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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  Rough Ride - 2009 Toyota RAV4
  By kim - November 22 - 5:23 am

  I hate this vehicle. The ride is so rough and the road noise is very loud. Toyota should be ashamed of this. I regret not buying a Chevy equinox. I will never buy Toyota again.

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  Worse than my mother in law - 1992 Toyota Camry
  By Ramses the Great - October 5 - 3:48 pm

  smells horrible-worse than tuna and garlic breath. I hate this car, unreliable and doesnt work. the only working thing is the A/C but the knobs fell off. It keeps dying and it took me three green lights to get through an intersection. Not the best way to attract the ladies acts as women repellent. Should be driven off a cliff and lit on fire and thrown up on. If you own one give it away as a gift or use for target practice.

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  Toyota Avalon xls - 2004 Toyota Avalon
  By Robert Steele - September 22 - 10:00 am

  Second Avalon I have owned. First one in 1996 was quality. The 2004 model, is very poor quality. They are making the car cheaply, and poorly. The car is smoking like crazy with only 4,000 miles. With 4 trips to the dealership, they say they cant find any problem. I call smoke on a new $32,000.00 dollar car a problem. Lots of road noise, the front seat does not support your legs. The instruments reflect in the windshield. The radio is full of static, after spending 5 trips to the dealership, they say there is nothing they can do. On a $32,000.00 dollar car, give me a break. Buyer BEWARE

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  Unreliable & Expensive to Fix - 1998 Toyota Camry
  By roadway1 - September 4 - 7:23 pm

  Everything brakes on a regular basis. Expensive to fix. Started falling apart at 115,000 miles. Avoid Toyota Camry. Too many problems to list. Easier to say almost nothing functions properly. I can say the floor mats are still working correctly, but that is about it.

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  Lemon Engine - 2002 Toyota Camry
  By Mike - September 1 - 12:25 pm

  Got my 02 camry 2.4L on Aug 2013 from a bay area dealer, it did have 36K miles on it. I barely used it, it was my backup/weekend car and for 2 yrs I have the car, Ive only put in 18K on it. I had the water pump replaced on Feb 2015 by a Toyota tech that does outside job and I did replace the serpentine belt on Dec 2014. Decide to use this car to work one day and noticed my temperature gauge start hitting hot, park my car to safe area and check my coolant reservoir, it was empty. I remember checking it 2 days ago, it was full. As I remove my radiator cap, there was no coolant in the radiator, put water in it since I did not have any coolant with me and decide to take it to one of the mechanic I go to, it was close by to the area where I was at. I did check my oil and it was still fine, did not see any water oil mixture. As Ive mention the issue to the mechanic, he already knew the problem with this models. Strip head bolt and coolant is going through it or either leak back, recommended engine replacement. Took my car home and used my daily driver car, 92 camry with 279K (original engine). Same day, Ive contact the Toyota tech mechanic, he had mentioned to me that this has been an issue with this cars but usually its about 130K. I was aware of this issue a yr after I bought the car, google engine performance, I was hoping it would last me up to 130K. I would stay away from 2.4L Toyota engine from 2002-2010, bad engine engineering, either a strip head bold or piston ring issues, coming from the Toyota tech mechanic. I will have to replace my motor since I dont want another car payment, hoping it will last me at least 4-5 yrs just to get my money back. It will cost me about 4K with the Toyota tech doing the work.

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  Toyotas New Policy: Clunker for Cash - 2010 Toyota Sienna
  By Toyota Victim - August 11 - 12:26 pm

  I bought a brand new Sienna. My wife drove the car with my mother in the passenger seat when we left the dealership. After half an hour, when my wife turned the heater on, the engine started making loud thumping sounds. My mother noticed a glow in the hood. A considerable amount of thick dark smoke started rising from the hood. My wife stopped the car immediately and turned the engine off. Thinking that the engine was about to explode, they leaped out of the car and ran away to a safe distance. The car kept emitting smoke for 30 minutes. Toyota could not diagnose the reason for the problem. Still, it insists that I take this dangerous car back.

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  Smoking - 2003 Toyota Camry Solara
  By John Adcock - August 1 - 2:00 am

  This car is totally impressive. Toyota just keeps them comming. The 4 cylendar with the 5 speed has all the power the you need and the comfort is unmatched. Quiet, tight, quick and very sleek. A real eye catcher too.

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  Overrated - 2016 Toyota Tacoma
  By gary smith - July 18 - 10:29 pm

  I have been driving a 2011 Taco, V6 4.0L engine since 2011. I really wanted the new safety features in the new redesigned 16 Taco. I was very impressed with the new interior, sound system and safety features, e.g. side blindspot mirrors, big backup camera, sonar alert when backing out... But, and its a big but, the hype on the new engine being smaller, with better gas mileage and more powerful is just NOT so. I live in northern AZ in hilly country. I took this new vehicle on an extensive drive around the ups and down of the local terrain; the power of the engine is not good and the transmission was constantly shifting. I constantly had to override the transmission manually. This to me was unbelieveable that any small test drive by Toyota engineers would have seen and felt this problem. Even my wife who was with me commented on how much the tranny was shifting and the lack of power. The previous 4.0L was just adequate for this size truck; putting a smaller engine with less power and a poor performing tranny was just dumb! I dodged a major bullet by listening to my inner voice and rejecting this poor performing Taco before trading in my excellent (I didnt know how good it is) 2011 Taco. Dont buy this vehicle until Toyota fixes these problems. By-the-way this vehicle out the door was around $43K - that my friend is a lot of risk.

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  Dont buy into the hype - 2016 Toyota Camry
  By John Mason - June 30 - 12:30 pm

  We have a 2016 Camry with perpetual brake problems and has been into Toyota dealers (2) numerous times. We are so frustrated by the issue we tried to take back to the dealer we purchased from and see if they would allow us to trade to another Camry with similar features. They would not accommodate. This was our first Toyota, and will be our last.

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  Vibration Nation - 2016 Toyota Tacoma
  By Denmont - June 16 - 3:18 pm

  The engine is weak compared to the 2nd Generation Tacoma. The transmission shifts erratically, even after the electronic transmission "learns" your driving behaviors. Im averaging 17 MPG gas mileage, despite the 18-20 MPG advertisement. Worst, the 2016 is plagued by several vibration problems. First, a driveline vibration/shudder on acceleration. This was a vexing problem with the the Tacoma since 2005. And Toyotas Chief Engineer Mike Sweers claims they completely eliminated this problem in the 2016. Nope. Its still there. Now add to the 2016 a strong buzzing vibration that transmits through the steering wheel and gas pedal on acceleration. This wasnt there on previous Tacomas Ive owned before 2016. The buzzing traverses through your skin and clothes (not hyperbole). Its annoying on street driving; but its downright ridiculous and dangerous on highway driving, when youre exposed to it for long periods. Toyotas response to all of this has officially been "these are normal and characteristic; were sorry you dont like it." So, they intentionally designed vibrations into the truck. Dont be fooled by the "its a truck" excuse. Ive owned many trucks, including Tacomas, and a normal truck doesnt do this. Period. Overall, very disappointing.