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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  Converter/trans Shudder 4cyl 2014 1/2 Camry SE - 2014 Toyota Camry
  By festus3 - June 24 - 11:34 pm

  after owning well over a dozen Toyotas, I decide to purchase a new 14 1/2 Camry. I drove it less than 400 miles and it was shuddering (vibrating) so bad the windshield was moving. Wrecker had to tow it. Ask for refund, was offered another Camry identical to the 1st one and I took it. I drove 2nd 64 miles and the same thing happened again, although not as severe. Dealer replaced converter and ? to transmission. Go for arbitration and/or Lemon Law is the Toyota Presidents position. Please Ukier or any other person who has had experience with this, post comments and suggestions from your exp.to help me through this ordeal.. I am a very sr. citizen and this is really a problem for me.

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  SCARY - 2004 Toyota Camry Solara
  By sweilz1 - June 22 - 10:00 am

  View info on gov website for NSTHA. I have not enter info, but many others have..all same complaint. Dangerous to drive. Pulls to the left, and slides to the right (as thou on ice). Very SCARY. My car is being Lemon Lawed.

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  Sludged engine - 2002 Toyota Camry
  By no more toyotas - June 18 - 5:13 am

  After only 40,000 miles, engine went thru three quarts of oil in 1,200 miles. Took to dealership. sludged engine. needed new engine at $6,000. Although still under warranty, dealership would not honor warranty. called corporate Toyota. Said they were very aware of problem - "well documented." They even have an Oil Sludge Team. Never recd call back. Called dealer again and denied the warranty. Before you buy a Toyota go to any search engine on Internet and type in Toyota sludge.

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  Wish I would have kept my caravan - 2009 Toyota Sienna
  By minivan mom - June 16 - 6:16 pm

  I traded my 2005 Grand Caravan in on the 2009 Toyota sienna because everyone told me they have the best quality (WRONG). Its been in the shop more than I have owned it with motor and trans issues and the elusive noise they cant seem to find. Give me back my grand caravan.

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  Dont leave home without your garmin gps - 2014 Toyota Avalon
  By Glenn - June 12 - 11:07 am

  First - I traded in a 2011 Avalon Limited and would give anything to have it back. I assumed I was buying the same same. WRONG Cramped drivers seat. Low profile tires give you a terrible ride. Road noise is bad. GPS is a joke and I was to get it updated will cost you around $300.00. Thinking of going back to a Buick as soon as I can.

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  Interesting looking; lacks power, small interior - 2018 Toyota C-HR
  By Marc - June 4 - 6:27 pm

  We liked the exterior looks of this car, but lack of power and small interior made this is no-go for us. The front passenger seating required that knees practically be touching the dashboard. I floored it at a green light, and no one could tell - it just gently accelerated up to speed - I would hate to think about trying to pass someone on the freeway or going up a steep hill. Blind spots due to large pillars to the left and right of rear window, but Toyota Safety Sense standard is nice, though this car has the pared-down version for smaller vehicles, not the full-featured version like the RAV4, Camry, etc. We wound up purchasing a RAV4 instead - more power, more room, more features, etc. But dont expect to use Toyotas telenav through your smartphone - its worse than using a printed out map - my 2002 Lexus GPS ran circles around it. Come on Toyota, admit your mistake, dump telenav, and go with Android Auto and Apple Car Play like everyone else has figured out, or do you want to lose hundreds of thousands of car sales?

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  Many Design Flaws & Shabby Overall - 2017 Toyota Camry
  By Neward Thelman - June 4 - 2:16 am

  This is a review of the 2016 Toyota Camry SE, but since the 2017 models are carried over unchanged, all comments should apply to 2017 models. As of this writing, Toyotas been running ads which say that Toyota has built the Camry with close attention to detail. "Tested, trusted, Toyota", the ad says. As an owner of a 2016 Camry I can attest that the detail to which theyve devoted their corporate and engineering attention is toward producing a car as cheaply as possible, maximizing profit, and little else. Starting with the engine, Toyota uses what its salespeople refer to as "chain drive", which means that Corollas and Camrys use a a timing chain rather than a belt [which can break, causing catastrophic damage to the engine]. Thats good. Its more reliable. Unfortunately, it also makes the engine noisy. Diesel engine noisy. Of course, the manufacturer can reduce that noise to inaudibility, but that costs extra money. I found that the Corolla engine noise was really loud inside the cabin. The Camry was less noisy, but theres more to the story. I tested four different Camrys. Three of them were tolerably quiet. The one that I ordered from the factory has turned out to be loud. Clattering, dieseling loud. Even worse, in cold weather, it takes a long time for the car to warm up. The colder the temperature, the longer it takes for warm up. How long? Five to ten minutes. Yep. Thats sitting, burning gas, not moving for ten minutes - like some 1952 Rambler. Of course, I took the car to Toyota service. They explained that the long warm up is due to the use of a timing chain. They said it takes that long for the oil to warm up enough to allow the cam shaft and the timing chain to reach operating temperature. And, yes, the noise levels were "normal". In fact, they found it all to be "withing normal operating standards and parameters". The lessons here are that [1] there seems to be considerable Camry car-to-car variability, and [2] whether a manufacturer gives you a one month or a ten lifetime warranty, they can get out of fixing a problem by simply claiming that an issues "within normal operating standards...". Heading into the cabin, youll find that the seats are cheap, hard, and uncomfortable. Dont plan on any long trips. I have cloth seats. The cloth is really slippery polyester. As a result, if you use seat covers, theyll slip and slide to the extent that theyll make driving unsafe. Even worse, Toyota seems to have the largest and widest head rests in the industry. Ive compared. Toyotas head rests seem to be made for Godzilla. They far wider than those used by Honda, Mazda, Hyundai - pretty much everyone. Forget about being able to see anything over your left shoulder. You cant. But, at least when you crash - which, sooner or later, you will - that massive head rest will give you 10% more whiplash protection than a 1976 Bonneville would. If you live a tropical climate, then you may skip this next section; otherwise, youd better have a high tolerance for cold. The heater takes a long time to warm up. Even after driving for 30 minutes on cold days the heat still hadnt come up to comfort. I found that it took almost an hour to get adequately warm. Still, the heating duct directed at your feet delivers a weak, tepid air stream, so your feet will remain cold, regardless of the cabin temp. After making cars all of these decades, Toyota still hasnt figured out heat. The stock radio and sound system are execrable. And I mean that. Not just bad. Really, really bad. Almost unlistenable. If you buy a Camry, pop for an audio system upgrade. The ignition switch on the steering column is poorly machined and of low quality. It was like that in all four Camry models I tired. Youll be poking the key clumsily every single time you want to start your car. The leather covering the steering wheel is thin and of low quality, but the same as I found in all of the competition. The Camrys electronic power steering has as much unit-to-unit variation as its timing chain characteristics. Three of the Camrys I test drove had reasonably weighted steering. Far worse, far less secure and solid than regular, old hydraulic power steering, but better than most [such as the scary unstable new Chevy Cruze]. Of course, the one I got is crazy slippery. Driving it always feels as though youre hydroplaning on a sheet of sheer ice. So, with all of these factors, plus which ever new negative characteristics are lurking, waiting to appear and make my ownership of this lump of sheet metal even more miserable, Id say that I fully regret ever buying a Camry. If youre thinking of getting one, make sure you really look it over before you part with your hard-earned money. If you do decide to get one, you may be better off with one from the dealers stock, since you can test it out before hand. It seems you never know what youll get ordering from the factory

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  2012 Camry LE - 2012 Toyota Camry
  By nicolasg - June 3 - 11:43 pm

  I bought a new Camry 2011 XLE 4 cyl in April 2011. Its a nice vehicle, not the best vehicle, but seems solidly built. On 2 separate occasions ive had (2) different new Camry 2012 LEs that I had by the dealer to drive. The whole interior feels extremely cheap much more so than the 2011, the center of the dash is just cheap plastic, also the steering wheel has a lot of cheap plastic as well. Its very difficult to see the gauges as the information seems to be in hard to see small letters. Braking is good, and the mpg was only 27 ok pick up as well. But what was Edmunds thinking when they said the interior was a higher quality than previous models. Very cheap and inferior feeling to it.

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  Toyota Quality a REAL problem! - 2004 Toyota Sienna
  By tomc - May 30 - 2:46 am

  Of course all cars have various problems but the run flat tires on this AWD minivan is beyond horrible. Since purchasing new 6 years ago and with only 55k miles, I have replaced all my tires FOUR times at 200+ each not to mention the additional fees involved in disposing and balancing (thats a staggering $3,600+) Toyota service tech would just say,"yeah, theyre not that good". Then the other night I simply go to roll down my driver side window for some fresh air,the window collapses for no reason into the door. I bring the car to Toyota, $600+ because of a defective cable.Technical says "these things happen, sorry". Not SORRY enough to stand behind your product!

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  hate my new rav4 - 2011 Toyota RAV4
  By josette1313 - May 26 - 2:38 pm

  being my first new car I should think Id love it, or at least like it, but I hate this thing. It is too cramped feeling inside, the cup holders are ridiculously worthless and out of reach, its such a stripped down model I cant believe I paid what I did for this. I have always driven luxury-level cars which seem to be a thing of the past, but this is bottom of the barrell in my view and I cant wait until I can get rid of it. this will not be good when I go on cross-country trips and wont be able to have a cup of ice water or tea close at hand