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:

• 

  This car will kill oil dependancy! - 2012 Toyota Prius c
  By yochivazooo - August 18 - 4:23 pm

  Saving me $200 a month in gasoline. 53mpg avg. Stereo sounds incredible on Prious C (4) Confortable seats and I am 5.11, rear confortable for 2 full side adults, 5 tight for the center. Only complaint, no rear camera on level 3 & 4. GPS could be better. If you want to save money this car is for you, dont expect power or luxury ride. Ill use my CR-V for long trips. Cant go wrong for commuter.

• 

  Great deals on 06 4x4 SR5 DC - 2006 Toyota Tundra
  By TC - August 18 - 1:46 am

  Got a great deal on a remaining 06 DC 4x4 SR5 which was pretty loaded up. Heres the positives about the truck: great back seat room compard to 07 DC, larger bed than upcoming Crewmax, nice engine and tranny, unparalled resale value, lots of aftermarket items available, very good off road ability, fit and finish is perfect. Negatives: horrible gas mileage so far, outdated dash board and controls, higher than average TSBs and recalls, cloth seats seem cheap, center console rounded, not good for work.

• 

  After First Month - 2009 Toyota Tundra
  By TMC - August 16 - 7:00 pm

  Great Engine and Transmission. Feels Solid and drives great on most roads. Toyota has a real issue with the bed hop problem on concrete roads. Been to dealer twice for this issue. No help from dealer or escalation to Toyota district rep. Seems to be a design problem and Toyota trying to say it is suppose to be that way. No way. I am changing shocks this week, at my expense, to try and address this issue. Hope it helps..

• 

  Great car, but horrid infotainment system - 2016 Toyota Camry
  By Sad about infotainment - August 16 - 5:39 pm

  I like everything about the car except the infotainment system and the auto-temp control. The infotainment system appears to have been designed by different groups that didnt bother to share design ideas. If you you play a CD, you get one interface, play music via bluetooth, you get a very different interface and if you play music via a flash drive in the USB port, you get yet another interface. To make things worse, if your flash drive happens to have 60+gb worth of music, the infotainment system takes forever to index the music and invariably forgets what is knew only seconds before and has to reindex it yet again. With any other music interface, if you are playing an album and select repeat, it will repeat the entire album. If you only have one song selected and select repeat, it will only repeat the song. With the Toyota, selecting repeat will only repeat the song selected. You cant have it repeat all songs that you are currently playing. Also, if you have a number of songs that it is playing randomly, if it happens to randomly play the last song in the list (even if it is only the first or second song out of 100), it will frequently drop out of the large list of yet unplayed songs and start at the top of the root list of artists and play their music. If you have the thermostat set to auto for temp control, it will not let you control if the upper/lower fans are turned on. For instance, it was sunny and hot outside. I set the temp to 72 degrees F when I got into the car. It quickly cranked up the air conditioning and fans (as desired). However, once it had cooled the car off inside, it turned off the top fan and only kept the fan turned on for my feet. So I end up with nice and cool feet, but with the sun on me and the top fan completely off, I was still rather hot. I ended up having to give up on the auto temp control. its ok when it is cold outside, but worthless if it is hot.

• 

  Test Drive - 2005 Toyota Tacoma
  By TooTall? - August 15 - 12:46 pm

  Well, I havent bought one yet, but I drove it yesterday. I loved the 6- speed and the 4.0 V6, but the interior still seems cramped to me and my long legs (Im only 62"). Maybe Im not used to the high floor of a truck, but I dont see why my knees should be hitting both the steering wheel and the weird emergency brake handle sticking out of the dash. The seat doesnt go lower and the wheel was at its highest positon. I sat in a Colorado that didnt have this problem, but Im so nervous about buying a Chevy I might have to settle for the Tacomas tight drivers seat. On the plus side, I dont agree with the editor here who said the shifter was awkward - it, and the clutch, worked great!

• 

  Auto Trans lags badly - 2008 Toyota Camry Solara
  By Torx55 - August 15 - 12:06 pm

  The auto trans is very very slow to downshift, in fact, there is at least a 2-3 second lag when you push the accelerator, to the power getting to the wheels. The motors revs then trans engages. Dealer loaded the new ECM software, but it made little if any difference. Dealer said he did all he could and the trans is considered fixed and normal by Toyota. Sure shocks me if Toyota engineers consider this normal. If you get one, be careful when pulling into traffic or when quick acceleration is necessary. The trans will scare you. I wont keep this Toyota for 150K miles as I did with the car I sold to get this 08. Very disappointing.

• 

  So close to perfect - 2004 Toyota Sienna
  By flyboy707 - August 15 - 2:00 am

  This van is tops! Great looks (especially w/ running boards), good performance, lavish interior. The family goes in style! It is so close to perfect... but... there is a disconcerting hesitation whenever I accelerate from a "near" stop (<5mph) that I *hope* will never be a larger problem. Also the design of the middle right seatbelt (captains seat) feed slot makes for slow or no retraction under normal use - a possible safety concern with a child who does not understand the importance of the seatbelt staying under tension. Otherwise I am very happy with my Sienna... now the dealership...was another story. Gary

• 

  Most impact for the dollar - 2002 Toyota MR2 Spyder
  By Tabpat - August 14 - 10:00 am

  Ever since I bought this car people have been going wild over it. I cant pull out of a gas staion without somebody asking me what it is. It is off the charts in being a fun to drive yet fuel efficient car. Its like a go- cart with a glovebox.

• 

  Great Car. - 2002 Toyota MR2 Spyder
  By justgotone - August 14 - 10:00 am

  I just got one a few days ago. I love it. I drove audi tt, bmw roadster, and then I drove this, and I just liked the feel alot more. There are cars with more power for sure, but I havent driven a car that corners like the mr2...corners like it is on rails.

• 

  One hell of a good truck! - 2002 Toyota Tundra
  By Bob Y - August 14 - 10:00 am

  I love my Tundra,its a great truck.I know I will be happy with it for along time to come.