He kinda makes sense no? If Japan ships a TE and someone wants a TRDP are we to believe that the port takes out the cloth seats and door panels and puts in Softex ones? I believe there is softex and red stitching on the 4WD selector boot also that is not on a TE?
The front garnish could be added as they do it all the time.. and I think TE's come with crawl control and Multi-T as that is a native feature of all Trails, Trail premiums and TRDP's...
Also TE's and TEP's can come with KDSS so these vehicles would have to be non-KDSS variants to fit conversion criteria.
And...there's more. TE's and TEP's do not get auto headlights and the TRDP wiring loom is specific to that vehicle so are we saying that they are replacing the loom also? Because I know they are not splicing in this feature on a new vehicle. That would be a shit shit thing to do on a new purchase.
no, what he's written doesn't make any sense whatsoever. the "no seats, no door panels, no 4WD selector and they add the crawl control" business broadcasts a pretty wholesale ignorance on the subject, frankly.
to your questions: Toyota doesn't ship an (allocated) TE and "turn it into an (unallocated) Pro" because "someone wants it." there is a fixed allocation of
both models (actually, of
all models).
and, as such, there are specifics as to what's included in each model—built upon precisely the same base—as it moves down the production line. point is, so far as the Tahara plant's production line is concerned, the Pro is
more or less a base model TE that ships in a specific set of colors, with specific interior Softex trim, and a specific front grill. then, when it finally arrives at port, it gets the rest of the Pro bits added. it shipped from Japan as a "Pro"... it simply wasn't finished until it got the final treatment stateside. no biggie.
unlike the Tacoma and the Tundra, the fact that the 4Runner is shipped fully assembled from Japan undoubtedly creates import and tax implications that, from the perspective of a balance sheet, make good business sense for Toyota to manage the 4Runner TRD Pro's final assembly this way. i'm sure the Taco and Tundra Pro are handled differently.
i don't see what the big deal is or why any of this is so difficult for some to grasp or digest (or stomach). i sincerely don't understand where the distaste, denial and delusion surrounding this subject comes from.