6 M/T Availability - is Toyota stealth ending MT production?

[DennisG]

My dealer, who is a family friend, looked at allocations for the truck I wanted, I gave them some leeway in color and packages. They 'found' a TRD OR premium with the MT to be built 6 weeks in advance of our contract. It took a long time for it to built and arrive, especially in the face of constant tariff policy changes and postponements. I am glad I waited and got the truck I want.

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[Mad Max]

I'm in the process of shopping for a new vehicle, and have a short list of vehicles I'm looking at. The availability of a manual transmission is a huge differentiator for the Tacoma over competing trucks, and would be a deal-winner for me *IF THEY WERE ACTUALLY AVAILABLE*. But, from what I can see they are not.

I live near South Padre Island, Texas and there are a couple dealers around here, both in person and checking their web site, no dice on the manual.

So, then I checked the biggest Toyota dealer in Houston (maybe in Texas) and - again, no deal.

Then I tried to use an app that someone on this site developed to help look for them anywhere, and even thought it shows a bunch none of those dealers have them either.

Am I wrong in concluding that Toyota isn't really in the manual-transmission Tacoma business anymore?

I mentioned "OK, I'll order what I want" to the salesman at Brownsville Toyota and he sort of mumbled and said "you could come near the beginning of the month. That was weird, most dealers (ie: Jeep, Chevy, Ford) are happy to order a vehicle for a buyer - it's a "no risk, no cost" sale for them.

Then I came here are read about the weird Toyota "Dealer Allocation" system, and it seems like (despite having a "Build One") option on the Toyota.com web site, that's NOT an option, and the best a dealer can do is put in a "request" to get on, and who knows what trim level / options it will have.

This would be my 4th new Toyota purchase, but I was not aware of this. To some extent this supports Toyota's way of doing things, I guess. The inability to special order hasn't prevented me from buying a new Toyota three times in the past.

But, then again, I still have the Toyota truck I bought in 1996 - so for something that I'm going to hold onto I'd just as soon get 100% of what I want, especially the M/T (on a TRD Offroad).

If, as now suspect, the manual transmissions were mostly done has part of the 4 Gen launch to get some attention for Toyota, and they don't really bother building them except on alternating blue moons then the Tacoma drops down into the category of "one of" the mid-sized trucks I will consider getting. (Again, maybe there aren't too many people who care at this point?)

I know a handfull of people active here have the manual Tacoma's - I have read every thread on them here. Is anyone else *currently* trying to find one?

Anyone tried to *order* (given the "Toyota doesn't take customer orders") successfully? Any other advice.

My fallback for a M/T vehicle might be a Jeep Wrangler. The local Jeep Dealers do at least have a token M/T on *their* lots (so you can drive one) and are happy to order whatever combo of M/T and other goodies you want. (Which is how it should be: Toyota Tacoma's are made in Texas after all, not far away Toyoda City).

Thanks in advance for any encouragement or information you can provide on this topic.

By the way: my first non-introduction post. Nice forum,

Here is my 1996 Toyota T-100 on the beach a few months ago.
It's a 5-speed manual, and it was easy to get. (I lived in Oregon at the time, the truck was the last made-in-Japan Toyota truck, and they were imported into the Port of Portland, so the dealer could see everything that was on the docs and a gray manual was easy to get).

I had the same problem. I found 2 trucks with manual transmissions. One was a "new" ( in July of 2025) 2024 TRD off road which I didn't want the first year, and the second was a bare bones SR. I asked the dealer to order a truck for me and was also shocked they wouldn't do it. Looking hard another month I found another SR nicely optioned but still lacking a couple items I wanted. I ended up working a great deal on it and it has been a fun truck.

 

[MT-Taco]

Try here..
https://www.tacoma4g.com/forum/thre...-2024-tacomas-💵-purchase-leasing.2039/page-17

 

[mikem]

You've already learned Toyota doesn't do custom orders; What I did and I recommend you do is ask your local dealerships when they receive their allocations. Mine was every other Tuesday. Check their website those days when inventory updates, it took 2 months for my dealership to be allocated a 6 m/t TRD OR. For about a week after the allocation they can submit update requests, i.e. different paint, infotainment system, different dealer or port installed upgrades. Those are granted at the discretion of the manufacturer: Toyota doesn't keep a warehouse of parts on hand, they only order what's needed for the current production run. If they're not planning on any bronze oxide exteriors that run, that request will be denied no matter how hard you ask (still a bit salty about that one, though I do like the underground grey I got).

Keep looking around, you'll find one sooner rather than later.

Good luck!

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