2025 4Runner "Ordering" and Allocations Explained

[WKTJR1]

My daily driver is my 1997 Toyota 4Runner Limited which I bought new and it was ordered through a Toyota dealer here in Southern California. It took a few months to get. I was planning on getting a new 2025 4Runner Limited with a hybrid engine in a few months. I am on an allocation list from the same dealer I bought in 1997. I want the darker Grey exterior with the Portobellotan interior. I see the Portobello tan interior is not available in the Platinum, TRD Pro or Trail Hunter. I have no clue why the Portobello tan interior is not offered. I can see customers wanting to special order that interior color in the 3 vehicles I mentioned. I wonder if Toyota would allow that kind of special order?

I doubt it.

 

[Gastan]

My daily driver is my 1997 Toyota 4Runner Limited which I bought new and it was ordered through a Toyota dealer here in Southern California. It took a few months to get. I was planning on getting a new 2025 4Runner Limited with a hybrid engine in a few months. I am on an allocation list from the same dealer I bought in 1997. I want the darker Grey exterior with the Portobellotan interior. I see the Portobello tan interior is not available in the Platinum, TRD Pro or Trail Hunter. I have no clue why the Portobello tan interior is not offered. I can see customers wanting to special order that interior color in the 3 vehicles I mentioned. I wonder if Toyota would allow that kind of special order?

I doubt it.

Yea, unfortunately Toyota doesn't offer custom ordering like that. Once deliveries begin, you could always ask other owners here if they're interested in a swap of interior trim and parts.

 

[qtb007]

My daily driver is my 1997 Toyota 4Runner Limited which I bought new and it was ordered through a Toyota dealer here in Southern California. It took a few months to get. I was planning on getting a new 2025 4Runner Limited with a hybrid engine in a few months. I am on an allocation list from the same dealer I bought in 1997. I want the darker Grey exterior with the Portobellotan interior. I see the Portobello tan interior is not available in the Platinum, TRD Pro or Trail Hunter. I have no clue why the Portobello tan interior is not offered. I can see customers wanting to special order that interior color in the 3 vehicles I mentioned. I wonder if Toyota would allow that kind of special order?

Limited has the tan interior with dark gray exterior. The platinum doesn’t add a ton over the Limited. Depends what features you are dead set on, though.

 

[Dphotos]

Limited has the tan interior with dark gray exterior. The platinum doesn’t add a ton over the Limited. Depends what features you are dead set on, though.

I know the Limited has the tan interior I wanted. I will probably get that build. I am guessing I will have to pay the full MSRP. The dealer I am going to has said they will honor the MSRP. I do keep my cars a long time and this will probably be the last new car I buy.

 

[CShel]

I dont know about custom ordering a certain trim with specific options through a dealership from the factory but this is what was explained to me by one dealership in Denver. You meet with a sales rep and they are able to see a list of allocations for that dealership, say they have 12 new 4 runners allocated that are being built or in transit for February 2025 , there could be 4 sport, 4 Off road, 4 limited etc., if one is close enough to what you want you can reserve it by filling out and signing a request form with no money down and no obligation, when it arrives they will call you and hold it for you for 72 hours to finalize the purchase, they will allow other customers to be on a waiting list in case you decide not to buy it, or otherwise the dealer will then put it on the lot for sale.

 

[Nodak]

Basically this is how “ordering” and wanting a specific configuration works — If it happens to be being built at the time and allocated/delivered to your dealer then you can get your exact specs. If not, you either have to choose one that’s close to your specs or wait and hopefully get your exact match in future allocations/deliveries.

i would have to say that is a very generic overview of the allocation process, here is my rip from the tundra forums of the allocation process (https://www.tundras.com/threads/toyota-allocation-ordering-transporting-system-explaination.107512/)



this will be very long winded and i jump around points at time and i am stealing some of my prior posts so sorry about that.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i am going to try to explain how toyota allocation systems works. this is not all encompassing on every aspect and/or nuances that affect the allocation system.

how toyota builds vehicles, how allocation works, how to put in a allocation reserve request, how transporting work.

how toyota builds vehicles:

toyota builds vehicles by way of computer allocation system. the computer determines what vehicle is made on the assembly line based on previous sales (pretty sure its last fiscal year). based on the previous sales it allocates certain models are built more than other models/trims/factory packages on the assembly line.

ie: out of 100 tundra's being built, it may allocate 30 to be limited, 20 be SR5, 5 be SR, 15 be Platinum, 20 be 1794, 10 be TRD.

ie: out of 30 limiteds being built, it may build certain colors more than others, more 4x4 than 4x2, more crew cabs than double cabs, etc.

right now i know platinum's are mostly being built with the AQ package code (HUD), but my regional port requires that if you order the AQ package, you also must select the RB package code (powered running boards). the system wont validate the request if both are not checked in the allocation reserve request screen (my screenshot).

dealer allocations system :

when you goto a dealer and say you want this specific configuration of a tundra (or any toyota) the dealer can either tell you what they have in transit, on the lot (or in times prior to covid) what they could swap with another dealer. if that dealer doesnt have or can get you what you are looking for they can log into dealerdaily and look for anything within that region.

here is a list of toyota regions in the USA.

New England Region -- Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island
Greater New York Region -- New York, New Jersey, Connecticut
Central Atlantic Region -- Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, W. Virginia, Delaware, District of Columbia
Western Region -- Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota
Ohio Valley Region -- Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee
Midwest Region -- Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota
Mountain Region -- Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming
Northern CA Region -- California north of the Los Angeles metro area
Southern CA Region -- Los Angeles metro area, and areas south
Pacific Northwest Region -- Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana

Gulf States Region -- Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi
Southeast Region -- North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
here is a list of the regional ports before they were renamed. this is an old repost from my tacoma world forum post

• Boston Office (ME, NH, VT, MA, RI) 508-339-5701
• New York (NY, NJ, CT) 973-575-7600
• Central Atlantic (PA, VA, WV, MD, DE) 410-760-1500
• Kansas City Region (ND, SD, NE, KS, IA, M0) 816-891-1000
• Cincinnati Region (MI, OH, KY, TN) 513-745-7500
• Chicago Region (MN, WI, IL, IN) 630-907-0150
• Denver Region (WY, CO, UT, NM, AZ, NV) 303-799-6776
• San Francisco Region (Northern CA) 925-830-8300
• LA Region (Southern CA) 949-727-2700
• Portland Region (AK, WA, OR, ID, MT) 503-493-4900
• Gulf States Region (OK, TX, MS, LA, AR) 713-580-3300
• Southeast Region (NC, SC, AL, GA, FL) 954-429-2000

not confident on the phone numbers since they are from late 2000's
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


gulf states region is also know as GST (Gulf States Toyota)
southeast regions is also know as SET (SouthEast Toyota)

also be mindful that GST and SET do not have to follow Toyota USA rules since they existed prior to toyota usa coming to america (sorta like how CARB can set their own rules outside the EPA)

GST and SET also have financial arms that are own by the same family that runs GST or SET just like toyota/lexus financial are still the same company (Toyota Financial).

this also extends out to the extended warranties underwritten by GST or SET. just be mindful that these extended warranties may not be valid if you move or use a toyota dealer that is outside GST or SET regions.

as per the below pic, this is a scan of a printout of dealerdaily allocation reserve request that my dealer (this is my reserve request for a platinum) has no issue giving me a copy since i have bought about 13+ toyota's from them.

a dealer puts in an allocation reserve request into dealer daily. once you select the packages and/or options and color, they have to hit a button to verify that selection is valid for the regional port that dealer is part of. it will either validate it or reject it per the regional port rules.

the first reserve request is consider the primary request. you can enter multiple requests after the first one but the caveat is that if one of your secondary or tertiary requests gets built before your primary they may fulfill that reserve request and ignore the other selections. its a gamble if you are willing to take it. on my request i only put in 1 request and i am willing to wait for that vehicle to be built. the more odd ball the config (or low selling trim like the SR) the least likely it will be build on the assembly line.

once a vehicle is built at the assembly line, it is then allocated to a regional port. its a weighted system to certain configs are predominate to certain regions. more 2wd are sent south compared to 4wd being sent to snow states, etc.

once a regional port is selected by the computer it will look at allocation reserve requests in that regional port and pick one that is either an exact match to the config or as close to any that are not an exact match. then its tagged for that dealer on the request.

before the system opened up, toyota usa determined which dealer got what configurations, but since its now open, a dealer can preference what they want. another caveat is that depending on how the dealer did in previous quarters/fiscal year to meet toyota selling quota's, dealers get weighted on who gets what first and how many reserve request they are allowed to enter into dealer daily. another snag is if your dealer is considered a primary or secondary dealer. primary are toyota exclusive dealer, secondary are dealers that sell other brands along side toyota (they are somewhat considered a 2nd rate toyota dealer so they are lower on the totem pole for allocations)

big cities dealers you will see they will have 5-10 tundras in transit or on the lot. at one point the dealer about 100 miles away had 9 tundra's on his lot last month and now only has 1. one dealer in MN has currently 9 tundra's in transit but all are reserved (sold)

EDIT:
on the above screenshot, i forgot to add, factory accessories (ie: packages) are those items added during the factory/assembly line build of the vehicle.

post production items are those that are either installed at the regional port (PIO) or dealer (DIO). if you dont have it checked during the order reserve request, these can be ordered thru the parts department and added at the dealer (DIO), with the issue of possibly being charged higher than what would have been charged when you optioned it with the vehicle originally (usually added labor cost, parts dept. up-charge, shipping cost, or flat out profit margin on parts)

how transporting work:

on the allocation reserve request screen (which is not shown), certain "post production" items are installed at the regional port (PIO, port installed option). this is your best option for add-ons as the people putting these items on have higher proficiency and quality of install on these items compared to a dealer (also know as DIO, dealer installed option). remember the person at the dealer may have only installed and item once or a very few times, so your vehicle will be a test mule for them to learn.

on transporting a vehicle from the factory to the dealer:

this is a scan of my delivery status printout on our 2018 tundra platinum. the new screen for status delivery is completely different from when we bought our 2018 vs our 2022

once its built it will be loaded to a rail car and shipped to a regional port. once at a regional port any PIO will be installed, stop sale issues fixed and/or qc issues resolved prior to being loaded to a transport truck. once its on a transport truck you will not get any updates via dealer daily until it hits the dealer. rail updates are more likely.

(a lot of 1794 are in qc hold at ports and i have seen some sitting at a port since nov-2021, with one person replying saying his 1794 has been on hold since before then i think)

the dealer can go into dealer daily and pull up a timeline status screen of where and what milestones it is suppose to hit in the build/transport phase.

production date is the birth of your vehicle (or when its suppose to be build on the assembly line)

vessel depart/arrival is for shipments coming from japan (lexus, 4runner, land cruiser) and arrival at a usa ship port (i know jaxport is for SET region)

plant/port process means it been thru the assembly line and passed QC and loaded onto a rail car (usa plant) or from a ship from japan and loaded onto a rail car to ship to a regional port

rail departure is when it left the usa factory on the rail car or in the case of shipments from japan, the usa shipping port on rail transport

rail arrival is the arrival at the regional port

shipment to dealer is when its put on a transport truck to the dealer after being processed thru the regional port (qc holds, stop sale hold, PIO installs)

railcar location just tells you where it is located while in transit and what date/location "temple, tx". (this will only populate when its on a rail car from the plant/port to a regional port and if you catch the train stopped between the 2 locations)

edit: just wanted to add, the turkey day screwed the delivery by alot. it didnt end up arriving at the dealer until dec-3 and we picked it up at 6pm on dec-4. our original request was put into dealer daily back on oct-14 i think.


hopefully that gives people a simple understanding how "ordering" works for toyota.

edit: with new info i will be adding the actual regional rail ports

unless otherwise noted, these are where they unload rail cars for toyota's
some locations also load them onto rail cars

some locations are also vessel unloads from japan (jaxport is a primary one)

i know off the bat that commerce, ga and jaxport is the primary location for SET region, and Kansas city is the regional port for me

AZ - Phoenix
AR - West Memphis
CA - Benicia (load/unload), Long Beach (load), Mira Loma, Richmond
CO - Denver
FL - Jacksonville (Load/Unload - Jaxport), West Lake
GA - Brunswick, Commerce, Savannah
IL - Logistics Park
IN - Layfayette (Load Only), Princeton (Load/Unload)
KS - Kansas City
KY - Georgetown & Louisville (load only)
MD - Jessup, Baltimore
MA - East Brookfield
MN - St Paul
MS - Tuepelo (load only)
NJ - Newark
NM - Albuquerque
NY - Selkirk, Mechanicville
OH - Lordstown
OR - Portland (load/unload)
TX - Houston, San Antonio (Toyota Assembly, load only)
UT - Salt Lake
WA - Renton

Canada

AB - Calgary
BC - New Westminster
WB - Moncton
ON - Agincourt (load only), Cambridge (load only), Woodstock (load only)

Mexico
Salamanca (load only)
Lazaro Cardenas Michoacan (load only)
Veracruz

edit:

apparently if you can get a rail status update on your allocation like shown below (pic used from @aguninc post)

look for the "TTGX981661" entry or similar entry to determine your railcar. then you can call this number to get an actual status

Trace rail cars with Touch Trace: dial 1-877-ShipCSX (1-877-744-7279), options 2-1-3

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i heard via 3rd party whispers that a big 3 (ford) may look into doing this same system.

the reason toyota does this is to simplify the number of variables/configurations that you have to build. if you are not building 50-100 different unique trim load outs you have less qc issues in the long run and less issues with parts.

tundra only has like 7 models and then you multiple that by the package(s) for those models.

then compare to a F150/F250/F350 and then you add in the packages for those and it gets nuts on how many parts/config you have to keep track of. now if you are a assembly line technician, you have to keep that somewhat in perspective, you cant remember all of those myriad configs but if you only have say 20-35 to remember, its gets easier and less likely you will screw something up.

but that just my speculation.

update 2022-11-05:

here is my allocation reserve request that was finally picked up. had to compromise on the FIO/PIO options since the wife was tired of waiting for her tundra after 6 months