Does anyone know when the Tahara plant will start making the 2027 models?

[Dr_Al]

With the delay being as long as it is getting a pro I'm wondering if I put a deposit down today and have to wait for one to be built if it will be a 2027? I was holding off to see what next year's special color would be (it seems like Toyota bounces between bright colors one year, like wave runner this year and earthy colors like Mud bath last year and honey next year). The yellow doesn't do a thing for me so I decided on underground. Since they don't have any pros allocated for them they will have to find another dealer willing to do a swap or I'll be waiting for the next production run that will have what I'm looking for included.

Usually around now is about when they start to switch over to making next year's models when there's no real changes. But Toyota usually announces next year's special color in late spring so this year hasn't been "normal". Unless the price is going to jump I don't know if it makes sense to get a 2026 if waiting one more month will get me a year newer pro. If it was a vehicle on the dealer's lot I could try to get the price knocked down but since I'm ordering it I'm sure I'll be paying full sticker price. I'm going to talk to my dealer either tonight or tomorrow and find out how hard it is to switch to a 2027. For example if they say they have a 2026 actually being built and it's the end of September can I say I'll wait for a 2027? Hopefully once they have a conformation as to one actually being built I can see the window sticker to decide if I want it.

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[Nodak]

vehicles from japan usually take between 1-2 months from production to dealer delivery.

15-16 days RORO transport, then 1-3 weeks for PIO installs (depends on how little or a lot of options are installed) then about 1-2 weeks rail transport (depends on how far it has to travel from portland/long beach/newark (GST is usually out of portland, SET is usually out of jaxport, but then again those 2 regions dont follow toyota usa rules anyway so ymmv), then about 1 week from final railhead to dealer delivery.

so my best guess is probably october is when production will start (this is outside the previous gen's build cycle as they use to start in june/july for arrival on lots by october) since toyota shifted 6th gen production to be at the beginning of january now instread of october for being on dealer lots.

you could go in to a dealer and ask a general sales manager if dealer daily is letting them put in allocation reserver requests for 2027 MY 4runners, that will give you an exact idea if they are letting dealers order 27 MY vs just 26 MY

good example is our 26 MY 4R that was built on 7-22 and expected to be at the dealer no later than 9-23 but as early as 8-28

 

[ScoMay]

As it relates to a dealer swap…

I wonder if any dealer would actually be willing to part with a Pro on a dealer swap to another dealer who wants one. They can pretty much always get their price on the high end limited production trims. They might send their Pro off to another dealer if they could get huge value in return from that dealer. But it seems like that would only increase the price you would have to pay if your dealer was on the receiving end of that swap.

Just my guess.

I have seen during the first 2 model years how some (not all) dealers are marking up the Pro above MSRP. (Getting one for MSRP actually feels like a victory!) Seems like a proposed dealer swap would only hurt your bargaining position.

You would probably be better off traveling to the dealer that had the one you wanted.

 

[Nodak]

dealer swap is really dependent on the 2 dealers and what they want.

my sales manager is trading a bzx and a camry to another dealer for his trd pro (that is going to be his daily driver)

the other dealer desperately needed a bzx and a camry since they had a customer wanting a bzx down south and my dealer couldnt sell a bzx up here since they dont do so well in our winter cold snaps of below zero.

it does happen but its a rare unicorn event

edit : forgot to add, my dealer here only gets 1-2 trd pro allocations a year currently

 

[ScoMay]

Interesting deal… a two-for-one! So a swap is possible, but as you said probably rare.

And I still doubt that it would ever help the prospective buyer’s bargaining leverage.

For the OP: Your best bet in locating and getting a decent price on a limited production trim is doing an internet search and maybe being willing to travel to make the purchase. Not everyone has the schedule flexibility to travel to a distant dealer (family situation, job, etc.), but a buyer could have the vehicle shipped to his home.

I bought my Pro last summer at a dealer 400 miles away. It was all thanks to the comments, ideas, and linked resources on this forum that I was able to find one that was: still on the boat from Japan, priced at MSRP, and not already on a dealer “hold”.

 

[Dr_Al]

I've been searching for months now on-line. I'm not in a hurry so I have that going for me. I agree, a dealer swap doesn't sound likely. My dealer actually was talking about a dealer swap for one in production or in delivery, not on a lot somewhere. But, as we all know, the other dealer would have to want something my dealer has. There is another dealer not too far away that has one allocated but it's been in build phase for almost 45 days now. I don't know how quickly it changes to "in transit" but I'm pretty sure their date (end of the month) for it to be available is not likely. Most of the other dealers within 1000 miles have dates from mid September to the end of October.

I would like to buy from this dealer (as long as they don't mark it up above sticker price). Everytime I've tried to buy from them it's just never worked out. However some of the people who work there have done me plenty of favors. I'm currently set up to buy parts at the body shop price (30% off). When I bought my Rav4 they had exactly what I wanted sitting at their offsite location. By the time my wife and I drove over (about 5 minutes away) someone put a deposit on it.

Which is why I asked the question if anyone knew when the cross over would happen. If it's in the middle of October then waiting for a 2027 might only add a month to my wait. Maybe by then if there's an issue with why their seems to be a lot of Pros in build phase but they rarely move beyond that it'll be sorted out as they start next years run.

Maybe I should have asked the question differently. For those of you who got one of the first 2026 models what is the production date on your door jamb?

 

[Dr_Al]

Some of the dealers don't list much about where they actually are (build phase, transit, on lot). I assume if they are on the lot then they will have real pictures. Very few even have VIN numbers. In the past it was easy to track where it was by simply entering the VIN number into a tracker. I'm not sure if you can do that now. It would be nice to be able to find a real VIN number at a dealer not too far away and see where it is (like the picture Nodak posted). I think that's not easily accessible without the dealer sending you a link.

 

[Nodak]

I've been searching for months now on-line. I'm not in a hurry so I have that going for me. I agree, a dealer swap doesn't sound likely. My dealer actually was talking about a dealer swap for one in production or in delivery, not on a lot somewhere. But, as we all know, the other dealer would have to want something my dealer has. There is another dealer not too far away that has one allocated but it's been in build phase for almost 45 days now. I don't know how quickly it changes to "in transit" but I'm pretty sure their date (end of the month) for it to be available is not likely. Most of the other dealers within 1000 miles have dates from mid September to the end of October.

I would like to buy from this dealer (as long as they don't mark it up above sticker price). Everytime I've tried to buy from them it's just never worked out. However some of the people who work there have done me plenty of favors. I'm currently set up to buy parts at the body shop price (30% off). When I bought my Rav4 they had exactly what I wanted sitting at their offsite location. By the time my wife and I drove over (about 5 minutes away) someone put a deposit on it.

Which is why I asked the question if anyone knew when the cross over would happen. If it's in the middle of October then waiting for a 2027 might only add a month to my wait. Maybe by then if there's an issue with why their seems to be a lot of Pros in build phase but they rarely move beyond that it'll be sorted out as they start next years run.

Maybe I should have asked the question differently. For those of you who got one of the first 2026 models what is the production date on your door jamb?

production confirmation and build date can be anyhwere from 30 to 60 days out from actual build date, that is why you see build status being so long.

if you look at my posted pic, you can see the confirmed date being 6-22 but it didnt get built until 7-22

and thats being nice, our 23 tundra was 4 months between the dates, production confirmed 8-12-22 and build was pushed 2 times, from 11-24-22 to 12-7-22 to final build 12-8-22

 

[HVLA]

What build are you looking for that cant be found in the spreadsheet?

 

[Nodak]

what you want to do is finalize FIO items first, then worry about PIO while in transit by ship from japan. the dealer can change PIO before it hits the port.

you can add/remove as much as you want with PIO items before port, the caveat is once it get a window sticker (1-2 days after port arrival) most dealers wont change PIO items on the window sticker. ports wont usually generate a new window sticker once it creates the initial one.

even i cant get my dealer to change PIO items after a window sticker is generated and they are pretty accommodating with me particularly since i have done this process for quite a while with them.

i wanted them to add the DK option code to my 26 4R that is incoming but since the window sticker was generated, the dealer said no

 

[ScoMay]

I’m not sure if this applies anymore, but when I was shopping in April/May 2025, the sixth generation was first being introduced and they came out with the gas models first - the hybrids followed a little bit later. So that’s why I had to wait until they started shipping the Pro’s.

Are you using the spreadsheet that is somewhere on this forum? It gives a status for each listing… not sure how accurate that status is, but it worked for me. The dealership I worked with had it clearly stated on their website as “in transit” and no photos so I called them to get an idea of the estimated arrival. And I put a REFUNDABLE deposit down on it over the phone while it was still on the ship.

 

[Dr_Al]

About 90% of the Pros are listed as "dealer holds" on the spread sheet. The ones that say "in transit" or "available" usually aren't. I've inquired about several and usually I get the run around. They don't specifically say they don't have the pro but then they try to push they the ORP they do have. When I say I'm not looking for the ORP they usually start talking about other models. I end up spending 15 to 20 minutes on the phone before they finally get to the "we need a deposit" before they can get specific about when the Pro allocated to them may show up.

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