How long did you have to wait for your 2021 factory order?

So you didn’t have a completed deal with trade-in when you ordered?

 

I did not. But that was now over 4mo ago and used prices were starting to head up at that point.

 

I hope thats not the case. Since I have a receipt for my deposit I figured I was locked in right? This is a really small dealer in the middle of nowhere that has space for like 15 new cars. The lady didnt even know where the trucks were made so I always assumed she never really checked.

 

Unfortunately that deposit doesn't lock you into anything more than a hope on the buyer's part.

 

BRB im going to cry over in this corner now

 

Just got the message that my truck arrived at the dealer! I'll be driving 6 hours to pick it up tomorrow.

 

So just passing the time here with a long and frivolous debate while we wait...

It has been interesting to see the various opinions about "unicorns", and whether or not that phenomenon is real or not.

I certainly hear what people are saying about how Toyota has a defined number of certain trims they are going to build, and that this number isn't going to seriously fluctuate. I understand that in many scenarios, the chances of you getting what you want has more to do with how high on the priority list you are and how successful your dealer is at allocating for you.

That being said, I've noticed that ignores some common trends in inventory. From my own experience doing national searches, I found that at any given time, a pretty small minority of all 2021 Tacomas available were manual transmissions (we all know this already). I also found that, on a national search, that black, white, silver, and grey are significantly more common than colors like blue, red, greens etc. On any given day, my local 5 dealers have nearly all of the former colors and only one or two of the latter colors. Certain packages can also really narrow things down. Lastly, going by the data people have shared before about the defined number of trims being built, we know that there are less Pros around compared to other trims, so it's obvious that there really are factors that might make specific builds a lot harder to allocate.

So, I have a hard time not believing in unicorn theory (whatever you want to call it) to a certain extent.

I'm going to pull some rough numbers completely out of my ass here based on my own experiences doing national and local inventory searches...
Scenario 1: Let's say you want a silver sky TRD Sport and that's all you stipulate. You're looking for a sport that's 25% of all tacos made, and you want a silver one and that's only 20% of all sport tacos made. That means you are looking for a truck that shows up 5% of the time.

Scenario 2: Alternatively, let's say you want a TRD Sport in Barcelona red with a manual transmission... So you're now looking for sport (that's 25% of all tacos), you want it in red which shows up a little less than other colors (let's say 15% of all sports are red), then you want manual and only 10% of those red sports are manual. Now you're talking about something that shows up 0.375% of the time.

Just by adding manual or a less common color seems to make your build significantly harder to find. That's not even considering tech or premium packages which puts you in to an even deeper subset of a subset.

So yeah, I know that there's some scoffing going on about people thinking they have special builds, but I know for a fact that just doing simple searches on autotrader, local inventory, etc. will reveal that certain builds are significantly harder to find. I don't see how you could argue that requesting just a couple specs on your order is going to make your build easier to allocate than if you stipulate like 5 things like I did.

If I wanted an auto transmission SR5, I could've had it 10 times over by now. Whereas, I've only seen my build show up here in Utah one time before in the last year.

 

I agree completely with this. Maybe for some people they're trying to brag that their truck is "special" because it's rare. That's silly to do. But the fact is, some trucks ARE rare. It doesn't necessarily make them special...just harder to get than some of the other build options.

 

I agree with all of this, especially when you also throw in a long bed. With all that info and the fact there is more demand than supply, we're all driving unicorns.

 

I had no idea how hard getting a long bed made the search because I see them all the time

 

You notice them because you have one. Tally up SB vs LB on your next commute.

 

Still waiting for my delivery. In searching, my 3 must have criteria was 4WD, Double cab & Long bed. That Double Cab/Long bed combination was a needle in a haystack, searching within 400 miles of New England. The hay was all the DC/SB and AC/LB combos available.

 

Army Green TRD OR DCSB w/ technology package, LED headlights & fogs, & predator steps. Getting dealer performed ceramic coating.

Build was 8/18. Original ETA was 9/14 - 9/20. New ETA is 9/10 - 9/15.

I am so damn excited. Got a ton of parts sitting in my basement ready to install the day it arrives:

- TRD Pro skid plate (OEM) https://www.*****************.com/o...MI8oX_or_e8gIVA_rICh3hcgCPEAQYASABEgLuEPD_BwE
- TRD Pro grille w/ sensor garnish (OEM) https://www.*****************.com/o...oyota-tacoma-trd-pro-grille-insert-pt22835170
- TRD Pro Rigid fogs (OEM) https://www.sparksparts.com/p-3rd-gen-tacoma-trd-pro-fog-light-kit-pktcprofog
- TRD Pro tail lights (OEM) https://www.sparksparts.com/p-3rd-gen-tacoma-trd-pro-tail-light-kit-pkprotctl
- Tacoma bed mat (OEM) https://www.*****************.com/o...bed-models-genuine-toyota-pt58035050sb?c=az0x
- Victory 4X4 roof rack https://www.victory4x4.com/product/VT23RK.html
- BAKFlip MX4 tonneau cover https://bakflip.com/p/bakflip-mx4-tonneau-cover/v/toyota/tacoma/2021/
- RokBlokz standard size mud flaps (black on black) https://rokblokz.com/products/toyota-tacoma-mud-flaps-2016
- 2021 4Runner TRD Pro wheels (OEM) https://parts.olathetoyota.com/oem-parts/toyota-wheel-ptr5689210f2?c=az0x
- BF Goodrich KO2s (265/70/17)

$325+ BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 Tires

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=All-Terrain+T/A+KO2&partnum=67SR7KO2RWL

FYI - All the asterisks in the links are hiding bam wholesale parts (all one word)...

 

I feel you double cab 4x4 longbed life.

 

Nice, sounds just about like my build. Tried to get out of the dealer “installed” ceramic coating because it adds to the cost, but they wouldn’t let me. Where are you located? My build date was supposedly today. But I’m not getting my hopes up.

 

Ahh man, you are in charge when buying a vehicle, never the dealership. People for some reason have recently become convinced that they have to kiss the dealers ass to get their vehicle but it’s not true. Even in this market I would have told that dealer, either you take off the ceramic coat or we don’t have a deal and if they didn’t listen I would have gone elsewhere. Gotta remember the dealer ALWAYS wants to sell a car more than you want to buy one. In fact I did initially tell them I don’t want it done but then changed my mind when my friend who went to the same dealer said it was well worth it. Anyway, sorry to rant... I am in the Midwest.

 

Well it was the healers hood “deal” they said I couldn’t get out of it. It includes tinting front windows, the ceramic coating and some other little things. Some sort of leather interior treatment didn’t seem like a bad idea to me so I didn’t fight it too hard.

 

Fair enough. As long as your happy dude, that’s all that matters.

 

I’ll be happy when I have my army green Tacoma… someday lol

 

Which plant was your truck built in and where are you located? Seems like a 30 day build to delivery is pretty fast these days