Truck Delivery ETA

Hello, awesome community,

Just would like to know your thoughts on how real is the ETA the dealership gives to the customer about their new truck arrival date?

We live in Vancouver - Canada. Left deposit mid-may for a 2020 TRD 4x4 Sport Premium Barcelona Red. The dealer mentioned that since Toyota factory in Texas was reopening, the truck should arrive between August 7 to 13. Since then, the ETA changed as below:

ETA's - Status
July 20 to 24 - In Production
July 22 to 26 - In Transit
July 23 to 25 - At Yard Processing

Also, so far, the dealer mentioned no VIN number was available in the system yet by Toyota, what personally I think is odd, but who knows. Shouldn't the VIN be available already?

Really appreciate your inputs.

 

If it’s built they should have a VIN.

 

Dealers can’t order vehicles for customers which is why you have no signed purchase and sales contract with a vin attached. What they can do is take a deposit on a vehicle that Toyota has allocated to them... As to whether they get that actual vehicle or not it’s totally up to Toyota. So you should never give a deposit to a dealer without a vin because that deposit guarantees you absolutely nothing.

 

I ordered my truck on June 29th and it arrived this past Saturday. I don't pick it up until the 1st of August. I have to drive down to Orlando to get it from my friends dealership.

 

How real was the ETA provided by then compared with the actual delivery date? Did it got stuck in "At Yard - Processing" for a long time?

 

It was almost 2 weeks early as it was supposed to arrive on the 28th of July.

 

That's what I've heard. Toyota doesn't build custom orders like Ford and Chevrolet. They build the trucks they want to build based various factors (logistics, demand, parts, production lines, etc.). The thing on their website, where you can "build" a truck is just a glorified search engine for vehicles that are currently available / in production. If the configurator lets you pick "Red" then that's 'cause they haven't sold out of red trucks yet. However, sometimes the configurator won't allow you to make a V6 4x4 in Blue, because the only only Blue trucks they have set to be built are i4 or 2wd... and they're not about to source an extra couple gallons of paint just because some guy in America prefers it.

Of course, none of this helps you with the delivery eta...

 

The actual VIN isn't assigned until the vehicle hits the production line. The dealer's system will update with the actual VIN sometime after that. Right now, they have a pre-production VIN. They could actually give you that now and you could look it up in the system - it will just show basic configuration. Once the vehicle is produced that number is no longer in the system - it is replaced by your VIN.

My transit times were very accurate - although the vehicle went into production about 5 days early so they were adjusted back from what I'd originally expected. The dealership can also track the progress - and can share that with you if they want. Mine took screenshots and texted them to me. This was one I got a few days before it got to the dealership late on February 3rd.



The good news is that it won't be too long now!!

 

Yea, hopefully not. My dealer always sent screenshots of the actual status. Considering this one is "At Yard - Processing", I would assume it arrives at the Port already and hopefully be with us in a few days. But by your explanation, it should have a VIN already.

 

Worked in the business for about 7 years. Orders aren't an exact science, dealerships can request a preference for a certain vehicle type and then when the manufacturer allocates inventory, hopefully they get it during that round, or another dealership is allocated one that they can trade for before the status changes and can get it shipped directly to your dealership. Eta is very variable.
Not a perfect system/science...good luck getting your truck though!

 

If it has been produced it has a VIN.

 

My girl was a allocation swap with a dealer in CA, I am in PA. I was told Production was Thanksgiving Day. She was built 3 days early, and sat at yard before she was put on the train to Baltimore, and she was in port for about 5 days or so then , she was trucked to the dealership. The day I called about update I called at about 10:00 AM and was told she was still in port, then at 12:00 Noon, I got the call that she hit the ground at the dealership!! and I went to see her. Times can be off tracking times are approximate. You should have final VIN After initial is built.