Auto News & New car review

In a field of outstanding trucks, the Toyota Tacoma stands out as one of the best, perhaps the best, of a very good bunch. It comes in a wide range of configurations to please a wide range of buyers. As a result, the Tacoma dominates the market for mid-size pickups. Read the rest of this entry »

The Toyota 4Runner is a rugged SUV with impressive off-road capability. A full-framed truck with a solid rear axle, plus the latest in off-road electronics, the 4Runner delivers everything it promises. It’s the cowboy without the rhinestones, the genuine article in a market saturated with station wagons posing as off-road adventurers. Read the rest of this entry »

The Toyota Verso SR has been a great standard-bearer for quality and value in the compact MPV segment, a car that is both well-equipped and keenly priced. Now Toyota has upgraded the SR to offer an even greater array of premium features, without compromising its wallet-friendly character. Read the rest of this entry »

Toyota has been working on an affordable small car that will be cost-competitive in emerging markets, and Autocar is reporting that India is being considered as a destination for production. India makes sense due to its low-cost labor, and with competitors like the Tata Nano going for as little as $2,500, the world’s biggest automaker will need to cut cost everywhere it can. Read the rest of this entry »

Although Americans take heat for ordering too many Java Chip Frappuccinos, racking up credit card debt and sustaining the worldwide market for sport-utility vehicles, we have some good habits as well. Driving full-size sedans, for one. As big as these cars are, they’re ideally suited for a country where suburban sprawl is rampant and long-distance travel borders on necessity. Further, they typically represent a more efficient solution for carrying four or five people than SUVs. Read the rest of this entry »

To my eyes, the Toyota Prius looks like an Area 51 reject: an ungainly sci fi fantasy devoid of charm or beauty. To its admirers’ eyes, the Prius is the latter day equivalent of a Model T or a VW Bug: an automobile whose virtues– and virtuousness– transcend the normal dictates of style. And THEN there’s the debate about propulsion, premiums and politics. Read the rest of this entry »

In the science fiction TV show Stargate SG-1, a small U.S. Air Force military team uses an ancient alien device to travel to other worlds. The team’s adventures typically entail going to other planets, shooting guns, speaking to inhabitants who strangely speak English and saving Earth from otherwise certain destruction. All good stuff, really. But here in the real world, we don’t have a Stargate or even Richard Dean Anderson at the ready to reach faraway places for adventure. What we do have is the 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser. Read the rest of this entry »

With added interior room and enhanced performance, the 2009 Toyota Matrix promises to be as practical and fun to drive as its previous models. The new Matrix comes in three trims, the base, S, and XRS The base model Matrix sports a 1.8L 132hp 4-cylinder engine putting power to the front wheels with a standard 5-speed manual transmission. A 4-speed automatic is optional. The other two models offer an optional 2.4L 158hp engine. Read the rest of this entry »

When it comes to full-size SUV ownership, well, you really have to want it these days. Driving a large and imposing vehicle isn’t as much of an image enhancement as it was a decade ago, and depending on where you live, spending $70 to fill the tank is a distinct possibility. That said, the current population of large, truck-based sport-utilities is as impressive as it has ever been. Incremental improvements in driving dynamics and interior packaging have made these heavyweights quite easy to live with on a daily basis. Read the rest of this entry »

Toyota is recalling 90,000 2008 model year Highlander and Highlander Hybrid crossovers due to a seatbelt in the third row which may not secure a rear-facing child seat properly during an accident. Read the rest of this entry »