Purchase from dealer lot or order new Tacoma?

I tried to order a 4runner once. I put a $1000 down on a purchase order , made sure model and trim were correct etc. About a month later of my 3 month wait for the 4 runner to come in and scum bag dealer calls and says we cant honor that price on the purchase order and we need to renegotiate. I told the dealer to have my deposit ready to be picked up after work . I went somewhere else they took great care of me and got me the truck I wanted for the price I was ready to pay. Long story short be ready for shady dealership games like this one at Burdick Toyota in central NY. Complete scum

 

Back in the day when stationed overseas you could order automobiles from AAFES's BX/PX and have them delivered to dealers of your choice. I don't know if they still do this or if it's limited to certain bases but may be worth looking into.

 

You can get what you want as long as Toyota offers the configuration. You can't get something like an SR Access Cab V6 with MT and Rear Locker.

 

^^^ this and use cargurus too. I would watch when you are closer to being home.

What I did when I was ready to buy was get the dealership contact info for dealers that listed trucks that were close to what I wanted. I emailed the sales Manager or internet sales Managers at several different locations. Id tell them I was seriously looking to complete the purchase of a truck with in X time (say buy the end of the month) what model, trim, list of colors I would like, and any options, gave a round amount I was ready to put down on it and that I have financing also pre approved. then told them I was sending this inquiry to other area dealerships and to respond with their most competitive offer.

surprisingly that actually worked, the best offer was around 8% off msrp with rebate while others were only $200 OFF.

 

I can dream right?

 

OP thank you for your service and welcome home to you and yours. My contribution is just to let you know what I did on my last new vehicle and that was never saw it until the day I went to purchase. I test drove what was near me and then found what I was looking for on-line and did everything through email and went and got it. Secondly and I'm sure something earth shattering - test drive it, no, I mean test drive it, until your bumm gets numb. Don't be afraid to walk away, they make em everyday like hotcakes. Have fun

 

If you can build on their web site, they CAN make it. The challenge is getting them to.

 

Yeah, well after this dealer's sales person sarcastically told me that, i walked out, and proceeded to try another till finally being advised to try a bigger regional dealership in boston. I recalled my brothers wife telling me the same, its where she ordered her honda. I had zero problems up there, they were great. Got what i wanted, and some extra in a bit over 2 months. Can't understand why the same can't happen here.

 

It seems that high-volume dealers get preferential treatment from Toyota USA corporate AND that the volume of Tacos in their allotment offers a greater chance that one of them can get configured the way you want.

Good luck with your new Taco.

 

I did this in Tacoma, WA with Titus Will Toyota. I had trouble finding a dealer that wanted to work with me on a special order/allocation whatever you want to call it and haggle price, two dealers specifically told me that they could sell the trucks on their lot with less hassle and I could do that or look elsewhere.

I ended up joining Costco for a year long membership just to use their car buying service, they have a military discount. I used that to get the pricing I wanted at Titus-Will, it was something like 500 under invoice, it was a better price than I had luck haggling on my own with trucks on dealer lots. Then the dealer submitted my desired options (Super White 6MT TRDOR DCSB w/ the only option being LED lighting) to Toyota for one of their allocations. It was approved and I had my "special order" truck in about 6 weeks at a price that satisfied me.

 

I was hopeful to do this but unfortunately Military Auto Sales (MAS) doesn't do Toyota in the usual locations. I was told that it is possible in the Pacific Theater, but that is not where I was when trying to go through them.

 

Lots of good information on here. Thanks everyone. After looking through the posts here and on the price thread linked, I decided I’ll be waiting to buy from a lot instead. Gives me a little more time for everything to settle down and hopefully prices go down as well. Thanks again guys

 

Welcome to the board OP -

(I was in your shoes...) Having never seen a 3rd gen Taco before, I identified it as something that would suit out needs - I also liked the MT availability.
I started looking for my Taco from abroad but times were strange...

I tried to identify the Taco I wanted - but there were few to be found... In the end, I ordered just after landing in the USA - mostly because I wanted to actually drive one of these before I purchased...

If you know these trucks, I'd secure the truck in time for your arrival.

If you can find the taco you want, you can close the deal from where you are... You can do better (deal-wise) on existing inventory. High-demand trims and PROs are a bit tougher... but I managed a tiny advantage.
You can also 'order' (find an allocation) for the one you want and then you will reduce your waiting time if it is pending its manufacture.

I lucked out finding the truck I bought with around a month's wait... (found it while doing a random dealer search... and happened to be the first caller.) - it was not my original 'order'...

I 'Ordered' from another dealer when I first landed in the US (with a very large dealer as I thought the odds would be better...) and they are still waiting for their allocated MT LR PRO... -actually, they recently let me know that their 2 month wait was now expected to be as long as 5 or 6 month total... (note I was looking for somewhat of a high demand rare taco too...).

Best of luck!

 

This guy (Kevin Hunter) has some really good YouTube videos regarding car buying tips. I would recommend checking out his various videos.

https://www.youtube.com/c/KevinHunter/videos

 

Right you are basically saying the same thing, they can make you something as long as it's a configuration that they build. I was pointing out you cannot have a truck built to your specs that they don't offer.

 

I never suggested that one can pick & choose individual features that are part of a package or part of a listed option.

Long gone are the days when you could sit down with a sales guy and go thru the little booklet with all of the features and add them to your vehicle.

 

Isn’t end of month, especially end of year, the best time since the dealers have to meet end of month/year sales quotas?

 

I’d wait until you get home and look for a used one. I’m in the military too and can tell you that Tacoma’s are to military guys like Tahoe’s are to soccer moms. If you are a bit flexible you can save a ton of money

 

Thanks for the detailed response. Lots of new information for me and I think I’ll be waiting until the my move date is a little closer and then buy from a dealer. Thanks again

Hey, so they do have a similar program to that, however; they don’t offer any discounts/programs through Toyota.

Awesome, I’ll take a look.

 

something to think about. This is my third new tacoma in a row.
1. Bought a new 97 back in 97. Paid for it, it came in the next day, did all the paperwork, drove off the lot. 2nd gear synchros ground going into second gear until I sold it. The dealer asked me, "we have to rebuild the trans to fix the 2nd gear problem are you positive you want our tech attempting a rebuild rather than just living with it?" He was right, I lived with it, it wasnt bad, but it was there.
2. Bought a new 06 back in 06. Paid for it, they had it delivered the next day, they had traded another dealer for it. It had a light vibration, dealer couldnt fix it. It wasnt tires (I have studded snows also, and with multiple tire changes, always had a light vibration until I sold it).
3. Bought a new 19, took it on 2 back to back test drives (ECT off, then ECT on) before I bought it. This one is good. I will never buy a vehicle again without driving it first.
Also, my buddy bought a new 19 Limited, it vibed from day one, local dealer couldnt fix it, (steering cushion, axles, drums) he sold it. By the way, he test drove 3 other limiteds before he bought his, the other 3 all vibed and all of the salesmen could feel it. He walked from those.
Sounds like you are set on test driving and buying off the lot, good for you!