Best 4WD to sell after three months?

Thanks, John.

Troopy is definitely on the list. Would tick a lot of boxes for me, especially because I could sleep in the back and wouldn't have to muck around with an RTT and the like.

Just can't judge how well it would sell after I'm done with it - it always seemed to me as a more exotic vehicle in the urban centers where the biggest markets are.

When you said get an older one - what are you thinking? What type of engine and how old?

Thanks, mate.

PS: Looked at your setup. Love it! But you're right - wouldn't have the time to do something like it!

Dex,

Ours is an old petrol one, which has a couple of major advantages - If he dies, it isn't a great loss (maybe a couple of thousand $$$) ; he has NO electronic smarts to go wrong - we even carry the full workshop manuals, and they are simple enough for us to rebuild the vehicle starting with just a set of bits! (My wife and I actually did have to do a major engine repair on one occasion when remote.) I realise that's not what you are after, but it does make for a cheap vehicle, and simplicity does have attractions. If you could find a Troopy (preferably diesel, but petrol is fine) at a reasonable price I doubt that you will lose anything like the cost of hiring when you put it back on the market.

If I was in your position I'd be inclined to look for a vehicle of Troopy class with less than (say) 250,000 km and preferably 15+ years experience. The mileage and age will push the buy price down and you can then depreciate from that lower price. Insurance will be lower, so too you resale price, but overall you are dealing with smaller $$$, including lower overall cost of ownership. Beware of overworked or accident damaged vehicles, otherwise an older quality vehicle looks good to me.

Cheers

John

Des,

Worth a look through the Exploroz Classifieds - eg, there's a 20 yo petrol Troopy there with less than 300k km on the clock for less than $10k. Something like that would provide you cheaply with wheels and 3 months accommodation and is unlikely to drop a lot in value - might even be worth talking to the seller about a 3 month hire?

Cheers

John

Thanks, Jon. I'll definitely have a look.

Thanks for your input, mate!

So do you reckon the 2000-2005 models are sought after and would sell easily?

I'm a bit worried because they're obviously more than 10 years old and would probably have high kms...

Mind you - agree with the above - get a Tojo (Landcruiser or Pajero) if you want to turn it around - or a Nissan. LR's can be good vehicles, however it's a more selective market.

The other option may be to get a burner ..... Great Wall for under $10k ?? You won't get much for resale however you wont pay much up front either....

G'day Scott,

Yeah, that might be the problem. I'm not sure if my friends would be comfortable handling the sale - haven't asked them yet tbh.

Preferred scenario would be to sell it before I leave, but I realise that may be difficult. Hence the question.

I'm prepared to lose some depreciation on the car as a rental car for the time frame is >$10k. I'd need to compare it to the following when buying and selling my own:

- Stamp duty for purchase: $1-2k
- Insurance: ~$1.5k
- Maintenance: ~$2.5k
- Depreciation: $???

So there is a bit of a margin for depreciation to break even vs. a hire car, but obviously the less the better...

Not sure if I'd be comfortable with the Great Wall choice. Prefer a more conservative choice...

Thanks for your input though!

Dex, wasn't really that serious about the Great Wall, however you can pick up a 2nd hand normally aspirated Deisel 80 series for around the $10k mark .... not the fastest, however their built like the proverbial and reliable as ... would not have too much trouble selling one either.

The other thing to consider is your camping set up. Are you going to tent, tow a trailer, have a Roof Top or live in the vehicle? Some vehicle are better for towing whereas a troopy can be set up to live in the vehicle. High centre of gravity might put some people off a RTT. Horses for courses....

Agree with the depreciation route - rental for 3 months would be a killer and you don't see any of it back.

Yeah, the 80 series might be a good pick. They're quite old now obviously, but you seem to think they would still sell easily?

Re: camping setup - I'm prepared to compromise here in favor of getting a vehicle that's easy to sell. I won't be towing a trailer, but RTT, normal tents and sleeping in the vehicle are all options.

If I had my way, I'd choose to sleep in the vehicle, with a tent or an awning annex as a secondary option for those hot and humid nights / locations.

Land cruisers require plenty of maintenance and there are plenty around that get driven and sold without any. My opinion is your loss exposure is very high unless you are a mechanic or are buying something which has a known past or you have a thorough mechanical check done on it. I'd be tempted to tie up more money in the initial purchase price to get something just in or out of warranty with a known service history and lower kms. If you are forced to spend good money to get an older vehicle up to speed, or it breaks down on you, you are never going to get it back. You haven't stated a budget though, so this is all a bit loose.

Thanks, gbc!

I don't really have a budget for the car. I saved up a sizeable deposit for a house, so I can spend a fair bit on the car if it makes sense.

But that's my question exactly - what is the right approach here so that I recoup my investment easily and with little risk.

Of course, it 'feels' better to only spend $10-15k on a car - but as you say, how reliable is the car and is there a risk I might lose all of it? And how easy will it be to sell something like that?

Or should I spend $40k or more, get something a lot newer and hope that I can sell it for $3-4k less in three months time?

Would I have a harder time selling a low priced car vs. a newer one? Does it even matter?

Dex, an experienced car salesman told me many years ago, that a figure of $10,000 was the psychological "killing point" for many sales.

His rationale was that a loan of $10,000 was the limit for many buyers (who had lots of other committments) - and if a car was for sale aat $11,000, it would kill the deal.

I think that magic 5 figure sum is probably a figure that can be adjusted up for today's values - but $15,000 to $20,000 is still a major limit area for many used car buyers.

When a used vehicle gets over $20,000 (unless it was a particularly highly priced vehicle to start with), then many people will start to look at a smaller new vehicle.
The new vehicle comes with a sizeable warranty and finance is usually easier to get on a new vehicle.

In fact, ability to get finance is usually the sticking point in any sale.
For this reason, most car yards and dealers will not touch vehicles over 12 yrs old. It's nearly impossible to finance them.
Finance houses see vehicles older than 12 yrs as a liability they can't sell, if they get repossessed.

So on that basis, the newer your vehicle, the better the chance the potential buyer has of getting finance on it.
There are very few people who have the "readies" to pay the full amount in cash or bank transfer for a vehicle over $20,000.
They nearly all need to finance the whole amount or a sizeable portion of it.

Thus, the auction house idea works better when you need to part with a vehicle, as they will take care of the finance angle and you don't end up with buyer after buyer saying, "Oh, darn, I love your car, and I really want it - but I can't get finance on it!".

Cheers, Ron.

That's a great idea, Ron - I'll check with the auction houses here in Melbourne and check what their conditions are for private listings.

This could work out quite well because they would obviously handle the process and I wouldn't even need to be here!

Thanks for your reply, mate.

I did check some rental outifts and it was still well above $10k for the three months. The other thing that put me off was that:

a) typically you can only travel certain routes and you need to get permission before you do (so there's limited flexibility)

b) Many tracks (even fairly mild ones) are off limits

c) You have to add another $25 per day or so to reduce the excess from $5,000 to below $1,000

I haven't checked this particular website though - maybe they can hook me up with a company that has better terms.

Thanks for the link!

Dex, if you do go down the rental path, NEVER EVER get the excess removal from the rental company.

Get travel insurance and make sure it has the same or higher excess value as the vehicle you are renting. It will cost a couple of hundred for 3 months instead of $25 per day. The only downside is that you may have to take a hit on your credit card for a few weeks if the insurance company processing is slower than the rental car processing if you have an accident.

Dex, given your time-frame - short answer .... Yes. The moment you install new kit you're effectively at least halving the re-sale price straight away unless it's unused - even then you'll take a hit. Some kit holds its value, mainly due to it being desirable and not much on the 2nd hand market - quality fridges fall into this category and some high end camper trailers, but most 4wd kit will shed $$$ like the Greek stock-market once 2nd hand.

There's possibly two ways of avoiding this, viz:

1. buy 2nd hand kit - however you need time and patience

2. look at buying a older vehicle with some of the kit on it. It's not unusable to find older vehicles (like 80 series and early 70 series) with all the lollies (winches / dual tanks and battery systems / roof racks / bull-bars etc.) left on to make them more attractive for resale or they're not upward compatible for the next vehicle.

Dex, example of what you can get with all the fruit from a search on carsales....

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Toyota-Landcruiser-1996/SSE-AD-3550206/?Cr=1

actually, not a bad bit of kit that one.

looking at it - Turbo Deisel with all the trimmings & extras - you'd easily get over $20k after your trip on resale....

Hey Scott,

Thanks for taking the time to look through carsales.

It sure looks like a very well set up vehicle. What do you think about the price though? I'm just amazed that a 20 year old vehicle with $360k could fetch $25k.

Will it be easy to resell?

In contrast, I found something like this:
http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Nissan-Patrol-2011/OAG-AD-5458738/?Cr=4

Of course, it's not a Toyota, but it's a lot newer and with considerably less kms - but also has most of the important modifications on it.

What would be easier to resell?

Dex, I was really using it as an example of what can be found with the goodies on it. Personally, given the mileage, I would probably offer less ($2-3k), however the turbo models are more popular than non-turbo models. I suspect the asking price is because of all the 'extras' on it. What you need to ask is how many of things are 'essential' for your trip. Certainly Long range fuel tanks, water capacity, bull-bar etc. would be desirable for most 4wd enthusiasts - whether you would use the winch is debatable.

Nothing wrong the Nissan. It has less goodies, however keep in mind any $$ you spend on mods you are not likely to get much back on resale. Most owners who spend money on expensive mods/kits are usualy looking to get value back over a longer term ( 3 or more years) - so your 3 month timeframe leaves you somewhat exposed on this front. Best thing to decide is what is essential and what is not. For example:
- is additional water capacity essential (most would say yes) and can you live with jerries or is some other arrangement preferable?
- do you really need a winch or certain recovery gear?
- what's your preferred sleeping arrangement?



The real secret here is to do your research - pick a few models you like (70 / 80 / GQ etc.) that you like and follow the prices on carsales and see what sells quickly and what doesn't. gbc's advice that newer models sell quicker and lose less is possibly/probably true ....

Asking $24.500 for a 20 year old cruiser even if it is " just run in " is not a recipe for a quick sale. Definitely an enthusiasts only prospect for a sale.