Overview & Reviews

Toyota is a Japanese brand whose refined, well-designed vehicles have earned it a great deal of popularity. Toyotas also have a superb record for reliability and durability, which goes a long way toward justifying their typically high purchase prices. For buyers who plan on owning their new vehicles for a long time, the Toyota marque is a very compelling choice.

The automaker's name is a variation of the surname of its founder, Kiichiro Toyoda. After years of research, Toyoda unveiled his first prototype, the A1, in 1935, marking the birth of the Toyota Motor Corporation. The '40s witnessed the launch of additional passenger cars and even a pickup. By the end of the decade, the automaker had produced more than 100,000 vehicles.

Toyota grew bigger in the '50s and expanded its roster with a slew of new small cars. The company also unveiled the utilitarian BJ truck; this vehicle was the precursor to the Land Cruiser. By the end of the decade, Toyota had commenced exports to the U.S. with the establishment of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc. The first Toyota to be sold on American shores was the Crown; it held the distinction of being the first Japanese car to be sold Stateside.

The '60s witnessed even more growth for the emerging juggernaut. Toyota introduced the Corolla, an immensely popular model that is still in production today. Vehicles like the home-market Publica, the 2000GT, Hiace and Miniace were also launched. The decade closed with Toyota reporting annual domestic sales of 1 million units; cumulative exports also reached 1 million.

Japanese-market cars like the Carina, Light Ace and Publica Starlet were launched during the 1970s. In the States, the Corolla grew in popularity and the Corona and Mk II models debuted as well. The successful Celica sports coupe was also rolled out and would remain in production for more than 30 years. Toyota's shadow had spread far beyond Japan by this point. The decade's oil crisis had made the manufacturer's compact, fuel-efficient models more popular than ever in the United States. By the time the '70s drew to a close, the automaker had exported more than 10 million vehicles.

Toyota expanded its presence in the U.S. market during the '80s, with the introduction of popular models like the 4Runner SUV and the MR2 sports car. The true high point of these years, though, was the birth of the Toyota Camry sedan. Originally known as the Celica Camry in Japan, the car went on to be a hit of phenomenal proportions, earning kudos as America's best-selling car of the year time and time again.

During the '90s, Toyota rolled out the Avalon full-size sedan and expanded its selection of SUVs with the compact RAV4. By the end of the decade, more than 100 million Toyota vehicles had been produced in Japan. The company also proved itself on the cutting edge of new technology with the rollout of the Prius, the world's first mass-produced hybrid. The car debuted in Japan in 1997; by 2001, the fuel-sipping sedan had made its way to American highways. Despite the presence of a growing number of competitors in its segment, the Prius continues to boast class-leading sales.

Toyota's current lineup is relatively extensive, including minivans, cars, trucks and SUVs. The brand remains extremely popular among savvy consumers who place a high value on quality and dependability.

User Reviews:

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  2010 Camry LE - 2010 Toyota Camry
  By JL Brown - April 23 - 11:26 am

  Bought the new 2010 Camry LE4, Gold w/sunroof and alloy wheels. Now have 2500 miles. This car has never exceeded 20/gal. I like the interior/exterior design and features. 16 inch wheels with Bridgestone tires. The tires sound like truck tires. Extremely noisy. Reflections of the top of the dash and back head rests onto the windows is unforgivable. This is my third Camry. I would rate it below average of the 3.

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  Excellent choice - 2000 Toyota Avalon
  By Kisa Lee - April 23 - 7:20 am

  Before the purchase of my Avalon I drove a Nissan Sentra for about 9 1/2 years and loved that car because of the reliability. Now in the Avalon I feel the same but with extras ex. the interior, the comfortable ride, the room as well as the sound system. I am really enjoying the car even though it was used when I purchased it, I feel that I made an excellent choice.

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  Fun to drive - 2007 Toyota Prius
  By janie - April 22 - 10:16 pm

  Ive had my Prius for almost 4 months and love it more every day! Changing jobs brought a longer commute, but ability to drive in the HOV lane makes the commute almost painless. I laugh as I zoom by all those folks at a dead stop on the freeway. Gas mileage has also increased as I learned better driving techniques - now averaging about 50 mpg. Love the bluetooth and use it constantly - makes good use of the long drive and a much safer way to talk on the phone, plus its easy to use. Storage in the back is more roomy than it looks - all the junk I carried in my larger SUV fit with room to spare and the cover hides everything. Expected to like the Prius, pleasantly surprised to love it!

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  Good SUV but missing A LOT of refinements - 2016 Toyota RAV4
  By Jason in Nebraska - April 22 - 8:54 pm

  Overall, the RAV4 XLE is a good vehicle but far from great. I have many good things to say about it, especially the comfort of the seats. Its easy to find the good things about it, so Ill focus on all the little annoying things I find with it. Ill start with the Entune system. The software that supports it is poor at best. Its full of little bugs that make Entune incredibly annoying to use. While in USB mode, I can set it to randomly play songs from the entire flash drive. Itll go from playing REO to playing Metallica next. But when I turn the car off, Entune forgets that I want to randomly play the entire drive. Instead, it only plays songs from the artist being played when I got out of the car. So every time I get in the car, I have to tell it to play the entire flash drive again. When using satellite, Ive yet to figure out how reliably scroll through all stations. It seems that after I select a station and then keep scrolling, it stays within the genre. I have to tell it again that I want to see all stations. I could go on, but I think you get the point. The instruments leave a bit to be desired as well. There is no digital display for the speed. Not a big thing, but something I was used to with my last car. Theres also no display to tell me what the current tire pressure is in each tire. Im told a warning light will appear if one tire is low, but it wont tell me which tire. If theres already a monitoring system for tire pressure in place, it shouldnt be too hard to give the driver just a little more information. I noticed that my speed readout is also off about 3-4% or so. I took it in to the dealer and said that on the interstate, its consistently showing me going 2-3 MPH faster than I actually am going. I checked with 2 different GPS units as well as using a stopwatch between known fixed points and manually calculating the speed. The dealer told me that 2-3 MPH off is normal and is within tolerances. I pointed out that that if the speed is off, the odometer is probably also off. The dealer told me the its also off but within tolerances. Of the 4 other cars (Chevy, Dodge, Mercury and Subaru) Ive driven within the last year, the Toyota is the only one which has a speedometer thats not dead on accurate. So that means, its shorting you roughly 1000 miles on warranty. I find the placement of the daytime running lights (DLR) switch odd. Its with the headlights. In order, the light settings are: off, DLR, parking, headlights. When I turn the headlights off at night, I naturally just move the switch down till it stops. Well, that means I just left DLR off too. It should be DLR, off, parking, headlights. What would be even nicer is automatic lights, but that doesnt come with XLE. I also noticed that for being a brand new car, it doesnt bead up water like it should. I used to have a job where I drove a different new car every day. This is the first new car Ive driven that the water doesnt just slide right off the windshield when it is raining out as I drive down the highway. The water on the hood also doesnt bead up. The A/C also needs a little help. For whatever reason, the RAV4 doesnt remember that I like to have fresh air coming into the car all the time. Every time I start the car with the A/C on, its set to recycle the air. Like the USB on Entune, I have change that each time I start the car. It also doesnt seem to cool as fast as other cars I drive or have recently driven. That may be more of a subjective thing though.

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  Off to a nice start! - 2005 Toyota Tacoma
  By JohnBoy53 - April 22 - 7:10 pm

  At 5-10 grand less than similarly equipped "Big" trucks, it is truly a great value. Ride is firm but comfortable, handling is tight and the interior noise level is low. I will post again as time goes on.

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  Not what used to be - 2009 Toyota Camry
  By Sliverhorse - April 22 - 6:23 pm

  Not a bad looking car but not as good in other ways as was my 2002. Am wishing I had not purchased. Looks are good but after having it not happy with way it runs, or rides though it is comfortable. Not much attention to build quality.

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  Get one while you can....! - 2006 Toyota Tundra
  By kmagman - April 22 - 7:06 am

  Just bought the 2006 Tundra because the 2007 model will be HUGE and probably less economical. I bought this vehicle to take the place of a Lexus RX 300 and a Mazda B4000 pickup. It handles BETTER than the RX 300 and is just as comfortable with all the same comfort features and build quality.

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  corolla - 1995 Toyota Corolla
  By johnparcel - April 22 - 5:38 am

  I use have this car it performance was poor and car didnt had road grip at all this car only good of rough use driving on high way at high speed is a big no for this car the car had very poor break build quality was excellent

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  My Highlander - 2005 Toyota Highlander
  By G - April 22 - 3:16 am

  Ive only had my Highlander 10 weeks, but have already come to the conclusion that it will not be very comfortable on a long trip. The seats are hard. If I raise the seat at all, it makes it even harder. It then feels like Im sitting on a hard ball. Also on a recent pleasant day my grandaughter in the back seat, lowered the window and the noise produced by the air flow (or lack thereof) was terrible. It made a sound like a loud lawnmower.

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  Satisfied customer - 2009 Toyota Corolla
  By Manatee Co. Fl. - April 22 - 2:23 am

  I use this car for back and forth to work and get 34-36 mpg year round and 40 on the highway. It is roomy for its size and with the backseat down I can carry all sorts of things.