FYI Toyotas has removed it's online Build & Price Feature

I believe that Gulf States needs to go. They served their purpose when Toyota needed them. They have complete control in the SE and South Central. Good examples are trying to find a vehicle without Vehicle Shield or Tacoma TRD OR that is not a TX Edition. I searched Dallas inventories for 2 months and most all Tacomas were Sports. I was ready to go to Kansas City to buy. Toyota Corp told me to just order what I wanted.

 

Agreed.
And is Gulf States recalibrating the speedometers on some of these lifted packages with oversized tires we've seen?

 

Just got onto the Toyo web site, used a Nebraska zip and got into the build configurator, bypassing gulfstates. Someone above did it with a Missouri zip.

Works nicely - Spruce AC 4WD with TRD OR, front skid plate, tube steps, mats, TRD filter & exhaust - msrp $33,359. Same except DC - $34,054. Only $700 more for a double cab.

 

One thing about the Gulf States approach, I couldn't find out which was 4x4 and which wasn't. That's not important I guess.

 

Toyota Motor Sales, USA has attempted to buy out the two independent distributors and bring them back into the corporate fold, but they're not looking to sell, too much money to be had in the car sales game.

 

I can verify that they don't.

We have a speed detecting radar on one of our streets that displays your vehicle speed,
All of our cars are spot on. My Taco is off by 4 mph.

 

Mine is about 2mph off, verified with GPS and police radar. What's worrisome to me is the effect it has on the odometer.

Oh, and screw Gulf States. I almost didn't buy a Tacoma because of them. Next time - if there is a next time - I'll order directly through Toyota.

 

Which way is it off?

My stock 5-lug shows 70 on the speedo and I'm closer to 65-67 on the GPS.
This error is typical of Japanese vehicles. EU standard have harsh penalties if a speedometer reads slower than actual speed, so bumping it higher takes away the motorist's legal excuse "My speedometer said I was driving the limit"

Japanese motorcycles are the worst... being as much as 12% high.
The odometer is typically about half the speedo error, so you are not blasting through your warranty at a significant rate.


But when a dealer installed 20-22" wheels and 32+ tires without recalibrating, the speedo can end up going the other way, where it is reading slower than actual.
It also slows the odometer... which is one reason (dealer or owner installed tires) we see people complaining about low MPG. If my odometer is 2% fast and yours is 2% slow, and we both drive the same 1000 mile trip and use the same 50 gallons, we both got 20mpg. But... I will calculate 20.4mpg and you will calculate 19.6mpg.
That 4% is the difference between 245/75-16 and 285/70-16

 

You can't. Gulf States has a lock on your market.

Your only option is going to be to buy in AZ or NM and bring it home.
That's not an option for me in CA... I can't bring a vehicle in with less than 7500 miles on it.

 

ALL bikes have that issue, whether they're Japanese, British, Italian, or American, and they're usually between 3-4%. A differential like what you've stated is usually because of some modification to the bike itself, like sprocket size, tire size, etc. But how can odometer error be "typically half the speedo error" if the odometer is based upon the same mechanism as the speedometer?

Crap on that. There has to be a way around; if that means I have to order through a dealer in Arizona, well... I might as well make a vacation out of it. Phoenix and Sedona are nice lol

Why can't you bring a vehicle into California with <7500mi?

 

In the past, the odometer was hard-geared to the cable that was hard-geared to the trans output, or the front tire on a bike. The speedo was magnetically coupled, so it was quite easy to have a difference between the two, or the typical "bouncing" speedo.

Modern speedometers are electronic, not mechanical.
With the electronic speedos, they are simply programmed with the error difference intentionally, and that programmed error can be whatever the manufacturer likes. Federal law allows up to a 15% error on the speedometer. Honda pushed it on the odometer and got spanked in a class action lawsuit a few years ago.

The 3-4% difference is more typical of American and European bikes, and most all automobiles. Japanese bikes are at that point on the odometer, but double that on the speedometer. I've run over 40,000 miles with a GPS on my bike and leading group rides with newer riders complaining that I'm "pushing them" 10 over the limit (when I'm not).

The modern odometers are close enough so as not to impact value (especially since age and condition impact price more than mileage on motorcycles, and the warranties are based on time)... 100,000 miles vs 104,000 miles, or even 110,000 miles is nothing.
The speedo reading high is simply corporate legal covering their asses. Riders can't point to the speedo in court and claim they didn't know they were speeding, it helps hold speeds down on new riders and reduces accident potential (theoretically, go 65 on a Los Angeles freeway on a stock Japanese bike speedo and you're going to end up a hood ornament).
And it also gives bragging rights to the squids who love to shoot video of themselves going 150+... when in reality they aren't even close.

I installed a "speedo healer" on my Vulcan and brought the speedo error down to nearly zero... I just deal with the odometer reading less than actual.

It shouldn't be an issue anymore since all vehicles are manufactured as "50 state", but in the past, there were California vehicles, and "48 state" vehicles.
California doesn't want people buying from other states to get around our smog laws, which have always been more strict than EPA requirements.
Even now, every configuration of every vehicle needs to be CARB-approved, which means that some vehicles are not available here in certain packages... in the 80s, it was VERY common not to be able to get a manual trans. Not enough units would sell to make it worthwhile for the manufacturers to submit samples and pay for CARB testing.

We also can't install intake or pre-cat exhaust components that do not have a CARB "EO" (Exemption Order) number, which is obtained by the manufacturer submitting samples and writing a check for $25k to the CARB.
We only have one or two intakes available. I'm not sure if we have any headers available. Our catalytic convertors are $200 more than yours because of this bullshit.

 

In the past, the odometer was hard-geared to the cable that was hard-geared to the trans output, or the front tire on a bike. The speedo was magnetically coupled, so it was quite easy to have a difference between the two, or the typical "bouncing" speedo.

Modern speedometers are electronic, not mechanical.
With the electronic speedos, they are simply programmed with the error difference intentionally, and that programmed error can be whatever the manufacturer likes. Federal law allows up to a 15% error on the speedometer. Honda pushed it on the odometer and got spanked in a class action lawsuit a few years ago.

The 3-4% difference is more typical of American and European bikes, and most all automobiles. Japanese bikes are at that point on the odometer, but double that on the speedometer. I've run over 40,000 miles with a GPS on my bike and leading group rides with newer riders complaining that I'm "pushing them" 10 over the limit (when I'm not).
Interestingly enough, the cable-driven motorcycles were more accurate than modern electronic bikes.

The modern odometers are close enough so as not to impact value (especially since age and condition impact price more than mileage on motorcycles, and the warranties are based on time)... 100,000 miles vs 104,000 miles, or even 110,000 miles is nothing.
The speedo reading high is simply corporate legal covering their asses. Riders can't point to the speedo in court and claim they didn't know they were speeding, it helps hold speeds down on new riders and reduces accident potential (theoretically, go 65 on a Los Angeles freeway on a stock Japanese bike speedo and you're going to end up a hood ornament).
And it also gives bragging rights to the squids who love to shoot video of themselves going 150+... when in reality they aren't even close.

I installed a "speedo healer" on my Vulcan and brought the speedo error down to nearly zero... I just deal with the odometer reading less than actual.

It shouldn't be an issue anymore since all vehicles are manufactured as "50 state", but in the past, there were California vehicles, and "48 state" vehicles.
California doesn't want people buying from other states to get around our smog laws, which have always been more strict than EPA requirements.
Even now, every configuration of every vehicle needs to be CARB-approved, which means that some vehicles are not available here in certain packages... in the 80s, it was VERY common not to be able to get a manual trans. Not enough units would sell to make it worthwhile for the manufacturers to submit samples and pay for CARB testing.

We also can't install intake or pre-cat exhaust components that do not have a CARB "EO" (Exemption Order) number, which is obtained by the manufacturer submitting samples and writing a check for $25k to the CARB.
We only have one or two intakes available. I'm not sure if we have any headers available. Our catalytic convertors are $200 more than yours because of this bullshit.

 

I had 2 dealers that were going to factory order mine. I did not want to pay for the graphics. One made the price right to just buy out of inventory.

 

Were they "Toyota factory" special orders, or did they still go through Gulf States?
Gulf States has a monopoly on that area. Dealerships may be able to special order through Gulf States.