Thanks for all the tips, advice, and recommendations! It's all very helpful.

I ended up making a reservation with Nissan for a P2 category car (Nissan March). The reservation was considerably cheaper than comparable cars (regular hatchbacks/small sedans) anywhere else.

I still haven't fully thrown in the towel on finding something fun to drive, though. When poking around the Japanese version of the Toyota site, I found an option for the Toyota GR86. It doesn't appear in the English version of the site, and it's not available for online reservations on the Japanese version. Instead, it says "phone reservation." Does anyone know if I would be able to make this reservation in English?

Below that, there's a button that says "check availability and areas" that leads to this PDF: https://cmjprfestaren03.blob.core.wi...iki_gentei.pdf

Would someone who reads Japanese be able to help me navigate that PDF? I've spent quite a bit of time translating it through Google Translate, but it hasn't helped me track down a location that has an 86 or GR86 available. From what I can tell, in Tokyo (東京) there's only two listed entities (トヨタモビリティサービス株式会社 and 株式会社トヨタレンタリース多摩) that show availability for the GR86. I think that explains why I can't find availability for the 86 (it's not listed as available in Tokyo in the PDF), and the GR86 isn't listed as an option on the English version of the Toyota site.

What I can't understand is if the two listed entities are specific branches or general businesses under the Toyota umbrella. I've translated those two entities (Toyota Mobility Service Corporation and Toyota Rental Lease Tama Co., Ltd.), but haven't managed to track anything down with those terms. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!