Trying to buy a new Tundra

I am a new member of the forum. I joined because i am having difficulty finding/“ordering” a new tundra. I have built the truck i want on the Toyota web site, i have engaged a salesman at a local dealership and he has sent the “preference” to whomever they send it to at Toyota. I tried to pay some cash upfront but dealership would not take it. I preferenced a 23 limited. With trd off road premium package in lunar rock. Non hybrid. I am also going to get the factory lift kit (subject for another thread). This has been going on about 4 months with no success. The salesman told me this week that if i would take a color that they are allocated, he could get me a truck. If i insist on lunar rock, i probably will not get a truck, EVER. Even my wife says quit being hard headed and compromise. At this time i feel like if you are going to pay that much money, you should get what you want. Is there something going on at Toyota where they are limiting color offerings. Pretty frustrating. Should i accept what the dealership is telling me as the way it is?

 

First Welcome to the forum. If you If you poke around the forum, I think there is a thread explaining the allocation process. Long story short, your dealer is correct. You get put on a list with your preferences and you wait. If they get something close, you get a call. The less specific you are, the quicker the process will be. I also think they cannot accept any money from you until they get an actual VIN (meaning the truck is actually built) which comes after the vehicle is allocated. I do know some dealers charge a deposit just to be put on a list, so again not too sure about that process. I also recommend trying other dealerships in your area to cast a wider net. I hope this helps.

 

I am far from an expert but I just bought a 2023 limited 4x4 that I was waiting 4 months for. I contacted 6 dealers in the area and told them what I wanted. I knew the dealers received an allocation list around the 6th and the 22nd of each month. On the 5th and 21st I was texting them to remind them that I was still looking. Eventually the one I wanted was coming in and I was able to get it reserved for me.

 

First, Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)! Your best bet is to get your dream truck on the list with as many dealers in your area as you can. That specific truck will only be allocated to a small fraction of the dealers, so playing the numbers will greatly increase your chances.

 

I wonder if you would be better of punching it into CarGurus or some other website and just searching nationally. A $300 flight to get the exact truck you want is probably worth it. I've done it and the process was super smooth, the sales person even picked me up from the air port. I was out of there and driving home in 2 hours from the time I landed.

 

I agree with all the above.

It appears that dealer behavior on a deposit varies. My dealer charged a $1k "deposit", which gets us on the list with our preference. In this case it's refundable should we decide to walk away at any time or not take the vehicle "allocated" to dealer/us. If Toyota is not allowing dealers to take a formal deposit, having it refundable is probably my dealer's way of getting around that. And quite frankly, I don't blame the dealers for wanting some cash up front as with the truck supply be so small they are having a problem with people putting their names on lists at many dealers causing a huge hassle for the dealers. I know that siding with the dealers is not popular, and even I cringe to write this, but the whole new (and used, different thread topic) market is chaotic and downright stupid these days.

In the end persistence on your part has a good chance of getting you a truck sooner rather than later. Common wait times are 8-10 months sadly. Be prepared to compromise on features and options, that will definitely help.

Hope this helps and hope you get your dream truck for sure

 

I from LA as well. Lower Arkansas. I do appreciate the responses. Increasing my odds by increasing number of dealers i contact makes sense. That is what i will do. I will keep the car guru thing in mind even though getting on an airline in todays time is about more than this ole boy could take. May have to though. Thanks yall and happy holidays. I’ll update here if i am successful with my purchase.

 

Welcome to forum ! I’ma newbie here to . Took me about a year and a half to find the one I wanted but it seems that they are starting to be more available . Good luck on search

 

How married to the TRD Off Road package are you? There’s a Lunar Rock Limited in Joplin Missouri. Not sure how far that is for you.

https://smartpath.fletcher-toyota.c...5DB9PX44E526&source=t3&zipcode=64804&type=new

 

If you plan to go off road a lot I understand why you would hold out for the TRD OR package with crawl control and getting the locker in the rear axle. If you primarily like the look of the package and won’t do technical off roading, changing wheels, fender flares and front grill is pretty easy and you have the same look. Thats what I did.

 

I wanted a 1794 with air ride, 6.5' bed, tow mirrors, and a saddle brown interior.

I got a Plat with air ride, 6.5' bed

This was the closest allocation by a country mile after waiter 10 months.

 

I've flown from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, Calgary, Norfolk VA, Orlando and Boston since mid August and all of trips were smooth sailing. I have not seen any of the horror stories you see in the news. No issues at security lines or anything.

 

I would say picky buyers will have a hard time but at the same time don't take it at face value if a dealer tells you something is "just not built" a certain way. I eventually went to an F150 but when I was looking at Gen3 Tundras I told the dealer where I bought my 09 I wanted a basic limited with not much other than the pano moonroof checked. Red or blue. He tried to tell me they just don't get built optioned out that way even aside from the complication of specific colors. But then a buddy put me onto the place where he got his 4Runner and they had a couple coming in in that configuration. I did not go with one for various reasons but had I not tried this other dealer I'd never have found out the precise configuration I wanted was obtainable if I could be flexible on color.


Had I settled on the Tundra and set aside my "red or blue" preference I'd have had exactly what I configured online within a month or two which my original dealer told me I'd probably never find. May be worth checking around. Your dealer may be telling you that color combination doesn't get built at all. Or it may just be that he's not getting that package with that color and he wants to sell you what he'll get before you find out you can get what you want elsewhere.

 

Welcome, fellow Arkansan. I had a good experience earlier this year working with Landers Toyota in Little Rock. I wanted a Limited crew cab with 5.5' bed, but was not picky on color or options. I wound up with a magnetic grey metallic instead of the pearl white I hoped for. Landers did not attempt to charge a markup, but expect all of them to add on a couple grand of junk like "paint protection package", etc.

Caldwell Toyota in Conway was also really good to work with.

Basically, I started signing up for dealer allocation lists in December/January and had one in my driveway by the end of March. 12,000 miles later, I am still very very happy with the truck.

 

We left a $1000 deposit in April for a Lunar Rock Limited TRD regular box. By September we realized that this was never going to happen and during the wait my wife saw the Lunar Rock on other Toyotas and decided that she wasn’t too fond of it. We jumped on a Black Limited TRD long box coming in from another dealer. It is a longer truck but the extra space makes sense for our usage. We added an extra foot to the box and changed the colour. Not too bad.

 

I would caution buying out of state, I was going to order a f150 powerboost for 5% under invoice and get it shipped over from east coast to west coast. Ford still does 100% custom orders - unlike Toyota.

Started going down this route THEN realized for cali, out of state new vehicle purchases get like a ADDITIONAL 1400+ fee since it came from out of state! Make sure you absolutely know all of the fees

 

I put in my order and my deposit on March 16th for a TRD Pro and still do not have a build date or any idea when I will see the truck. I am giving it another month or two and then asking for my deposit back and moving to another brand. Just know full well, if you are like me and only want a certain model and color, you could be in for a wait of over a year.

 

Living in California is the primary problem, there's a tax for everything there.

 

This truck looks like it actually has the TRD Off-Road package as the OP wanted. Seems to me like this would fit the bill!

I too eventually had to go OOS to purchase my Tundra in June. Worked out pretty seamlessly for me, but I live in a small state and just had to drive a couple hours to get to the dealership. Best of luck.

 

It sure does. I didn’t look into the details and it wasn’t listed in the front screen.

 

I had been waiting for a Limited Off Road with some other things for over a year. Not happening. I finally just picked out a TRD Pro and I'll have a truck in a few weeks. If you stick to exactly what you want you'll be waiting a looooong time.

 

I’m a new member as well - may as well start here. @Arky I ordered the exact same truck as you described in July and was told 6-12 months. I got a call from them in October and they said they had one allocated for January delivery that was the same build but Black. 5 mins later I was there signing paperwork.

Be a little flexible and you will likely get a truck sooner rather than later. I don’t get Lunar Rock but I will FOR SURE have my truck for spring/summer 2023 adventures!

And the black is growing on me… Gonna be a beauty. 2 more months!

 

Best thing about buying in Cali was the low cost of what a dealer can charge for doc fees since it’s private money.

The state on the other hand, demands hundreds for annual registration.