why no 2009 4runners in the southwest

[newguy2009]

i live in the four corners area and have looked at every dealers inventory...from albuquerque to santa fe to farmington all the way to denver. not a single dealer has a 2009 4runner on the lot. is it because toyota already killed production for the new design? i knew sales were off but a lot of these dealers were totally out of 08 so they have zero 4runners on the ground now. whats the deal? any know? also if u know a dealer with a 09 v8 sport or limited send me a link i am interested. thanks....

and oh yeah this is my first post here....thanks for having me.

 

[gm350reratliff]

The economy is killing the dealers. The dealers are also hesitant to order in vehicles that may sit there all year. Many dealers borrow money to order in vehicles, then pay it back as they sell. If the banks won't loan the cash, the dealers can't get the cars they need to sell.

SUV's in general got a bad rap for mpg when gas was so high so hardley anybody wanted them. Funny thing is that my wife's '08 SR5 4X4 V6 gets better mpg than her G6 did.

Even in Nov. I tried dealing with Toyota dealers here on a new vehicle. They wouldn't budge. Wouldn't even pay the trade off. Lucky we found the '08 used at the Honda dealer. Dropped the price of the runner, gave us more for our trade than is was worth, extended warrenty. Toyota couldn't come close.

 

[Evil Sofa Leg]

In the south (in general) it seems hard to find a v8 4x4 as an 08 even

My 08 (bought a month ago) was one of two in about a 300 mile area (Houston) and they had no info on the 09s at that point...

 

[charlier180]

4Runner Sales have been declining for a few years now.
IIRC they hit a high of about 104,000 units per year in the USA.
The spike in fuel prices and the economic downturn in the USA have really hurt sales of vehicles in general and SUVs & Pickups in particular.
The 4Runner is no exception with sales down 45.6% in 2008.

4Runner Sales:

2007 = 87,718
2008 = 47,878

Most likely Toyota adjusted production on the 4Runner in 2008.
Given the economy in the USA, one would think that sales projections for the 2009 4Runner would not be much higher
than actual 2008 figures (even if a new model is introduced).

Time will tell how this plays out.

Source: http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/08-december-sales.aspx

 

[peter78]

I am thinking the 09 sales may be less than 08. There has been a suggestion from a member that the 10's may come out early. The paper still advertise the 08's. Some members have bought the 09 and there are a few on the lots, or at least the dealers say they have access to them. I think this may be a slow year for 4Runners.