Community Forums

Hikerdogs · 02-23-2014, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wincrasher

Quite obviously, they take a beating being towed around. Someone buying as a daily driver needs to take that in account. If I was a dealer, I wouldn't touch one unless I could get it super cheap. Probably strip off the hardware and send it to auction.

Now if you can sell as a toad to another RV'r, they may pay a bit more for the setup. RV'rs aren't known for wanting to pay extra for anything, so good luck expecting them to pay full value plus a premium for the setup.

I agree. The towing equipment is generally seen as a negative just like a trailer hitch. Since there's no way of knowing how many additional miles are on the vehicle most customers wouldn't be willing to take the chance.

Trailer hitches are also routinely removed for similar reasons. There's no way to know what the previous owner was towing. It could be something as small as a bicycle carrier or as large as a 5 ton trailer. If it was the latter the life of the transmission could be seriously shortened.

Brockx · 02-23-2014, 06:19 AM

When I was car shopping for a Toad I started out looking for a used vehicle. I avoided looking for cars with towing equipment installed. I felt (still do) buying a used car is risky enough without the tow history. Decided to go new and did not want to modify the vehicle so I went the dolly route, with brakes.

Easyrider · 02-23-2014, 11:08 AM

The goal for car dealers and car buyers is to buy low and sell high. The dealer will use any reason he can to justify paying less for your trade in than you think it's worth and charging more for a vehicle that he's selling than you think it's worth. The buyer will be doing the opposite in order to get the best deal possible. It's all part of the negotiation that happens when purchasing a vehicle. When looking for a vehicle to tow, if I had found one already setup to tow it would have been a plus to me, but I may not have told the dealer that, and tried to use that information for a better price instead for the vehicle. All's fair in love and war- and car dealing too!

MRUSA14 · 02-23-2014, 11:16 AM

Of course it devalues the car, UNLESS the buyer is looking for a toad. For anyone else, it is an unknown at best, and a serious fault at worst.

ANY mechanical modifications generally devalue a car, unless they are a mod the the buyer is specifically interested in. For example, a racing clutch. Great if you are a racer, definitely bad if you are not.