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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  Not a Lexus - 2007 Toyota Camry
  By Robert Poole - September 5 - 4:20 pm

  The worst thing about this car was the push button start. Never own one again, after 1 year the battery in the remote went , the cars computer said it didnt recognize it so wouldnt start, had to use the spare, it took three days to replace the battery, not good. Also when the temperature went below -15c the burglar alarm would go off, so would have to turn it off every half hour. Traded it in on a 09 Venza, key start, a much better car.

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  Toyota review - 2016 Toyota Tundra
  By Travis - September 5 - 4:20 am

  The trucks are getting less features and higher priced I will probably go back to Chevy they give you more for your money

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  Serious design problems disappoint - 2004 Toyota Sienna
  By Jim Canfield - August 30 - 2:56 pm

  There are two serious design flaws that have proven very disappointing in what is otherwise a nice vehicle. 1. The A/C condenser is mounted right behind the front grill. It is exposed to rocks and other road hazzars. When a small rock passed through the grill openings and created a hole in the condenser, my repair cost was $790 not covered by warranty because the dealer considered it road hazzard damage not covered. 2. The accelerator extremely annoying on this van. It is sluggish through the first 1/2 of the travel range of the pedal. Then for a small portion of the pedal range, it is very jerky and extreme with weird transmission behaivor. The dealer declares it "normal".

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  The Shudder Monster - 2014 Toyota Camry
  By Rocco - August 29 - 9:28 am

  Look it up. Most of these cars are defective with a torque converter shudder under light throttle, heck...Ive been through TWO torque converters and now a new transmission. Still shudders. I wish this was 90s Toyota when their cars were actually good. Nope, this is cost cutting Toyota. Transmission doesnt even have a dipstick. Trading! Two words.....Call Honda

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  Noisy Crossover - 2009 Toyota Venza
  By Nancy M Covil - August 29 - 3:23 am

  Love vehicle overall. Toyota did poor job with noise reduction. Ours has been in shop 7 times for excessive wind noise. Toyota cant seem to fix problem.

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  Aggravated - 2007 Toyota Tundra
  By John in Houston - August 27 - 2:56 am

  I was a big believer in Toyota quality until my Tundra experience. Auto door locks and remote wont function on the front doors and they tell me it will be $1,250 to fix. Since the key only works on the driver door, this is a big hassle. Why design locks so they are too expensive to fix? The lights on the radio panel havent worked for most of the time since Ive had the truck, so the button lights and channel indicator cant be read while night driving. Transmission replaced once, but then often jerked when putting the car in drive. Dealer tells me they just have this problem and he cant fix it. This is not the reliability and quality I thought I was spending my money on.

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  Not Satisfied - 1997 Toyota Avalon
  By tagll - August 26 - 2:00 am

  1996 & 1997 only us aftermarket wheels that cannot be balanced correctly even by Toyota . The Toyota dealer where I purchased the car new told me the wheels were discontinued because of complaints. I agree! I will not return to Toyota for my next vehicle because they did not take care of this problem on my present one.

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  Plastic Everywhere! - 2011 Toyota Sienna
  By Derek - August 24 - 7:16 pm

  Drove the Sienna, very smooth ride overall. Exterior design is nice and looks good. The interior plastics are horrendous. Very poor quality looking and very cheap to the touch. Surprised that Toyota would do this to this vehicle. Not a fan of the fact that the upscale LE model is missing so many important features and that Toyota forces people to upgrade even higher to the XLE or limited model to gain many common features.

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  Dont buy on brand alone. - 2006 Toyota Tacoma
  By Mike Noble - August 20 - 11:00 am

  After 28,000 miles with my 2006 Tacoma 2WD, manual trans, the overall experience has been less than I expected. The power of the 2.7L four is marginal even in a vehicle this light. 158 horses out of 2.7L is pretty pitiful today considering it has variable valve timing. The 5-speed trans is poorly geared, and not matched to the engines power curve. The 3:31 rear gears makes 5th gear unusable. Overall, I wouldnt buy it again. It will probably go 200,000 miles, but Ill never make it! Dont consider buying it because its a Toyota!

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  So far very pleased - 2010 Toyota Prius
  By sporin71 - August 18 - 3:35 pm

  We got our Blue Prius III almost a month ago and are very pleased so far. Living in Vermont, we had the car delivered with snow tires on it and between those, and the ever-cold tems, we are averaging just 40mpg so far. But that is to be expected under the conditions. I expect around 50 when temps go up and the LLR tires go back on. With the snow tires, the car has been very good on the snow covered roads and I highly suggest that anyone dealing with regular snow falls run dedicated snow tires on this car. Im a big guy, 6 tall and 300+ and this car fits very well. Only negative so far is a plethora of squeaks and groans from the hard plastic dash... worse in cold weather.