10 Used Cars To Consider Before Buying New

1. Toyota Tacoma
Trim: Double Cab PreRunner 4D 5 foot pickup
Original MSRP: $18,820
KBB private party value: $8,250
Retained value 43.8%

The Tacoma has taken Kelley Blue Book's best resale value award 10 times for one big reason: You can beat the hell out of it and it'll come back for more.

Durability is a big deal in the Tacoma's world, where car buyers who don't feel they need all the size and strength of a Ford F-Series or Chevy Silverado are drawn to its off-road agility, flexible cargo options and easy handling. This base model, for example, came with a 2.7-liter engine with a scant 150 horsepower and gluttonous 17 miles per gallon fuel efficiency.

The double cab has room for a family of four, though, and the 2003 upgraded antilock brakes to a standard feature and added child restraint system anchors to the back seats. There's plenty of bed space in back for light-duty hauling, but there's also plenty of room to lug family during moves and vacations, and those family budgets are where the Tacoma's real value lies.

-- Written by Jason Notte in Portland, Ore.

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Jason Notte is a reporter for TheStreet. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Esquire.com, Time Out New York, the Boston Herald, the Boston Phoenix, the Metro newspaper and the Colorado Springs Independent. He previously served as the political and global affairs editor for Metro U.S., layout editor for Boston Now, assistant news editor for the Herald News of West Paterson, N.J., editor of Go Out! Magazine in Hoboken, N.J., and copy editor and lifestyle editor at the Jersey Journal in Jersey City, N.J.

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