I went to my Toyota dealer today for my free service. I was about halfway across the lot when a young salesman asks me if I wanted to sell my 4R. I said I've only had it a short time and I had no reason to sell it. He then said he had to ask so I went about my business. I gave service my keys and walked around a bit. I then realized they had empty lots. I looked for new pickups, Tundra's or Tacoma's, and there wasn't a single one. I then looked for new 4r's. None of those either. Same for Highlanders. Then a salesman came out and we started to chat. He told me the shortage started 4 months ago. Now they are taking deposits for deliveries 90-120 days out. He said their inventory was reduced by about 70%.
Apparently there's a semiconductor shortage in the auto industry but I never realized it was this bad. That's a yuge shortage. This is going to drive up the prices of new vehicles for a very long time.