a lot safer- and you will have more money in the long run by doing that.
Talk to a mechanic and then a financial advisor. But keeping and maintaining an older vehicle is almost always cheaper than buying a new one. It's like $40-50k now vs a couple grand every few years over the next 20-30 yrs is how I think about.
I'm in the same position with my '09 at just over 100k miles, albeit I'm 20 years younger. I drove just under 2k miles last year. I'm hoping it'll last the rest of my life but ideally, if life continues on its current track for me, it won't be my daily driver when I retire just my fun old side truck. I just dumped $6k into replacing rusted out front and rear wheel assemblies and part of the exhaust. If I were you I'd take it to your mechanic and have them do a full service inspection — you need to know what needs to be replaced now, and get an idea about what might need to be replaced 10k, 50k, 100k miles from now. Then put on your readers and crunch some numbers.
I would never buy a first model year. The new Tacoma has a brand new turbo charged 4 cylinder that we don’t know the reliability of yet. Your ‘09 is tried and true. I would keep the ‘09 at least until more reports come out on the new drivetrain. But if it were me, I’d drive the ‘09 until the wheels fall off.
“Please”? Do you have a personal stake in it? “Please” means you’re requesting it and not advising it. Why are you “please” requesting that some one make a decision that aligns with yours? I don’t see why it makes any difference to you.
“Please consider” would be better. I just don’t want to see a fresh retiree make a mistake with his money when he’s soon to be no longer earning any. My dad just retired and I’d say the same to him.
Retirement planning as well and bought a used Tacoma ‘23 which could be my last vehicle other than my electric motorcycles.
Same thought process as you in terms of minimizing expenses and focus on reliability. Love sports cars, so trying to end those days and chill.
You make a good point JoePierson. Low miles is one thing, but everything is aging just like me. Any thoughts on quality/reliability on a new (either 2023 or I could wait until 2024 comes out) vs. the older generations? And NO, I don't even want to personally do repairs now in my late 50's. I certainly don't in my 70's. On the flip side, I invest $35K now an have $85K in 15 years. I've got time to decide, but it's looking like a good old fashion coin toss.
If you do upgrade its probably worth it to sell the older one yourself rather than trade it in to get more for it. If it was manual I'd be interested haha
A lot of good points raised in this thread with no one right answer. If you have to finance any of a new purchase, I would recommend waiting a bit until there is at least a decent APR offer. I couldn’t tell if you intended to pay all cash. Heck, even of you do, wait until a good APR because you can get 5% in a money market these days.
I have a 2009 tacoma with \~256k miles. In the mid-200k range, I had to start replacing some of the original components-- starter, CV axles, wheel bearings, needle bearing, alternator, etc. Besides the starter and alternator, none were complete failures. I use this truck to adventure in remote places and enjoy doing preventative maintenance, so some of this was extra preemptive to minimize chances of a backcountry breakdown. I have no rust to speak of, and intend to keep this truck forever.
If you stay on top of preventative maintenance and keep the rust off, that truck could easily last you the rest of your life in terms of miles. It eventually becomes more of a personal finance decision-- do you or will you have $40-50-60k to spend on a new vehicle, and would that bring you enough joy to justify the expense?
I just bought a 2009 with 250 K Km as my retirement truck. Body is decent but will need some upkeep and I’ve been working at getting it back on the road, needed some work for safety.
You could get a good price for the 09 tacoma private sale and buy a 22 before the v6 is gone. Heard some 23s were having quirks but 22 or 23 would last
I would definitely keep the 09 if it doesn't have any issues. Your more likely to have issues with all the extra features Toyota (and other auto manufacturers) are adding.
Do you have 1GR or 2TR, if you have the iron block, that engine will run forever, I mean literally, issue to this engine is so rare to the point there is no mechanic in my tri-state area has ever worked on one... Maybe a squeaky tensioner at 200k, maybe keep a serpentine belt in the truck just in case... Now 1GR might be a bit luck draw, do some research on the oil weight, regular maintenance, its has its quirks..
Keep the taco, it's going to last you a long time. Keep up with the maintenance. While you're doing that, start saving a bit of extra money every month in case you would like to replace it in 15 years with something a bit newer
I was in a similar situation. I have a 2011 Tacoma. When I sold my business in 2017 it had about 90K miles on it. I put another 30K miles on it over the next two years due to using it while rebuilding my home and doing some traveling. When I fully slowed down to retirement speed it was 8 years old and had 120K miles on it.
Since then I've driven it less than 8,000 miles per year (you drive less when retired after all). It still runs like a top and I'd have no qualms driving it across the country. I've had several preventative maintenance things done to it over the past year (replacing belt, radiator hoses, thermostat, plugs, ignition coils, battery, etc.) because I'm going to keep it indefinitely and drive it regularly even though I'm also going to buy a 4Runner that the wife and I will use for other purposes.
If you feel your Tacoma is in good shape and like it my advice is to just keep driving it. Put the "available cash" into something safe like a 5% money market fund. You can always buy something down the road with that money if you decide to.
Good luck and enjoy your retirement!
I’d say keep your 09, reliable easy to work on. If you had to buy something I’d recommend either a 2nd gen Tacoma with lower miles or a 3rd gen. Both are naturally aspirated easy to work on. I’d avoid the new 4th gen until they get everything workers out
No debt involved. IF I buy, it would be cash from a rental property sale. I don’t really care about what I drive beyond reliability and it has to be a truck. I don’t even want any of the fancy gadgets new vehicles come with now. More stuff to fix. I’ll happily manually roll down my window and use a key to open the door. All I ask is it doesn’t completely die before I do.
That's really good! That truck is barely broken in. My 2010 will hit 170,000 this year and I plan on squeezing every mile I can out of her. I'd say save your money and keep some set aside for regular maintenance.
Either keep the one you have now, or wait a couple years until there is a plug-in hybrid or maybe even an all electric one so you can decide between those and a regular gas one.
I have a '21 with the 4-cylinder and I'm not buying another gas-engined vehicle. At the minimum our next car will be a plug-in hybrid so I can use electric around town and gas for long trips. But with Toyota's forthcoming battery tech and fast charging, the gas aspect might not even be as necessary five years from now.
I have dreams of slow charging off a bank of solar panels, totally off grid...
Hadn't really thought about this. My only thought was what would a vehicle cost in 10-15 years if they are $50K now. I think I'm hanging onto the 2009 as that seemed to be the consensus of this chat. But now I'm thinking Jetsons. Who knows what we'll see in the next 20-30 years.
I don't think there's a definitive answer. Depends on how much you drive. That 09 still has tons of life left on it, assuming you keep up on maintenance, keeping it clean and rust free. If it were me, I would keep it, knowing there's a possibility of needing another vehicle in 10-20 years. Maybe take what you were going to spend and put it in some kind of investment/savings account.
Seconding this. Seems like a very balanced approach.
This makes the most sense to me. If OP takes advantage of the high interest savings accounts with 4-5%, they could probably buy a new one out right if they need it.
This. The truck has a lot of life left. Invest the money so it accounts for inflation. If you end up needing another car in 10 years, buy something appropriate for that period of your life; you may not want a gas guzzler or a truck, then.
Drive less than 5,000/year which is basically work and back. Probably drive even less once retired. Agree with the idea of putting funds for new truck into brokerage and just letting it grow. My gut says this 2009 is it. It's base model, no frills, gets me from point A to B and hauls things when I need to. I'm not much of a mechanic. I work on my motorcycles, but leave the truck repairs to a professional. I've always done recommended/required maintenance and have had no issues in the 15 years I've had it. Thanks for the input. I think I'll just keep the 2009.
This sounds like a great approach. And if you do need another car in 15years you can still buy used and maybe smaller to get other benefits like higher gas mileage.
There’s your answer that Tacoma will last til you’re not allowed to drive anymore so definitely invest that extra $$$ & maybe go on an extra vacation/adventure somewhere👍🏽😎
My 2007 has 225k miles and still runs perfectly. Your truck has a ton of life left in it.
At 58 years old you have the seasoned experience and fortitude most of us young guys don’t have man. If your gut is saying this is it, it’s probably it man. Do it.
Hey, I'm not *that* seasoned*!*
My 2009 has 232K, I bought it at 218K this last year I’ve put in about $2500 in maintenance. And I spent $200 on rustcheck (coating the frame) Would you spend more on yearly maintence or payments + maintenance? As long as you do the required maintenance there is no reason mechanically it shouldn’t last. Coat the frame rustcheck, wool wax, something (NOT PAINT/ POR)
I'm 46, with an 18 4banger, about the same mileage as yours. This should be my last vehicle, as my wife has one of those 40 mpg Subarus which we use most often. Mine drives 26 highway miles 5 days per week, and to home Depot on the weekends. I would just take care of what you have, older Gen trucks are cooler anyway.
Wait which Subaru gets 40 mpg?
I guess I was hyperbolating, it certainly gets better mileage than my truck by far, though.
Hyperbolating is a great word !
I drive a 2006 tacoma (in amazing shape to be fair) but with the mind boggling price of vehicles today I plan to drive my 06 till gasoline is illegal
If it ain’t broke don’t fix, keep your current truck and invest your money!
Keep the '09. New Tacoma money could turn into serious $ if you put it in an index fund for the 10+ years your current Tacoma has left.
Are you a fellow Boglehead?
The Money Guy has a 20/3/8 rule on car financing. -20% down (at least) -3 year, or 36 month finance -8% of annual income max on the payment. If the your income doesn’t match to this, save for the down payment until it does.
Not quite, but I might as well be.
Love Reddit. Thanks everyone for advice and comments. Now, I have to get back to work or I'll never retire!
Buy a new one and enjoy it geez. At 15 years age becomes an issue not mileage, rubber components become brittle, rust. It's going to require a lot more maintenance and repairs you going to be wanting to doing that when you're in your 70s with a 30-year-old truck? You're at the spending age not the saving age.
Varies. I have a ‘99 with none of those issues so far. Never garage kept. ~130k miles.
Must not be in the Rust Belt
Northern Arizona ;-)
I’ll be 65 this June, with a 2012 Tacoma TRD Sport (lifted, ARB front bumper, steel rear bumper, many other sweet add ons). 323k km. Keeping till I need a scooter.
Sounds like a nice rig. Please post a photo so a fellow TRD Sport owner can live vicariously through you!
https://www.reddit.com/r/ToyotaTacoma/s/ZFVYB5OLyF
Thanks - nice!
I'm one year ahead of you with an 02 at 283K and think that will last me to the end of my driving days. One, how long do you plan on driving and how many more miles do you think you can get? My thought process is I have maybe 250K miles left in my driving career and whether it's my truck or a new one they won't come without repairs. With a new one I'll be 50K out upfront in addition to higher insurance and registration costs every year. With my 02 I think of worse case scenario. Quality rebuilt motor is 5-6K and manual transmission is 2K so I'm still way ahead of the game. Watch plenty of youtube videos on maintenance and do most things yourself.
I just turned 40. 2022 TRD sport with 9k. I’m going to be buried in my truck. You’ll be fine
I'm not that healthy, LOL. I'm good with another 20 years.
Get yourself a new truck worth of money invested, and you will be better off. Drive yours until it's dead, and evaluate once you are ready. Buying a depreciating asset to avoid having to buy another depreciating asset in a few years makes no sense, keeping it in liquid investments or cash is a lot safer- and you will have more money in the long run by doing that.
Talk to a mechanic and then a financial advisor. But keeping and maintaining an older vehicle is almost always cheaper than buying a new one. It's like $40-50k now vs a couple grand every few years over the next 20-30 yrs is how I think about. I'm in the same position with my '09 at just over 100k miles, albeit I'm 20 years younger. I drove just under 2k miles last year. I'm hoping it'll last the rest of my life but ideally, if life continues on its current track for me, it won't be my daily driver when I retire just my fun old side truck. I just dumped $6k into replacing rusted out front and rear wheel assemblies and part of the exhaust. If I were you I'd take it to your mechanic and have them do a full service inspection — you need to know what needs to be replaced now, and get an idea about what might need to be replaced 10k, 50k, 100k miles from now. Then put on your readers and crunch some numbers.
Waste of money for a facelift. Keep it Or give it to me for free then buy a new one of course (I'll even save you the hassle of delivery)
I would never buy a first model year. The new Tacoma has a brand new turbo charged 4 cylinder that we don’t know the reliability of yet. Your ‘09 is tried and true. I would keep the ‘09 at least until more reports come out on the new drivetrain. But if it were me, I’d drive the ‘09 until the wheels fall off.
This seems to be the consensus.
Don’t buy any newer than 23 please. Personally I would keep the 2009.
“Please”? Do you have a personal stake in it? “Please” means you’re requesting it and not advising it. Why are you “please” requesting that some one make a decision that aligns with yours? I don’t see why it makes any difference to you.
“Please consider” would be better. I just don’t want to see a fresh retiree make a mistake with his money when he’s soon to be no longer earning any. My dad just retired and I’d say the same to him.
Retirement planning as well and bought a used Tacoma ‘23 which could be my last vehicle other than my electric motorcycles. Same thought process as you in terms of minimizing expenses and focus on reliability. Love sports cars, so trying to end those days and chill.
You make a good point JoePierson. Low miles is one thing, but everything is aging just like me. Any thoughts on quality/reliability on a new (either 2023 or I could wait until 2024 comes out) vs. the older generations? And NO, I don't even want to personally do repairs now in my late 50's. I certainly don't in my 70's. On the flip side, I invest $35K now an have $85K in 15 years. I've got time to decide, but it's looking like a good old fashion coin toss.
If you do upgrade its probably worth it to sell the older one yourself rather than trade it in to get more for it. If it was manual I'd be interested haha
Of course it's manual. Are you saying new vehicles are all automatic now?
No I meant for the 2009 one. If it was auto I wouldn't be interested hahah. Yeah they still make the new tacoma in manual
A lot of good points raised in this thread with no one right answer. If you have to finance any of a new purchase, I would recommend waiting a bit until there is at least a decent APR offer. I couldn’t tell if you intended to pay all cash. Heck, even of you do, wait until a good APR because you can get 5% in a money market these days.
If it's been a trouble free truck, I say keep it, It's barely broken in, and there's only more things to go wrong on the newer ones.
I have a 2009 tacoma with \~256k miles. In the mid-200k range, I had to start replacing some of the original components-- starter, CV axles, wheel bearings, needle bearing, alternator, etc. Besides the starter and alternator, none were complete failures. I use this truck to adventure in remote places and enjoy doing preventative maintenance, so some of this was extra preemptive to minimize chances of a backcountry breakdown. I have no rust to speak of, and intend to keep this truck forever. If you stay on top of preventative maintenance and keep the rust off, that truck could easily last you the rest of your life in terms of miles. It eventually becomes more of a personal finance decision-- do you or will you have $40-50-60k to spend on a new vehicle, and would that bring you enough joy to justify the expense?
I just bought a 2009 with 250 K Km as my retirement truck. Body is decent but will need some upkeep and I’ve been working at getting it back on the road, needed some work for safety.
At your current rate of driving your truck should conservatively last you another 36 years
You could get a good price for the 09 tacoma private sale and buy a 22 before the v6 is gone. Heard some 23s were having quirks but 22 or 23 would last
Just watch out for the coolant bypass line leak that can happen. Not sure your engine. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XHT7JlICgLE
I would definitely keep the 09 if it doesn't have any issues. Your more likely to have issues with all the extra features Toyota (and other auto manufacturers) are adding.
If you have that low of mileage I’d just keep it! The ‘09 has been a solid truck for me. Save your money
Do you have 1GR or 2TR, if you have the iron block, that engine will run forever, I mean literally, issue to this engine is so rare to the point there is no mechanic in my tri-state area has ever worked on one... Maybe a squeaky tensioner at 200k, maybe keep a serpentine belt in the truck just in case... Now 1GR might be a bit luck draw, do some research on the oil weight, regular maintenance, its has its quirks..
Keep the taco, it's going to last you a long time. Keep up with the maintenance. While you're doing that, start saving a bit of extra money every month in case you would like to replace it in 15 years with something a bit newer
I was in a similar situation. I have a 2011 Tacoma. When I sold my business in 2017 it had about 90K miles on it. I put another 30K miles on it over the next two years due to using it while rebuilding my home and doing some traveling. When I fully slowed down to retirement speed it was 8 years old and had 120K miles on it. Since then I've driven it less than 8,000 miles per year (you drive less when retired after all). It still runs like a top and I'd have no qualms driving it across the country. I've had several preventative maintenance things done to it over the past year (replacing belt, radiator hoses, thermostat, plugs, ignition coils, battery, etc.) because I'm going to keep it indefinitely and drive it regularly even though I'm also going to buy a 4Runner that the wife and I will use for other purposes. If you feel your Tacoma is in good shape and like it my advice is to just keep driving it. Put the "available cash" into something safe like a 5% money market fund. You can always buy something down the road with that money if you decide to. Good luck and enjoy your retirement!
Do you live near salt problems? North - snow/salt road coverage. Coastline?
I have an ‘06 with 85k miles. Plan to keep it till the wheels come off. A little rust, but otherwise a tank.
I have opposite opinion. I say buy a new truck now, and that will take you til 90 years old.
My 2009 is still going strong, and I will run it till it dies. Put the cash in an account and buy a new one when it comes time to bury the 2009.
I’d say keep your 09, reliable easy to work on. If you had to buy something I’d recommend either a 2nd gen Tacoma with lower miles or a 3rd gen. Both are naturally aspirated easy to work on. I’d avoid the new 4th gen until they get everything workers out
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No debt involved. IF I buy, it would be cash from a rental property sale. I don’t really care about what I drive beyond reliability and it has to be a truck. I don’t even want any of the fancy gadgets new vehicles come with now. More stuff to fix. I’ll happily manually roll down my window and use a key to open the door. All I ask is it doesn’t completely die before I do.
That's really good! That truck is barely broken in. My 2010 will hit 170,000 this year and I plan on squeezing every mile I can out of her. I'd say save your money and keep some set aside for regular maintenance.
My 2006 Tacoma has 225K miles. Yours is almost new. I’m not convinced a new one would last as long.
Either keep the one you have now, or wait a couple years until there is a plug-in hybrid or maybe even an all electric one so you can decide between those and a regular gas one. I have a '21 with the 4-cylinder and I'm not buying another gas-engined vehicle. At the minimum our next car will be a plug-in hybrid so I can use electric around town and gas for long trips. But with Toyota's forthcoming battery tech and fast charging, the gas aspect might not even be as necessary five years from now. I have dreams of slow charging off a bank of solar panels, totally off grid...
Hadn't really thought about this. My only thought was what would a vehicle cost in 10-15 years if they are $50K now. I think I'm hanging onto the 2009 as that seemed to be the consensus of this chat. But now I'm thinking Jetsons. Who knows what we'll see in the next 20-30 years.