GR 86: Orders /Reservation /Waitlist Chat

[Robertw]

Red premium manual seems like it's a unicorn spec lol.

[gcmak]

Originally Posted by jdmwol2ks

Which dealer did you order at? Msrp?

SF Toyota. They do small mark-ups depending on config (they're transparent on their site) and will also show dealer specific discounts - though that's rare these days).
I should be paying MSRP, but until papers are signed and I drive off the lot, I don't like to confirm anything. I have a prior relationship with the dealer and sales - I have no reason to doubt what they've told me and they tend to be one of the quickest/easiest sales process I've experienced across various brands.

[Robertw]

I stand corrected, any manual GR is a unicorn lol. The only cars on lots appear to be auto's, quite a few within a 100 miles. So auto's are actually sticking around on dealer lots, even with todays market conditions, bit of an oops on Toyota's part misjudging customer preferences of early adopters.

[mn_ca]

Man, this chip shortage suck. There's a white BRZ at my local Subaru dealership. Asking price: 38k

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Robertw

I stand corrected, any manual GR is a unicorn lol. The only cars on lots appear to be auto's, quite a few within a 100 miles. So auto's are actually sticking around on dealer lots, even with todays market conditions, bit of an oops on Toyota's part misjudging customer preferences of early adopters.

Not sure how you can make the leap from available inventory to a misjudgment on Toyota's part. In my area, if I do a search for inventory, there are only 1 or 2 cars available, with more coming. That includes both MT and AT on the "coming soon" list.

[Robertw]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Not sure how you can make the leap from available inventory to a misjudgment on Toyota's part. In my area, if I do a search for inventory, there are only 1 or 2 cars available, with more coming. That includes both MT and AT on the "coming soon" list.

Dealers had shipments with manuals, they're all gone. the AT's are still around.

[fredzy]

Originally Posted by Robertw

Dealers had shipments with manuals, they're all gone. the AT's are still around.

I figured the same thing, though there were very few in-stock cars I knew of at all. I just knew the few I found were auto.

The more telling thing was there are hardly any MT cars in the pipeline at all in the 3 or 4 regions near me - reserved or not. Might just be a regional thing but it's a big region.

[PorscheUnlimited16]

Made a deposit early February. Buying at Msrp.
Finally got my allocation and Vin. Car is already built since Feb 24.
Vessel Departure :3/10
Vessel Arrival 3/25

So soonest I think I will see it is in April at the mercy of the Truck delivery guy.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Robertw

Dealers had shipments with manuals, they're all gone. the AT's are still around.

Some of the ATs are still around. They said from the start that they would be making more ATs than MTs. It is very possible if not probable that they have sold more ATs than MTs to date but the large difference in number makes it appear that the ATs are "sitting around".
Without know the exact number of each it is not possible to state that the ATs are not selling.

[CincyJohn]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Some of the ATs are still around. They said from the start that they would be making more ATs than MTs. It is very possible if not probable that they have sold more ATs than MTs to date but the large difference in number makes it appear that the ATs are "sitting around".
Without know the exact number of each it is not possible to state that the ATs are not selling.

I understand that it is probably my thinking inside this enthusiast bubble, but it does seem to me that at least Toyota didn't correctly allocate AT vs. MT demand (at least initially) as well as interest in the more exotic colors. I admit my evidence is strictly anecdotal - it just seems to me that people would drive practically anywhere across the country (and probably pay a premium) to get a Premium Neptune/bRed 6MT. Conversely, the only two cars I have actually seen on lots are Base AT Grays.

What's funny to me is that if you are Toyota and your goal isn't to make a ton of profit on this car but instead to use it as a brand builder, wouldn't a whole lot more Premium smurf blue/flaming red manuals running around on the road (many of which would likely be made to be even more eye catching by their owners) do that a lot better than a bunch of Pavement Gray (named because it literally blends in with the pavement) ATs?

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by CincyJohn

What's funny to me is that if you are Toyota and your goal isn't to make a ton of profit on this car but instead to use it as a brand builder, wouldn't a whole lot more Premium smurf blue/flaming red manuals running around on the road (many of which would likely be made to be even more eye catching by their owners) do that a lot better than a bunch of Pavement Gray (named because it literally blends in with the pavement) ATs?

More likely the issue is the Pavement color is the issue than the transmission. If what is left is that color, then that is likely to be the determining factor.

Most (non-enthusiast) buyers are going to prioritize color over transmission type.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by CincyJohn

I understand that it is probably my thinking inside this enthusiast bubble, but it does seem to me that at least Toyota didn't correctly allocate AT vs. MT demand (at least initially) as well as interest in the more exotic colors. I admit my evidence is strictly anecdotal - it just seems to me that people would drive practically anywhere across the country (and probably pay a premium) to get a Premium Neptune/bRed 6MT. Conversely, the only two cars I have actually seen on lots are Base AT Grays.

What's funny to me is that if you are Toyota and your goal isn't to make a ton of profit on this car but instead to use it as a brand builder, wouldn't a whole lot more Premium smurf blue/flaming red manuals running around on the road (many of which would likely be made to be even more eye catching by their owners) do that a lot better than a bunch of Pavement Gray (named because it literally blends in with the pavement) ATs?

No doubt that they know exactly what they are doing with their mix. They have all sorts of previous sales numbers that we are never going to privy to.
By throwing colour into the ring it skews things even more. There are probably a hundred or more pavement grey (god I hate that colour name for the reason you stated) cars made in both AT and MT for every red one. The reds were never a huge percentage of the cars so there would be no real reason to change now. So if there is a much larger number of them then it just stands to reason that those are what are available on the lots.
Did this sudden increase in demand for red take them by surprise? Well, maybe but I doubt that they care much. When looking a a production run of a few thousand cars that they know will all sell even if they were all base white ones then they really don't need to focus too much on trim and colours. We tend to just overthink and second guess everything they do based on personal preferences and the tiny bit of data we actually have.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

More likely the issue is the Pavement color is the issue than the transmission. If what is left is that color, then that is likely to be the determining factor.

Most (non-enthusiast) buyers are going to prioritize color over transmission type.

Yep! People on a car forum tend to ignore or not realize that for every self proclaimed "enthusiasts" that buys a certain car (these included) there are probably a dozen or more "normal" buyers that just like the looks and can use a 2 door coupe. They are the majority of buyers not the "OH MY GOD IT IS A RACE CAR AND I AM GOING TO TRACK IT EVERY SINGLE DAY" crowd that the forum represents.

[Robertw]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Yep! People on a car forum tend to ignore or not realize that for every self proclaimed "enthusiasts" that buys a certain car (these included) there are probably a dozen or more "normal" buyers that just like the looks and can use a 2 door coupe. They are the majority of buyers not the "OH MY GOD IT IS A RACE CAR AND I AM GOING TO TRACK IT EVERY SINGLE DAY" crowd that the forum represents.

I was simply making the point that the initial demand appears to be from enthusiasts who may prefer a MT over AT. The dealership I have an order with received 6 cars, 3 MT, 3 AT, the MT were all claimed, and the AT's sat for about 2 weeks before selling. The only cars available still on dealer lots in a 200 mile range are AT's, in todays market conditions. I was not making the argument that MT's sell more than AT's in total sales.