Finally secured a Truck. But first a rant...

[WKTJR1]

I wanted a Hybrid Limited, but the search was very frustrating: PIOs, wrong colors, etc. I finally saw one on a dealer site that was perfect: blue with no PIOs. I contacted them through the site but expected it to be taken. I received the auto emails saying they would contact me and called them later that day, but the POC was unavailable. Finally, I received an email from a salesperson around 5 PM saying it was available. Great! I called back to secure it, but the salesperson was with a customer. I told them to have him call me. I never heard back, so I sent an email saying I wanted the vehicle and to contact me. I received a reply that it had just been sold. What?? Perhaps if they hadn't taken all day to contact me, I could have gotten this reserved. Eff you, buddy, and your dealer.

Completely fed up with this process, I gave a lot of thought to what is more important: the Limited or another model hybrid. Well, the Limited and its appointments are what I really wanted. I have a Tundra TRD OR that I more or less made into a TRD Sport. Great truck, but 11 Maine winters make it a pain to work on due to corrosion issues. My old ass is tired of cold, hard concrete. Plus, the ride wears on you sometimes.

Okay, so I went back to a few dealers I was looking at before and found basically the same truck: blue, with door guards, spray-in liner, but non-hybrid. A nice kicker is that it's already discounted by 3K. I made the call and got it reserved.

My question? The truck is already built and in status code "F." My understanding is that it's now waiting for transport. What can I expect from this point?

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[TacoFreak]

Glad to hear that you finally found your truck Bill. Sorry that it was so frustrating, but finding a first year, popular Toyota product is virtually guaranteed to be PITA.

 

[Planoman]

And the dealer who didn't follow up will now spam you on email with all sorts of things. Block them if you haven't.

 

[WKTJR1]

Glad to hear that you finally found your truck Bill. Sorry that it was so frustrating, but finding a first year, popular Toyota product is virtually guaranteed to be PITA.

I appreciate that. I was a bit hamstrung by my wife. Underground was a hard no. Black would have been acceptable (the Tundra is black), but my wife said no. Wind Chill, ehh, hard to say. The problem is everything in New England is Underground or Black. Plus, I'm not paying for a Safe or the poorly reviewed dash cam. Additionally, I would have traveled for the right truck. My wife, who wonders why I'm not getting it from the dealer literally 2 miles down the road (for several reasons), would lose her mind. Ugh, so this is where I'm at.

I will say this though: until that truck is sitting at the dealer, I'm still looking for hybrids.

 

[Planoman]

I appreciate that. I was a bit hamstrung by my wife. Underground was a hard no. Black would have been acceptable (the Tundra is black), but my wife said no. Wind Chill, ehh, hard to say. The problem is everything in New England is Underground or Black. Plus, I'm not paying for a Safe or the poorly reviewed dash cam. Additionally, I would have traveled for the right truck. My wife, who wonders why I'm not getting it from the dealer literally 2 miles down the road (for several reasons), would lose her mind. Ugh, so this is where I'm at.

I will say this though: until that truck is sitting at the dealer, I'm still looking for hybrids.

the dashcam is awesome. Yes the app sucks but if you need video it is easy enough to pop the card out and view on your computer or phone using a sd card attachment

 

[TacoFreak]

I will say this though: until that truck is sitting at the dealer, I'm still looking for hybrids.

Yeah - I would be too. The hybrid was a must have for me, but it sounds like you were on a schedule, which luckily I was not.

Having to driving my Tundra for a while longer was not a problem for me, even though I am definitely ready to move back to a Taco.

 

[WKTJR1]

the dashcam is awesome. Yes the app sucks but if you need video it is easy enough to pop the card out and view on your computer or phone using a sd card attachment

Interesting. Makes sense though. So, the video is good?

 

[TacoFreak]

And the dealer who didn't follow up will now spam you on email with all sorts of things. Block them if you haven't.

That is something that really pisses me off too. A year ago I was trying to find a manual 2023 and there were none to be found in my region. That didn't stop several dealers from spamming me on a regular basis, even though I was clear that was all I was interested in.

 

[Taco Azul]

Hybrids are gonna be tough to get for a few months at least. Maybe longer. Glad you were able to find a truck that works for you!

If it’s built and waiting to ship I would expect 4-8 weeks. Mine was built around June 1st and should be here in a week or two (if my dealer knows what he’s talking about.)

 

[WKTJR1]

Hybrids are gonna be tough to get for a few months at least. Maybe longer. Glad you were able to find a truck that works for you!

If it’s built and waiting to ship I would expect 4-8 weeks. Mine was built around June 1st and should be here in a week or two (if my dealer knows what he’s talking about.)

Thanks, while my POC seems like a good guy, I have to keep pulling info from him. Plus, he's a talker. I pulled the sticker from the dealer site, it's overlayed with Jun 14th. Don't know if that's relevant to anything though.

 

[TrustButVerify]

That is something that really pisses me off too. A year ago I was trying to find a manual 2023 and there were none to be found in my region. That didn't stop several dealers from spamming me on a regular basis, even though I was clear that was all I was interested in.

This was the most bizarre process. I had very specific and very clear requirements. I tried to be clear in my communication: contact me only if you find a truck that meets this.

Either dealers are unable or unwilling to do this, and instead would prefer to waste their time spamming people with trucks they were never going to buy. It seems like this would be a fairly straightforward automated process. When allocation list arrives, cross match what is on allocation with customers who want specific models, then email or text the customer. Zero human intervention until the requirements are met.

And this never happened. I guess dealers like wasting their own time.

 

[TacoFreak]

Either dealers are unable or unwilling to do this, and instead would prefer to waste their time spamming people with trucks they were never going to buy.

That was my experience in Central Ohio even with five Toyota dealers in the Columbus metro area.

About 30 miles from my new house in Crozet there is a Toyota dealer in Saunton, VA. Total straight shooters, no markups and they did exactly what you suggested. They just checked my preferences against their allocations and called me when they had a match.

I'm not sure why some dealers want to waste our time and make us angry for no purpose.

 

[Planoman]

Interesting. Makes sense though. So, the video is good?

Video is great! will try and upload a sample

 

[Tsturbo]

I appreciate that. I was a bit hamstrung by my wife. Underground was a hard no. Black would have been acceptable (the Tundra is black), but my wife said no. Wind Chill, ehh, hard to say. The problem is everything in New England is Underground or Black. Plus, I'm not paying for a Safe or the poorly reviewed dash cam. Additionally, I would have traveled for the right truck. My wife, who wonders why I'm not getting it from the dealer literally 2 miles down the road (for several reasons), would lose her mind. Ugh, so this is where I'm at.

I will say this though: until that truck is sitting at the dealer, I'm still looking for hybrids.

Good Luck, hope you find one! Got an update for my Limited iForceMAX. Built on June 4th, left the factory a day or two later and HAS BEEN SITTING AT THE PORT IN MEXICO for two plus weeks Dealer said he could not get any further information until it ships from the port in Mexico. Asked if the ETA was still accurate due to sitting at the Port, dealer said probably not. Beyond frustrated as we have a couple trips planned in August which we intended to take the new Tacoma. Because this vehicle will eventually be delivered on the west coast, I believe it will be shipped from lazaro cardenas port.

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