You're part of the Gulf State Toyota distribution, separate from the rest of the U.S. (and SE Toyota distribution)
I have often felt separate from the rest of the US in Arkansas, usually not in a positive way. Seems like we are on the nice person-end of any distribution list.
Actually I'm jumping to conclusions. I should say "you're probably part of Gulf State Toyota distribution". Someone here can verify it for me.
I'm wondering what is the value in doing that, if I can't get the car here? I suppose for researching features and prices it would be helpful.
Nothing prevents you from buying in any state. I bought Subaru from Idaho while I lived in Nevada. I considered a Prius PHV from California when I lived in Mississippi.
Yes, I did. In my case, the nearest Subaru dealer in ID was 180 miles away, while the nearest Subaru dealer in NV was 300 miles away. More relevant to your case, I could buy a Prius PHV in CA but I could not get one in MS. The Prius v Five is not available in AR, but that does not mean you can't own one. (Dianne Whitmire was willing to ship me a PHV from CA without me going there, but ultimately I needed a bigger Prius. It is too bad they don't make a Prius v PHV.) Meet Our Staff - Carson Toyota
Your local dealer can have a car transported in from anywhere if he's willing - and you're willing to pay.
There may be a significant advantage to going out of state/area because not all Toyotas come from the same distributor and different distributors add on different sets of things which you may value or not. I went 2 states away, saved $1000, omitted 6 items that all local dealers had to charge for, and have no trouble getting local service. I don't miss any of the overpriced distributor add-ons. These distributors have exclusive rights to distribute to certain states in deals going back to when Toyota needed money and help in setting up dealerships in the 50 states. Each customizes cars in ways you may like or not where other area distributors do without those customizations and their additional window sticker. It was worth it to me to spend 2 days and a $80 one way train ticket so that I didn't feel used by the distributor. I bought from CarMax which has a Toyota dealership in Laurel MD. Absolutely easy deal, no surprises. I forget if AR is served by the SET or SWT distributor.
