Ordering new Tacoma -Dealer BS or Reality ?

Toyota hikes profit forecast 54%, shrugs off global chip supply issues | Reuters

Toyota is one of the few Manufacturers that actually planned ahead and has a chip surplus.

 

White and silver are two of the most popular colors among all makes of vehicles.

 

So true, I tried to buy a RWD SR5 in Wisconsin, pretty much impossible.

 

It's weird, what seems to be reality isn't when it comes to color choices - it's easy to think Cavalry, Quicksand, AG, etc are favorites, if you troll around on forums, but reality is much different.

I had a dealer tell me the hardest color Tacoma for them to move was Quicksand. I thought it was odd, because it _seems_ so popular when you look around on forums, or when you consider all of the veterans coming out of the 2 wars, you'd think this color would be ultra popular, apparently it isn't.

 

They actually cancelled Quicksand for the Tacoma too.

 

Probably a niche market of buyers, I still love it. It was my color of choice until I saw Cavalry.

 

Hard to say. I went to 2 local dealers to buy an sr5 v6 auto access cab in quicksand....neither had one, nor were they really interested in doing an order. They wanted me to accept something off their lot or work out something close from another dealer they do trades with. I wouldn't accept that. Well, the last dealer recommended me going to a larger regional dealer in boston to order the truck, and see what they would do, which i ended up doing, and got it all done over the phone, and fax with absolutely no issues. It was my first time ordering a toyota vehicle to.

 

Hmm, I don't seem to think that from the forums at all. I think I see more white, black, and cement than anything on here. Which makes sense, the niche colors (blues, tans, greens, etc) are rarely the most common colors. Even if someone loves a niche color, often people are afraid of having a bold/different color. I got compliments on my voodoo blue with gold wheels all the time, more so than even when I had my Raptor (by orders of magnitude more) but I also had tons of people say they'd never dare to own a vehicle that was that bold.

 

My experience was 4-5 years ago, so YMMV:
- I had a 3-6 month buy back window from VW so time was on my side but I had very specific wants (Quicksand TRD-OR, 6spd manual, tow package, floor mats and NOTHING else). I checked every dealer within 1,000 miles no-one had one in stock or really jumped to try and find one. The unspoken tone was every Tacoma they get sells relatively fast.

1. Local medium size dealer, I had done business with in the past: Said yes, but then just pushed hard to buy off the lot (They had nothing even close). I walked.
2. ^ called me back said they could get what I wanted, I went back; what they offered had 2 thousand in add ons I didn't want, would be the same 3-6 month wait and would be full MSRP +fees and no rebates since it was not in stock. (I walked; another 2 hours wasted)
3. The 3 largest Toyota dealers within 100 miles: same exact story as above
4. Found 1 or 2 within 200 miles that said they could get exactly what I wanted in about 16 weeks or so, but very high price, no negotiations, no rebates
5. Referral from this forum. smaller dealer 4 hours from me; about an hour outside Richmond: 1 email and 1 short phone call: Fleet sales guy said sure (They even said I could order something non-spec if I wanted (Like an OR with no tow package or no rear bumper at all): Invoice +$400 minus $800 in Toyota rebates: $500 cash down and 3-6 month wait. I signed and gave him cash deposit next day. Truck came in at exactly 16 weeks. In and out in <90 minutes (They even took a 30 day iou for the $23k I was waiting for from VW and matched by credit union for financing the rest).

Bottom line: expect to shop around, find a fleet/internet guy who just cranks out sales for a standard commission; make it easy for them to sell it to you. Give them specs and a number. Be ready to close immediately and be prepared to wait.

 

My daughter was looking for a lower end Rav4 last fall: I think 80%+ of all small SUVs on the lots were white, black, silver or grey. Not sure if that is why you see so many on the road because that is what they are making, or if they are making them in that proportion because that is what sells (quickly)? There was exactly one blue base model RAV4 within 2,000 miles of DC (It was in PA).

 

When I was picking up my truck at the end of Feb, the fleet manager I was working with said production was delayed. :dunno:

 

One local dealer i went to had 3 models in quicksand a double cab short bed, a double bed long cab trd, and a double cab sx...2 of them a v6, and a manual v6. They tried hard to sell me one on the lot saying its very rare to ask for an sr5 in that color with an access cab. No one they could find had it. Apparently access cabs alone are hard to get, plus adding an odd color makes it even tougher.

 

I work in logistics; they are messed up world wide, mostly tied to the RONA and secondary effects of the RONA: Ocean is backed up more than a month; regular production factories like auto final assembly lives and dies off just in time inventory. most components and stuff that makes up components moves via ocean tied to long term contracts and very low rates.... They simply do not have that option at the moment and are shifting a-lot to air (Air costs many times more than ocean). Compounding the problem is 2/3rds of air capacity is suspended because of RONA. Medical/Pharma is 2x the normal volumes taking away capacity that could be used for low end cargo like auto parts. trucking is also a mess; rates are up when you can get one and biggest problem; no one will really commit. I believe the final assembly points only have a few days worth of components in the "Shute" so here we are.

FWIW: I am seeing a LOT of emergency air moves, definitely auto related; CRAZY $ (Classic "Shut up and take my money" stuff), no end in sight until at least May. I don't have visibility of Toyota in particular, but some of the BIG guys on the east coast are definitely doing everything they can to get components in (And out)

 

It takes the dealer less than a minute to know where every Toyota for sale in the country is. They type in the specs and they pop right up. Having a “hard time” is BS. As stated they want to sell their inventory first.

 

True and they also know that if you don't buy what they have in stock the next person will.

 

I don't believe it is hard to FIND them, maybe it is just hard to GET them. That is, through whatever swap or negotiation they need to do to actually get the car from one dealership to another. If the car you want is 1000 miles away, does your dealer have a way to get it to you? This has nothing to do with trying to sell what's in inventory first, since there is often no "inventory" to speak of, and they are letting you walk away and wait rather than hard sell you on something they just might happen to have on the lot.

 

these trucks are in such high demand

 

It appears (awaiting confirmation) that there is my spec truck [with some extras like mudflaps]) coming into a dealer 80 miles away, does anyone know where the "distributors" are located for toyota, ie: is a Mass. and NH dealer going thru the same distributor ?

Sad I have never had this hard of a time spending thousands of dollars ;-(

 

I believe distributors are regional and that specific allocations are made for your particular region. They get x number of each model/style per region that are then divvied up among the dealerships in the region. If dealerships are in the same region I would think it would be easy to get the truck over to your dealer. But for just 80 miles, I would be on my way there now! Don't snooze...

 

If I didnt have a 1000$ deposit at my dealer, I would already be there :-( so waiting for my dealer to reply