Build change ?

Had an interesting conversation with a salesperson that said she had worked for Toyota corporate. She explained to me that, there is a 2 week window before the build that can be used to change or add options others than color/interior/motor/trans and body. She said the 1st week of the 2 week window was critical to get adds/revisions done at the factory.

Anyone else here know or have heard this to be true ?
Thanks

 

It's my understanding, that Toyota doesn't build to order for each consumer. Rather they have regions, and the dealers in those regions have various build options to choose from. So when folks are saying they're ordering or having built, they're really choosing a certain trim model available in their region.
I think some are enamored by having a custom built, so the the dealership plays along, and turns around and simply puts their name on the model that fits,,, that was already placed on that regional list,,,,, or simply trades another dealer.

 

Mine wasn't on any build list, or inventory, or slated as optional by my dealership West of the Mississippi. My salesman literally logged into his portal for factory orders, selected my options and submitted. The factory pushed back once asking that I select a different interior color/fabric.

So you're probably right in that it's not really a true custom order, but it is to the extent that they can within certain parameters. Once my rig rolled off the line, my configuration was available on Toyota's website when it wasn't before.

 

In my dealing with the Northeast Toyota corporate rep, this seems to be true. While I was able to get my '21 Taco configured to my spec, it was NOT taken out of my dealer's allocation - it was indeed ordered for me. But you have no idea what it took to make it so. 6 months + 6 days from deposit to delivery.

 

Regardless of what anyone says, the "portal" is to the regional distributor not Toyota proper.
The only ones who can order from Toyota is the distributors, which in turn sell to dealers.
Also, dealers cannot buy from other distributors outside their region however... distributors can trade back and forth.

Why is this so hard to understand?

OP when you order it's like ordering from the factory because most distributors will have what you want. The only time is when you want something strange for your region, like a 2wd in Maine or a 4wd in South Florida. They will have choices just not as many choices.