Toyota Gets High Marks For Not Needing Service

Toyota recently got high grades from CarMD for having the fewest and the least expensive repairs among all automakers.

According to CBS Money Watch, the 2009 Toyota Corolla had the least frequent trips to the repair shop.   The average repair cost for the Corolla was just $45.84.  Here is how Toyota compared to the rest of the automakers.

CarMD Reliability Rankings

1. Toyota
2. Hyundai
3. Honda
4. Ford
5. General Motors
6. Mitsubishi
7. Nissan
8. Kia
9. Volkswagen
10. Chrysler

These rankings covered vehicles from 2001 to 2011.  Money Watch said that CarMD pulled its data from its network of 3,000 dealers as well as car owner surveys.  CarMD makes automobile diagnostic systems.

To save additional money next time you’re at the repair shop, read these posts:

• How To Save Money On Costly Auto Repairs

• The Truth About OEM Parts

• What To Do When The Check Engine Light Turns On

Always remember to use genuine Toyota parts in your Toyota whether it’s Corolla parts or even Toyota Sienna parts.  You’ll spend even less time visiting the mechanic.

What type of Toyota do you own?  We would love to hear from you!  Leave your comments below.

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Toyotas You Just Don’t See In The USA

In the good old USA, we’re used to seeing the Toyota Camry, the Corolla, Prius and Tundra on our roadways.

But in other parts of the world, there are other popular Toyota models.  Here are just a few.

The Toyota iQ – This small compact car is great for city driving.  Toyota started selling the iQ in Japan in 2008 and Europe in 2009.  The iQ stands for “intelligence quotient.”

The Toyota Urban Cruiser – This is a vehicle that is similar to the Toyota Matrix in the United States.  It competes against small crossover vehicles in Europe and Asia.

The Toyota Hilux – The Toyota Hilux truck name was retired in the United States in the 1970s, but the model still enjoys a following in the rest of the world.  The Hilux is a popular compact pickup truck in Asia as well as Europe and South America.

The Toyota Aurion – The Aurion is a mid-sized car that is essentially a Toyota Camry except with different front and rear-end treatments.  You can purchase this car in Asia as well as Australia.

Whether you own a Toyota in the USA or overseas, make sure you use Toyota OEM parts.  These parts were designed by Toyota and are great for your

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The Top 10 Toyota SUV Accessories

If you’re looking for some great Toyota accessories for your Rav4, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser or Highlander, consider these top 10 Toyota SUV accessories.

1. Carpet Floor Mats – Protect your SUV’s interior with Toyota floor mats.  You can get them with the model name embroidered on the mats.

2. Satellite Radio – Get hundreds of commercial free radio stations with XM satellite radio for your Toyota SUV.

3. Remote Key Start – Start your Toyota SUV from the comforts of your home.  With a push of the button, you can start your SUV to activate heater and A/C functions.

4. iPod Kit – Have an iPod charger cable built right into your glove box.  This allows you to easily charge your iPod without all the hassles of carrying around charging adaptors.

5. Cargo Tote – This is a great item for the storage area in your SUV.  It allows you to nicely organize items so they are easy to reach.

6. Tube Steps – These rust-resistant aluminum steps enhance the look of your SUV and make it easy to get in an out of your vehicle.  Most are easy to install and require no drilling.

7. Spare Tire Cover – This helps to keep your spare tire clean and give your Toyota SUV a stylized look.  It helps to protect against dust, dirt and debris.

8. Cargo Net – This envelope style net is installed in the back of your Toyota SUV.  It’s a great way to prevent items from rolling around in the back of your SUV.

9. Mud Guards – Protect your SUV from dirt, mud and rocks.  The Toyota mud guards are specifically designed for your Toyota SUV.

10. Paint Protection Film – This film is applied on the hood of your Toyota SUV and helps protect against stones, bugs and other road debris that can damage your SUV.

In addition to these accessories, always be sure to use genuine Toyota parts.  Like genuine Toyota accessories, these are of higher quality and were specifically designed by Toyota.

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How To Eliminate Awful Smells From Your Vehicle

There’s nothing worse and more embarrassing than having a vehicle with a foul smell in its interior.

If you’ve tried air fresheners and you just can’t get rid of the smell, consider using some of these household items to do the job.

Baking Soda – This is a great way to remove terrible smells from your vehicle’s carpet.  Just sprinkle some baking soda on your carpet and let it sit for a few hours.  Then vacuum it up.  Baking soda is great at removing smoke smells from your vehicle.

Vinegar – This household remedy sure does smell bad, but it does the trick in removing musty car odors.  Place a small bowl of white vinegar in your vehicle and let it sit over night.  The vinegar helps to neutralize most foul smells in your vehicle.

Deodorizing Sprays – If your vehicle is blowing a terrible smell out of its vents, consider getting a deodorizing spray.  With a spray, you can spray it down the vents to help eliminate the odor.  Many stores carry various deodorizing sprays.

Disinfectants – Smells caused by mold or mildew need to be cleaned with disinfectants.  Disinfectants help to kill the mold organisms and get rid of that terrible smell.  If the smell returns, check to make sure your vehicle’s windows and seals are in good shape.  You don’t want any moisture leaking into your vehicle.

All of these are some great ways to eliminate terrible smells from your vehicle.  Join the discussion with thousands of Toyota owners on our Toyota Parts Center Facebook page.

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How To Avoid Crashing Your Toyota

No one wants to get into a car accident.  Injuries, vehicle damages and insurance claims aren’t fun.

If you want to avoid a car accident, you need to follow these five tips.

#1. Drive The Speed Limit – Driving the speed limit and giving yourself enough space between vehicles will help prevent a lot of accidents.  As a rule of thumb use the two-seconds rule.  Keep a braking distance of two seconds or more between you and the vehicle ahead of you.

#2. Watch Your Blind Spots – It’s always important to check your blind spots before changing lanes and merging with oncoming traffic.  Many accidents occur because someone forgot to check their blind spots.

#3. Avoid Driving Distracted – Avoid playing with cell phones and other items that can distract you.  The U.S. Department of Transportation says you should avoid:

• Cell Phone Use
• Eating Foods and Drinks
• Grooming
• Reading
• Changing with Radio Stations, CDs and iPods

#4. Proper Vehicle Maintenance – Be sure to follow your Toyota’s recommended maintenance schedule.  This helps to make sure that you can safely steer and stop your vehicle.  When searching for Toyota parts such as Highlander parts, consider getting OEM parts.  These parts are made by the manufacturer and are a higher quality.

#5. Try To Avoid Night Driving – This is especially important on the weekends when there may be drunk drivers on the road.  Try to keep driving to the daylight hours as much as you can.  When you need to drive at night, be extra cautious.

Have you ever been in an accident.  What happened?  Leave your comments below.

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How To Tell It’s Time For New Tires

Do you know how to tell when it’s time for new tires on your car, truck or SUV?

Driving on a set of bald tires is dangerous, especially when there’s rain, snow or ice on the road.

Here’s how you can easily check your tires.  All you need is a penny to perform a tire penny test.

Stick a penny heads side down into your tire treads.  If you can see Lincoln’s head, it means it’s time for new tires.

Additionally, if you’re experiencing any of these things while driving, you’ll want to check your tires.

• Traction Issues – If your vehicle is having difficulty gripping the road when accelerating, you’ll want to get your tires checked out.

• Tire Skidding – Another big problem is frequent tire skidding.  If your vehicle is having trouble coming to a complete stop on wet surfaces, get your tires checked out.

• Check Wear Bars – U.S. law requires tires to have easy-to-read tire wear indicator bars.  If you can see a solid bar running across the tire, you need to get your tires replaced.

Following these tips, will keep you and your passengers safe in your vehicle.  To enhance safety, make sure your vehicle is up to date on all routine maintenance.

If you own a Toyota, consider using genuine Toyota parts and Toyota accessories.  These products have a high level of quality and keep your car in great shape.

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The Top Holiday Gifts For Toyota Owners

Having trouble getting a family member or a friend a holiday gift?  If they own a Toyota, you may want to consider Toyota accessories.

Here are some of the best accessories for Toyota cars, trucks and SUVs.

• Toyota Camry – For the Toyota Camry, consider getting Camry door still enhancements.  These aluminum trim enhancements protect your Camry’s interior and include a custom silk-screened Camry logo.

• Toyota Prius – There are lots of great Prius accessories.  For a holiday gift, consider getting the Prius rear bumper applique.  This helps to protect the Prius bumper from scratches.  It provides great scratch protection.

• Toyota 4Runner – The cargo tote for the Toyota 4Runner is a great gift idea.  It’s reasonably priced and helps keep any 4Runner organized.

• Toyota Corolla – For a Corolla owner, consider the Interface Kit for iPod.  This kit allows you to install a custom iPod charger in a Corolla’s glove box.  It’s great for that person that listens to a lot of music.

• Toyota Tundra – A Toyota bed mat is always a great option for any Tundra owner.  Toyota’s bed mat is custom molded to perfectly fit the Tundra.  The Tundra bed mat keeps cargo in its place.

Any of these ideas would make great holiday gifts.  For more ideas, visit the Toyota Parts Center Accessories Page.

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How To Find The Best Oil Filter For Your Toyota Truck

At Toyota Parts Center, we’ve done a little research to help you find the best oil filter for your Toyota pickup truck.

We’ve torn apart and analyzed five different oil filters for the Tundra and eight different oil filters for the Tacoma.  Here is what we found.

Toyota Tacoma Oil Filter Comparison

With the Toyota Tacoma oil filter, here is our Top 3:

1. Toyota OEM
2. Wix
3. K&N

The Toyota OEM, Wix and K&N filters are all great filters for your Tacoma.  These three rise to the top when compared to Bosch, ACDelco, MicroGard, Fram High Mileage and SuperTech.

Here’s why we like the Toyota OEM, Wix and K&N filters.

• Filter Surface Area – These three filters had the largest filter surface area to help filter out more oil impurities.

• Bypass Valve – Of the eight that we compared, these three had the best bypass valves.  Each of the valves functioned at a high level.

• Filter Materials – The materials used in these three filters was less paper-like, less crumbly when cut, and generally sturdier.

So which did we like the best? They are all good filters.  However, the Toyota OEM ($4.33) comes in at a lower price than the Wix ($6.99) and K&N ($13.99) filters.

If you can find a Wix or K&N filter at a similar price to the OEM filter, they are worth considering.  However, you’ll get more value out of the Toyota OEM parts.

You can read the full report here: Toyota Tacoma Oil Filter Comparison

Toyota Tundra Oil Filter Comparison

When it comes to the Toyota Tundra, we examined five filters.  Here is how we would rank them.

1. Toyota OEM ($4.33)
2. Wix ($6.99)
3. Fram Standard ($6.44)
4. MicroGard ($6.59)
5. Fram ExtraGuard ($9.49)

Like the Tacoma, the Toyota OEM and Wix filters had more surface area as well as a better bypass valve.  The Fram and MicroGard were solid filters, but need not meet the high levels of the Toyota OEM and Wix filters.

The Fram ExtraGuard filter we tested did not fare well.  It had inconsistent manufacturing and loose surface particles as well as the smallest surface area and highest density.

To read the full report with our research, click here: Toyota Tundra Oil Filter Comparison.

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The Top 5 Android Apps For Your Toyota

Android smartphones are very popular smartphones.  The odds are that you may even own one yourself.

If you own an Android smartphone, you’ll want to have the apps listed below on it.  These apps are great for any Toyota owner.

1. Voice Actions – This is a great app for Android users.  It allows you to control your phone via voice commands.  This is great when you’re driving.  Voice Actions requires Android 2.2 on your phone.

2. Google Maps Navigation – Never get lost again with this Android navigation app.  It provides turn-by-turn navigation, voice activation, traffic view and more.  It also has a car dock mode for safe driving.

3. GasBot – Save lots of green at the pump with the GasBot app for Android.  You’ll find the cheapest gas prices in your neighborhood with a swipe of the finger.

4. ParkDroid – Never lose your car again.  With the ParkDroid apps, you can find your car with mobile GPS as well as a digital compass.  This app includes an easy-to-read map so you can remember where your vehicle is parked.

5. aCar – When you replace any Toyota OEM parts in your vehicle, use aCar.  This car maintenance app helps keep track of oil changes, repairs and more.  It’s great if you’ve just replaced some Echo parts.

These are our favorite Android apps for Toyota owners.  What is your favorite?  Leave your comments below.

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The Top Ways To De-Ice Your Car

In a lot of parts of this country, it’s starting to get a little frosty and frigid.

When the temperature begins to drop, it’s time to dust off that ice scrapper.  Let’s face it … we all dislike scraping ice off of our vehicle’s windows.  Worse yet, we hate when our car or truck’s door is frozen shut!

To help you get through this winter, here are the best ways to de-ice your vehicle.

Clearing Windows of Ice

When it comes to clearing your car or truck’s windows, you’ll want to follow these tips:

1. Find a Good Ice Scraper – Purchase a quality ice scrapper made out of solid plastic.  Cheaper made ice scrappers can easily crack.

2. Run Car And Use Defrosters – Let your car run for a few minutes and use the defrosters, this will help to loosen the ice.

3. Be Thorough – For safety purposes, scrape all of the ice and snow off of your windshield.  You’ll also want to remove any piles of snow from the roof and other areas of your vehicle.  This will help improve driving visibility.

Besides following these tips, you’ll want to have plenty of windshield washer fluid as well as some type of water beading spray such as Rain-X.  Also make sure that you have a good set of wipers on your vehicle.

De-Icing Doors

If you can’t open your car’s doors, you’ll want to follow these de-icing tips in this helpful video.

For more helpful tips, be sure to read other postings on the Toyota Parts Center Blog.  At Toyota Parts Center, we are the #1 spot for all of your genuine Toyota parts needs whether it’s Toyota Camry parts or Tundra parts, we’ve got all the Toyota parts you need.

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Oil Filter Comparison Determines Wix, K&N and Toyota Make Best Oil Filters

Oil Filter Study Commissioned by Olathe Toyota Parts Studies More than Twelve Oil Filter Brands and Only Recommends Three

Olathe, KS – Wix, K&N and Toyota make the best quality oil filters according to a study commissioned by Olathe Toyota Parts, an online retailer of genuine factory Toyota parts. The study compared more than one dozen oil filters on a variety of criteria including filter medium surface area, component quality and microscopic analysis.

“The comparison demonstrates that Wix, K&N and the standard OEM Toyota brand are the only filters Toyota truck owners should consider buying,” said Jason Lancaster, editor of Toyota truck websites TundraHeadquarters.com and TacomaHQ.com and creator of the comparison study. “Wix, K&N and Toyota brand oil filters offered the best combination of cost and quality when compared to other brands.”

Toyota Tundra oil filter comparison found that Wix and Toyota-brand oil filters had the largest useful filter surface area and the best combination of density and thickness. The standard Fram brand oil filter – and the physically identical MicroGard brand filter – were also very close.

Toyota Tacoma oil filter comparison identified Wix, K&N and Toyota-brand oil filters as having the best combination of filter medium surface area, highest quality components and best filter medium characteristics. Other filter brands in the Tacoma oil filter comparison included Bosch, SuperTech, ACDelco and Fram.

“While I am confident in the comparison results and analysis, it should be noted that we simply didn’t have the resources to test each filter in an actual oil system. Therefore, our filter comparison results shouldn’t be viewed as conclusive,” said Lancaster. “Still, until oil filter manufacturers release independent laboratory testing data to the public, these types of physical comparisons are all consumers can rely on.”

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How To Use Facebook To Find A New Car

Social media websites such as Facebook aren’t just for online socializing anymore.

Facebook can help you with your purchasing decisions.  You may have never thought of this, but Facebook can also help you buy a car.

If you don’t believe us, here are some ways to use Facebook to find a new car!

• Use Facebook Marketplace – Facebook Marketplace is an online listing where you can buy all sorts of things.  You can search for cars.  There’s also a feature to ask your friends if they know anyone selling a car.

• Check Facebook Pages – You’ll also want to check any dealership Facebook pages.  Here, you’ll learn about upcoming specials some dealerships may be running in your area.  It all depends on the dealership.  Some update their Facebook page more often than others.

• Ask Your Facebook Friends – It highly likely that at least one of your Facebook friends recently purchased a new vehicle.  Post a status update asking for recommendations.  You will be surprised how much advice you get via Facebook.

• Check Out Facebook Apps – There are a few apps on Facebook that could help with your car buying experience.  Some include: LotPro and MyAutoFields.  At the moment, there aren’t many apps, but that could all change in the future.

These tips will help you find a great car on Facebook!

Once you purchase a new car, be sure to take great care of it.  For instance if you purchase a Toyota be sure to use genuine Toyota parts.

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