“Unless I win the lottery I’ll NEVER buy new.”
A Toyota salesman’s argument for buying used trucks over new has breathed new life into an age-old automotive debate: Are second-hand trucks a warranty-and-service black hole or the industry’s best-kept secret?
Kaden Rogers’ (@keyswithkaden) bio for his two-month-old YouTube channel says that he’s “New at Dublin Toyota” in Dublin, California, and that he is “learning fast, selling honest, and having fun doing it.”
He recently posted a video promoting a 2025 Tundra Limited. He says the Tundra is barely used and illustrates the principle that sometimes-used is even better than new.
The video begins with Kaden speaking to the camera, telling viewers he wanted to show “why sometimes purchasing used, especially with trucks, is the way to go.”
His example is a silver 2025 Tundra Limited on the lot, which, in the video, he said has only 6,000 miles. (In comments, however, he later clarified that the true figure was 6,600 miles). The truck qualifies for Toyota’s Gold Certification warranty, and in effect, the coverage is better than new.
“Warranty on this one is seven years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. That’s also the same for the roadside assistance,” Rogers explains. “And that’s huge because this car only has 6,000 miles on it, and the manufacturer’s warranty is, I think, it’s five years, 60,000 miles.”
The math checks out. Toyota’s official certified pre-owned program confirms that Gold Certification provides seven years or 100,000 miles of powertrain warranty coverage along with matching roadside assistance. A new 2025 Tundra comes with Toyota’s standard powertrain warranty, which covers five years or 60,000 miles.
That means the certified pre-owned program delivers two additional years and 40,000 extra miles of coverage, all while losing only 6,600 miles of useful life.
“So there’s kind of a cheat code here in this unicorn of this Tundra,” Rogers says.
Beyond the extended warranty, Rogers points out the truck’s high-trim features.
“Here, I’ve got a 2025 Limited, which is basically one of the highest trim levels for trucks you can get. You’re going to have the leather seats; you’re going to have the heated seats, which is sometimes hard to get on these Tundras,” he says.
Rogers doesn’t mention the price in the video, but commenters were quick to fill in that blank, and some weren’t pleased.
“56k for a used trk! no thanks,” wrote Gabriel Garibay.
Another user sarcastically quipped, “OMG!! Heated leather seats for $55k! If I didn’t know better I’d say you were a used car salesman.”
Even with 6,600 miles on the odometer, a 2025 Tundra Limited in certified condition commands a premium price. Some buyers might conclude that they’re better off buying new at a relatively small premium.
Not all, though. One user defended the used-over-new principle, posting, “Unless I win the lottery, I’ll NEVER buy new. Lose 10-20K soon as you leave the lot.”
Some commenters had model-specific angst about the truck’s powertrain, and others wondered why the first owner had jettisoned it so quickly.
The 2025 Tundra is equipped with Toyota’s 3.4-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine, which, according to Toyota’s publicity materials, replaced the naturally aspirated V8 that powered previous Tundras.
“Too bad the engine is crap. I miss the Toyota V8,” wrote Bammer556. HTX added, “Stay away, the truck has an engine problem.”
These concerns didn’t come out of thin air. Toyota has recalled over 127,000 Tundras and Lexus vehicles equipped with the 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 due to manufacturing faults. The recalls affected 2022-2024 model-year vehicles, and Toyota has been replacing the engines.
Lucastorrez81 claimed to have witnessed the results of this engine apocalypse, posting, “Sorry, I disagree. Just bought a 2020 with the 5.8. While at the dealership, there were wooden crates with replacement engines. Stay away from 22-26.” He even posted a photo, which he claimed showed replacement engines in crates at a dealership.
Rogers’s response leaned on the certification: “If it had an engine issue, there isn’t any chance we would have a gold certified plan on it.” In another reply, he wrote, “We will never certify a truck that has even the slightest known potential to break down!”
Is Rogers right to say that certified pre-owned vehicles are a better value than new ones?
In this case, the extended warranty coverage is superior to what comes with a new truck. Again, the buyer would, in effect, get an additional two years and 40,000 miles of coverage while giving up only 6,600 miles of the vehicle’s lifespan.
But a lot depends on pricing. If the certified pre-owned truck costs nearly as much as a new one—as commenters complained it might—then the buyer is paying almost full price for a slightly used vehicle, with the extended warranty as the only sweetener. Certified pre-owned vehicles typically offer lower prices than new, but the discount varies based on a range of factors, including market conditions, mileage, and demand.
We might also be tempted to ask why the previous owner traded or sold a near-new truck with only 6,600 miles on the odometer. While Rogers presents this as a “unicorn” opportunity, some might see it as a red flag.
Low-mileage vehicles can enter the used market for several reasons that may not always be ideal. They may be ex-fleet vehicles, demo models used for test drives, loaner cars from service departments, manufacturer program cars driven by employees, or even manufacturer buybacks. Demo and loaner vehicles, for example, might be well-maintained but have seen harder use than their mileage suggests.
Rogers concludes his video with optimism about the truck’s prospects: “I know this thing’s super nice, and I’m definitely going to start pushing out outreach on this Tundra because these Limiteds are actually really hard to get in good condition used.”
Toyota’s Gold Certification requires vehicles to pass a 160-point quality assurance inspection. Given that these inspections are carried out rigorously, Rogers’s broader point that certified pre-owned vehicles can sometimes offer better warranty coverage than new ones might be worth considering for value-minded truck shoppers.
Motor1 reached out to Rogers via TikTok direct message. This story will be updated if he responds.
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