It has been announced that Toyota Motor is recalling around 550,000 vehicles around the world, and according to the NY Daily News it includes Lexus models. The problem centers on a faulty crankshaft pulley that can potentially cause noise and make steering more difficult. Toyota has confirmed there have been 79 complaints worldwide about the defect.

It also stated that so far there have been no accidents or injuries reported because of the defect. In total the recall affects around 447,000 vehicles in North America with 38,000 in Japan. The company said there is the chance of the outer ring of the crankshaft pulley could come out of line with the damper, which could make a noise or make a warning light illuminate.

If the problem is not fixed the belt for the power steering pump may come away from the pulley, and thus making the vehicle a lot harder to steer. The models that are part of the recall are the 2004-05 Camry, Highlander, Sienna and Solara, 2004 Avalon, 2006 Highlander hybrid, 2004-05 ES330 and RX330, 2006 RX400h.

Owners in the US will be contacted in January, but if owners hear any unusual noises coming from the engine compartment before then should contact their dealer. Have you lost faith on Toyota following this latest recall?

More About: Toyota, Toyota Recall 2011

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We are told that the 2012 Toyota Camry is special, because it’s their first model to come with Entune, which some of you may know is their take on an entertainment/multimedia package. Once inside you will have access to a host of apps that can be accessed via voice command or touchscreen. Some of these applications include Bing, MovieTickets.com, Pandora and many more.

However, it’s the marketing campaign that we need to discuss here, as Toyota is going all out to give it as much coverage as possible, well they need to if they want the Camry to be the best selling car in the U.S. for ten years in a row. There are six TV spots planned, these will include NBC Sunday Night Football and also Two and a Half Men, which these two alone will offer a huge audience.

However, the biggest opportunity will come during Super Bowl, as Toyota has secured title sponsorship. Next month is when consumers will be able to get behind the wheel of the 2012 Camry for a test drive in more than 125 locations, this will go on until March 2012.

More About: Sedan, Toyota, Toyota Camry

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You might wonder why we feel the need to bring the subject up, well we came across a concept of what one guy believes what the Supra MK IV should be, and we cannot help but see a little bit of the Lexus LFA in there. There is still no confirmation from Toyota about reintroducing the much loved model from all those years ago, but looking at what wonders they can do nowadays – we do hope so.

Back in the day the Supra was all about horsepower, and we hope to see that once again, but there will have to be a few changes. Although the car used to look great, it was always one that failed in many areas, such as handling and speed. However, the Japanese carmaker will be able to take the knowledge from the LFA and put them to good use in the new Supra.

We think we will call the Toyota Supra MK IV an LFA Lite. Having said that, looking at the concept drawings created by Andreas Fougner, the Supra will be more refined – well if they were to go by these. There are six images in all, which you can see for yourself here. Car enthusiasts will see that the old and the new have inspired Fougner.

It’s too early to say what specs the new Supra would have, but we know that the engine will have to be powerful yet smooth, and the car itself will need to be light and have the handling to match.

Let us know some of your ideas of what you think the new Supra should have.

More About: Lexus LFA, Toyota

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Don’t think that you will be getting any less in the car, as Toyota has made a few enhancements; these include improved power from the new 2.5-liter engine, which offers 200hp. For those wanting a little more, then you can choose to go with the V6 model instead. We expect the new Camry to offer a return of 41mpg thanks to a few advancements to its Hybrid Synergy Drive powertrain.

According to Torque News another reason why this new hybrid car has seen a price reduction is due to the fact that Toyota is using the same machines to make them from the NUMMI plant, which was a joint venture between them and GM. We do not expect this to be an isolated development, as other Toyota Hybrid models will hopefully benefit from this as well.

Lexus has also issued its latest pricing for the new CT 200h and HS 250h. The former will come in two trims; the first is standard and the second premium, costing $29,120 and $30,900 respectively. As for the latter model, well prices are to start at $37,030, but Earth Tecling does say that there are a number of improvements coming to this year’s model.

The second half of September has been busy for Toyota, as they also announced prices for the upcoming Prius V and Prius Plug-in. You will have to pay $27,160 for the standard hybrid model and $32,760 for the plug-in version. Do you buy into this whole hybrid thing, or are you waiting for another technology?

More About: hybrid, Toyota, Toyota Camry

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For some of the models the pricing will be pretty much the same as the current version, while some of the other trim levels have actually fallen – something that we do not hear that often. There are four trim levels for the standard gasoline version, the L, LE, XLE and SE. Then there are two for the Hybrid version, the LE and the XLE. So what about the actual pricing we hear you ask?

The base L model of the 2012 Camry will cost $21,995, with the LE costing just $22,500; Autoblog points out that the price is $200 less than the 2011 LE model. Next in the range is the SE, which will cost you $23,000 that’s almost $100 cheaper than the current version. For $24,725 you could be driving away with the XLE model. However, you will have to pay a little more for the V6 version.

If you want to get the hybrid version, then you already know that you will have to pay a premium for the privilege. The 2012 Toyota LE Hybrid will cost you $25,900, while the base price for the XLE model starts at $27,400. The former is $1,150 cheaper than the 2011 model and the latter is $800 cheaper.

We are still surprised how Toyota has managed to keep prices down – maybe this is all part of their strategy to sell more units, as this has worked out brilliantly for Sony and their PS3 console.

More About: Hybrid Cars, Sedan, Toyota, Toyota Camry

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Just ten weeks ago it was all on paper and in the minds of some very cleaver people. Toyota Prius Projects needed someone who would be able to create such a bike, and that fell to Parlee Cycle, along with DeepLocal. The two worked side-by-side to come up with what we have today, but it was not easy. Some of the technology was not out there so had was designed and implemented onto the bike.

Last week was the final week of the project, and you will see in the video below just how far things have come. Now that the bike has its white paint it looks more like the sketches than anyone had thought, which is a testament to the hard work by all involved. Seeing that bike all put together must have been one of those moments when someone just wanted to jump on and give it a test ride?

Prolly is not Probably has been following the project for over ten weeks now, so felt fitting that they were on hand to see the first test ride. The guy who this job fell too must have been feeling some anxiety, as he knew that a lot was riding on this test? With sheer concentration the gears actually started to shift with just thought alone, and got much easier as the rider got used to it.

It must have been a strange experience for him; surly he felt the urge to change his gears manually? Every time you drive an automatic car there are sometimes these urges to still try to change gear yourself, as it is just instinct. It will be exiting to see how long it will be before such a bike makes it to the consumers? We say this because most of what has been used is available, those that are not will be soon. Could the bike be about to change, as the design has been stagnant for decades now?

More About: Toyota, Toyota Prius

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Topping the list are Japanese and Korean brands, with the Honda coming in at number 1. Their most reliable model was the 98–06 HR-V and the worst was the 99-02 Accord. Second was Toyota, the 02-07 Corolla was their best model, and the 00-07 MRZ the worst. Toyota owned Lexus came in third out of 35, with 05 to date IS being the better of their range and the worst is the 00-03 RX.

Other brands in the top ten are as follows: Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Mazda, Subaru, Kia and Nissan. You can see that no German or French vehicle features in the top ten at all. What worries us the most is how the more expensive vehicles such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes only come in at 21st, 24th and 27th respectively?

For ten years in a row Land Rover has come in last, which is very worrying indeed. How can a car manufacture keep producing unreliable cars year after year? This brand has one of the highest repair bills as well; it’s as if they have a whole business dedicated to repairing poorly built vehicles. This is not the case with all models though, I have two friends who have not had any issue with theirs, and one of them has owned theirs for over 3 years now.

The brands that fail the most are from Europe, which we do not understand, as they range from the cheapest to most expensive. Skoda and Smart came out on top, but these were still at 11th and 12th in that order. According to Chas Hallett, the editor-in-chief for What Car, he is amazed at the difference when it comes to reliability with European and Far Eastern carmakers. We urge you to read and study this survey, as it will help you make a decision as to what car you should purchase next. If we are to go by this report, then you should either choose Honda, Toyota or Lexus.

What car do you have, do you have any horror stories to tell?

More About: Guides, Honda, Toyota

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For years it has been the Toyota Prius showing rivals that they are king, much like the iPad in the tablet market in that respect. Going back a few years’ hybrid cars were a leap forward in technology, but they still had a way to go if they ever wanted to offer a practical alternative to the standard gasoline engine.

Thankfully technology has improved at an increased rate over the past year, and the future is with plug-in hybrids – well for now anyway. We say this because the future is with electric vehicles, as we need to move away from being reliant on gasoline. The upcoming 2012 hybrid car range is proof that we are moving much closer to that, we just need another five years before it is considered a fully viable option.

So let us take a look at what we believe to be the best 2012 models: The first is the Prius, as Toyota is to offer not one but several options of this popular model. Not only that, the Japanese automaker is hard at work on their first plug-in Prius hybrid, which should be able to mount an offensive against the Chevy Volt, which also uses the say kind of technology.

That is not all Toyota will be offering, as we know they have plans for two other hybrid models, the Highlander and the Camry. They will not stop there either, as they also have big plans in 2012 for their luxury division, as they have a host of hybrid Lexus models planned. There will be updates to four current models, along with two new ones as well.

Soul Tek also notes that Ford is now starting to push their hybrid campaign, as not only do they have four current 2012 models coming, they are also working on a new form of hybrid car that will use lithium batteries instead of nickel. The auto website assumes that this will be based on the concept version of the plug-in Escape hybrid that we have already seen.

Not ones to miss out on all the hybrid action, GM also has a number of models planned, but it is the new versions of the 2012 Chevy Volt that we look forward to the most. The Volt has been doing very well in terms of sales, but only having one model limits growth. Thankfully there are a number of other models planned, such as a crossover, although we cannot help think that the rumored 2012 Cadillac Converj will overshadow this.

There are far more hybrid models planned, these are just a handful of what we believe will be most popular.

More About: Ford, gm, Hybrid Cars, Toyota

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From the 82.200 2006 and 2007 models there are 45,500 Highlander SUVs and 36,700 Lexus RX 400h vehicles affected. The recall only affects these models in the US only. The recall has not begun yet, but there is notice that one is imminent. The reason for the delay is due to the fact that Toyota does not have enough spare parts to resolve the issue.

The main reason for this is due to the fact that these parts companies are still trying to get back to normal following the natural disaster that hit Japan earlier this year. According to WSJ the issue lies in the Intelligent Power Module, this is the main system that controls both the electric power and the standard gasoline engine.

There is said to be a manufacturing fault, as some of the circuits were not soldered correctly. If the solder fails and becomes hot then the car could go into safe mode – something that we do not envy if traveling in the fast lane on the highway. However, in a worse case scenario a fuse could blow, which means that the SUV would stop suddenly.

Like some of the most recent car recalls, such as the Porsche 911 one or the Mazda 3 and MazdaSpeed 3 this one will see a recall begin in July – it seems as though this will be the magic month. Well we say begin, this will be when owners start to receive their notices about their appointments for this issue to be resolved.

When you consider how complex the hybrid drive-train system is, it is a wonder why there has not been a recall to affect this before. Seems funny how most of the recalls that affect cars are due to things that have been around for a long time.

This recall is bad timing, especially as Lexus has just topped a recent J.D. Power and Associates survey for safety. Granted it is not for the models affected by the recall above, but still a funny coincidence. Just when you think Toyota has overcome its issues with recalls, recession and the earthquake and tsunami then something else comes up. However, let’s face facts here, this is not going to be the last recall from the carmaker, or any other brand come to that.

More About: Car Recalls, Lexus, Toyota

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Now we try to steer away from sport related articles, but we cannot pass this one by due to the potential of such a car. The car in question is called the GRMN Hybrid Concept II, and some of you auto fans will notice a few similarities between this and a model that they had on show at an auto event last year.

The idea of such a car making it to production is a nice one, as this would be a hybrid with a difference. The reason we say this is because it has its engine in the middle and has drive to all four wheels. What this gives you is a car with a good center of gravity for superb handling and also a huge amount of grip from all four wheels.

The gasoline engine produces 245hp and the electric motor 50hp, a total of 295 horsepower. However, Autoblog does inform us that it is the front wheels only that gets power from the motor and not the rears.

On top of all this the car only weighs 3,300 lbs, so this in turn not only helps with fuel-efficiency but with handling as well. There is a very slim chance that Toyota will release the GRMN, but what a nice thought it would be. The main issue would be its price, as some of the technology used comes at a price – one that some drivers might find hard to swallow.

Having said that, we pay the price for the Tesla Roadster, so why not a hybrid sports convertible? Just imagine if Toyota were to launch the GRMN, they would be seen as Jekyll and Hyde, as the Prius would be the former and Hyde would be the latter.

Do not underestimate the Japanese automaker, as they may just surprise us and realize that they could create a new market – just as they did with their Prius. This was not the first hybrid, but it was the fast mass-produced one – much like the Model T Ford in some respects. We need more cars on the road like this, as the price of fuel is now getting out of hand. GM knew this, which is why the Chevy Volt has been doing very well considering.

If Toyota were to launch the GRMN Hybrid concept, how much would you be prepared to pay?

More About: Hybrid Car, Toyota

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