This is a clear indication that used car prices are insanely high at the moment.
“I’m going buy this truck for 12 grand!”
This was me just hours ago. It was not surprising that this 1998 Toyota Tacoma XtraCab with four wheel-drive, a well-chosen manual transmission, 64,000 mile on the odometer and a post Marty McFly era Sunroof would fetch big at a Carmax dealer auction.
Surprisingly, it was! Surprisingly, over 200 dealers were able to bid on the item. Your author was outbid by the auctioneer within 15 seconds of the $6,000 opening price. My hopes were quickly crushed by a bidding war. I saw this well-maintained Toyota Tacoma go on sale for $17,000.
A bigger surprise? To make a profit, the winning dealer will need to sell it at a higher price.
Carmax sells over 12,000 trade ins per week. They get many unique and valuable cars when they aren’t sledding out less desirable used cars to independent dealers like your Grandma’s Grand Marquis who hibernates outside, or your neighbor’s 15 year-old Impala with a bad transmission.
Everything crosses the block, from the yellow-striped 2021 Lamborghini Huracana that covered 1,616 mi to this six-cylinder Toyota Tacoma 1998 with all the right options, to the yellow-striped Toyota Tacoma with exactly the right options. This Toyota Tacoma, in four-wheel drive form, was just a Limited trim away being Toyota’s top-of the-line compact truck of a decade ago.
It is rare to find a small truck loaded. Compact trucks have been mostly replaced by full-sized, super-sized trucks over the past 20 years. A young demographic and this combination means that future classics like the Tacoma have very little competition in the low-mileage sweepstakes.
The 1998 Toyota Tacoma was able to get back approximately 90% of its MSRP today.
Only two trucks have remained on the American compact truck market for 23 years, the Nissan Frontier or the Toyota Tacoma.
Toyota was able to gain a significant advantage in annual sales thanks to a coolant leak problem in the 2005 – 2007 Nissan Frontier.
Toyota’s legendary quality was hard to beat even in the 1990s. Even base models were subject to price premiums. In 1996, my neighbor purchased a base model Ford Ranger for $13,000. This was approximately $2,000 more than the comparable Chevrolet S-10.
He sold the exact same truck, with 328,000 miles, for $3,000. Original engine. Original engine. Original transmission.
The odometer was probably replaced by the seller after the sale, not because it was damaged. Older Toyota models are more prone to odometer rollbacks when they are shipped overseas.
Few make it to the auctions. They travel all the way to developing countries and are shipped in freight containers.
It was sold at $17,000 It also included the Carmax auction purchase fee. Plus transportation cost. It may also need reconditioning or minor repairs.
The original MSRP for this 1998 Toyota Tacoma was approximately 90% today. It is likely that it will sell for at least $20,000 when it does.