Toyota Allocation/Ordering/Transporting System Explaination

That's what I've been told by a salesman about the process in Canada.
"Toyota does not send us ETA's and has asked every dealer to refrain from giving ETA's with how fluid the shortages are. They do not give us a VIN until the vehicle is in Canada and ready to go for our dealership. We are not able to guarantee anything until we can physically touch the vehicle. I just prefer to tell you the truth instead of having you come if I told you 3 months for example, and the vehicle is no where to be seen. I hope you can understand."

 

well if they have access to dealerdaily and the screens are the same, then they can give you updates by your allocation reserve request.

technically you dont need a vin to track anything if you have a request in. i dont have one and they just bring up my reserve request to see any status updates.

in the usa, allocation reserve request fulfillment is usually done on the 5th and 15th of each month.

 

And that's coming from the salesman who was claiming I can get "his" truck earlier than my my original "order' at different dealership because apparently it was in transit already. So I asked him for more details: VIN, built date, eta. I couldn't get anything from him.

 

I think it must be the same up here in Canada. I have been working with my dealer in Ontario, he contacted me on the 17th saying he was waiting for the allotments to be updated which was that week.

I’m putting my deposit and “order” in, next week. I’ll try and find out about dealer daily up here. I’ve worked with the sales manager and leasing manager across 5 Toyotas and 14 yrs. So not too much they hold back from me. They are pretty open and straight forward with me.

thanks to everyone for all the information

 

What region does Hawaii fall under? I expect my tundra has an additional wait time since it does have to float across the pacific, but my dealer has no clue when I'll be getting mine. Ordered and put deposit down on 1794 TRD Off road on Dec 2nd. Production was pushed back twice and eventually estimated for May with delivery sometime in July, but now my dealer has no estimated date. I guess no news of push back is good news? Have been seeing a bunch of new tindras here in the islands but most came from the continent. My dealer said they only got 15 to date. Everday hoping tomorrow will be the day I get the call.

 

from what i can tell toyota doesnt actually serve Hawaii directly, they go thru a intermediary company (Servco Pacific Inc aka Toyota Hawaii).

if you try to put in a hawaii zip code on toyota.usa website, it redirects you to the above

 

Is there a link that I can enter my vin # and see the location of my truck or the ETA

 

dealerdaily is only for toyota dealership logins.

 

Guess that means even a longer wait. ☹️‍

 

yeah i thought GST/SET was bad, but man you folks have it worse.

 

whats really really bad? alaska is served by toyota.usa at least.

anchorage
fairbanks

same dealer owns both
-------------------------
juneau

but hawaii, you people get screwed

 

Guess that's why a bunch of people have been buying them on the mainland (continent) and shipping them here themselves.

Last I heard is that if you order a tundra in hawaii now, the wait is 6-10 months!!! No sense get a 2022 if that's the case.

 

@nodak67 Thank you for writing this up, I’m doing my homework before going to my local dealer to put in a reserve request so this was very helpful!!! I do have a couple questions for you if you don’t mind?

1. Do just the factory options (FIO) flag the allotment for a request being fulfilled or do any of the POI options like say Black out emblems and all weather mats factor into that?

I’m assuming that the PIO options wouldn’t factor into the allotment request if they are done outside the factory? But if they do factor into a dealer getting an allotment for a request then I would leave those off my request to make it easier to get what I’m looking for.

2. Is there any advantage putting in deposits at a couple different dealers even if they are in the same region? In my case Northern Cali, more specifically the SF Bay Area?

Reason I ask is we have a family friend who is a manager at a dealer that is about 40 miles away from me but my local dealership is only 4 miles. Both dealerships are relatively small so wasn’t sure if there would be an advantage going with one over the other?

 

no., i have a platinum on reserve with no factory options but alot of pio options.

no

the only advantage is if you get a dealer that has a higher allocation position than another dealer. no one can see that number as that is a computer generated number based on numerous factors stated in my OP. another thing is that you having a family member looking will be a better advocate than a regular salesperson on your behalf.

easy way to tell, how big a dealer inventory is. if a texas dealer is moving 500-700 toyota's a month vs a dealer that maybe moves 500 in a year, guess who will get more toyota's.

 

So the PIO options will set back getting an allocation even though they aren’t installed at the factory itself?

 

pio stuff never affects allocation. all it affects is delivery to a dealer from the port since they have to wait for either parts or kits to arrive if they are short to install. thats why you see trucks just sitting for weeks/months outside of QC hold or stop sale with no status.

 

So if the vehicle’s status is in QC hold at the port, is it safe to assume it’s a the regional port? My regional port is about 4 hours away.

 

rail port and regional port are not always at the same location if i remember correctly.

 

Mine was “in port” since some time in July. I heard both San Diego and Baltimore from the dealer. I am a bit disappointed in the lack of information they were able to give me (either because they just weren’t proactive with updates or Toyota wasn’t giving them much either). In any case, it showed up Saturday night and I’m heading up there this afternoon to take it home. It’s about time.

 

good for you. i've been waiting since around 5-may-2022. not expecting anything until probably sept or oct best case.

but then again, i put in only a single selection and its a unicorn for a platinum.

no factory packages at all.

i think every platinum i have seen in the kansas city region all come with AQ package (AVS/HUD) which means you have to also get the automatic running boards which i hate.

 

I want to say I'm from the Tacoma World but this post came up with a google search and explains allocations better than any other I have read. I'm trying to reserve a 2023 Tacoma Pro and getting mixed signals from dealers.

I have been told by a dealer that as of about 4 months ago they can no longer put in request/allocations….? I’m in the SET region not sure if the answer is different down here or not. I was also told that port installed options could be left off if the dealer catches the order fast enough....? I'm looking for one with no added options.

Brian

 

i am guessing they can no longer put in requests for 2022 models, they just didnt expand on you can now only put in requests for 2023 models. just an obtuse dealer.

SET and GST for that matter have a weird setup for allocations since the regional HQ decides on what they receive and then divvy that up to the regional dealers. its almost like a double allocation system setup. once from toyota and then another for SET (or GST)

and by the way i am in tacoma world (just not as much anymore) also and i think i have a very old sticky post in the 3rd gen before they came out called "3rd Gen Tacoma Model/Package/Option Costs Master List", i was the op on that thread.

i think somewhere in that massive thread i wrote about the ordering process back then but this post over here in the tundra forum is more up to date.

 

Thank you for the explanation....

 

OP.....
The best post on this subject I've found on the web!
Thank you!

 

Thank you for sharing! Been waiting 6+ months, and tho it's not a tundra I'm after, this was the only thorough share of how toyota works, and I appreciate it!

I am a bit unclear tho: With it working as you described, then eventually it'll stop production on some models on it's own, right? Building less of a trim/model means they won't sale as many, so then EVEN FEWER trims/models for allocation, then fewer sales, and then eventually the system won't even have said trim/model made at all. Previous fiscal year having less sales because it determined not to build enough to have improve sales in the 1st place.

Am i reading that correct? If so, the system is highly flawed, no?

 

somewhat, if you look at how production is done, its like a bell curve (dont you hate high school grades). even though they are making less on one model they are making more of another model/trim which kinda evens out total sales across all models. toyota sales are not like most oem's in that sales are usually consistent year after year with spikes upward most of the time after a spike downward. its only flawed if you have a long term downward trend on a model sales, but once it reaches that point they start deciding on cancelling a model (like the fj cruiser or venza before it was brought back). sometimes sales dont meet targets after 5-10 yrs of production and are discontinued (good example is the scion brand spin off that went for years but toyota stuck with it to make it work but sales never caught on) mostly due to toyota having models that overlapped the scion models.

in your example there is more detail in production that what i can explain in this post that we dont have privy to. bean counters have lots of factors to consider in production allocation that influences year to year schedules. and you also have to take into account how remodels, mid cycle refreshes, and platform changes affect production for a model/trim. a good example of how even a refresh can turn around a model is to look at the 4runner. prior to the 2014 refresh, sales were declining to the point of being canx. see here ... https://www.goodcarbadcar.net/toyota-4runner-sales-figures/

and upcoming new gen or even a mid cycle refresh will skew a model year sales (gotta throw out those high/low outliers), see how on the tundra sales took a nose dive once the 3rd gen tundra was announced
https://www.goodcarbadcar.net/toyota-tundra-sales-figures/

2009 was when the 5th gen was released and sales for the most of part of the 4th gen (most of 2009) was abysmal, once the 5th gen came out it pretty much doubled sales. the big ramp up on sales/production happened in 2014 mid cycle refresh and it really took off.

in a nutshell, previous fiscal year sales are not a hard stat that only affects allocation production, there are multiple factors that influence it, but it does have a factor in what trims and how many to build for a model.

 

Not sure how this antiquated system holds up in the future order based car universe. Toyo is at a crossroads in the EV era. All it's goodwill and leadership today is at risk as EV shift continues. Sticking to obsolete methods that make it harder for customers to get what they want will be a weakness versus everyone that is order at will.

 

it works since toyota is not about fast changes. toyota is all about freight train direction on everything. takes forever to ramp up/slow down and forever to change direction. slow and steady and minute changes are its mantra. which works since toyota always seems to sell most of its production. we loyal fans love that they dont drastically change stuff for change during a model generation. once you pretty much iron out the kinks in a model generation why screw it up with big changes when little improvements here and there make the ROI on a model generation nosedive.

look how long 2nd gen tundra went, hell the 5th gen 4runner is older than the 2nd gen tundra is and its still going an doing over 100k sales year over year since 2014 refresh. i mean the 5th gen came out in 2009, refresh in 2014 and not projected to change to the 6th gen until fall of 2024 (2025 model year)

 

This is likely the last generation of ICE only for anything. Other OEMs are ahead of Toyo electrification. This will be the biggest industry pivot since post WWII consolidation. You will see more tech companies with equally strong fan bases such as Apple making EVs. All will be custom order based. The Japanese will be the outliers with customers searching the continent for the vehicle they want. That will not standup well.

 

well currently i think the ev market will implode if nothing is done to either find an alternative due to key mineral scarcity or find another way to make batteries that is sustainable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFp9rFhlPfo&t=41s