rajapavin

Hi Folks,

I'm considering trading in a 08 GX for a hybrid, its not the gas prices that has me concerned so much, but the resale value of the vehicle (I own the vehicle, no lease).

Does anyone have any recent trade in stories? What kind of drop in value are we seeing on the GX? Is it much more than expected? I went to kelly blue book (kbb.com) and it looks like the resale (trade in value) for a fully loaded GX has dropped, but I have no way to compare this to before..

This is my second GX so I knew I was taking a chance, but if the depreciation is accelerating substaintially, I want to deal with this sooner rather than later and trade out.. Any thoughts?

Thanks

R

The G Man

You will be crazy to trade in a 08 GX, you will lose 5 to 10 thousand right off the bat. How many gallons of gas you need to save to make up the diff. Let see, that would be 2500 gallons.
I traded in my GX 6 months ago. I sat in the lot for 4 months B 4 it sold. The price went down about $3000 from the original asking price. When I traded in my GX the dealer had 6 used GX, I just check their website, they now have 12. So you are not alone in your thing.
I would say if you take that KBB trade in value and subtract another $2000 to $3000 due to lack of demand, you are pretty close to the real trade in value.

GatorGreg

I agree with GMan, be prepared to take a BIG bath when trading in ANY suv these days because of economy / gas prices. And trading in virtually ANY one year old car will only exascerbate the problem because of the immediate depreciation hit you take when you drive a new vehicle off the lot.

GX sales were down 46.8% for July '08 compared to July '07, so most dealers have tons of brand new GX's gathering dust on their lot. And if you take a look at the sales data for Toyota/Lexus ( http://pressroom.toyota.com/Releases...T2008080117514 ) you'll see that sales of EVERY vehicle are way down, not just SUVs. The only exception was the newly redesigned Corolla, Sequoia, TLC, and LX - which in the case of those 3 SUVs is obviously just a brief anomaly. I noticed at my local dealer that they have at least a half dozen LX570s which used to sell like hotcakes sitting on their lot and offering $4K off MSRP already - so I think the honeymoon is already over for the new LX.

Anyway, I'm not trying to depress you but just prepare yourself for some bad news.

Salvator

We have always planned to keep ours for the long haul... part of the reason we bought a Lexus / Toyota vs. my preferred BMW... With routine maintenance, it "should" last forever... we "should" never need to buy an SUV / 4WD / tow vehicle again... Unfortunately, IMO, anyone who owns an SUV now is stuck with it, or has to take a bath... for people who "need" an SUV, its a great time... but most people who "need" and SUV don't need a GX470... Suburban does the job for those people better and cheaper... Lux SUV gets hit with a double whammy...

If you truly want to downsize, sell it now, but be happy with what you get... I doubt it's ever going to become "in demand" again... alternately, drive it less...

croatone

The hit you would take by selling it now would be a terrible idea. Why are you worried about resale value. Do you change vehicles every year. You should have bought a used one then. You dont lose money on something until you sell it. Resale is great on these and I would not worry. Look at used grand cherokees and commanders. Half price and only 2 years old. Watch. In the future people will pay a premium for a real truck instead of an egg mobile. V8 suvs are a breed on the verge of change.

The G Man

I agree, in the future, people will pay premium for a real truck because they will be making very few of them. Gas price will take the big trucks off the market for the middle class family.

steevr

Take the $8,000 you would lose on trading in your GX and use it as a down payment on a Prius. Use the money from the gas you save each month to help make the Prius payment. Yes the GX is depreciating a bit faster now, but it's not like it's going to be worth $5,000 in 3 years.

When the gas prices went crazy, my wife was not willing to give up her GX. She did however, start getting tired of putting in $75 in gas every 3 days. Hence we added a Prius to our driveway. She drives it to work and still has her GX for carpooling and hauling duty.

If you're worried about depreciation, either lease your next vehicle or buy something less expensive. Example....you can buy a new Civic or Corolla every 3 years and it will cost you less than $10,000 to get a new one. You lost almost that the day you drove your GX off the lot.

Food for thought.