l008com
Member
I've been wanting to upgrade from my Trailblazer for a while now, but these prices are off the charts!
Ok so in 2016, I bought an 8 year old Trailblazer for $9500. It was a short wheelbase V8 in excellent condition. Really nice. The miles were a little high at 110,000, but I drive well below the average so high milage turns into low milage fast with me.
So here we are, 2026. I still have it, and I want something newer. The closest match to a Trailblazer is a toyota 4runner. So how much does an 8 year old 4Runner with similar miles cost these days? $9500? $15000, because it has a huge "toyota premium" added to the price?
Nope, typical costs for an 8 year old 4runner are $25,000 or more. For lower trim levels, just regular 4runners! I just drove an 8 year old trailblazer until it was 18 years old. You can't convince me that a toyota premium is worth a 300% price increase. I'm certain 4runners are more reliable, but not THAT much more.
Jeep grand cherokees aren't AS bad, 8 years old and over 100k usually goes for around $20,000 with those.
Its enough to make you think used SUVs aren't worth it and you should just go new. But then you see that a base model SR5 with just 4x4 as the only option, is $48,000.
Maybe I should buy a beater pickup as a haul truck, and go back to driving sports cars. My RX8s and Camaros were downright cheap compared to modern body on frame SUVs.
Where's a modernized Blazer ZR2 when you need one
Also while this is just a rant post, if you have any thoughts on what I should do, let me know. In an ideal world, I'd get a TRD Off Road 4runner and I think that would be a very good vehicle for me. MSRP $55,000. So thats out. All front-wheel drive based 'car' SUVs are also out. The basically leaves the GC, the 4runner and the Bronco. I hate fords in general and I'm not a big fan of the bronco specifically. Its painfully ugly. Leaf springs? You can get it in a manual though so it has that going for it. But like the Wrangler, poor towing capacity.
Wrangler is actually an option I've been thinking about. As horrible as they are to drive, I drive so little these days, maybe I can just get the best wrnagler $15k-$20k can get me, and drive that for a few years. I can take the roof off, thats a bonus in the summer. Cargo capacity is garbage, towing capacity is garbage, ride is garbage. But the ride in my trailblazer is going to be pretty bad too once the rusty frame snaps in half.
Ok so in 2016, I bought an 8 year old Trailblazer for $9500. It was a short wheelbase V8 in excellent condition. Really nice. The miles were a little high at 110,000, but I drive well below the average so high milage turns into low milage fast with me.
So here we are, 2026. I still have it, and I want something newer. The closest match to a Trailblazer is a toyota 4runner. So how much does an 8 year old 4Runner with similar miles cost these days? $9500? $15000, because it has a huge "toyota premium" added to the price?
Nope, typical costs for an 8 year old 4runner are $25,000 or more. For lower trim levels, just regular 4runners! I just drove an 8 year old trailblazer until it was 18 years old. You can't convince me that a toyota premium is worth a 300% price increase. I'm certain 4runners are more reliable, but not THAT much more.
Jeep grand cherokees aren't AS bad, 8 years old and over 100k usually goes for around $20,000 with those.
Its enough to make you think used SUVs aren't worth it and you should just go new. But then you see that a base model SR5 with just 4x4 as the only option, is $48,000.
Maybe I should buy a beater pickup as a haul truck, and go back to driving sports cars. My RX8s and Camaros were downright cheap compared to modern body on frame SUVs.
Where's a modernized Blazer ZR2 when you need one
Also while this is just a rant post, if you have any thoughts on what I should do, let me know. In an ideal world, I'd get a TRD Off Road 4runner and I think that would be a very good vehicle for me. MSRP $55,000. So thats out. All front-wheel drive based 'car' SUVs are also out. The basically leaves the GC, the 4runner and the Bronco. I hate fords in general and I'm not a big fan of the bronco specifically. Its painfully ugly. Leaf springs? You can get it in a manual though so it has that going for it. But like the Wrangler, poor towing capacity.
Wrangler is actually an option I've been thinking about. As horrible as they are to drive, I drive so little these days, maybe I can just get the best wrnagler $15k-$20k can get me, and drive that for a few years. I can take the roof off, thats a bonus in the summer. Cargo capacity is garbage, towing capacity is garbage, ride is garbage. But the ride in my trailblazer is going to be pretty bad too once the rusty frame snaps in half.
