Sorry if it seems I am asking a lot of questions, but this seems to be the place to do it. Bought the wife a 11 LTD in the Mag Gray and black int. It was supposed to be mine and now I am looking for a 12 LTD. Looking for a white with black int and there are no dealers on Maryland that have them. They are telling me that I can order one that way and should take 6-8 weeks. Anyone do this yet and is 6-8 weeks a fair assumption or do they normally come in sooner?

What will happen in that amount of time is they will look at inventory either in transit or already on a dock here in the states and find the vehicle you want. It could happen sooner but probably not. Ordering from Japan is 6 months IF you could even do that. Remember that inventory shipped here is not all sold as most of it is set up for stock. If your dealer wants it he can get it before it gets to another dealership, sort of like a "pool" of vehicles.

I just ordered a 12 LTD myself over a week ago and am also on the east coast. I visited and called about a dozen dealers total all around the Tri-State area to try and find what I wanted. Here is the long and short of what I found out:

There are not that many LTDs hanging around the eastern seaboard. I even sat with my dealer while he opened into the Toyota systems and called them all up. I think there were about 35 total from Virginia to Maine. Then depending on the color/options combo you were getting very slim pickings.

They said that if they cant find the car you want in a swap (as is my case) they have to order it from Japan, but when they order from Japan, its not a true "order" more of a "preference". In essence, they send off the rec, and Japan gets to then decide based on demand what they build and where they send the finished cars. And the requisition process only happens twice a month - middle and end.

So in the end, if you are getting a new order, 6-8 weeks is reasonable, as that is what they told me, and I am now 2 weeks in.

I would be interested if anyone else had the same story/experience with a new order versus a swap...

I actually purchased my 4RNR LE through the Toyota Friends and Family Program. I received a really good price, but I had to work directly through South East Toyota (SET) instead of a dealership based on the fact that my family member was located that region. When i started the process there were no '12 Black LEs with Black interiors in the SE region (Florida to NC). When SET finally received notification of a shipment coming to them from Japan around December 10, it still took until the first week of January before it made it to the dealership. It was approximately 3 - 4 weeks from the time that SET was told by Japan that a shipment had been sent before I could actually drive to the dealership to pick it up. The holidays were during that time period, so I know that probably added a day or two, but I know the 4RNR was on the water for at least two weeks, then about a day or two at port, and then a few days on the road to get from FL to NC.

6 to 8 weeks doesn't sound unreasonable based on my timeline because my timeline started at the point the truck was on the ship leaving from Japan. The wait was really painful, but well worth having the vehicle I wanted. Plus, I had been waiting about 15 years already. Good luck!

do they still have the exterior antenna?

Been there done that.. I usually have to special order my vehicles because of the options that I want. I've done it with 2 Honda CRV's, 1 Volve V50T5, a VW R32 and now my 2010 LTD... it's also pretty normal outside of the country where dealers dont keep the inventory that they do here.

I much rather wait and get PRECISELY what I want instead of settling for what's on the lot.

Just my 2 cents.

Okki

I ordered mine on Jan 5 and picked it up Jan 23. They told me it could be two months, but the sales guy said he thought it would be much sooner. Seems that ordering is the only way to get one if you are specific on colors and such that you want.

I certainly have one.

When ordering a vehicle did they give you a better price then one that was on the lot. My neighbor just ordered a Land Rover LR4 and told me that he got a better deal on the vehicle by ordering it. Here is what he sent me.

Generally you get a lower price for a couple reasons. One having a custom order counts against the dealers allocation/required buys and also the dealer has basically 0 carrying cost. So orders count against what the mfr requires them to buy each month, but to the dealer it is one less they buy on speculation. they also bring it in knowing it will be sold before they even have to pay for it. Basically they are only doing paperwork and making a few hundred to a thousand bucks.

The logic makes sense, but I have never heard of that. I was always told/taught that when negotiating with a car that is on the lot you have good leverage since its there and you can take it right now. In either case, I think it comes back to finding a good dealer who you want to work with.

I was working with 2 dealerships for mine, and with both of them, I negotiated regardless of what was on the lot, on other lots, or had to be custom ordered. I gave them the car, the options, and the price I was willing to pay, then left it up to the dealer to find the car.