How to get a manual transmission

I read somewhere awhile back that they only make a batch of manuals once a quarter and obviously pretty small numbers when they do. That combo would also push back the availability of the manuals. Like others said you are probably going to have to be a little flexible on color and location if you want one. I'm not usually a fan of white and flew up two states to get mine but worth it in the end to have a manual. It realistically won't carry over to the fourth gen so its going to create even more scarcity next year.

 

I'm not sure I buy that "once per quarter" thing; I put a deposit down on my Tacoma back in February for a fully tarted up DCSB TRD Sport 6MT, and at least a half dozen times between then and August (when I accepted the allocation for my truck), my sales associate called me and told me of the various 6MT trucks they'd gotten in their most recent allocation.

 

good on you. Don’t settle. 5 years ago, but I did similar and 9 weeks later got exactly what I wanted, glad I waited.

What does piss me off to the nth degree, and have experienced it many times; going to the dealer knowing what I want, ie Quicksand; TRD-OR, MT, no premium package. Dealer says sure and tries to push a grey, automatic with $3k in BS packages. Then calls for weeks offering similar cars not even close. Not just Toyota; same experience with BMW and VW. Really annoying. It must work, but I hate it.

FWIW, Toyota dealer in Mechanicsville, VA did NOT do this. They took my request/order, $500 deposit, didn’t waste my time, called me 2 months later and I was out the door <$800 under invoice.

 

My sales rep was very forthcoming; he offered me "close but no cigar" Tacomas, either a color I didn't want or not the packages I wanted. In the past though I have definitely experienced what you're describing, even to the extent of having a sales person try and tell me, "You don't really want a manual transmission, that will ruin the resale value." I told the fool, "Listen up, I'm buying a car for me, not for the next guy!" I then turned around and walked out; a few weeks later I went back and showed that idiot the car I did buy from a different dealership who listened to what I wanted.

 

It does look like they make manuals in batches. Currently in oregon there are 15-20 manuals all set to be delivered this month. Same color, similar options. Dealers said this is the last shipment of manuals for 2023.

 

Even though that idea has been bandied about here for quite some time now, I don't buy it. Why? Last year while I was waiting for my TRD Sport 6MT to be built and delivered (deposit Feb, 2022, delivery Oct 2022), I followed the KissMyGrits spreadsheet almost weekly and never once saw a nation wide trend of manuals. That said, it did look like allocations went out in batches to certain reasons REGIONS.

Edit: oops, I wrote the wrong final word in the last sentence. Duh!

 

Must be close to being done with the 23s now...

 

Reading all this makes me think I was lucky to stumble upon a 6mt TRD off road at my local dealership when I needed to buy a new car.

 

Definitely lucky.

 

Apparently it’s the end of the month, mine was built 9/30/20. But that was the San Antonio plant, Baja may be different.

 

Mine was built at Guanajuato during the first week of September 2022.

 

I don't think they produce them in batches (who knows maybe they do). But I know they regionally distribute them in batches.

I've noticed a trend, a region will get a good little pile of them all at once. When I found my solar octane MT this last winter there were 11 solar octane MT trucks all in the California region basically on the same day or week. Before that Texas got a good batch, before that Florida got about a dozen. All MT solar octane.

 

I'm actually surprised that you can find one. The new model hits lots in Dec

 

Probably not many left to pick from for sure.

 

139 showing up nationwide on CarGurus which 1 for sure isn't manual (SR V6).

 

Idk about everyone else, but I called the dealership, told them what I did and didn't want. Put the deposit, picked it up a few months later

 

Same here except my wait was 8 months; in the end I got everything I wanted except the paint color, I asked for Blue Crush Metallic, I agreed to accept Barcelona Red Metallic.

 

I was lucky. The dealer had a bare bones 2020 6mt OR on the lot the day I showed up. I paid cash and took it home. Got it stuck the next day. Happy camper. This was before the supply chain crisis.

 

Barcelona is a solid. that blue crush you were waiting for had a bad Flux capacitor anyway

 

OP.... at this point if you want a MT g3 you need to think about buying a ticket and going to the truck.

I did it this winter to get my solar octane MT... it's actually not that expensive. I got my truck at MSRP.... If my local dealer got one, they have a 5k markup soooo I won no matter what. I got mine in California had to pay California taxes, but Colorado waved my taxes which were only about 300.00 less anyway. My flight was 300 bucks, gas and one night hotel (epic alone time road trip) all in all it cost me about 1k to buy my truck out of state. Easily recouped if you find a good deal or the exact truck, in the exact color you want.

A fun exercise in value. go put 45 penny's on the table in a pile. Then put one penny next to it. Look at the scale difference. 45 to 1 on a asset you plan to love, drive, build, experience...
It's not worth it to sacrifice. Go find your truck!

Look at this silly sign that was on the dash of my truck when I picked it up.