Certain parts of country, more inventory??

do certain parts of the country tend to have a greater inventory of new tacomas and thus will sell for less? in my area the dealers are flat, cleaned out. one of the big dealerships I pulled in the parking lot and the entire dealership only had about 5-6 new vehicles for sale.

 

There is a shortage of new vehicles pretty much everywhere due to the lack of supply from silicon computer chip manufacturers. This is why used vehicles prices are so high right now. The dealership I bought my Tacoma from had a grand total of 15 new vehicles on the lot a couple weeks ago. Back in 2017 when I bought my truck they were getting two truck loads of new Tacomas delivered to them each week.

 

I am well aware of the shortage and why. I am just wondering if tacomas are less popular in the south and east, rather than in the west, like utah where a lot of off roaders like thm

 

I'm in flyover country with a metro around a 100k or so and the local dealer has no Tacomas. They typically had about 10-12 in stock when stuff was normal. Their lot is a decent size and it's pretty bare these days on everything.

When I bought my MINI Cooper S the MINi dealer in Minneapolis was pretty bare too

 

Not necessarily. My local dealer has several Tacomas, plus 4runners and Tundras. I haven’t looked to see if their prices are why, but they did text me the other day offering to buy my truck and put me in a new one for $50 less a month!

 

There is nothing out there. One used car dealer I drove past had 4 cars on the entire lot. That’s it

 

Nope and the ones in transit to dealers are being sold before delivery. The rule right now is MSRP or more. The good news is they pay high book for trades.

 

Do it

 

Virtually impossible to "build" a tacoma online in TX or OK as we find out - my wife, the official car shopper of the family, was flummoxed, unless you want white and cloth seats. Working her way across the country - she eventually entered NY zip codes - and I then kept working her west. Finally, Wichita had Tacomas (not far from us) - I actually had my choice between two MGM color wise, DCSB TRD OR - both could be there in two weeks, one in a week. That one is now ours.

Digging into this I learned about the 12 Toyota U.S. sales regions - ours "Gulf States" (OK, TX, Ark, LA) and South East (think basically SEC country) are the only two regions that oddly Toyota corp. does not own outright. KS dealer employee confirmed to me, "yes they move a lot of trucks in those regions, but all things even Toyota makes more skim in the other regions. Would this effect their distribution in these weird times...maybe?
Maybe a theory as you go north into the plains the farmers/ranchers become fiercely loyal to Ford and Chevy, so not as much demand pressure on Tacomas...? Looking up some small town dealers in western KS, yes they have new Tacos on the lot...meanwhile OK & TX are sucking air? KS guy did tell me Tacomas can be had, but 4 runners, they are gone as soon as they arrive....

He did add that he had "many east coast customers that fly in to buy...been going on for awhile."

 

My local big-dealer has like 114, all are In Transit which means they don't have any, but they have 114 allocated to them.

These guys have about 15 on the lot...

https://www.eddystoyota.com/new-inventory/index.htm?search=&model=Tacoma&gvBodyStyle=Truck

 

I think these trucks are in demand no matter what part of the country you're in, at least until supply catches-up with demand. As nationwide search as others have mentioned would be your best bet.

FWIW I'm seeing the same trend with motorcycles as well. There's a new bike on the market I've been thinking about buying, but it's in high-demand and no dealers on the west coast have them or if they do are asking outrageous prices for them. I finally found one at a dealer in Oklahoma which has(d) one in stock and was selling for MSRP (which these days is pretty good for any sort of MC or Powersport) however the shipping and hassle or registering it in my state, while doable would be a hassle. So for now I'm going to wait for supply to catch-up. If you're not in a bind and can wait a few months you may want to do the same.

 

Tacomas are popular everywhere . One week you might see a bunch of them on the lot . Since the dealer got a shipment in . But they sell really quickly the following week you will see none .

 

If you go to my local Toyota dealers website they list about 25 Tacomas. Then look at the small note under each one that says "In Transit" and many weeks out for delivery. ALL are presold.

 

Nothing in northwest Indiana...

 

When I went in for my 10k service the dealer had about 10 new Tacomas and 8-10 used Santa Maria ca.

 

nothing in central Indiana either. Unless you want to pay over MSRP for a 17-19 with 20-50k miles. Lol

 

Theres no Tacomas or Tundras at all at the Toyota dealer here in upstate NY either. Was just there a few hours ago looking for a hybrid. they normally stock 150-200 cars. Today there was 9 new total. all odd spec models like Camry TRD, Camry XSE, a base Prius etc. and maybe 30 used off lease RAV4s, and a small selection of trade ins from other manufactures.

I'd assume a Texas dealer close to San Antonio would have Tacomas if they haven't sold them to other dealers yet. The dealers are trading right now so theres no saying a specific dealer will hold stock. Any dealer that does hoard Taco inventory will be asking top dollar because they know what they're doing.

Your best bet is to just buy a used one off carvana for new MSRP or wait it out. It's pointless trying to buy any new vehicle right now. You most likely won't get the spec you want and you'll pay big money for it too.

 

I got exactly what I wanted - color, TRD OR, leather, etc.. 500 below (asked them to eat dealer fee) and I had choice of two - shopping in KS was the key... have you seen used prices even w/ 30,000 or more miles (as another poster mentioned - that is the crazy sh*t)? Thats' when my wife quickly came to the conclusion - we are buying new, this is stupid not to - and she is the used car good deal queen!