Choosing whether to go for a new or used vehicle is in itself quite the decision to make, but the moment you narrow your future purchase down to being a Toyota, the answer becomes even more brutal to deduce. Toyota certainly is one of the most formidable auto manufacturers on the block today. After all, its image of being virtually indestructible isn’t just folklore, thereby pushing a solid argument in favor of pre-owned Toyota’s.
If you look at something like a used Camry for sale, though, it will become pretty apparent to you that the depreciation hit on a Toyota is in a different realm than its competition altogether since most Toyota’s enjoy the privilege of healthy value retention. This fact pretty much makes it impossible for one to decide which camp they want to be a part of, and we hope that the following vital points do help narrow down which kind of Toyota you would like to grace your garage!
Value for money
It is a tough perspective to determine whether buying a used Toyota saves you enough money on the depreciation end to justify the higher mileage and prior ownership, but both approaches have their own benefits. To be really honest, no matter which route you opt for, new or used, Toyota’s would more or less be pretty steady when it comes to holding their values which in turn is a huge plus for the owner regardless if you are the first or the hundredth.
If you opt for a new Toyota vehicle, you can be rest assured that even if you sell it off in a couple of years, you would be able to recoup a major chunk of your initial investment which would be significantly larger than what you would have got had you opted to buy a competing brand instead.
On the other end of the spectrum, if you go out and get yourself a nice example of a pre-owned Toyota vehicle, you would most definitely have to pay a premium over its competitors to bring one home as used Toyota’s are pretty much worth their weight in gold. Yes, this could arguably push you to think that getting a new Toyota would make more financial sense, but the depreciation hit is even lower when trading used Toyotas since most prices somehow remain stable, even when the vehicle changes multiple hands. Applying for used van finance can really help you in finding great car deals.
Features and amenities
If you are a person that prioritizes having the latest and greatest in terms of tech and wouldn’t be caught dead in something that is older than three years, going the new vehicle route seems to be the only option.
Although we would argue that Toyota has quite a long way to go before it becomes competitive on the technology front, especially when its infotainment is concerned, it is a fact that the older the Toyota you look at, the worse is the technology on offer.
Now, this isn’t a simple winning argument in favor of buying a New Toyota, since older Toyota’s can arguably be deemed even more reliable than their modern counterparts, as they have less complicated electronics on board, which in turn do make them easier to maintain and work on.
Warranty
One of the biggest advantages of opting for a brand-new Toyota vehicle is the fact that it comes shod with a pretty comprehensive factory warranty that is bound to assure a stress-free ownership experience. Yes, Toyota boasts of outstanding reliability in general, but having the additional safety of a factory warranty isn’t something that can be negated entirely.
There might also be certain pre-owned Toyota’s out there that either has a small chunk of time remaining on their factory warranty or have a third party coverage paid for, but we do believe that a full duration factory warranty is definitely the preferred choice and would provide for a better ownership experience.
Maintenance costs
As is the case with used cars in general, even with a bulletproof used Toyota, one must have sufficient funds set aside for unforeseen repairs when opting for pre-owned vehicles as opposed to new vehicles. Although you do save a decent chunk of change when going the pre-owned route instead of buying a new Toyota, one has to realize that vehicles are machines after all that operate under stressful conditions, which take a toll on perishable parts.
Vehicles that have north of 6 digit mileage would more or less not feel as tight and comfy to drive like a brand new one simply due to the age of components, especially on the suspension front, which could warrant repairs and later down the road. Since a new vehicle has no age on its consumable and perishable parts unless you have a catastrophic failure due to a manufacturing defect/user error.
There is little to no chance of the brand new vehicle causing you a headache in terms of regular maintenance. It is also to be noted that on many newer Toyotas, the oil change intervals have also been increased due to a more efficient powertrain setup which further brings down maintenance costs.
Safety
As time moves on, auto manufacturers are putting in their best efforts to make their upcoming products leaps and bounds safer than their predecessors, and if we are to go by the NHTSA and IIHS, most of them are succeeding. Toyota is one such car manufacturer that has started to take safety very seriously in the past couple of years and introduced safety tech in the form of Toyota Safety Sense iterations that are mostly standard on newer models making them drastically safer than what they once used to be.
It is not just the active safety features onboard that have brought about this dramatic leap but also modern innovations in the process of manufacturing and material selection that has made modern vehicles more stable and better at energy dissipation in the event of a crash. Safety, therefore, is one such aspect where the pre-owned vehicles suffer a categorical “L” since the brand-new vehicles at your nearest dealership will always offer the latest and the greatest in terms of safe motoring.
