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I'm a little late to the party here, but I do believe that Toyota called the market wrong and that is a big part of why this car is underselling. While my reasoning is not super scientific, it did have a large enough sample size to be statistically significant.
When I was shopping for my 86 this past fall, I could not find a manual anywhere in the state of California and ended up having to fly to vegas to get mine!
During my search I spoke in detail with I believe every toyota dealer in California and several in neighboring states.
The message I got consistently was that it was very hard for them to get the car in a manual from Toyota. Even the dealers that tried to order one were not able and said that each dealer was rarely awarded manuals. They all said that they wished they did get them though because they would sell immediately while the autos would sit on the lot forever. This was also supported by websites I viewed that would list days on lot for cars. I found that autos were regularly on lots for up to a year or more (special edition autos would sometimes be 2 years old on the lot), but manuals would often sell before they could even post a picture.
We may be the extremes on this forum, but this car is not one that most people who desire a car to text and drive would consider purchasing. It's a niche car to start with and that niche is driving engagement enthusiasts - most prefer manual.
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