Toyota's Online Configurator Doesn't Work How You Think It Works

We try to fact-check as much as possible during our article editing process. Such was the case this morning with Alex Dykes’ review of the newest Toyota Tacoma, and specifically the portion where he said that all manual Tacomas are paired with four-wheel drive.

There are two ways we normally check such a claim: an automaker’s media site, which provides detailed vehicle information (though not necessarily in a user-friendly format), and an automaker’s consumer-facing website, which contains all those fancy marketing words, pretty pictures and the typical “Build and Price” tool employed by virtually every full-line automaker as a way for us gearheads to waste time at our desk jobs on Friday afternoons.

However, while I was fact checking Mr. Dykes’ manual = four-wheel drive claim, the configurator said I couldn’t have a manual transmission on the Tacoma — at all.

Say what, Toyota?

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of why I couldn’t find a manual transmission Tacoma on Toyota’s online configurator, there’s a reason why I use the consumer site in addition to the press website.

While the information on media sites is detailed, it’s only typically updated once a year per model. There are instances — though very few — where an automaker will modify options packages or add a “special edition” trim partway through a model year. Those changes are almost always reflected on the consumer website, but hardly ever added to press materials beyond a press release. Therefore, I tend to check both websites in the off-chance an automaker has made changes to a particular model.

Many consumer automaker websites now ask you to supply a ZIP code. As I don’t live in the United States, but I did live in Houston for a time, I usually use my old zip code of 77021. And here is where the confusion starts.

Toyota splits the United States into twelve separate sales regions. Two of those regions are controlled by private distributorships not owned by Toyota corporate: Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (SET), which controls Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina; and Gulf States Toyota Inc. (GST), which controls Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas.

(You know those “Texas Edition” Tundras? Blame Gulf States Toyota Inc., not Toyota USA, for those. Similar to dealer “special edition” packages, GST has a bunch of Lone Star State badges made and fits those trucks with wheels and other accoutrement to stroke your Texas pride.)

The first issue arises if you enter a ZIP code for any of the states under the control of SET. Instead of the national Toyota website, you are shuffled off to another website specifically for those states and controlled by SET. However, we are talking about my former Texas zip code, not one for South Carolina.

Entering a Houston ZIP code allows you to stay on the national website, but the configurator changes. I’m now given a limited selection for Tacoma. There are no manual transmission or four-wheel drive options for the truck.

The 2016 Toyota Tacoma SR should be available with a variety of different engine and driveline options, but only one is displayed.

At first, I thought this might be a case of Toyota’s distributor, Gulf States, not making available manual transmission Tacomas in its sales region. So I gave Toyota East Coast Communications Manager, Corey Proffitt, a call.

“They do sell Tacoma with manual transmission,” he said. “But our configurator is tied to inventory. If a certain configuration of Tacoma is not in our inventory in a particular region, it’s not shown on the configurator.”

Changing the ZIP code to 10001 verifies this.

And there it is: a manual transmission Toyota Tacoma available solely with four-wheel drive, as per Dykes’ claim.

What does this mean for the consumer?

For starters, Toyota really wants you to buy a Tacoma from the currently available inventory and subtly discourages online shoppers from ordering a truck that isn’t sitting on a dealer’s lot. This issue is exacerbated by the Tacoma’s low inventory levels. With fewer trucks on the ground, there’s less choice — even in the configurator. Manual transmission take rates on Tacoma are typically between 15 to 20 percent, further limiting the chance you’d see a stick shift in inventory and, thusly, on Toyota’s configurator.

This mechanism also furthers Jack Baruth’s point on dealers being the ultimate consumer of vehicles. In this case, if a Tacoma isn’t on a dealer’s lot, you aren’t buying it — or at least that’s what the configurator would like you to think.

If you know you want a Tacoma SR with a manual transmission and live in Texas, you can still buy one. However, you need to know that it, in fact, exists first. You’ll also need to go into a dealer to price it out, order one without driving it first since there aren’t any available on the lot to test drive, then wait for the factory in San Antonio to build it for you.

For a company that currently ranks below average in J.D. Power’s U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index, maybe this is something it should look into fixing.

Correction: We originally reported that Toyota has five sales regions nationally. Toyota actually has twelve sales regions within the United States, five of which are within the north east, Mr. Proffitt’s region of responsibility. SET and GST each count as one region.