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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  Do not buy it - 2007 Toyota Camry
  By alex - January 11 - 11:13 pm

  I replaced my 2003 Camry with this one and I am deeply dissapointed. First of all the engine is too weak for the mass of the new car. Second the internal comfort id awful. The previous soft seats were replaced with hard cheap ones which are very very uncomfortable and give me back pain. Third the visibility is much worse than on 2003 model. Indeed the engine is slightly quiter, but overal impression is the same as on old model. Inside there is a lot of CHEAP plastic and designer who made the design is obviously does not hold diploma and is amateur. In sum - bad car for the money. I have been Toyota owner for more than 20 years but latest Camry put a break of my loyality to the company.

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  $300 repair - 2005 Toyota Sequoia
  By eric135 - January 8 - 10:21 pm

  Purchased 2005 Sequoia and at 97K check engine light and VSC light dealer quoted $3000 to repair internal engine switches. WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER TOYOTA.

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  Worst decision - 2004 Toyota 4Runner
  By jcritchfield - December 31 - 6:50 am

  This purchase was the poorest vehicle purchase Ive ever made. I brought this truck 6 months ago and I put more 3000 in repairs...Everything from sticking calibers to electically issues. The truck rattles more than a semi truck, would be a quiet ride if there were not raddles everywhere in the truck. I paid extremely amount of money for this compared to SUVs of the same nature, huge waste of money. Im honestly considering trading this horribly designed truck back in.

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  6500 mile 7 month old corolla made me stranded on the HWY - 2012 Toyota Corolla
  By texaslover - December 28 - 10:02 pm

  I cant believe this. I have been royal toyota customer, I always trusted toyotas reliability until now. I have 1999 toyota sienna and I had 94 corolla and those cars have been wonderful even though they are old and high mileage on them. So I purchased another corolla. Yesterday, I went to another city (about 80 miles away from my home town) and this 7 month old 6500 miles corolla just quit on the express way. Check engine and trac off light on and no response from gas pedal. I was almost killed by other car. I had to tow 80 miles. And this morning toyota care towing car came and made big mess on my interior with lots of dirty oil mark all over the door. Big disappointment!

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  👎 - 2016 Toyota Tacoma
  By Sal mannino - December 15 - 5:51 am

  No power ,trasmission sucks , ail keep my 06 Tacoma 4.0

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  Sudden exceleration---not the good kind - 2008 Toyota Sienna
  By Guy Whalon - December 9 - 4:43 am

  We have owned this Sienna for a year and we were pretty happy with it. UNTIL, my wife and kids experienced a sudden acceleration moment when the car launched itself through a Subway sandwich shop. The police report listed the cause of the accident as "undetermined/sudden acceleration". The body shop would not replace the air bags or seat belts because of Toyotas past history with these problems. The car was sent to a local Toy dealership, whereas they turned the car away until Corp could made a decision. I contacted Toy Satisfaction Team they did an eval on the car, after 30 days they still wont tell me if the car is safe to drive. This will be the last Toyota we will ever buy.

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  2016 TRD OR DCLB- Not worth the hype - 2016 Toyota Tacoma
  By Tacoma Tom - December 8 - 5:29 pm

  I owned a 2016 DCLB TRD-OR for 6 months and 14,000 miles. I tried really hard to like this truck, but the engine and transmission combination in this vehicle is absolutely horrible. It cant make up its mind what gear it wants to be in, constantly upshifting and downshifting. The slightest incline on the highway and your greeting with a downshift into 4th gear. I had to search for and find the TSB supposedly to fix this (called the Shift Feeling Enhancement, and force the dealer to apply it. It only marginally helped. The straw that broke the camels back was the horrible highway gas mileage- western states have posted 80mph and I was lucky to get 16 mpg highway. Even in flat as a pancake IOWA we averaged 14 mpg over a stretch of 100 miles. The dealer told me to wait until after 10,000 miles to let the engine really break in and my mpg should get better. It didnt. We just traded the Tacoma for a double cab Silverado 1500 LTZ with the big 6.2L v8 and 8spd tranny. On my first tank of gas I am averaging 19mpg- 3 mpg better than my Tacoma ever did. There are much better trucks out there- the Tacoma is sorely disappointing.

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  Will never buy a Toyota again - 2009 Toyota Corolla
  By RG - December 8 - 2:46 am

  I have owned several Toyotas in the past and have never had as many problems as I did with this so called "well built and reliable car". I had problems with this car from day one. Electric power steering was replaced. Belt Tensioner problems, strange noise from Transmission. So many squeaks and rattles in the car, you would think it was built with Legos. I was just waiting for this car to fall apart and leave me sitting on the pavement. I can see why the NUMMI plant is closing. What happened to Toyota quality. I am glad I dumped this car for a 2010 Nissan Sentra 2.0S.

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  5 years behind the curve - 2016 Toyota Sequoia
  By Gary - December 6 - 2:50 pm

  First of all there is no engine choice. Ford Eco Boost and BMW x5 turbo charged engines get twice the gas milage. I get 10-12 MPG and drive from gas station to gas station. Toyota lags behind in safety technology compared to other models of the same year. Many Toyotas dont come with Blind Spot monitor, collision avoidance, GPS systems that you can see. I had to get the Platinum Series to get all the safety features and AC seats but lost a second row seats. There is no option for a second row bench. The Platinum is now a 7 passenger vehicle, not 8 as advertised. The lease program for toyotas are way too expensive. The same class of vehicle in Lexus or Mercedes is $400 a month cheaper. The Navigation system is the worst of any, repeat any car out there. Its located 6 inches to the right of center closer to the passenger than the driver. Its not inset so the Florida sun glare makes it impossible to read. When you can read it the print is too small and leaning over to the right to use the touch pad or see the back up camera is unsafe. I repeat, its unsafe to use. The voice controls are useless as it takes 3-5 tries to get it to understand. I gave up and put my garmin between the steering where I can see it. I cant wait to get rid of this car.

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  I hate this car - 2011 Toyota Prius
  By mak73 - December 6 - 2:24 pm

  We just recently bought a Prius and it is awful. I hate it!!! The reason we bought the car was for the good gas milage which is not 51mpg, it is closer to 44-45mpg. The car is boring is it miserable to drive. the design is terrible, it is a eyesore to look at and everything feels cheaply made. The back window is the worst design, the cross bar is directly in my line of vision so I cant see out the back window. Also because it so boring to drive ill turn on the radio for entertainment just to find out the radio is terrible quality. One last thing i hate about the prius is that there is no speedometer of rpm gage, it has a little screen that tells you the speed.