Anyone else given up on a "pre-sale" Tacoma?

My story: In April 2021, I "placed an order" for a custom '21 Tacoma Sport Cement/Cement w/ a manual transmission plus minimal other options. I worked with the dealer's Order man who entered the information into the system and I even have paperwork that it was entered. In late June, I was informed that Cement is no longer available. WTF! It is June, not Sept/Oct! They told me that my external color options were like White (which is what I have now) Black, Army Green and Silver. None of which were high on my external color list. Or ....they said, I could wait until the '22s rolled out and get a Lunar Rock. Lunar Rock was like a close second behind Cement (like 51/49 split Cement/Lunar Rock). I went with the Lunar Rock. I have searched the web looking for what the '22s would look like inside and out. Very little. I asked the dealership. Again, not saying anything that I have not read about. Only a couple of weeks ago, I asked where was the truck in the system. They are now saying late September. So I am now months into this journey. I don't want to wait until my truck is here and I see something ghastly on it that I just couldn't bear looking at for 130+k miles. I am just trying to capitalize on high used car trade-in offers begin seen in my neck of the woods. I am starting to flirt with the notion of finding something close to what I originally wanted (gulp...taking the package that includes the sunroof (had my "fun" with sunroofs on previous cars). So, has any one else just walked away from a "pre-sale" Tacoma? I just think it is sad that a multi-billion dollar company can't have a streamlined process of getting trucks to people who are willing to write Toyota a check.

Sorry for the rant. Cheaper to post my rant here than go to a therapist.

 

I walked away from a "pre-sale"
Found something immediately on the lot instead of waiting for the dealer to get an allocation.
Toyota decides that building exactly what customer orders is inefficient, so they just build what they want.
The "pre-sale" is a wish to find a vehicle that matches what Toyota builds, and even though the dealer printed out and had you sign all that, unless the dealer gets an allocation for such vehicle, it's vaporware. So walking away from a pre-sale is totally fine, you're not in a first in first out queue.

 

Lots of us are on the same boat. Too late for 2021 models. Too early for 2022 as dealers are mostly clueless until Toyota officially adds 2022 models on the system.

 

This is usually a dealership tactic to get a deposit and secure a future sale. I’ve said this in the other threads as many people have. There is not a custom order where they make a vehicle specifically for what you want, they search for a vehicle already in the pipeline that has all your wants, if there is one available then that dealership will try and allocate it. Yes cement is gone and after 21 LR is taking over but Toyota hasn’t released the 22 models yet for Tacoma. So a Pre-Sale is just a way for the dealership to get you to think your automatically going to grab a 22 model. Still the same thing applies, they still have to search for a truck that is in the pipeline and then try to request to get it allocated to that dealership. Not mentioning that all the other dealerships in your region are going to try and snag that exact same set up with packages that you want as well for a customer that wants that same build. While all this is going on the salesman is going to say something along the line of the dates got pushed back, another dealership took that truck and we’re working to find another or some other excuse because they haven’t gotten a truck allocated to them yet. Still, if you haven’t read any of the threads regarding wait time it can be a couple of months for them to get the exact same build allocated to them. The people that say I ordered mine and got it two weeks later is not how it works. That dealership already had one allocated to them or a customer backed out and those packages are what some of them wanted to just took because they wanted a truck. This could be a long or short journey for you but I would be patient. It’s a tactic that you fell for by them, as well as others. Toyota is a multi billion dollar corporation but the dealer isn’t a part of Toyota, they are a separate entity that has no control of what happens in production. They are like the seagulls from Finding Nemo (Mine, Mine, Mine) when Toyota does release the list for allocations. Depending on sales volume and other factors will determine if they can get certain allocations, if not then they wait for the next list to come out and try again.

**** Side affects from this session may include anger, resentment, depression, anxiety, hatred, alcoholism, upset stomach. I am not a licensed therapist or associated with any therapeutic entity. I am a guy on a forum who has gone through this exact same bs wanting a truck who had learned the hard way of how this works. Good luck and hopefully you can get a truck but be ready to wait for a long time****

 

What I don't understand, is WHY Toyota is continually running commercials on TV at all, and even more puzzling that that, is that they are offering discounts and rebates on new Toyotas! I mean, what good does that do if they don't even have any NEW vehicles in stock? And since the supplies are so short, or pretty much non-existent, why are they offering any rebates or discounts at all?

 

Because a surprising amount of car buyers are fickle as hell. They'll want a Tacoma and then learn that there's $2000 cash back and 0.9 on a Corolla that's been sitting since pre-Vid, and they'll buy that instead. Incentives move cars that are otherwise not moving on their own. Even with shortages there's still cars sitting.

 

How much different than a '21 could a '22 be? They didn't change anything significant. Are they delivering '22 already? September seems reasonable for the next MY delivery.

 

Just a guess but with the supply situation, they don't know what they can even offer yet.
GM has announced that some of their 2022's will come minus some of the technology features of the 2021's because of the chip shortage.

 

I haven't backed out yet but I am definitely on the fence. I was told two weeks ago that it would be sometime in September. My salesman showed me my options and they were white, magnetic gray, and army green, and that there would be another allocation hitting sometime this week. I am actually not that picky, I just did not want a black or red truck. That being said I was thinking its nice to not have a car payment so I am tempted to just wait but I am sure I will just end up buying one because I am an idiot

 

...and pretending that you can customize your vehicle on their website while in the end it doesn't matter.

The market is really bad for buyers right now unless you want a car nobody likes.

 

plenty in this area sitting around drawingg dust......................

yet down to specifics what U might not Want in paint & option$

maybe we are not in a high volume area

maybe we dont get the pick o the litter

I think my dealer said they have a pool of a dozen locations

I did not get the color discussed ................it wasnt a deal breaker

pre-covid the deal was in my favor

these days an ‘ order ‘ would be co$tly

my taco would co$t me thou$and$ more....................$5k

Sept is model change year IF there is leftover inventory someone might get a good deal

 

I feel like Toyota doesn't generally have as much leftover inventory as other brands or maybe that is just around here. Feel like I get ads and offers from other brands more often. Our local Ford dealer has a ton of vehicles on the lot while I couldn't even test drive a brand new Tacoma.

 

Well, I don't know about other areas, but in Oakland CA, at One Toyota, they have absolutely no new cars on the lot. They have this tall building, about 10 stories tall, with glass walls. It is a round building that they usually fill with Toyotas so people driving down the freeway can see the Toyotas. It is completely empty. The cars on the lot are used cars/trucks that they are asking insane prices for. I saw a 2017 Tacoma with over 30,000 miles on it, and they had a price of $42,000 on it! Dealers are now contacting people who had leases on their vehicles when they bought them in 2019 and 2020, and telling them if they want to just turn in their vehicles, they will let them do so, with no penalty. The dealers want those cars because they can actually sell them for more than what they sold for new, even though they are lease trade-ins! Regarding actually ordering a special made vehicle, well, it is difficult even in normal times. I have seen and heard of many people who wanted to order manual transmission Tacomas, and had to wait several months, and this was during normal times. If you have a knowledgeable salesperson like I did, and one who had the security clearance to actually be able to search Toyota inventory and what is being built for dealers in the geographic area, then you can get a toyota like or pretty close to what you want, as if they have the security level to do so, they can redirect a vehicle that was destined for another dealer, so that it instead comes to your local dealer. That is how I got my 2019 Tacoma TRD Sport. The saleslady was insanely capable, and she sent me texts of my truck actually being built in Mexico, tested, loaded onto the shipping truck, etc. That, people, is a good salesperson!

 

I placed an order/deposit on a 2020 TRD-OR in October 2019. The distributor (Gulf States) finally approved the allocation request in January 2020 and the truck was expected around April. Then Covid started and the timeline got delayed. Eventually I moved out of the state in June, so I called the dealer and had him refund the deposit back to my credit card and cancel the order.

 

Try an auto-broker. You are not ordering a truck built for you; you are looking for a truck that is already built and is somewhere out there. I would just keep widening the net of dealers you are calling and be ready to drive immediately with cash in your pocket.

 

As others have mentioned, you did not order anything from Toyota Motor Corporation so the only thing you are walking away from is a dealerships stall tactics that they are using to keep you on the hook with the hopes they can find you something "close" before you realize there is no truck on order.

The only difference between a 2021 and 2022 Tacoma will be a slightly higher MSRP and some paint colors being removed & added. 4x4 models will have some minor package trim changes. If anyone know of something else please post.

If you can find a 2021 optioned that you can live with along with a price you can live with, then probably best to go for the 2021. The odds of getting a 2022 optioned the way you want it by the end of September are not good

 

Seems like you all ready went to the rapist

 

Well ranted - I have a '96 Tacoma daily driver, he's not as reliable as he once was. (340K miles). In Nov. 2021 I placed an order, TRD-OR, '21, Manual. I'm not all into the options, I just wanted a Tacoma 4x4 manual, about half the bling and other options mean zero to me. I do light offroad fishing, hiking and camping. Since the '21 was made in San Antonio, TX the build phase included the big ole Texas freeze along with all the 2020/2021 dumpster fire stuff. Along about mid Feb the dealer stories were getting mushy and not tracking. My '96 radiator cracked and it took a week to source a replacement. I work out of town and the local dealership was stocking a lot of super basic SR5s, what I call the tradesman addition (white 2WD, perfect exterminator company truck) . So faced with these challenges I decided if I suffered another big problem with the '96 I'd give up on the order truck and grab an SR-5 off the lot figuring I could always sell it and get my "retirement" Tacoma later, assuming the world would become sane again some day. On April 1st the dealer called me, the truck was in, it all ended well. So at a minimum I know where you're at in terms of the information vacuum. I coped by forming a solid "plan B" and setting my own criteria, so in the end it worked out but I was totally ready to bail. Concerning the "why can't they do a better job at planning / tracking - I my work I work all the time with complex mega buck things and I was 100% shaking my head the whole time, I think their business model is based on selling what's on the lot and responding to net demand vs. individual demand. That's a good business model for the guy the can find his forever truck on the lot, for the rest of us...arrrrrgh. That's my input to your group therapy session. Good luck and I hope it works out for you soon.

 

And this is why if someone wants to buy my used 2020 with 32k miles on it they will need to pay me $50k.