Toyota Cars

Despite all of the recalls and bad press Toyota had a few months ago they have pulled through stronger and better than ever. Some recent surveys about car reliability and dependability show that Toyota is still at the top of the list. Toyota as a company has also stepped up and added some major safety features to its line-up of cars for 2011.

Over 1.3 million vehicle owners who are also readers of Consumer Reports voted for which cars they found most reliable. The study covered model years 2001 to 2010. The vehicles that made the list of Most Reliable Cars must also have performed well in government and insurance industry crash and rollover tests. The cars also had to have electronic stability control available in a mainstream high-volume trim line in order to be considered. The results of the reliability study put Toyota Cars at the top of the list. Models from Toyota, Scion and Lexus (brands of Toyota) were among the most reliable cars and earned top scores in five different vehicle categories. The Toyota Yaris, FJ Cruiser, Sienna V6 and Tundra V6 all scored top scores in the study. The Lexus LX also earned top marks.

J.D. Power and Associates conducted another similar study to find the dependability of vehicles. They surveyed owners of 3-year old models that were purchased new and asked them to identify problems that had arisen in the last 12 months. The Vehicle Dependability Study asks owners to identify any issues they've had in 200 different problem areas. Toyota performed very well in this study and received four different segment awards- more than any other brand in the study. The Toyota Highlander, Prius, Sequoia and Tundra all received above average marks for their dependability. Toyota's Lexus brand also made the top 5 list. In the compact car category the Toyota Prius was number one followed by the Corolla. In the Large Multi-Activity category the Toyota Sequoia topped the list as did the Tundra in the large pickup category. In the midsize multi activity category Toyota took the top 2 spots with the Highlander and the 4Runner. The Toyota Sienna and Yaris were in the top 3 for the minivan and sub-compact car categories respectively. Lexus made the top 3 in the large premium car category (LS460), midsize premium car (ES 350) and midsize premium multi activity category (GX 470, RX).

Toyota Corolla

Exportation of the Toyota Corolla from Japan to the United States began in March of 1968. At the time, this compact car was available as a two door coupe, a four door sedan or a two door wagon. The 1.1 liter 4 cylinder engine with 4 speed manual transmission provided the power, at the time, to the smallest car Toyota had ever introduced to the American marketplace. Since then, the original simple design and reliable mechanical engineering of the Corolla have served as the foundation for many future generations of this car which went on to become the most popular car line in automotive history. With the exception of the Land Cruiser, the Corolla is the oldest Toyota model still manufactured and produced as of the 2007 model year.

The Toyota Corolla is the world's best-selling car ever, with more than 30 million sold across ten distinct generations. Although the car hasn't been sold in the UK since February 2007, as it was superseded here by the Auris, it continues to be sold in overseas markets. The Corolla owes it popularity to the fact that owning one is utterly painless, if not especially rewarding. Cheap to buy and run, the cars have always been unfailingly reliable, astonishingly well equipped and supremely practical. However, even when offered in enthusiast guise, the cars have tended to be not especially well received by the press. That hasn't deterred millions of buyers from selecting the Corolla though, because the cars have always excelled where it matters.

The Corolla is a true mixed bag of a car. On the one hand it's dull in its interior and exterior design as well as unexciting (if competent) dynamically. But it's practical, reliable, economical and very easy to live with - and that one latter point is enough to swing it for many people. Around 30 million of them in fact. Which just goes to show that to build a successful car, you don't need to create something with any particular flair.

No car has ever sold in greater quantities than the Toyota Corolla, and while that's because there were nine different generations sold in the UK before it was superseded by the Auris in 2007, it's also because the Corolla has always had much to offer. However, despite being one of the easiest cars to own, the Corolla is far from perfect; such unfailing reliability comes at a price.

First Installation of the New iPad Mini in a Car

Sure Apple's new iPad Mini might have some shortcomings including its smaller, 7.9-inch non-Retina Display and a steep price tag, but in regards to its footprint, it looks like it could be the perfect fit for automotive applications.
No sooner than it landed on the market, an audio system specialist from Florida named "Soundwaves of Tampa" went ahead to become the first company in the field to install the tablet in a car and specifically, on a 2012 Toyota Corolla sedan.
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Damn, Where Did That Slab of Concrete Come From?

We're going to guess that Taiwanese authorities placed a slab of concrete in front of this zebra crossing to protect pedestrians from vehicles, but it also seems to work as a punishment tool for impatient drivers.

Take this gifted driver of a black Toyota sedan, who not only disregarded the red light but also tried to make a quick illegal left turn.

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Toyota Initiates Massive Global Recall of 2.8 Million Vehicles Over Two Issues

The world's top automaker Toyota is recalling 2.77 million vehicles worldwide on two unrelated problems, one concerning a defective water pump and the other a steering shaft fault, though, some models may need both fixes.

Toyota was quick to point out that no accidents or injuries have been reported related to these two issues.

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Reckless Taiwanese Tour Bus Operator Causes Two Car Accident on Highway

From the first day we get to sit behind the wheel of an automobile, we are all told to check our mirrors and look over our shoulder before attempting to change lanes. As simple as this may sound, some drivers continue to have a problem grasping the concept…

From what we can tell by looking at this video, the person operating the tour bus in Taiwan's Hsinchu City didn't even turn on his blinkers when he abruptly entered the middle lane forcing the driver of the silver Toyota Corolla to lose and spin out of control.

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Toyota Issues Massive Global Recall For 7.4 Million Vehicles Over Faulty Power Window Glitch

After the 10 million-vehicle recall in 2009 and 2010 over the infamous unintended acceleration problems, Toyota has once again been hit by a massive recall that concerns a lofty 7.43 million vehicles.

This time, the issue on hand is a faulty power window switch in 14 different models, which may malfunction and offer a “notchy” or sticky feel during operation. The use of a commercial lubricant, instead of the special fluorine grease used by the factory, may result in the melting of the switch and the emission of smoke.

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All-New 2013 Toyota Auris and Auris Hybrid Unveiled In Advance of Paris Motor Show Debut

These are the first official images of the all-new 2013 Toyota Auris, a compact sized hatchback that will compete against the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus, among other cars in the segment, and which will be sold in Europe and Japan as well other parts of the world including Australia where it will be marketed as the Corolla.

As Toyota's bestselling nameplate in Europe, the new Auris will make its world premiere at the upcoming Paris Motor Show at the end of September in both regular and hybrid trims.

The first thing Toyota tried to address with the new Auris is its predecessor's bland looks with a sharper and more distinctive styling that borrows the new “face” of the brand as seen on the Prius and the Yaris models. Whether or not it succeeded is something we'll let you decide and tell us in the comments section below.

According to the Japanese brand, the 2013 Auris has the distinction of sitting lower than any other mainstream C-segment model. It's also worth mentioning that its overall height is 55mm (2.2 inches) less than the outgoing model while it sports a lower front end design, both of which help it achieve a Cd0.28 drag coefficient.

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Toyota Exec Says Next Corolla to Undergo a More Dramatic Styling Metamorphosis than the Avalon

As well as preparing the new generation of the Auris hatchback and station wagon models for several markets around the world including Japan and Europe, Toyota is also working on a successor for its most famous nameplate, the Corolla sedan that arrives next year.

In North America, the current, tenth generation of the Corolla series that has been in production since 2006 is more of a redesign of the previous model introduced in the continent in 2002 for the 2003MY.

Despite its lackluster looks, especially when compared to the newer competition, the current Corolla was the fifth best-selling car in the States in 2011 with 232,159 units while this year sales are up by 11 percent through June compared to the first half of 2011.

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Toyota's All-Time Sales Surpass 200 Million Mark, Corolla Leads the Pack with 39 Million Deliveries

The Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has reached an important milestone in its history as the Japanese automaker announced that in June, its worldwide cumulative vehicle production surpassed 200 million units, 76 years and 11 months after the introduction of its first vehicle, the Model G1 truck in August of 1935.

The Model G1 was produced at Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd.'s Automotive Department, which was spun off and later became what we know today as the Toyota Motor Corporation.

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Scoop: New Toyota Auris Station Wagon Spotted Testing in Europe

Toyota has never offered an estate variant of its Auris compact series in Europe, but if these spy photos are anything to go by, this will change with the presentation of the next generation model.

We'll remind you that the five-door hatchback version of the Auris is rumored to debut as a thinly disguised concept at the Paris Motor Show in September and in final production trim at next year's Geneva Salon.

Even though the prototype that our spy photographers caught on European roads is heavily cladded in tape and plastic wraps, we can still make out some of the distinct styling traits of the next Auris, as previewed in the leaked brochure shots of the five-door hatch.

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This is What Happens When You Play with a Lighter While Filling Up Your Car

Evidently, common sense took a day off this past Sunday when a young Australian motorist decided to play around with his…cigarette lighter while filling up his Toyota Corolla's tank at a gas station in Thomastown, a suburb of Melbourne.

Footage from a closed circuit television (CCTV) camera shows the reckless driver leaning inside the car and then for some reason, flicked the lighter which instantaneously sparked a fire.

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Dear Autocar, This is Not the Next Toyota Auris…

We will start by letting you in a big "secret": we all do mistakes. Yes, Carscoop included.

Back in May, in our hurry to post a tip from one of our readers, we neglected to take a good look at French car magazine L'Automobile's patent images of the Audi RS6 Avant, which as some of you quickly pointed out, turned out to be the RS4 Avant.

Today, it's Autocar's time for a slip-up. The British magazine posted a set of patent drawings stating that these pictures preview the next Auris and not the brochure scans that surfaced online last week.

Unfortunately for Autocar, this is not true. The patent images, while real, do not depict the next Auris but the Dear Qin hatchback concept that made its debut alongside a sedan version at the Auto China 2012 in Beijing this past April.

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New Toyota Compact to Keep Auris Name in Europe, will be Previewed by a Concept Model in Paris

Toyota officials in Europe have denied rumors that the next generation of the Auris will revert to its previous name Corolla, which was dropped from the hatchback variants with the presentation of the 2007 model.

"In the future, the model will continue to be called the Auris in Europe," a Toyota spokesperson told Automobilwoche. "We are satisfied with the model awareness that we've achieved with this name."

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This Toyota Corolla "Horse Whisperer" Ad has Garnered 1 Million Views in Two Days, but Why?

As much experience as one might have with online media, you can never be entirely certain which commercial will draw the attention of viewers.

Sure, you can assume that Fiat's "naughty" campaign for the 500 Abarth with Catrinel Menghia will not go by unnoticed, but after seeing Toyota's "Horse Whisperer" ad for the Corolla sedan, would you really think that it could gather close to a million views (937,575 when we last checked) in less than 48 hours?

We don't have access to the stats to see where all this traffic came from, but we can tell you that the video has 45 likes and 121 dislikes. Maybe we're missing something here…

You can take a look at the 15 second ad in the video right past the break.

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Toyota Ramps up Production of Highlander SUV and Corolla at its U.S. Plants

After the natural disasters that crippled its production in 2011, Toyota is pulling ahead with a new plan to make up for the lost ground. This week, the number one Japanese automaker announced that it will increase production of the Highlander mid-size SUV at its Princeton, Indiana plant from late 2013. Read more »

Where Do You Think You're Going? Woman Tries to Escape Three Times After Being Stopped by Police

Surely, anyone with an iota of common sense would give it up when surrounded by at least three police vehicles, right? Well, maybe most people but not Alexandra Osteyee-Hoffman.

The 28-year old North Carolina woman tried not once, but three times (!) to escape from the police last Friday. It all began when deputies came to her house to serve papers on a hearing. The officer approached her Toyota Corolla and asked for her at which point she took off only to be cornered by at least three police vehicles shortly after.

From that point on, we have the video footage from the police car dashboard camera, which shows her fleeing the scene for the second time leading the police on a high-speed chase – well, as fast as a Corolla can go, that is…

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