Trying to get a new Tacoma sucks!

[Taco Azul]

The one resource that helped me tremendously was the dealer allocation sheet on these forums, which gave me an idea of markup, allocations per dealership, shipping status, pre-orders, and at least a place to start digging for the exact build I was looking for. In Southern California, a lot of dealers were willing to sell at MSRP but with additional add-ons. I then found one dealership in particular that had an "online" sales manager, and negotiated off the add-ons through text, so I was able to purchase my Premium OR DCLB at pretty much MSRP. It takes time, it's demotivating, but the allocation sheet really helped paint a picture of how many trucks were destined to be shipping within my area at any given time.

Edit: I would add that it's also easier to negotiate off add-ons while the truck is still in the manufacturing process, and put down a refundable deposit on the VIN with your dealer. That way, you aren't negotiating off something that's already installed, and have a small amount of additional leverage.

The allocation sheet WAS helpful, but it hasn’t been updated in a while. And there’s no word if it will ever be updated again.

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[crepr12]

If you over pay for a Tacoma its becuase you wanted to..Toyota will make a gazillion Tacos...Patience....If you cant wait pay MSRP or higher its your mula end of the day....

 

[ldudiaz]

https://www.tacoma4g.com/forum/threads/inventory-update-3-12-24-3000-below-msrp-deals-on-2024-tacomas--purchase-leasing.2039/page-11#post-57977

I bought my RTD Sport with Jim, the link, and the process was super easy and also got a pretty good discount.

 

[Muckle]

Dude, you are WA and there are numerous dealers up and down the I-5 corridor selling at MSRP. TOYOTA OF Puyallup, Toyota of Seattle, Toyota of Kent, Auburn Toyota, Olympia Toyota, chehalis Toyota, Titus-Will Toyota, Toyota of Tacoma to name a few. You are working with the wrong dealers or you are not trying very hard. Everyone of the dealers mentioned above will sell at MSRP and most of them will gladly accept your deposit. Try Toyota of Puyallup first, they are the highest volume Toyota dealer in the south sound.

I'm in eastern WA. I-5 is 4.5 hours away. ;)

 

[Muckle]

So what? Take a cheap flight over and drive back. Sounds like your lazy

There are no Tacomas available or allocated for what I am looking for. Chill, dude.

 

[Muckle]

Quit your bitchin then dude

Thank you for your invaluable input

 

[Cody56]

I agree that Toyota makes it VERY difficult for a discriminating customer to find and buy the truck they want. I contacted 52 dealers and checked allocation lists for weeks. I am in Ohio and no trucks configured as I wanted were going to Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee or Michigan. I finally found 2 going to northern Indiana. One was sold and I bought the other one. Rented a car and made a 9 hour road trip to bring it home.

 

[bitrunner]

After the initial rush of buyers I'm betting sales slump enough Toyota will sweeten things to move trucks. If this doesn't happen and I can avoid a loan I will be happy though.

Another factor is the significant downturn in Q1 sales numbers for Tacoma and how they almost lost the #1 midsize spot. I think there is going to be a lot of incentive for Toyota to move as many tacos this year as they can.

 

[NoNo]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions for help. I did use the allocation list previously, after failing to have any luck with the Toyota inventory tool. As I said, I talked to a lot of dealers on the phone and in person. Interest from the sales people was mild at best. Typically the best I'd get offered something on the lot that wasn't even the trim I wanted, let alone the color or anything else. Basically it was "if you aren't interested in what we have coming in immediately, go elsewhere". Anyway, I went back to the allocation list and went broader with my search. I seriously contacted just about every single dealer in the 10 closest states, that had an allocation of bronze oxide off-roads. Long story about a ton of work negotiating, but I got it narrowed down to three vehicles and only one vehicle in a 10 state area that was almost exactly what I wanted....yes that's one in ten states! Bronze oxide was one of the reasons it was tough, the other was that I wanted the black and white interior. The boulder interior was way more common. I had to do some back and forth between two that I had with the boulder interior and one with the black and white.

I ended up paying 1K over MSRP, and had to fight to get that. I rationalized paying that much because after talking to so many dealers it was clear almost everyone was going to get their chunk of extra profit one way or another. Maybe it was the paint protection and interior protection crap, maybe it was other fees, maybe it was a fully optioned out vehicle, but they were going to tack on some profit above a base off-road model. Originally I could have gotten this vehicle from the dealer at MSRP, plus 2500 worth of dealer add ons, including the paint protection, for me paying 1K for nothing was better than that or buying a 50-53K vehicle at MSRP. I could have also gone further where I had to fly and then drive back for days, or done some other stuff that would have easily cost me that 1K, so I was ok with it. The last two vehicles I had negotiated down were roughly 1000-2000 more, differences were dealer add ons that I couldn't get discounted any more, and not the interior color I wanted. I also had some options that were optioned more or less from the factory, but I could have been more in the 50K and up range, or giving up a couple of things I really wanted.

Anyway, I've got a $500 depost on bronze oxide off road, black and white interior, only options are the 14" multimedia upgrade and heated seats. $46680 and build date not until 6/10. I'm going to have to drive 5 hours to get it, or the dealer estimated $500 dollar to have it delivered to me on flatbed. I haven't researched delivery options yet as I was fine with having to drive there and take my time coming back if necessary, but I'll compare cost and time when it gets closer.

It's not ideal but I was glad I was able to stick to my budget (paying cash) and get exactly what I wanted with no extras I didn't want. I'll keep the vehicle at least 5-8 years and that to me is a long time to drive something close to what I want rather than exactly what I want, so I was probably a lot less flexible than most buyers. Funny thing is, the interior color was probably the big challenge in my search and I never would have even given it a second thought if I hadn't seen a vehicle with that interior in person. The truck was the dark red and the white trim panels looked really nice with the dark interior and exterior, whereas the gray/silver panels blended in. Just personal preference, but once I saw that interior there was no going back. Only thing I couldn't get that I wanted was the bedliner, yes I'm one of the stupid ones, and I'll have to get that added locally. I haul a lot of stone and spray in bedliners handle the stone, and me raking it out with a metal rake, much better than I think the softer composite bed would.

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