Started the process of getting a new vehicle

[shipo]

Hey BK Community, after years of economic hardship, followed by more years of economic recovery, I finally decided to go for my first new vehicle since my strippo 2009 Mazda3, and my first nicer new vehicle since my 2002 BMW 530i; this time however I am opting for, GASP, a pickup truck. The thing is, I've been a car guy my whole 50+ year driving life and then the world went Work From Home; my annual pre-pandemic mileage was typically fifteen- to twenty-thousand miles or more, and since then, less than three. My new job (the one I took last May) has only one requirement, I need to live near an airport. With this in mind, my wife and I have been toying with swapping one of our cars for a truck so we can pull a small camping trailer or a boat and do some weekend get away stuff, and then came the rub; we joke neither of us ever learned how to drive a vehicle with an automatic transmission, and being in our mid-60s is no time to start. A quick perusal of mid-size pickup trucks reveals there are only two are available with a stick, the Toyota Tacoma and the Jeep Gladiator; from my perspective, the Tacoma has a whole lot to love, the Gladiator, ummm, not so much.

Two weeks ago I put a small refundable deposit down on a new 2022 Tacoma TRD Sport with the following trimmings:

• 4WD
• 3.5 V6 engine
• 6-Speed Manual transmission
• Double Cab
• 5-foot bed
• Blue Crush Metallic paint
• Black Leather interior
• Premium Package
• Advanced Technology Package
• LED lighting

My local dealer here in New Hamster explained to me Toyota no longer allows custom orders, basically you take what's on the lot (not much these days), or you put in a request and wait, and wait, and wait..., until Toyota decides by chance, or by voodoo, or tea leaves, or whatever they use for scheduling, to build the vehicle which happens to meet your request (or close enough to be acceptable to you). Apparently the "Taco" I want is pretty much a unicorn; the dealer told me it could be six to eight months to get my exact vehicle, or maybe never.

Honestly, I'll be okay with however things turn out, I love my old 2006 TL, it is in great shape, a dream to drive, and is easily good to go for another 150,000 miles, but given I haven't had a nice new car for 20 years, I'm thinking it's about time. I'll keep y'all posted.

[Carmella]

Wow that's crazy to have to wait and maybe never get the truck the way you want it. At this point are you on the list so when something comes in you can say "yay" or "nay"?

[shipo]

Wow that's crazy to have to wait and maybe never get the truck the way you want it. At this point are you on the list so when something comes in you can say "yay" or "nay"?

Yeah, that's more or less how Toyota does it. I've decided if the options are correct and the paint color is any one of my top four or five choices, I'll go for the truck, otherwise I'll hold out for A) the one I want, or B) the end of the production run of the 3rd Generation Tacomas later this year. If production ends before a truck I want gets built, I'll ask for my deposit back.

[flashoflight]

Maybe you'll get that truck a lot sooner with the fuel prices going to the moon and beyond.

[shipo]

LOL, I wondered about that. Given my annual mileage of less than 3,000, even if gas prices hit $10.00 per gallon it wouldn't impact me all that much.

[Zombie13]

The one thing to remember: you don't have a foot-clutch so, don't mistake the brake for the clutch with your left foot... Screech!!

[shipo]

The one thing to remember: you don't have a foot-clutch so, don't mistake the brake for the clutch with your left foot... Screech!!

My wife's car has a foot-clutch, my son's car has a foot-clutch, my car has a foot-clutch, and the Tacoma I have money down on will have a foot-clutch as well, so all is good.