Question on 4runner availability

I know that, if you look on a dealership website, 4runners that appear on the dealer's website aren't necessarily available to purchase as they list all incoming vehicles whether pre sold or not.

Now....when you look on the Toyota.com website and check vehicle availability, what is the status of the vehicles that come up as available in your area? Are those vehicles that are allocated to your region but not yet claimed by a dealership? Or could those vehicles already be claimed and sold? They give you the option to select a vehicle and then send that vehicle info to a dealer that you select. Does that mean that you are alerting that dealership of your interest in that vehicle and then they can claim it for their allocation and subsequently sell it to you?

 

If I recall correctly from my hunt a few months ago, my dealer told me that the vehicles on their own dealer website aren't even controlled by them, they're controlled by Toyota itself. In other words, I'd imagine they are the same listings. I do recall calling my dealer on a few vehicles on their dealer website, and being told they'd sold already but "Toyota" hadn't updated the listings yet.

Who knows, that could be incorrect, but in these times, I'd wager to say the only way to know what is available or coming in is to actually talk to a human at the dealer. The website listings (no matter which website), don't seem to be close to reality at some/most times.

 

I’ve been at our local dealership a few times since the car shortage and have noticed that desirable models on display such as the 4Runner have signs in the windows saying “Not for sale, display only”.
It must be a very frustrating experience right now trying to purchase a vehicle.

 

Call around. The dealer in San Francisco charges $3,000 over MSRP and has a 2-4 month waiting list of people that will fight over what they get in their allocation. I found another dealer 20 minutes away that doesn't charge a dime over sticker, and had a beautiful Barcelona Red ORP for me in two 1/2 weeks .

 

I just ordered mine yesterday (Canada) and was told they hope to deliver July.

 

I checked around a 500 mile radius of my location and everything coming (allocation) into the dealerships were accounted for. Some did offer to put me on a list provided I throw down a $500 or $1000 non-refundable deposit. I declined and decided to just wait for my local dealer where I put down a $500 deposit. I got a call two weeks later and they said they had one on the ship that had most of what I was looking for and I said yes, I'll take it. Not sure when it will arrive to the port let alone the dealer. But I did ask them to hold off on adding things that I did not want...running boards, TRD wheels, ect and they obliged. If you can open up your options for example the color choice, the packages, ect, you will have a better chance. A lot of folks are looking for something specific and a specific color, so if those do not come in, then you can be moved up on the waiting list pretty fast.

 

Did you order a vehicle with custom options, or just put down a deposit to reserve a vehicle from the dealer's allocation?
A month ago, before all the recent shutdowns in Japan, our local dealer said custom would take 4-6+ months, waiting list for standard allocations was 1-2 months.

 

If by custom you mean model (Off Road) and colour choice (black), then yes. Otherwise here in Canada we don’t have variances within the package.

 

That's the same "choice" we got. Sucks to be trying to buy a new vehicle now .

 

The websites are unreliable, whether it's Toyota or the dealer website. I had called on many that were listed online only to be told that they were reserved or sold. That being said, be persistent with them because the one I purchased was "reserved" for another customer. Miraculously two days after I called maybe 5-7 times on the vehicle, I got a call saying "the other customer backed out of the deal if you still want it, it's yours". My truck was still listed on their website a week after I drove it home.

 

I went to my local dealer and picked which one off of their allotment list to put a down payment on. I waited a little over a month or so for it to arrive. I did get a call from the sales man a week and a half earlier about a white (original color I wanted) ORP with KDSS and some other options I didn't want (obviously more expensive) showing up the next day he could get me into. I thought about it, but at that point the silver grew on me and I stuck to my original pick. A few days later he called, and said a TRD Pro in the lime color was available that day, the person who ordered it never picked it up or answered their phone, and I was next in line. Again, I originally wanted a Pro. I declined due to the almost $10k over sticker they wanted for it, and stuck with the silver ORP I originally put a deposit on.

 

when I called and told the dealer exactly what I wanted (color, packages, etc) they told me it would be an 8 month wait minimum and I had a .01% chance of getting it haha I then decided to give them a couple color options I really like, my must haves, and things I want but aren’t deal breakers if I don’t get them. I’m hoping this speeds up the process a lot. I know I’ll genuinely be happy with whatever I get and to get out of my Camry (I will miss those MPGs though)

 

I was in the market for three weeks and then snagged exactly what I was looking for last weekend (white ORP with very few options, just al weather mats and roof cross bars). I got lucky, I used TrueCar (for the 3rd or 4th time), and a dealership happened to get the truck in that night. I purchased it the next day.

Prior to that, I was getting frustrated. The only dealers with inventory had significant mark ups. Most dealers wanted a deposit to be put on a waiting list, with 3-4 months being quoted from several. I did locate two white ORP on allocation at MRSP, hesitated on both due to port options and they were locked in by others a few hours later. Only two dealerships within 200 miles were willing to sell at MRSP, a few others had slight markups and the rest were thousands over MSRP. I did get a call from a dealer for a Grey ORP that came in, but I was firm on color.

 

One of the first dealers I called claimed to be one of the biggest dealers in the region, but announced they charge $5-10,000 over MSRP, like it was the new rule to buying a new 4Runner now. Also a long wait. I found another dealer not too far from them that sold at MSRP and had mine in around 3 weeks. The other dealer called me back last week to see if I was still looking, and was happy to tell the guy "Sorry, picked up our new ORP last week. Thanks anyways".

 

Yes, one of the overpriced dealers followed up with me yesterday and I was happy to tell them I already bought my 4Runner.

 

I called around every dealership in September within 250 miles to see if they could get me into a trd pro. My local dealer was willing get me all my options and lime rush at msrp but they could not tell me when it would come in. My rep who sold my coworker a 4ruuner earlier in the year warned me that it may take up to a year but the $500 deposit was refundable. I made my deposit and kept calling around and checking auto trader.

I found another dealer about 100 miles away with a pro coming in but already sold. They offered me their next allocation which was white but I could add in the predator steps. They told me I would have to pay an out of area surcharge of $1500. I reluctantly took that offer and made the $500 deposit. My trd pro arrived in late decemeber just as my lease was up on my vette. They tried to take my vette for a trade but ally financial was not taking payments from other non-gm dealerships. I was not trilled to have to eat that surcharge but I was told that this dealership only sold local at msrp and because of the inventory shortage they were no longer selling outside of their area. I guess I lucked out in a way. I went back to my local dealer and they refunded my deposit right away and actually showed me a file cabinet full of other peoples' deposits on cars that have yet to be built.

 

The vehicles that show up on Toyota's inventory site are in G (ground) status. I've been playing around with the API that gets called by that site to see if I can figure out a way to get it to include other statuses but have not been successful. I can see all of the filters that get applied to the search in the response but it doesn't seem like there is a way to manipulate the request to modify that particular filter, so it always shows only vehicles in G status.

If anyone more techy than me has any ideas, let me know! I already have my 4Runner but I'm still curious about it.