Did I travel to alternative universe for these prices on new Tacomas?

Not exactly.

There are some other major factors here you failed to mention, like uncontrollable spending. A nation can't keep running up spending deficits and then act surprised when that results in a devalued currency.

 

It won't matter unfortunately, the tacoma and the 4Runner became "cool" to own and be seen in, it used to be sprinters when nobody had to work. Toyota is definitely taking advantage of it.

 

That has zero to do with Toyota, their distributors and dealers jacking the prices to the max.

 

Many of the consumers now haven't lived any of their "spending years" at any point during a recession. This market and prices have been on a steady climb since 2009- 15 years! I've been waiting for a cool down for a while now. I expected one years ago, but now I truly believe we are nearing a saturation point. People just cant afford any extras anymore. Even the CEO of JP Morgan warned this morning, he said "Extra money is 'About Done' for the lower 50% of consumers." Prices of the Tundra were able to remain inflated because the release coincided with pent up demand, inflation hadn't been as realized, and supply of new trucks was only trickling out. This time is different. That Tacomas are hitting the lots in mass, and price discovery (the point where buyers actually stop buying because of high price) has been reached. Maybe its wishful thinking, but I feel like Toyota is going to have to offer some MAJOR incentives within a year to clear out inventory on the non specialty models. There will still be those that will pay top dollar (especially at first) for the TRD Pro or TrailHunter.

For now I will keep driving my 2017 with 32k miles. I'm old enough to remember what it was like when the economic crap hit the fan. I can sit out the first model year and continue to be patient if necessary, but I'm NOT going to spend $50k+ for a midsize truck with cloth interior.