Can't get the runner I want. No one has inventory. Prices have gone beyond the stratosphere. Dealers won't even trade with each other. I've tried out of state dealers, and most won't/can't/aren't setup to do out-of-state deals.

Every dealer I've talked with -- 17 at this point -- don't even know when or if they'll get any more into their inventory. Base models are relatively easy to come by, but not the trims needed for the family.

I don't have time on my side. I need a new car in the next few weeks.

It's looking grim.

Today, just down the road, I can get a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee L. Right now. With far more factory pricing incentives, and a dealer who will negotiate the base price to begin with.

It's an extraordinarily beautifully made SUV and I'm sure it's more than capable offroad. But it's not my long-beloved 4Runner...

Someone talk me out of this ;-)

Your problem is the time constraint and location. I don't have anything helpful to offer except try and wait longer. Things will get better but not soon. Have you thought about a fly and drive? Fly out and drive back.

Exactly the problem. I'm in California too, and there's more inventory here than just about anywhere.

I've called dealers in Washington state, Virginia, West Virginia, Florida, and Vermont to look into flying out and driving back. Most of them either would not take a deposit to hold a car or weren't setup to even sell to out of state buyers.

The loop-hole is they can sell you to as long as (1) you handle registration and taxes in your residence state on your own -- fine; and (2) they're issuing the title unencumbered. But I plan/need to finance about 70% of the purchase, and no bank or lender is going to allow an unencumbered title (meaning the dealer would only issue it to direct to me and not with a lien in the bank's name).

My one other possibility is a couple models to be found on Vroom and Carvana. But Vroom has deteriorated tremendously and has countless lawsuits against them, not to mention their BBB accreditation was revoked and they were downgraded from a B to an F rating in less than a couple years. Too much risk there for me. Carvana...ehh....maybe. Not the best pricing. CarMax too has one, and it's even local. But it's thousands of dollars beyond market price.

If there is a dealer with an allotment that you are looking for it may be reserved. Tell the sales person to call you if the deal falls through.


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Which model/features are you looking for?

Here's one St Louis dealer with 32 on the lot: Attention Required! | Cloudflare

There seems to be a bit more in the STL area as well.

I live in Illinois but bought mine in St Louis, and they didn't seem too concered with the titling issue. However, that might be because STL dealers have a working relationship with the Illinois DOT based on their proximity and the amount of customers in the bi-state/metro area.

There's quite a bit of inventory, visit CarGurus.com and search nationwide - there are over 4500 results found from model years 2019 to 2022. Then start calling.

(edit) Looks like all models are available somewhere.

That's how I found my current 4Runner, though I was lucky I bought mine right before the market went crazy.

We looked at Carvana and Vroom. Decided against them and went Carmax. It was a seamless transaction for our 2019 TRD Offroad with 8k miles. Would definitely recommend them. Did the 24hr test drive- very cool to be able to take the car home and crawl all over/inside it.

My constraints are perhaps unreasonable, but they are what they are. 2021 or 2022 preferred. Will consider 2020. Not considering anything older.

And to satisfy the family, I'm looking for the Limited. And to satisfy my own requirements, 4wd only. Those are the things that limit me the most. As I said above, it's relatively easy to find a base model or a couple trims above it. But not the others.

I'd jump on the CarMax one. We've driven it twice. Don't love the exterior (blue) but the redwood interior and the trim spec is exactly what I want. Unfortunately, it's more than $6K over what the same truck does sell for elsewhere.

The limited is AWD so you have that covered.

Ouch, yeah, that’s a tough pill to swallow.
The possible pathways i see:

1. Rent a car to cover your needs while you wait for more Carmax inventory to match exactly what you want.
2. Find the 6k and grab whats in front of you.
3. Do another assessment of needs/wants that might allow you to expand to other model/trim options.

For our process, I would add, we had to look for about 2 months to find our TRD off-road since we wanted Crawl control, KDSS, no sunroof, cloth interior, no sliding tray, and the rear locker(among other things) with no “premium” model doo-dads.

We also wanted a pre-2020, for the exclusion of a simple keyed ignition. We’re not fans of push-to- start, RFID keyfobs. This 2019 rig is basically a modern version of the 1986 first-gen i had in college.

Different wants/needs than other folks but we have already been very remote in Utah and wanted a KISS model for reliability, since we plan on going even further off-highway.

If you're going for a Limited, maybe look at the GX.

Personally I think the new Grand Cherokees look really nice.

I loved my Jeep. It was a 1995 ZJ but I’m sure there are nice Jeeps today, too. Just don’t compromise. If it’s too expensive, don’t buy ANYTHING.


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There’s also several 2021 limited models round here:

2021 Toyota 4Runner Limited Edition for sale in Murfreesboro, TN - CARFAX

2021 Toyota 4Runner Limited Edition for sale in Brentwood, TN - CARFAX

2021 Toyota 4Runner Limited Edition for sale in Mount Juliet, TN - CARFAX

Not seeing the difficulty in finding a model.

They can all ship to you as well for a reasonable rate.