2008 Scion Xb on 2040-cars

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Toyota adds 1.6m cars to Takata inflator recall list

As part of the Takata airbag inflator recall expansion announced by NHTSA earlier this month, Toyota has listed an additional 1.6 million cars that will need to have inflators or airbag assemblies replaced. This brings the total of recalled Toyota, Scion, and Lexus vehicles to 4.73 million. Other automakers will announce their expanded recall lists this week as well. This round of recalls affects some but not all vehicles with the following model names and years: 2009–2011 Toyota Corolla and Matrix 2006–2011 Toyota Yaris 2010–2011 Toyota 4Runner 2011 Toyota Sienna 2008–2011 Scion xB 2007–2011 Lexus ES 2010–2011 Lexus GX 2006–2011 Lexus IS To see if your specific vehicle falls under recall, write down your VIN and go to toyota.com/recall; you can also check any recalls, Takata or otherwise, at safercar.gov/vin. Toyota will inform owners of affected vehicles by mail. Depending on the model, either the inflator or the entire airbag assembly will have to be replaced. Due to the number of vehicles that have already been recalled, it may take some time for the necessary parts to be available. A total of 11 deaths have been attributed to the faulty Takata inflators, and federal investigators now know why the parts are prone to failure. The state of Hawaii was the first to sue the auto supplier, with more states expected to follow. The 17 other automakers are required to announce their additions resulting from the May 4 expansion this week, so expect more of the 35 to 40 million vehicles to be listed soon. Related Video: Image Credit: Reuters Recalls Lexus Scion Toyota Takata airbag recall lexus is toyota sienna toyota 4runner toyota matrix lexus es lexus gx

Buy a Toyota GT86 and your wife will hate you

Marketing can be a very strange business. Convincing a man or woman (or child, really) that they absolutely cannot live without the latest, greatest new bit of technology oftentimes takes a unique approach. In the "online film promoting the Toyota GT86" you'll see below, created by agency Happiness Brussels, men are reverse-psychologied into thinking a new sports coupe will make them more masculine by getting their loved ones to hate them. Or something like that. We think.
In any case, we suggest you watch the video below to see how much fun men can have with a GT86 - or Scion FR-S or Subaru BRZ, presumably - at the expense of their significant others. Fair warning: There's a potential Not Safe For Work moment in the ad: beware of a brief male butt shot about 44 seconds in.
Marketing. Gotta love it. Unless you're married to a man. Or something like that. We think. Whatever, just watch.

Scion iM spied testing in US in more production-ready guise

Following the niche-oriented iQ and FR-S, Scion is preparing its first new model with mass-market appeal in quite some time with the iM. Just unveiled at the recent Los Angeles Auto Show in concept form, our spies recently shot some photos of a slightly camouflaged production iM doing some testing in Southern California. Judging by these spy shots, the production iM is taking many more styling cues from the European-market Toyota Auris that it's based on, than the much more aggressive concept on display in LA. The body kit with a low front bumper, flared fenders, side skirts and rear spoiler are all gone in favor of a much more mainstream design (we aren't surprised). The model's name comes from the first letters of 'individuality' and 'modern,' according to Scion, but if these shots are any indication, it looks like it'll pretty easily just blend into the crowd. Scion didn't reveal anything about that the US-market powertrain for the production version in LA but promised the details would be released sometime in 2015. The company did hint at a starting price under $20,000, though. It's too early to make any real styling judgments about the iM before the final version is ready, but until then see what you think of these spy shots of the upcoming hatchback.