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"Friendly customer service and quickly found the vehicle we were looking for which was reasonably priced. Overall, a good experience and I would recommend them. -Customer

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The New Toyota Entune System

Toyota Furia Concept to Make Global Debut at 2013 North American International Auto Show

Toyota announced today that the Furia Concept will make its world debut at the 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.  This exciting new sedan concept will be revealed in the Toyota display at Cobo Hall on Jan. 14, 2013 at 2:25 p.m. EST, with a presentation by Bill Fay, group vice president and general manager of the Toyota Division.  The global reveal of the Furia Concept will be broadcast live via Livestream at http://new.livestream.com/toyota.>

Courtesy of Toyota Press Room

Toyota Fun Vii Concept Car

Maintenance Monday! The Truth About Antifreeze

Antifreeze: this is many people’s first thought when it comes to winter car care. "Flush and fill" promotional signs abound at service stations as the weather cools.

But chances are good your engine coolant (a better name for it) is just fine for the winter ahead. If you've followed your car's service schedule regularly, give this pitch a pass. Most newer cars have been fitted with coolants that can last as long as five years or 150,000 miles. Read your owner's manual.

If you’ve missed a service interval or have another reason to doubt your coolant, go ahead and have it "flushed and filled." Just make sure your mechanic uses a compatible coolant to refill your car. Some coolants, such as Prestone's Extended Life, work for any car.

If your car has moved to a much colder climate and you’re concerned that your coolant might not be up to the deep freeze, you can check its effectiveness with a simple, under-$10 tester from the car-parts store.

Courtesy of KipLinger

The Toyotathon Is On, Don't Miss Out!

Check Out These Great Service Specials!

Have you been putting some car maintenance off for too long? With this winter weather taking its toll on your Toyota, now is a great time to come in and get everything checked out. Take a look at our unbeatable service specials by clicking here. We've got it all covered for you so you can sit back and enjoy the holiday traveling hassle-free.

Toyota Prius, World's Best-Selling Hybrid!

The global electric vehicle market has been forecast to exceed 4.6 million units by 2018, driven by growing environmental concerns, and the quest for alternative powertrains. An electric vehicle, also referred to as an electric drive vehicle, uses one or more electric motors or traction motors for propulsion. Three main types of electric vehicles exist, those that are directly powered from an external power station, those that are powered by stored electricity originally from an external power source, and those that are powered by an on-board electrical generator, such as an internal combustion engine (a hybrid electric vehicle) or a hydrogen fuel cell. Electric vehicles include electric cars, electric trains, electric lorries, electric aeroplanes, electric boats, electric motorcycles and scooters and electric spacecraft. Proposals exist for electric tanks, diesel submarines operating on battery power are, for the duration of the battery run, electric submarines, and some of the lighter UAVs are electrically-powered.Electric vehicles first came into existence in the mid-19th century, when electricity was among the preferred methods for motor vehicle propulsion, providing a level of comfort and ease of operation that could not be achieved by the gasoline cars of the time.The internal combustion engine (ICE) is the dominant propulsion method for motor vehicles but electric power has remained commonplace in other vehicle types, such as trains and smaller vehicles of all types.2012 was supposed to be the year of the plug-in car but, as the year draws to a close, it looks like the electric vehicle market still isn´t quite fully charged.By the end of 2012, most major automakers will have a plug-in car of some type on the market, but plug-in cars still make up just one tenth of one percent of all cars sold in America. So have automakers gotten ahead of themselves and produced too many?Promoters of electric vehicles say no. They acknowledge that while there are many types of electric cars out there, they´re not available in enough places or in large enough numbers.The Toyota Prius, the first mass-produced hybrid gasoline-electric car, was introduced worldwide in 2001. As of February 2012, a total of 2.5 million Prius cars have been sold worldwide and it is the world´s best selling hybrid.As of July 2012, series production all-electric cars available in some countries include the Tesla Roadster, REVAi, Buddy, Mitsubishi i MiEV, Tazzari Zero, Nissan Leaf, Smart ED, Wheego Whip LiFe, Mia electric, BYD e6, Bolloré Bluecar, Renault Fluence Z.E., Ford Focus Electric, BMW ActiveE, Coda, and Tesla Model S. The Leaf, with more than 32,000 units sold worldwide by early July 2012, is the world´s top-selling highway-capable all-electric car.Production within the electric vehicle market is gearing up all over the world, and automakers are planning to launch an increasing variety of new models over the next few years.

Courtesy of Pr-inside

The 2012 Toyotathon is On! You Won't Be Able to Resist!

2013 Toyota Tacoma Specials

Come on down to North Hills Toyota today and test drive the 2013 Toyota Tacoms. We've got some great offers going on right now such as leasin the 2013 Tacoma for: $209/month for 36 months! For more details click here.

Driver Distraction Study; Be the Driver You Want Your Kids to Be

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (TMS), today announced preliminary findings from a major, national study of teen drivers (ages 16 to 18) and parents of teen drivers conducted jointly with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI).  The Study shows a significant correlation between parent and teen behaviors behind the wheel, suggesting parents can play an influential role in modeling risky behavior on the road.  The UMTRI/Toyota Teen Driver Distraction Study, the largest scientific survey of its kind, also found that texting while driving remains commonplace among teens, despite ongoing, nationwide efforts to educate drivers on the significant risks associated with these behaviors.   

              The UMTRI/Toyota Study is based on national telephone surveys of more than 5,500 young drivers and parents.  The survey includes interviews with 400 pairs of teens and parents from the same household (dyads).  This is a unique factor that allows researchers to analyze closely how driving behaviors among parents and teens within the same family unit relate to each other.  In addition to a national sample, the study includes local surveys in Chicago; Philadelphia, Pa.; Houston, Texas; Long Island, N.Y.; Los Angeles and Washington, DC.     

Commenting on the connection noted in the study between parent and teen driving behavior, Dr. Tina Sayer, CSRC Principal Engineer and teen safe driving expert, said:  “Driver education begins the day a child’s car seat is turned around to face front.  As the Study shows, the actions parents take and, by extension, the expectations they set for young drivers each day are powerful factors in encouraging safe behavior behind the wheel.  Seat belts and good defensive driving skills are critical.  However, the one piece of advice I would give to parents to help them keep newly licensed drivers safe on the road it is to always be the driver you want your teen to be.”

Nationally, motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death for U.S. teens and, in 2010, seven teens between the ages 16 and 19 died every day on average from motor vehicle injuries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[1] 

The Study, sponsored by Toyota’s Collaborative Safety Research Center (CSRC), was designed to shed new light on frequently discussed driving risks and to identify effective recommendations to help keep teens safe and help parents serve as more effective driving role models.  The Study also looked at a range of risk factors that receive less public attention but pose great risks on the road as well as the role parents and peers play in encouraging distracted driving behaviors.

Today’s announcement represents only a portion of the study’s preliminary findings.  UMTRI and Toyota’s CSRC continue to analyze, compare, and contrast the data and will publish additional findings incrementally over the next few months.  

Key Findings from the UMTRI/Toyota Teen Driver Distraction Study
The sample of teens and parents from the same households (the dyad sample) showed a strong correlation between driving behaviors and attitudes within families.  In general, parents who engage in distracting behaviors more frequently have teens who engage in distracting behaviors more frequently.  Other findings from the dyad sample include:

• What Teens Think Their Parents Do Behind the Wheel Matters More Than What Parents Say They Do:   What teens think  their parents do while driving has a greater impact on the teens’ behavior than what parents actually report they do.
  • If a teen thinks that his or her parent looks for something in the vehicle while driving, the teen is four times (4.1) more likely to also look for something while driving (as compared to if the teen does not think their parent does this at all).
    • If a teen’s parent reports looking for something in the vehicle while driving, the teen is two times (2.2) more likely to do the same (as compared to if the parent does not report this behavior at all).
  • If a teen thinks that his or her parent eats or drinks while driving, the teen is three times (3.4) more likely to likely to do the same (as compared to if the teen does not think their parent does this at all).
    • If a teen’s parent reports eating or drinking while driving, the teen is two times (2.2) more likely to do the same (as compared to if the parent does not report this behavior at all).
  • If a teen thinks that his or her parent deals with passenger issues while driving (interacts with passengers regarding requests, concerns and conflicts), the teen is five times (4.7) more likely to do so themselves (as compared to if the teen does not think their parent does this at all).
    • If a teen’s parent reports dealing with passenger issues while driving, the teen is two times (1.7) more likely to do the same (as compared to if the parent does not report this behavior at all).

• Teens Think Their Parents Engage in Driving Distractions More Often Than May Be the Case:  A third of teens (32 percent) believe that their parents use an electronic device for music while driving, while only one in ten parents (10 percent) report that they do so. Seventy-one percent of teens believe that their parents read or write down directions while driving, while 55 percent of parents say they do so. Eighty-five percent of teens believe that their parents deal with passenger issues while 70 percent of parents say they do so.

•  Parents May Underestimate How Much Their Teens Text While Driving:  Teens read or send text messages once a trip 26 times more often than their parents think they do.  More than a quarter of teens (26 percent) read or send a text message at least once every time they drive versus the one percent of their parents who said their teen does this.

Key findings from the larger, national sample of more than 5,500 respondents include:

• Cell Phone Use by Teen Drivers Is Similar to Parents:  More than half of teens (54 percent) report that they use a hand-held cell phone while driving, similar to the six in ten parents (61 percent) who report that they do so.

• Texting While Driving Remains Pervasive:  A quarter of teens (24 percent) respond to a text message once or more every time they drive. Nearly one in three teens (30 percent) read a text or email once or more every time they drive.  Almost one in ten parents (nine percent) respond to a text once or more every time they drive, while 13 percent of them read a text or email once or more while driving.   Perhaps even more alarming, one in five teens (20 percent) and one in ten parents (10 percent) admit that they have extended, multi-message text conversations while driving.

• Digital and Social Media Are Significant Driving Distractions for Teens:  Teens search for music on a portable music player, such as an iPod, four-and-a-half times more frequently than parents do while driving.  More than half of teens (53 percent) say they do so, while just 12 percent of parents do.  More than one in ten teens, or 11 percent, say that they update or check social media, such as Facebook or Twitter, while driving.

• Teens Regularly Drive with Young Passengers Despite Serious Risks:  Nearly three-quarters of teens (69 percent) say they drive with two or three teen passengers and no adults in their car, which, according to a study by the AAA Foundation, is associated with a doubling of the driver’s risk of being killed in a crash.[2] Almost half of teens (44 percent) do so with more than three teen passengers and no adults, which is associated with a quadrupling of a driver’s risk of being killed.[3]  Additionally, half of teens (50 percent) say that they deal with passengers while driving.  Nearly one in three teens (30 percent) say they do this at least once a trip or more.

Driver Education Begins When the Car Seat Starts Facing Forward

“Children look to their parents for a model of what is acceptable.  Parents should know that every time they get behind the wheel with their child in the car they are providing a visible example that their child is likely to follow,” said Dr. Ray Bingham, Research Professor at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute and Head of the Young Driver Behavior and Injury Prevention Group.  “By examining the willingness of U.S. parents and teens to engage in high-risk driving behaviors, this study will inform programs that help reduce distracted driving and the non-fatal injuries and death that it causes.”

Toyota complements this research with extensive safety education programs for young drivers and their parents as well as direct outreach to consumers, including:

• Toyota Driving Expectations (www.toyotadrivingexpectations.com), which provides hands-on, real world defensive driving courses that go far beyond what is taught in standard driver education courses;
• Toyota Teen Driver (www.toyotateendriver.com), a partnership with Discovery Education, which offers free online teen safety resources to parents, teens, educators and schools and has annual contests, including the Toyota Teen Driver Video Challenge and Educator Challenge, which reward scholarships and prizes, and are designed to inspire teens to make safer decisions behind the wheel; and
• Additional teen safe driving partnerships with DoSomething.org and the National Safety Council.

Sitting down with teens to draft a Safe Driving Contract can help jumpstart this dialogue.  This contract is a mutual agreement that outlines a parent’s expectations for a teen’s driving behaviors and the consequences when those expectations are not met.  Parents can find a sample agreement at www.toyotateendriver.co

 

Courtesy of Toyota News Room (11/27/12)

Tire Myths...And the Reality!

Myth: I should inflate my tires according to the pressure indicated on the tire sidewall.

 Fact: The handwriting's not on the wall--the tire sidewall, that is. Molded into the sidewall is the tire's maximum inflation pressure, not the manufacturer-recommended pressure. For normal operation, follow inflation pressure recommendations in the owner's manual or on the vehicle placard located in the glovebox or on the door post. 

Myth: A tread pattern is needed to provide great traction on dry roads.
Fact: A racing slick--a tire without any tread--provides the ultimate in dry traction due to the maximum amount of rubber touching the road. A tread pattern, with its groove voids, actually compromises this adhesion capability on dry roads. The role of tire tread is to act as a squeegee on wet roads to remove water from under the tire and channel it through the grooves for improved wet traction. 

Myth:  Performance tires wear out faster because of the sticky compounds.
Fact: Performance tires may wear out faster than conventional family-car tires; however, tread rubber polymers aren't the culprits. In fact, new polymers and ultratensile steel constructions make performance tires last longer than ever. Industrywide, performance tires average about 45,000 miles in tread life, similar to the figures for family-car passenger tires. Fast wear usually is due to high horsepower  vehicles fitted with the tires and aggressive driving. Jackrabbit starts and quick stops can shorten the life of any tire.

Myth: Wide tires provide better traction under all weather conditions. In fact, putting oversize snow tires on a car delivers better snow traction.
Fact: The opposite is actually true. Wide tires tend to "float" on deep snow, and the tread lugs never have a chance to "dig" through to the road surface to gain traction. Narrow tires are a better option in deep snow. The tire acts similarly to a knife cutting through butter; the blade works best when using the narrow edge to push through the butter rather than the wide flat side of the blade.  

Myth: All-season tires are so good that winter tires are never needed.
Fact: In some parts of the country, this may be true, but if you live in the northernmost states or in Canada, the traction provided by winter tires can't be beat. Winter tires reign supreme in rural areas where snow remains on the road for days. They provide 25-percent-improved traction in deep snow over all-season tires. Metal-studded tires deliver up to 40 percent greater traction on hard-packed snow and ice over all-season tires, but many locales have restrictions regarding the use of studs.

Myth: Never rotate tires from side to side, only front to back.
Fact: Radial tires can be crossed from side to side in the rotation pattern. The old front-to-back rule applied to bias ply tires. Regular tire rotation--every 6000 to 8000 miles--promotes more uniform wear for all tires on a vehicle. (Goodyear recently designed a light-truck tire system that requires no rotation; the Wrangler RF-A provides a rear tire with a different tread design from the front tire).

Myth: Put your new tires on the drive-wheel position to get the most traction.
Fact: This is only true on a rear-drive vehicle. In all cases, install new tires on the rear axle. Most tire buyers purchase new rubber for the drive-wheel position to get the most traction; however, by doing so they transfer most of their traction capabilities from the rear and make it susceptible to oversteer. The vehicle's rear will fishtail and swing out in fast cornering or emergency maneuvers.

Myth: Sticking your fingernail in the tread can help you pick the tire with the softest compounds, and thus, the best adhesion.
Fact: It's sort of like kicking the tire, but with another part of your anatomy. Tread compounds only tell part of a tire's story. Tread pattern, tire shape, and tire footprint shape on the pavement provide clues to its adhesion capabilities. Don't rely on the fingernail test.

Myth: The government tests tires for traction, temperature resistance, and treadwear and assigns grades molded onto the sidewall.
Fact: Uniform Tire Quality Grading is a federal law that requires tire manufacturers to grade their own tires for treadwear, traction, and temperature resistance. Tire manufacturers, not the government, test tires and assign their own grades. Unfortunately, the government has not prescribed a formula for converting the manufacturer test results into universal grades; therefore, the numbers are not objective. According to the Federal Trade Commission , treadwear grades are for comparison purposes only and are not intended to be converted into anticipated or promised tire mileage.

Myth: An undulation on a tire sidewall is a weak spot that could lead to tire failure.
Fact: An undulation is created where materials overlap each other in the tire carcass, and it actually is the strongest part of the tire. Still, motorists perceive a "wave" on the sidewall as a defect. Goodyear's new ultratensile steel reinforcement eliminates this material splice and overlap. Ultratensile steel should reduce sidewall undulation in polyester-reinforced tires.

Myth: Before you buy a car, kick the tires.
Fact: It might not tell you much about the vehicle or tires, but it could tell you whether your shoe padding is adequate.

Courtesy of MotorTrend