Ordering a new 4runner

Well I was ready to pull the trigger on a particular color combo on the 2024 4Runner limited in underground exterior with a sand beige interior.
The dealer called me back today and said they are no longer accepting builds at the factory.

My question is this.
Was that such an awful color combo?
It's like nobody bought it and it's completely unavailable anywhere
For my side I just got tired of having a black interior car.

So my choices are
Underground in black or redwood
Or my second exterior color choice is nautical blue metallic in the sand beige.
So the underground is only available for 24 in the 5th gen while the nautical blue has been around for a long time.
What are you guys think?
Something that says 2024 only last gen
Or classic blue with beige interior.

Thanks for your help

 

Welcome.

The dealer has probably received all of its allocated units for the 2024 4Runners.

Toyota is weird about regional availability. Your color combo may be available in a different region, you’ll just have to put in some leg work to find it.

 

What's more important to you, the interior or exterior?

Underground with Redwood sounds nice, and Nautical Blue/Beige is a great color combo as well. I think it really comes down to your personal preference. You're the one who has to look at it everyday.

I think I'd lean towards Underground/Redwood as that sounds fairly unique. The blue is a fantastic color (my fav color is blue) as well, so you really can't go wrong either way.

Just go with your gut.

 

Thanks for the quick responses to my admittedly non problem, problem.
I did have the dealer check within a 3k radius and there was nothing...although I'd be willing to guess someone somewhere ordered it at least once.
But the other statement about going with my gut is relevant. the thing is, I saw in my home town a Blue Metallic driving and it looked great! I just can't tell if it was a 24 or a 19 or whatever as it's been available as a color for some time.

 

Factory vehicle builds haven’t been a thing for many years now unless you’re buying a high end car. Allocation is the game and it’s the later half of the final year of the 5th gen so they’re only getting harder to find now.

 

The fact that you can't order a 2024 in the combination you want has more to do with the factory no longer building them than anything else. They're changing over to build 2025's now.

 

Well Whippersnapper, the dealer was happy to take my order for a factory build...

 

Toyota doesn’t accept factory build requests like some other manufacturers, they build what they build and that gets divvy’ed out.

The dealer probably said they’d order and hoped they’d get something like that down the road/see what gets as close as possible or could trade another dealer for it.

Your best bet is to probably talk to more dealers (to account for the human difference) and see what allocations are coming down the pipeline. The new 4Runner is supposed to drop this fall so I wouldn’t be surprised if they finalized what’s being built.

Of course I could be wrong. I was shopping new late last year and it seemed like the dealer didn’t know exactly what they were getting until a couple/few weeks prior?

That said, you may have to travel.

 

Hi OP, I FTFY...

The underground looks really nice in person...when its clean

I don't like black interiors, Im having grey leather put in my 2024, cause I dont like black so much

OTH, beige is among my favorite interiors...my 3rd gen is silver with beige leather.
But toyota doesn't put beige interiors in silver cars anymore, and Toyota doesn't let you spec your cars like you want for orders
And 2024 production has likely ended, so your stuck with whatever is in the pipeline

My first choice would be the Nautical blue with sand beige, 2nd choice would be underground with redwood...

But you also make a good point for the underground, only offered on the 2024 5th gen...so you already got a unique vehicle

whichever you want, I'd hurry

you are getting a 4wd, right?

 

Anything to make a sale. They would probably take a deposit too like they did my uncle for a ES350 but then they tried selling him on a ES300h they had on the lot after 6 months of not even trying to look for the 350 in the color he wanted. Ultimately they sold him a RX350 with everything he wanted and more that they had on the lot.

 

I've been told both, you can order one and you can't. I know you can order vehicles through other manufacturers. I've done it several times or more. I've also ordered boats to my specs, but it worked differently, in that it had to be ordered while the dealer still had allocations. In that case, and with some other manufacturers, the dealer has a person that makes the orders, so they spec what they think they can sell. If that dealer still has allocations available, they can spec an order that matches what you want. In that case it's a dealer order, just like every other vehicle they've ordered, they just spec'd it based on selling it to you.

Some dealers don't like doing that because you may spec it in a way that is less desirable, generally. In the case of Jeep, Ford, Chevy, you can spec it exactly the way you want it, assuming all of those options are available together, but it may make it a less desirable configuration so the dealer will only do it with a deposit, for example. More specifically, I've ordered two Jeep Wranglers from two different dealers; two-door, manual transmission, soft top. One of the dealers had never ordered one in that configuration, ever. He said it's probably one of the least desirable configurations he could imagine putting together. The other dealer had also never ordered one in that configuration, but once I'd ordered mine, he said he'd order another one like it and see what happens, whether they'd get another person that really wanted the most off road oriented configuration he could imagine (it also came with the lowest gearing available, lockers front and rear, etc.).

With the boat purchase, I caught the dealer before they had ordered all of their inventory for the year. He said it would take a couple months to get built (just like the cars I've ordered), but since he had allocations left for the year and was placing an order for additional inventory, he would spec the boat the way I wanted it (with the options I wanted and the engine I wanted, etc., just like the cars I've ordered). He ordered it as part of his normal monthly or quarterly allocation and tagged it as sold in their system. When it came in he called me and said it's here, do you still want it.

So, it's my belief that a dealer can order you a vehicle, but it's not the way in which the Toyota dealer network typically operates. It would be dealer-specific, and you'd have to find a dealer that has allocations left. They would have to do a little extra work up front, which most won't, and they'd have to feel comfortable that if you backed out, they could easily sell that configuration, or you could forfeit a sizeable deposit.

ETA: I've also had Toyota dealers say they will order something, but it was early in the year and I know they had allocations left. I ended up finding what I wanted already in transit, so I let the dealer know I didn't need the "order" as there was another one on the way that fit my specs.

 

I’ve had beige interiors on more than a few vehicles. Never again. Yeah it looks nice when new but after a year or so they start to look like shit. I do construction so there’s that factor but every vehicle I had developed the blue jeans color from getting in and out on at least the drivers side. I wouldn’t buy a light colored interior ever again but that’s just my opinion on how I use my vehicle.

 

Here in Denver Colorado dealer near me has a Black Limited with sand beige interior.
Both my Toyota Venza and 4Runner SR5 had beige interior and wasn't a child friendly option. So now I have black interior.

 

I've got a Solar Octane ORP coming at the end of the month. The dealer traded their allocation of a more generic color ORP with another dealer who was getting the Solar Octane. Apparently the other dealer was happy to get a more generic color. But yeah dealers don't really get much of a say in what they get but seem to do a lot of trading of allocations amongst research other, at least in my area.

 

Having Golden Retrievers, I thought going beige would be a good thing originally but decided to go with Black as it was the only option for the TRD ORP. I did see that it was an option with SR5. I was a fan of the early 2000's white on tan combo with the luxury cars. Benefit of having black is it will keep me on toes keeping the car clean with the dogs.

 

I’m sure we are rapidly approaching the point where no more 5th gens will be made. Guesses on the date for that sad milestone?

 

Japanese automakers have a different stance on vehicle ordering vs their American and European counterparts. This is to keep their manufacturing process efficient. Toyota basically came up with the idea of a Kanban system and most of the Six Sigma ideas are derived from Toyota.

Ok, now how does Toyota’s allocation system work. A dealer is allocated “x” amount of vehicles based on their sales volume and regional location. Allocations are usually allotted twice a month, based on the previous month’s sales. The dealer doesn’t have much choice on the trim and colors that they’re allocated. They can modify the FIO (factory-installed-options) and the PIO (port-installed-options). They cannot modify the color or trim on an allocation.

A dealer can do a preference order for you with a deposit. A preference order will list the colors, trim, and options that you will accept. The dealer will then hold that preference until an allocation comes up that matches your colors and trim. They will then attempt to add your FIO options to the order. The factory can deny or add FIO options at their discretion. PIO options can be change by the dealer up until it is arrives at the port. Not all options are available in all regions and some regions (SET, GST, etc.) can add whatever PIO to the car at their discretion and the dealer can’t modify it.

Hope this helps with understanding that Toyota doesn’t take orders and some dealers are locked into what their region tells them.

 

Toyota's distributor, dealer and allocation selling model is antiquated. It is not customer friendly. Maybe someday they'll change their take it or leave it approach.

 

They are still building them. local dealer has one in the build phase:
https://www.tuscaloosatoyota.com/in...limited-4x2-4x2-limited-v6-jtedu5jr8r5315298/

But it is a 2 wheel drive.

 

Wow...this sure is a prolific forum with a lot of information.
Thank you all for your insights!

 

Redwood looks great

 

Does anybody else do it the way Toyota does (dealer gets what they decide to send and that's that)? I know I can go order a Ford and they'll build it the way it is ordered and ship it to the dealer...Toyota you tell the dealer what you want and when corporate decides to send them something close to what you asked for, they see if you want it.

Waited 3.5 months for my 4runner and that is only because I said I'd take any color TRDOR and none of the guys ahead of me wanted black. One guy had been waiting a year for silver (it came right after mine).

FWIW, you cannot order a Toyota. My source is the GM of the dealer I bought from (who was a good friend back in school). If they take an order, they are gambling that they will be allocated the color and trim that you want and that they can get the options you want added (not that there are many options on a Toyota).

 

This spreadsheet only shows 2 SR5's in that color combo.

https://flatgithub.com/kissmygritts...&sha=bd3c016c1ed00e0690cce10044c8646c735b7e79

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but...
- MSRP - Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price - set by Toyota
- SRP - Suggested Retail Price - set by the dealership

 

The distributor decides what gets ordered. Dealers get to try and grab something close to what you want using their allocation, but what they grab is from the pool the distributor has. Basically the process sucks for the end customer.

Heaven forbid they would try doing customer orders.

 

Nothing wrong W/asking for opinions, but remember the ole saying "Just like @$$holes,everyone has one & most of them stink" Like I always say it's YOUR $$$ Buy what YOU want! Good luck on getting what makes you happy!!

 

I would dearly love a beige color interior in my 4R. That's what I have in my 2016 F150 (8 years and still looks great, by the way!) and what I had in my Jeep. Just can't understand why anyone would want a black interior that shows dust/dirt so badly...and that the desert sun keeps at 200 degrees!

 

I doubt they will change, it would mess with their production model way too much. Companies strive to to run their production like Toyota.

 

I understand the benefits to Toyota Corp, TM stock, and the distributors. They certainly like their business model. Customers and direct selling be damned.

 

I think the blue is a beautiful color, especially in the sun. I'm revising my answer and saying the blue looks better on the LTD. I think it goes well with the brightwork and is classier. Underground is more of an absence of color.

As far as Underground being a one year only color, I think that most of the people that would know that would also turn their nose up at a Limited.

Get what you'd rather look at everyday.