Manual, still loving it

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

Yeah, I've had experienced the same.

True story:
In 2002 I leased a new Black Metallic/Black Leather 530i 5MT from my (then) local dealership in New Jersey, I ordered the car with Premium Audio, Premium Package, Sport Package, Xenon Headlights, and picked it up in Munich via BMW's European Delivery Program. In 2005, just as the lease was coming to an end I took on a new contract which required me to drive 750- to 1,000-miles per week, and there was no way I wanted to put that kind of mileage on my 530i, so instead of buying it at lease end, I opted to turn it back in. I called my (then) local dealership in New Hampshire to arrange a drop off, and they told me to take it back where I leased it as they had "Way too many off-lease 530i models on their used car lot, and they couldn't take any more." I protested there was no way I was going to drive it back to where I leased it and pointed out the lease agreement made no such stipulation. The leasing manager of the New Hampshire dealership finally relented and said, "Okay, bring it in, I'll take a look at it."

When I brought the car in I greeted him at his desk and handed him the keys and paperwork; I watched as he walked outside, took a 1-second look through the driver's window, turned around and came back in exclaiming, "Oh yeah, we're keeping that one."

I asked what changed his mind and he said, "Do you know how hard it is to find a fully optioned 5-Series with a manual transmission?"

Two days later the car went out onto his lot with an asking price $4,000 higher than three otherwise identical 530i automatics; it sold in less than 24 hours.

 

"Wanna sell that Tacoma?"

No.

"C'mon sell me that Tacoma!"

No.

 

Same here. To be honest, I find automatic Tacomas to be pretty lame.

I also get compliments on my truck whenever people get to see the interior of my truck. They get surprised, even some car enthusiasts.

 

This is still going, nice. I'm at 6000 miles now, of course still loving it. I think I like it even more now that I drive it rather than worry it's new. It's almost like you have to beat it for it to be happy.

 

How do you know if someone is vegan?
Don't worry, they'll tell you!

How do you know if a TW member drives a manual?
Don't worry, they'll tell you!


I kid! I kid! Every 6 lug toyota I owned before my 2015 was a manual. What can I say, I just got tired of shifting.. that and automatics don't fail like they used too..

 

Good camaraderie, there!

I don't think we get the same excitement driving an automatic...wait! You sounded EXCITED!!!

Have you ever seen a thread boasting about driving an A/T? (Loaded question with humor/no offense)

One thing I remember hearing in my younger years, "You can't jump-start an automatic." lol

My wife has driven my truck a couple of times that I've sat shotgun--I was a bit concerned.

She did well...I have to keep her confidence up, otherwise she won't drive my truck when she needs to. (Usually when I take her car in to dealership)

 

My skinny pedal still works the same

I have not. Maybe I'll start one. Possibly tomorrow. Or next week

 

I paid MSRP for my 23 OR 6MT, with advanced tech and premium packages which was an even harder find. I didn't even have to travel an excessive distance, about 30 miles or so from home in southeast Pennsylvania. I completely agree with many others that if not for being the only truck that still offers a manual I never would have even considered the Tacoma, let alone a Toyota truck in general, but I am certainly happy I found this great truck.

 

Still loving mine. Sooooo much better than the auto Sr we have at work

 

Love my '22 trd or 4x4 MT! I did the URD short shifter, accumulator delete, and OTT tune, all make the truck so much better to drive. Waiting on my new switch panel to show up in the mail and then I will do the 2LO mod!

 

Awesome man, happy for you. Not my experience, so really don’t care. Regularly searched for months on dealer websites, rarely saw any manuals pop up, if any, only remember the two used trucks at carmax for close to msrp. Good luck actually buying a new one at msrp with all the bs addons my local dealers do.

Really don’t know what else to say.

 

But that's exactly what I did, I gave them a deposit, told them what I wanted, and waited (I was in no hurry). Over the next five months the dealer would call me and tell me what was available for his allocation and ask if any were "close enough"; nope. In month six he called with my exactly specification except it was Barcelona Red Metallic instead of Blue Crush Metallic; I told him to grab the allocation. The truck was built a few weeks later and showed up on my dealer's lot a month after that. In the end I got my second choice color in a truck which otherwise met my exact specifications for MSRP, and no dealer markups or add ons (other than the ones I requested after I signed the deal on the truck and took delivery; bed liner, cat shield, and remote unlock for the tailgate).

 

3rd generation manual Tacomas in my area were sold months before they were built.

I talked to 3 Toyota dealers in the nearest big city and none of them explained anything about the process to get the Tacoma I wanted. They wasted my time and tried to sell me the trucks they had coming in, one guy got pissed and told me the truck I wanted was a unicorn and I would never get one. All that did was make me more determined to get what I wanted, or get nothing. Somehow people were getting the Tacomas they wanted, so my job was to figure out how they were doing it. I was already a member of this forum so I dug in and found the information I needed.

The Toyota dealer in Cadillac MI told me flat out he wished he could help but they are a small volume dealer and are way down the list for allocations. He steered me to Labadie Toyota in Bay City MI, they are a high volume dealer with a well earned great reputation. It took 5 months, but Patty got me the exact Tacoma I wanted and even nailed my first choice color Army Green, @ MSRP. The honest dealer in Cadillac will be getting my business for anything my truck needs.

It was a pain in the ass and it took a long time, but it was 100% worth it!



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Wow, you mentioned two of my old haunts between the 1960s and the 1980s, Bay City and Cadillac.

Fortunately for me there are four Toyota dealerships within a 25 mile radius, one at each of the cardinal points of the compass. The dealership to the east of me, the lowest volume dealership of the four, was asking for a $7,000 "Market Adjustment" in February of 2022 (the highest of the three asking for extra money), and claimed they could get me a Tacoma matching my preferred build within about a month; yeah, I didn't believe them, that and I was in no hurry. The dealership to the north of me, a chain I've purchased two other cars from over the years, gave me a no B.S. answer, "We cannot guarantee you when such a unit will be built, or even if; we'll take your deposit and do our best to get our hands on one." As I posted above, it took almost eight months from the day I put the deposit down to the day I got the truck; through it all there was no drama or games played by the dealership, just the straight facts.

 

Great chinese buffet in Cadillac over by the home depot, we try to ride over there on motorcycles once or twice a summer.



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I had a great deal with my dealership. He showed me what was coming in and chose the TRD OR. I had built some Sports on the configuration tool and they came about even for the price of the OR. Got it at sticker price at $39k.

All my vehicles are manuals, the 78 GMC Sierra, my 87 Jeep XJ 2.5L and my 22 TRD OR.

 

Mine makes some noise when cold, but it works fine. I have an 8 year 100K extended warranty, so I’m not concerned. I haven’t read any threads on B6G about an actual failure, just noise.

 

LOL I had a 99 Civic for about 18 months. I put a new clutch in it and is was buttery too. Just looked bad from the outside with peeling clearcoat but it was a really good runner. One of my boys drove it all summer and learned how to drive manual on it. My other son and gf were not interested at all.

 

There is one 2023 black trd off road manual unspoken for within 500 miles of me. One of the last ones ever. Selling at msrp. Trying to decide if I should trade in my sons 2020 mazda and have two manual 2023s.