2010 4Runner Special Order Discussion

tay528

Thought perhaps those of you on the forum who ordered their 2010 or are currently waiting on a special order might check in and share your estimated wait time and experience in special ordering. Or even those of you who ordered past generations in recent years might want to chime in with your own experiences.

I've got a dealership willing to place the order for me (they offered, actually) but I'm hesitant to do it because of lingering concerns over wait time and price negotiation.

I ran a search on the forum for special orders and found a variety of estimated wait times (and read about some not so good experiences from previous years- orders placed in September that do not arrive until April for example).

And has anyone placed a special order and simultaneously had the dealership search the port for something pretty darn close to what you wanted and if they found it, took it? What happens to your special order? Do you lose your deposit or did they not care because you still bought one of their 4Runners? For good measure, what is the required deposit?

Thanks y'all. Trying to figure out what my best option will be.

mcswigum

I placed an order 5 weeks ago and the dealership still does not have clue of when it will come in. It is a Black Limited with beige Leather interior with everything on it. They do have a Black Limited with Black Leather coming in. It is at Port/ Seattle Washington, but will be two weeks before it gets to WI. The dealership has offered me this one, but the wife wants beige so the wait continues. It seems every week that goes bye it gets worse and worse. Demand is incredible right now, plus the lull in shipping from Japan is terrible. If you order I would plan at least 6-8 weeks if not longer.

tay528

Thanks for your reply.

I'm comfortable with 6-8 weeks if I order now because I can't sign a deal until the first of March anyways.

I'm afraid I'd be pretty impatient though, once I knew I could buy one immediately. Hence the question of finding one remarkably similar before the factory order arrives.

My other option is to wait two weeks until the month outlook on inventory adjusts to where vehicles arriving the first weeks of March start showing and watch the scheduled inventory like a hawk.

fastkar

6 to 8 weeks wait??? Today I Rented a 2010 4Runner (pearl white, SR5, Sunroof) at the dealer. Found it interesting in the glove box was the title registration papers showing sales price 27,544.00. Amazing they are In the rental fleet before you guys can get one.

yassy

did any of you pay additional for special order. I was told by people there is no charge for special order

mcswigum

There was no extra charge for anything on the order. What I ordered was the Black Limited with Beige leather, Nav, Floor mats. The Dealer actually gave me a 3924 Discount: With Tax, Tile, and Licsense it came to 40,499.

tay528

Sounds like you made a good deal. Have you received your special order yet? How long was your wait or if you've still waited, when did you order and when's it supposed to arrive?

mcswigum

Still waiting; The Black on Black Limited will be in by the end of this week or early next week, but my wife really wants the beige interior. When I initially signed the contract they gave me this rough guess of 6-8 weeks because Toyota Dealerships actually have no Idea when these vehicles come to Port. In their inventory computer system they can order a vehicle, but they have no clue when it actually arrives because the vehicles do not get listed until they are on the ship. This is why I know the the Limited with Black leather date is because on the computer system it says "Port" meaning at port or on the way to port. They still have no clue on the Limited with Beige leather because it is not on a boat yet or at least not registered at the port inventory pool.
This is where it gets complicated. Toyota dealerships can only apply to get one of these vehicles through the "Port" pool. These pools go bye date of order so there maybe several other dealers throughout the region that may be waiting also for the same vehicle. The old supply and demand curve is in full effect right now for these vehicles. In my area it seems like the black 4runners are non-existant but they do get quite a few Mag. gray and Pearl white's in. Good luck on getting what you want and don't overpay.

agnosto

... for my 2010 4Runner Limited with NAV, but surprised to find the high popularity/demand for it since the other color choices are in the negative territory (see below per Edmund's TMV What Others Are Paying):

Color Adjustment - - -$115
Classic Silver Metallic

Color Adjustment - - -$115
Blizzard Pearl

Color Adjustment - - -$74
Black

Color Adjustment - - -$159
Shoreline Blue Pearl

Color Adjustment - - $65
Magnetic Gray Metallic

tay528

Sorry, for some reason in my mind you were someone new to the discussion! I didn't connect you to your previous post.

Kind of glad I didn't though because this information is really interesting and leads me to another series of questions.

I know that on the Toyota website you can see inventory that is "available" within the coming weeks. The current latest date is 2/12 (as of last night).I'm assuming if the general public can see this far in advance, how far out can a dealer see then? When the vehicle is leaving Japan? Arrives at the port?

I'm asking because my second option, as I mentioned earlier, is to watch inventory like a hawk. I'm wondering how soon a dealer can snag what I want. Hope that makes sense.

illinoiscentra

>>> I know that on the Toyota website you can see inventory that is "available" within the coming weeks. <<<

How do you do that?

Thanks, Michael

mcswigum

That is what I would like to know. The Dealerships know what they can get at port or on the way to port because it must be part of their logistics programs for inventory (VIN # Listings). It is up to the dealer to pry one of these vehicles in their direction. The unknown part is what, when, and where are these vehicles going to come out of Japan to the U.S. and what U.S. ports. This is why I have no delivery date on the vehicle I have ordered. Apparently Toyota dealerships are somewhat blind to what is being produced for delivery also since they can only track "Port" inventory. "Time to start making them here in the U.S. so we know what's going on."

tay528

Start "building" your 4Runner and but don't make it terribly specific- choose like the trim level and then instead of continuing on to colors or options, choose to view the inventory (where it says on the side "there are XXX 4Runners available in your network". These are listed by their date of availability. If you go to the last page, it'll shows you ones that will be at dealerships in a few weeks (for example, the current latest is February 12). Selecting a color might get you further into the future (there seems to be a 10 page limit).

I'd say with certainty you can do it through any dealer website but I'm in the South so all of our dealers are linked. You can most definitely do it through the main toyota.com site.

Update: There is a slew with an availability date of "2/1/10" in the Southeast.

illinoiscentra

Sorry, I should have responded earlier.

I figured it out, you need to type in a zip code in the southeast USA. I did an internet search for Athens GA (home town of R.E.M.) and voila up popped what tay528 was talking about.

If you type in a Chicago area zip code, say 60202, no such thing is offered.

stever

That's may be because Georgia is part of the Southeast Toyota Distributors, one of two "captive" US Toyota distributors (the other is Gulf States). They have a couple of big processing operations where they add their own options to Toyota vehicles. Since they control so many dealers, they may get first pick of cars.

They do have a bit of a reputation of loading up cars with high margin options of dubious value, but at least they are in stock. (CNN Money)

tay528

"They have a couple of big processing operations where they add their own options to Toyota vehicles"

I learned this about SE Toyota over the weekend. A dealer told me just how "factory" my SR5 leather would be. Unless you buy a Limited, "factory" = "port".

I did a little comparison shopping this weekend at two dealerships a couple of hours away but I think I'm going to return to my original one today. They've quoted me 50 days on a true special factory order- 30 to build it and 20 at sea. I think it's an estimate but by no means a set time frame. I'm prepared to wait closer to 90 days I think, from what I've seen/read/heard.

Of course, I'm also hoping that today is Feb 1 and as a result we'll be able to see further into the future on the incoming inventory!

stever

I don't know that a port installed option is so bad. If you have a group of employees who install leather or whatever every day, they are going to get pretty good at it. And you still usually get the factory warranty on port installed options.

tay528

I'm inclined to agree- the port is practically a factory in itself.

A debate I'm having now is dealer installed options versus SE Toyota installed options. It begs the question, who would you be able to hold more accountable? SE Toyota appears to be run by the mafia so I'm not sure you would get very far on a complaint with them.

stever

lol, they have made a lot of money over the years, but tying them to organized crime is a bit much.

I know that if I lived in Georgia and wanted a Toyota, I'd probably drive up to Chattanooga and compare prices.

mwal27

Am I crazy for being wary about purchasing a Toyota 4Runner since the big Toyota recall happened?? I've driven the new 4Runner, and I liked it alot. I had narrowed it down to the 4Runner and an Acura MDX, and then the big recall/Toyota mess happened. Should I stop worrying?

murphydog

Mwal27

FWIW - we are in a similar situation. We rented a 4runner from Dollar over the weekend and really liked it. I am not worried about issues with this truck, and if there are I am confident Toyota will take care of it.

What I am wondering is should I wait to see if there is any kind of post recall fire sale offered by toyota. Would love to see $2-3K off all their cars with 0% for 60 months, or something nice like that.

We are under no pressure to buy, so we can wait to see what may shake out of all this.

BTW, Really liked the 4Runner - very roomy, and with enough get up and go!

tonycanz

I put 500.00 down on a 2010 4 runner Limited Blue with Sand/Beige interior. Navigation System, Third Row seats,Running Boards, and mats.Then they told me that they could not find one like I wanted so it would take a few weeks. But I kept finding One's I liked on the SouthEast Toyota Site. But then they would say if I only saw the last 4 numbers of the Vin# that they were sold already. Then they told me it could take months before they could find one just the way I wanted because Dealers were not trading with each other. And the 4Runners on the S.E. Toyota Site were (NOT ALL SOLD) And setting at Dealers all over S.E. Toyota . So I called a few Dealers near where I live . Found just what I was looking for with just 3 miles on the odometer. Got my 500.00 back from the first Dealer and bought it at the Dealer that had it. So the Lesson Learned here is to just call all the Dealers you can. Good Luck.

tay528

Sorry this happened to you but happy to hear it worked out in the end. Fear of this exact thing is actually why I backed off from putting a deposit down with a dealer- it seems like it might actually cause a delay in getting the vehicle you want.

This is my first purchase from Toyota and I have to say, I'm pretty disappointed with the shroud of mystery over inventory and what dealership is getting what. Ford is so much clearer. I hate how the SE Toyota website tries to tell you that any vehicle you click on is going to the dealership you prefer and refuses to tell you where it's really going. It's a pretty dirty trick- made worse when the dealerships tell you they can find whatever you want. Funny that then they won't tell you when they find your preferred vehicle at a nearby dealership because said nearby dealership is their arch rival so no trades will be occurring.