Dealer requiring deposit if customer wanting 2023 4runner within next 6 months+

Here in AZ some dealerships are advertising they have 2023 4runners available. When you show up they smile or laugh and tell you a deposit is necessary to secure a 4runner for the upcoming 6+ months. Yesterday a Toyota dealership refused us a test drive on 2023 Limited on the new vehicle lot with all the information on vehicle including price and build sheet, standard window stickers in place. No sold notices anywhere. Sales person said the vehicle has been sold. Anyone else told something similar?

 

Go East young man lol not like that out this way in Michigan anyway. Although I think in general there is less demand here for 4Runners

 

My experience (and this was 6 months ago) was that there were none on the ground that were not already sold. The day I picked mine up, the dealership delivered something like 12 Tacomas (and of course, my 4Runner) all had been reserved. The 4runner that came in after mine was reserved 3 months before I placed my deposit (that person wanted one of two colors, I was willing to take whatever color became available first).

Them saying they have them available apparently does not mean they have them in stock, just that they have upcoming allocations that have not been reserved yet.

If they are requiring a deposit for incoming vehicles, I believe that the one they had on the lot was already sold. Seems to be the way it works now. If you want a particular vehicle, you need to place a deposit and wait unless you get lucky.

(just looked, my dealer has 6 4Runners on their website, all listed as "In Transit" with 5 of the 6 listed as "Build Phase". If I ask my buddy (who is the GM), I bet he tells me they are all spoken for already. The other 4 dealers I checked, they are all listed as in transit, build phase or "sale pending, vehicle may be in transit or build phase").

 

Asking for a deposit for an allocation does not seem like a difficult ask?
Way back when I had multiple totally cancellable deposits on 4Runner (in MA). As long as there is an understanding on the price (and no B.S. dealer add-ons) there is no harm right?
Can not speak to the test drive -- I test drove a used 4Runner but already knew how it drove

 

Yep - this is how it worked three months ago when we bought a 2023 Limited. I live in Columbia, MO - so contacted the Toyota dealer here, the one in Jeff City, and about 5 or 6 dealerships each in the STL and KC metro areas. Every one of them said they had no 4Runners for sale on their lot - but I could put a deposit down on a 4Runner that was on allocation and not spoken for yet - would get the vehicle in 3-6 months. I wasn't in any particular hurry so I was about to put a deposit down on one of the next allocations that was available through the local Toyota dealer. I was waiting for the sales guy to get back to me with what they would be getting in their next allocation and one of the dealers I contacted in the STL metro area e-mailed me and said they had a 2023 Limited (in MGM like I wanted) that just got unloaded off the truck and it was available. I called them, agreed to $149 over MSRP, and went and picked it up the next day. Pure luck. Don't know if someone had a deposit on it and backed out - or if they just didn't have a buyer lined up for it. This dealer was on the outer edges of the STL metro area - small town a little outside the suburbs - was not one of the huge dealers in St. Louis/St. Charles county. If you are able to contact several dealers that are within a hour, or two, drive from you - do so, you might get lucky. My oldest son decided to buy a 2023 4Runner Limited also. He's in KC and contacted several dealers within about an hour drive from his house. He ended up putting a deposit down on an allocated vehicle that was already in transit for $300 over MSRP in March (most of the large dealers in STL and KC are selling 4Runners for $300 over invoice) - the dealer called him last week and said the vehicle will be ready for pick up before end of April. I think we might live in an area where 4Runner demand is less than in other areas of the country though (although I see a lot of them on the roads). The days of going to the dealer, selecting a vehicle to test drive, and then haggling for a deal that is x% less than MSRP or y% more than invoice are gone - at least for 4Runners - not sure when days like that will be back.

 

Have you tried Earnhardt Toyota? In December of 2021, after spending two weeks on the phone with Camelback and them selling every 4Runner as soon as they came in, I went to Earnhardt and they had 22 on their lot. I had my pick and when they tried to add their premium of $5,000, I walked out. He called me the next day and said MSRP and I went straight from work to get mine. They seem to be kind of off the beaten path towards the back of the auto loop near Superstition Springs. You never know-you just might get lucky.

 

If you're in the Phoenix Area, avoid Camelback Toyota like the plague and Larry Miller Toyota Peoria is not much better. Autonation Tempe Toyota was useless as well.

I've had good luck with Avondale Toyota but that was over 1 year ago, so I dont know if it has changed.

 

The OP about 4Runners is consistent with what a salesperson at a Toyota dealer in Asheville, N.C. told me a few weeks ago. I made it clear that I wasn't in the market for a new one, but was just trying to get a handle on what a new one would actually cost to have a point of comparison to some of the used prices I was seeing. He said you specify your preferences in terms of trim package, color and options and get on the wait list. He didn't say they require a deposit but I'm sure they do; if they didn't, people would just get on wait lists everywhere. They find out a few weeks ahead how many 4Runners are coming in the next shipment and the details of them. The salespeople call the customers they have on the waitlist to see if they want one of them or if they want to keep waiting. Once in a while they might be able to trade incoming 4Runners with another dealer because of customer preferences, but it doesn't happen much. The dealership adds a few options as a $1500 package that is added to the MSRP and that's the price. The salesperson said Toyota is telling them the new normal is that dealerships will have much smaller inventories of all makes of new vehicles for the foreseeable future; in their case about 40 new vehicles on the lot total for what I'd guess is a medium size dealership.

 

I got lucky I picked up my Lunar Rock for MSRP. Saw one today in SoCal with a $10K mark-up

 

I got very frustrated with dealers listing cars in stock that were still in "build phase" on Toyota's web site. Team Toyota in Glen Mills PA claimed (16) 4runners, and actually had zero. Del Toyota took the trouble to post photos of the car on their lot so you could see they actually exist.

We didn't put a deposit. Our requirements were flexible, 4x4 SR5 base (cloth), just about any color. I saw that these trucks were being manufactured and they would appear at dealers lots for a few days before getting snatched up. We saw a white one on the lot on a Sunday when the dealer was closed, and were getting ready to go back after work, on Tuesday, but it disappeared from the dealers web site. I saw they had a MGM truck on the way. We lucked out that it arrived on Friday, they did the PDI, so when we arrived Saturday morning it was ready for a test drive. We figured if we couldn't work out a deal, we'd try again at the next dealer when an SR5 appeared. Though the dealer wouldn't budge on sale at MSRP, they did a good job on my trade. Interest at 5.94% for 60 months. We drove it home that day.

The biggest problems I see with leaving a deposit and closing the deal when the truck shows up, are that the dealer may try to change the price, the price of a trade it could be anything in a few months, and interest rates could be anything. You may have the truck you want, but the numbers could be completely upside down a few months out.

Good luck 4runner hunting.

 

I got lucky that I found an ORP last month that wasn't spoken for, was listed for msrp and the dealer agreed remove port-installed options from the build sheet (they got to it in-time).

I took delivery last week, and also traded in my 2023 Tundra Limited for close to MSRP.

Good deals are out there. You just have to be able to talk to the right people at the right time.

When you find one and put down a deposit, make sure you get a vehicle sheet with all the vehicle cost, dealer adjustment, and estimated tax and fees details clearly stated.

Goodluck with the search!

 

Earnhardt is showing a white limited and a silver ORP in stock, but call for price.

 

Hello and Thank you Mickeyblue. Just checked the Earnhart site. Appears they have a few 4runners. I'll be sure and give them a call. Thanks again!