Is there a better way to find a truck?

I'm new to the site, but loving it. Have read several hours of threads on here trying to figure out exactly what I'm after, and how I'm gonna mod it. I'm coming off a 2 door manual tranny Jeep Wrangler (its for sale!), hoping to snag a new Tacoma SOON.

After tons of research, and a continued commitment to manual transmissions, I think I'm in the market for a TRD Sport, Access Cab 6MT. I'd love it if Toyota offered an Offroad with 6'bed and MT, but sadly, and inexplicably, they don't. So here I am, searching for what seems a unicorn.

One thing I've learned in this shopping process is that a lot of dealers have SHITTY websites. They either fail to accurately categorize the trim levels, or they don't even offer filters to sort between them, or they fail to elaborate about what interior features or "package" the vehicle has, and seemingly ALL of them are plagued with 2002-esque popups and ads. Horrible.

So, since I'm searching for a unicorn-ish ride, is there a better way to figure out WHO in my area of the United States has a TRD Sport ACMT withe the tech package or premium package or both in the 3 colors I'd be willing to spend money on?

I've seen cars.com, and used sites like Carvana and Carfax, but is there any other better way to see what trim levels in MANUAL TRANSMISSION and packages are available in my region of the US?

 

Cars.com Advanced Search lets you select what you are wanting.

 

All dealer pages are like that, and can mislabel transmissions auto or manual. I can't stand it when they don't have things organized.

Sadly the best way to twart it is to go to a dealer and talk to them. They can locate the truck you want and most of the time a dealer trade is 0$ for you.

 

there are lots of vehicles on cars.com. None of the websites are that good.

You may want to think about how far you are willing to travel to find your vehicle.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

I'm 100% willing to travel for the right vehicle at the right price. I live in a state with no low/sales tax, so that's a consideration as well. I'm definitely not driving to CA to save a thousand bucks, only to spend twice that on taxes. No way. I will, however drive 6 hours out and back to the other corner of the state.

I just cant imagine I'm going to have success combing through all the poorly designed and maintained dealer websites to find what I want. I also feel like if I go to the dealer and ask them to find me a rare trim of Tacoma that they have to trade for, I'm gonna a hard time negotiating the price. I've never done that before, so I don't know if thats true or not. Anyone care to chime in on that respect?

 

Fwiw when I bought my 17', the closest dealer didn't have what I wanted, they searched thru Toyota inventory and found what I was looking for about a 100 miles away. I called that dealer and arranged to go get the truck

 

I had good luck with Kendal Toyota in Bend using their internet sales department. The more research you do the more you will realize that you know a lot more than most salesmen. Good hunting!

 

I used Toyota's inventory system to find what I wanted. Just change the zip code to the ones you're willing to travel to. They have filters to narrow it down. Then click the link to the dealer to see who has it.

Edit - Link to inventory site

 

www.cars.com
I got my 17 MT Pro brand new from there.

 

Here’s one in TX

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2019-Tacoma-TRD-Sport-/303018907856

 

Holy shit, thank you... That is so much easier to use.

 

I used cars.com and Toyota.com to narrow my search. I then emailed the dealers that ‘had’ the Tacoma I wanted and asked for a picture of the window sticker.

Once I confirmed it was the truck I wanted I would then work on price and rate.

 

Cargurus is sweet ... the pricing platform is nice. I found a couple good deals that didn’t require long drives , I never found them on other sites. I like how they show you the days it’s been listed as well as he market value in relation to others. They also have dealer reviews ... I didn’t use the site to buy the vehicles just to find them.

 

I found cars.com to be exceptionally inaccurate as to what was actually for sale. When I was looking for a pro, cars.com had loads, but they were all spoken for / not delivered yet etc etc. Autotrader was the most accurate as to what was truly for sale.