Why can't dealers find what I want?

Cars.com/plane ticket/road trip......

GO!!!!!!

 

OP, here in NH I found 1 DCSB OffRoad MT, but in white.

 

Toyota of Scranton pa has one as of yesterday

 

Just a data point if you're looking for dealerships that trade to get you the truck you want: I bought my inferno DCSB OR auto with P&T (the exact truck I wanted) at Bill Dube Toyota in Dover, NH, who traded it with an allocated truck from Toyota of Nashua. After getting a really good price from the Nashua dealer (with little to no interaction, all of it was via email about a truck in their pipeline), I went to the dover dealership (much closer to me, and I was literally just driving by where they had an inferno without P&T on display), and they said they'll find exactly what I want for the price from the nashua dealer. I eventually got the truck scheduled for Nashua that I had been negotiating for at a closer dealer.

I think Toyota of Nahua does a pretty high volume, while the dealership in Dover is relatively small. I have no idea if one or the other characteristic helps you in your search.

 

Pretty much what I did... And it’s a lot easier to negotiate when the truck is on the lot and you’re ready to drive off with it that day.

 

Try Bristol Toyota in Massachusetts. They 'ordered' me a very similar truck (+prem/tech though) back in November when no one else wanted to. Price was right around invoice too.

 

Well .. here the story is the same .. though I am about to make progress in about two weeks:

Wanted: DCSB TRD Off Road w Technology & Moonroof Package. Color Quicksand.

First the dealer was not able to build it (long story).. finally we got it build (via the Toyota web site), priced and printed.

Now for the fun part. Of course they did not have it on the lot or in the region or in their database... I said fine have em build it like configured .. they said fine put a deposit (I did after much worry) and was told it will take about 2 months and I should hear from then in two weeks for confirmation.

Two weeks later:

Nope, Toyota does not "custom build" but we will look in allocation list if there is something 'similar to what you want' you sure you want Quicksand? I said fine any color but Cement. They said great. Will get back to you.

Week later: Ok we have found one to be built in 10 days for someone else, but they have agreed to 'allocate' it to us.. here is the VIN btw the color is xxx

So now I wait for transportation from Mexico since the VIN identified it as built there.

Bottom line:

Some combinations are just about impossible to find in certain geographic areas, some color combinations even while possible on web site, are impossible to find on the floor.

So let us see when delivery happens. Else I go Ram 1500 route off the lot. They have plenty here ....

 

I've been watching dealer inventory for a silver DCSB OR premium and tech for two months. Nothing within 1000k miles from here. I assumed that would be a fairly common combo. The longer I wait, the likelier I end up waiting for a 2019.

 

2018 TRD off-road with 6 speed manual...

Per Autotrader there are 8 around

Black @ Prime Toyota Rt 2, Red @ Torrington Toyota, Grey @ DCH Freehold Toyota, White @ Hyannis Toyota, Silver @ Haltermans Toyota, Grey @ Toyota of Greenfield, Silver @ Paul Miller Toyota and White @ Carbone Honda & Toyota of Bennington - NO Quicksand listed

The New England Toyota inventory site hasn't updated with the 2018s yet

Seriously - try Acton Toyota in MA, they can probably see 2018 inventory and the guy who delivered my 2017 white 4x4 with 5 speed and utility package (another very specific truck) to my town hall in NH commented he delivered the day before to Bangor, ME and was delivering to Syracuse, NY the next day

 

I was going to fly and drive, but they told me they would deliver it for $250

I let them deliver it......600 miles!

 

Go to the largest local dealer to you and have them place an order to their allotment. Understand its their order, to their inventory allotment, it may take some time depending on their allotment schedule and even worse since its a stick shift. You will be lucky if Toyota runs a batch of stick shifts once a quarter.

I had to place an order with my local dealer for my quicksand truck. When I was buying late 2015 there were not any quicksand and not much trucks of any model. Toyota only wanted to run standard popular colors and move inventory. I had to prod my dealer to even place the order and I put a 100 dollar deposit.

I didn't let off on my dealer until he got conformation that Toyota accepted the order. Then it took another 2 months for Toyota to run that color on the assembly line. When the final truck was shipped to dealer inventory there were internal battles with my dealership and its sales staff to keep the truck going to me and not someone else. Having placed a deposit and having intense follow through during the whole process made a difference at that time. If I didn't have a deposit and records of the transaction and temporary vin assigned during build and permanent vin after build and documented statements that is the truck I ordered I am sure they would have sold the truck out from under me. I had to sign all my paperwork while the truck I wanted was in the parking lot as they were taking delivery. When it rolled off the truck I owned it. No way I was taking any chance that the truck was going into inventory and ending up on someone else sales contract. I ordered my truck mid October 2015 and finally received it late January 2016. My sales man was great even though I was being a pain in the ass. The sales manager sucked and didn't give a damn as it was no big deal to him as any Tacoma is going to sell, he doesn't give a damn to who it sells to.

Understand the dealer can order a truck you want to his allotment. He cannot order your truck for you the the way most people would like it to be. At least that is the way it was when I bought my truck. If you have a small dealer with poor allotment you may wait a very long time to get the truck you want.

 

I was an internet sales manager for years at a toyota store, if you really emailed 5 different dealerships and none of them are getting back to you... its honestly probably the way you worded your email.

If it was one of those "I'm emailing every dealer within 250 miles if yours is the best price I'll contact you" most internet salesman won't even bother, and the ones that do will jerk you around more than anyone... especially on a truck no one has.

Given you want a very specific and rare build just make sure your emails convey that you understand that. Your best bet is to cast a wide net and try to find it yourself, then contact that dealer directly and be willing to travel.

Otherwise just find the biggest toyota store near you, get in contact with an internet manager, set an appointment and "order" it in person.

 

I did a quick search on Cars.com for a 250 Mile radius around me, there were about 1400 Tacoma's and about 90 were Manuals.

 

I found the same thing when looking for my truck. They only wanted to sell me what they had on the lot. I used cars.com to find it. Called the dealer to confirm they had it and made the trip. I didn’t make any friends in the process. Even the buying services were worthless! When I filled out the report card I spelled all this out and named the dealers that sat on their asses. Haven’t heard a mouse fart on it. I’m sure for every person like me there were 9 others buying what the dealer was stuffing down their throats.

 

I know Irwin in Laconia has a MGM, but I really want the Quicksand due to me not washing my vehicles too much.

 

I had a similar experience when I ordered my truck in 2015. The first dealer I went to "tried" to order me a manual truck, and later called me to tell me they don't make it in manual and then asked me what was my plan B. They wanted the quick sale of selling me one of the first ones on their lot. So I went somewhere else. At the second dealer I placed my order mid September. I didn't get a build allocation until end of October, and it was scheduled to be built early December. I finally received the truck mid December. 3 months in total from order to received. I had to make a deposit when I placed my order.

 

One of the dealers contacted me today and said that New England won't be getting and TRD, OR manuals in Quicksand until at least late March. Once again, WTF!!

 

That is a bummer OP!! I lucked out, the dealership with the best numbers after e-mail and seaking had my DCSB MT - SSM Sport on the lot. This was Ira in Manchester.

 

As several others have said in the thread, a lot of it comes down to luck on how fast you can get one. 6MT immediately removes 19/20 trucks that are produced from consideration, and then color knocks that down a lot again. But if you are patient you can get what you're looking for.

I got fairly lucky, in that one of the nearby dealers (Seattle) had the exact truck I was looking for (model 7545 with no tech package in BBP, so same truck as you except color) already allocated to them and scheduled to be built next week, so no allocation changes or dealer swaps were required. This dealer also happened to give the best price quote of any that I had contacted in the area, so it was a pretty easy choice for me.

Good luck and hope you find your truck.

 

MTs are rare and sought after, making them unicorns. I had to drive to Kansas City to find mine, where there were only 4. When I took mine in for my 5K check, the service guy said "whoa... I've never seen one of these before."

Call dealers directly.