Toyota

Toyota cleared of sticky accelerator mess, civil claims remain

The long-awaited results of the Obama administration’s review of the Toyota Motor Corp’s unintended acceleration of electronic throttles and faulty floormats and the subsequent recall of more than eight million vehicles, revealed no systemic flaws in the software driven systems of Toyota or Lexus vehicles. Federal safety regulators investigated reports that as many as 89 U.S. crash deaths since 2000 may have been linked to unintended acceleration in Toyotas and Lexus vehicles. “There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. The recalls, government scrutiny, which included testimony by Chief Executive Akio Toyoda at congressional hearings a year ago, and more than $30 million in fines, damaged Toyota’s reputation.

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Toyota Avalon 2011 car review

As the flagship sedan, the 2011 Toyota Avalon is the automaker’s largest car and shares many components with its upscale kin at Lexus, including a 268 horsepower 3.5-liter V6 engine. Introduced in 1994 as a 1995 model, the Avalon has undergone several redesigns and styling updates including for the 2011 edition that debuted in April 2010. The 2011 Avalon has two trim lines — the base model and upscale Limited. Although considered a styling upgrade from 2010, the new model has vast changes — a redesigned instrument cluster and center console to new wood trim and a more refined rear and front fascia. Now standard is a back-up camera with navigation screen or rear view mirror display, new tail lights,

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Toyota recall of Lexus models pushes carmaker's total to more than 10 million in 18 months

Toyota Motor Corp. has announced another large global recall for myriad problems in the fuel systems of several Lexus models with the latest issue increasing the Japanese manufacturer’s recalls to more than 10 million vehicles in the past 18 months. Toyota said it will recall about 245,000 cars in the United States from its Lexus line to inspect a fuel pressure sensor. The vehicles include the 2006 through 2007 Lexus GS300/350, the 2006 through early 2009 Lexus IS250, and the 2006 through early 2008 Lexus IS350. The automaker also said it will also recall about 1.3 million vehicles not sold in the U.S. to fix different fuel system problems. Almost 400,000 of those autos have two different defects to be

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Toyota debuts two new Prius models at Detroit Auto Show

The Toyota Prius outsells all other hybrid cars combined. But Toyota knows its competitors have plenty to offer, which is why the carmaker debuted two new hybrid models at the Detroit auto show. The roomier Prius v and compact Prius c concept were introduced to complement the Prius and stable of 14 Toyota hybrid vehicles available globally. Toyota is also planning 11 more hybrid or other “green” vehicles during the next two years. Last year, sales of the Toyota Prius, first available in the U.S. in 1997, increased 36 percent last year to 140,928 units. “Prius has become to hybrids what Kleenex is to tissues and Levi’s are to jeans,” Bob Carter, Toyota brand’s U.S. chief, said at the media

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Toyota Sienna 2011 car review

The minivan is now sexy, hip and cool — at least that’s manufacturers want you to believe. It started with a new advertising campaign for the 2011 Toyota Sienna. Instead of screaming kids and exploding yogurt cartoons the new minivan is all about rapping parents and their posse of cool kids in their “swagger wagon.” So does the new Sienna live up to the cool, rock style its “swagger wagon” reputation? No. It’s still a front-wheel drive minivan with seating for an entire Cub Scout troop. But Toyota, like the rest of the automotive industry, has made the minivan more burly, more manly. It starts with the look and styling of the new generation of minivans. Toyota and Honda have

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Honda, Ford surpass Toyota as most reliable cars in 2010

Massive recalls severely hurt Toyota sales in the past 18 months and  thus relinquished the country’s former most reliable automaker to third place behind Honda and Ford, according to Consumer Reports. Honda rank in first place with 25 percent of car owners participating in the magazine’s survey naming the manufacturer with the best quality. Ford finished second with 23 percent, while Toyota finished third at 19 percent, 11 percent less than last year. Toyota‘s reputation plummeted in 2009 and 2010 and it paid nearly $50 million in fines last year to federal safety regulators for failing to promptly inform regulators of defects in its vehicles and delaying recalls. Chevrolet (19 percent) placed fourth in reliability while Mercedes-Benz (15 percent) was

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Ford F-Series top 2010 seller, extends reign to 34 years

The Ford F-Series pick-up, the country’s best-selling vehicle every year for more than three decades, continued its commanding position in 2010 with an increase of more than 27 percent in sales from 2009. The Ford F-Series trucks, one of two Ford products on the top-10 list for 2010, had sales of 528,349, more than 150,000 more than the second-best seller, the Chevrolet Silverado. It was the country’s top-seller for the 34th straight year. Honda had three cars among the top-10 sellers for 2010, the Accord, Civic and CR-V. Toyota (Camry and Corolla) and Ford (F-Series and Fusion) had two vehicles on the list. Despite the third and fifth positions on the top-10 list, the Camry and Corolla were the only

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Toyota Avalon 2011 car review

The 2011 Toyota Avalon could almost wear a Lexus badge. The car’s television commercials truthfully portray it as evoking a time when travel was sophisticated, elegant and comfortable. A long-distance round-trip drive from Chicago to Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay area showed the precisely built, whisper-quiet Avalon to be a soothing, long-distance cruiser. It sped along the Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania turnpikes and on regular highways and rural secondary roads in Maryland. The base Avalon costs $32,245 and the more upscale Limited version is $35,485. The 3.5-liter 268-horsepower V-6 sedan is easy on fuel for a fairly heavy full-size car. It delivers an estimated 29 mpg on the open road and 20 in town. The  regular version weighs 3,572 pounds and the

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Honda, Lexus, Chevrolet dominate Kiplinger's/Yahoo Cars of the Decade list

The Toyota Prius and Chevrolet Corvette couldn’t be more different. And likewise, there’s nothing similar between a BMW 3 Series and a Honda Odyssey. Unless, of course, Kiplinger’s magazine and Yahoo.com happen to be compiling a list of the cars of the decade. With a vast number of vehicles from which to choose in the past decade, how could the publications possible select the top-10 cars of the decade. The Prius, for example, was selected with the following description: “When the Prius made its U.S. debut in 2001, it barely registered a blip in the auto industry. But then the Hollywood green crowd adopted the little gas-electric hybrid as a symbol of saving the planet. “Ten years and two redesigns

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Toyota accepts huge penality, raising investigation record fine total to nearly $49 million

Toyota Motor Corp. has agreed to pay the government an additional $32.4 million, increasing the carmaker’s record fines to nearly $49 million as settlement  into safety investigation into more than 11 million of its cars. The Transportation Department announced the latest civil penalties in the two major issues — stuck accelerator pedals that could get trapped in floor mats, and steering relay rods that could break and lead to drivers losing control. Toyota has already paid a $16.4 million fine in a relate case, bringing the total penalties levied on the company to $48.8 million. Toyota has recalled more than 11 million vehicles globally since the fall of 2009. The company agreed to the penalties without admitting to any violations

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Toyota, Honda claim top 2011 gas mileages, reports EPA

Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. captured six of the U.S. government’s top 10 fuel-economy ratings for 2011 models, according to the Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Department. Toyota’s Prius hybrid remains country’s highest fuel mileage car with 51 mpg (city) and 48 mpg (highway) averages. Ford Motor Co., the only U.S. automaker to rate in the top 10, finished second with the Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ hybrids. Honda finished in the third position with the Civic and Insight hybrids and in fourth with the CR-Z hybrid, according to the two agencies. Automakers selling models in the U.S. are trying to boost the fuel efficiency of their models after President Barack Obama in April ordered a five

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Toyota announces largest recall in history, 1.6 million cars with brake issues

Recalled plagued Toyota Motor Corp. has announced its latest and largest recall to date, this time 1.66 million Avalon and other vehicles, including Lexus models, for brake cylinder issues. The new recall includes the 2005 and 2006 Avalon sedan, 2004 through 2006 Highlander (the non-Hybrid model) and Lexus RX330 crossovers, and the 2006 Lexus GS300, IS250, and IS350 sedans. Additionally, the latest recall, mostly in Japan and the United States, comes less than two months after a recall in Canada and the United States of 1.3 million Corolla and Matrix cars. In that instance, the vehicle had defective engine control modules that could cause the vehicles to stall. The vehicle’s brake master cylinders can leak small amounts of fluid, resulting

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Toyota announces plans to debut two Prius siblings by 2013

According to a dispatch in the Wall Street Journal from the recent National Dealer Conference in Las Vegas, one of the new hybrids will be smaller and one larger than the current Prius, the country’s largest-selling hybrid. According to the newspaper, Toyota executives briefed dealers about the new vehicles, including size details. AUTOMOTIVE RESOURCES AND INFORMATION Auto Shipping Quote–Car Financing–Car Insurance Quotes–Car Loans–Online Car Insurance–Rental Cars–Used Cars The pending smaller hybrid will comparable to the Toyota Yaris. The larger new hybrid will offer about 50 percent more interior space and storage than the Prius. Toyota also announced a milestone for the Prius at the same dealers’ meeting. Since its debut in 1997, Prius sales worldwide recently surpassed two million units.

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Honda, Toyota lead Yahoo Autos top-100 'green' car list

The Green Rating was developed by Yahoo! Autos in consultation with Environmental Defense, a nonprofit organization that finds practical ways to protect the planet. The Green Rating covers all the major environmental costs of a motor vehicle, including: Unhealthy smog that comes from tailpipes; Emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming; The fuel a vehicle consumes; Pollution from manufacturing the vehicle and its components. The Green Rating measures a vehicle’s environmental friendliness on a scale of 1 to 100. The higher a vehicle’s Green Rating, the “greener” it is and the lower its harm to human health and the health of the planet. Here’s the list of Yahoo Auto’s top-10 (with ties) green cars: 1. 2010 Honda Civic Hybrid

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Toyota Sienna, 2011: The Weekly Driver Car Review

The new Sienna is available in five models: Sienna, LE, SE, XLE and Unlimited, and it remains the only mini-van in its class to offer all-wheel drive. The option is available on the V6 engine choice and in LE, XLE and Limited models. The 2011 Sienna has a standard 2.7-liter 187-horsepower 4-cylinder engine on the base and LE models, with a 266-horsepower, 3.5-liter V6 optional on those models and the same as the standard engine on all other models. Both engines have six-speed automatic transmissions. AUTOMOTIVE RESOURCES AND INFORMATION Auto Shipping Quote–Car Financing–Car Insurance Quotes–Car Loans–Online Car Insurance–Rental Cars–Used Cars With a detachable second-row jump seat, the Sienna seats seven or eight passengers, and the second-row captain’s chairs can slide

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Honda Accord, Civic top 2009 most stolen car list

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, the 1991 Toyota Camry joined the Accord and Civic in 2009 making the the country’s top-three stolen vehicles all from Japanese manufacturers. AUTOMOTIVE RESOURCES AND INFORMATION Auto Shipping Quote–Car Financing–Car Insurance Quotes–Car Loans–Online Car Insurance–Rental Cars–Used Cars According to another just released report, the Uniform Crime Report, compiled by the FBI, 794,616 vehicles were reported stolen in 2009, the sixth consecutive year of lower car theft in the country. In 2008, 956,846 vehicles were reported stolen, then the lowest annual total in more than 20 years. 1. 1994 Honda Accord 2. 1995 Honda Civic 3. 1991 Toyota Camry 4. 1997 Ford F-150 pickup 5. 2004 Dodge Ram pickup 6. 2000 Dodge Caravan 7.

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