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by RansomStark 1603 days ago
It's interesting that you managed to get a Toyota. Toyota until very late on wasn't affected by the chip shortage [0]. Toyota practically invented lean manufacturing and are the only business that seems to do it right, I guess it's because they didn't need to bring in a bunch of lean consultants, that either miss the nuance or can't effectively communicate that nuance.

Lean manufacturing and JIT are like DRY in software development. Those that are just learning think don't repeat yourself is a rule, "DRY means DRY" whereas experts have learnt that "DRY means DRY except in all of those situations where it is better to repeat yourself".

Toyota knew prior to the pandemic that their chip supply chain was vulnerable, being filled with single points of failure, and they stocked accordingly. But those stocks were only going to last so long, and, thanks in part to the panic buying of the other car manufacturers, Toyota is also facing a shortage.

The above is a really long winded way to say, I'd be interested to know if MSRP Toyota's will remain available in the near term, mostly because I'm in the market for a new car, I'll put the local Toyota dealers at the top of the list.

[0] https://fortune.com/2021/08/02/toyota-cars-chip-shortage-sem...

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/10/business/toyota-productio...

1 comments

I know they went up a little over the last couple years, but they (at least tacomas) hold their price really well, and they are generally solid and will last. Driven Toyotas all my life and 100% recommend them. My only advice is to just call all your local dealers and find one with a vehicle already on its way to claim