Very Nice 2004 Toyota Corolla "s' Sedan, 1.8 Liter 4 Cylinder, Alloy Wheels, Cd on 2040-cars

Auto blog

First Toyota unintended acceleration case headed for trial

Toyota is going to be back in the spotlight, as the first of its unintended acceleration lawsuits is headed for trial. This case covers a Los Angeles sushi shop owner, Noriko Uno. According to the what the family told The Detroit News, Uno only put about 10,000 miles on her 2006 Toyota Camry in four years. Uno was apparently afraid of high speeds, avoiding the freeway and taking a route home along LA's surface streets to avoid them.
On August 28, 2009, Uno's Camry suddenly accelerated to 100 miles per hour, eventually striking a telephone poll and a tree and killing her. The family contends that Uno attempted to step on the brakes and pull the emergency brake, neither of which brought her speed under control, while Toyota maintains that improperly installed floormats and driver error have been behind the majority of the 80 cases expected to be heard in court.
In Uno's case, The Detroit News is expecting the trial to focus on the lack of an override if the gas and brake pedals were pressed at the same time. Brake overrides were installed on Toyota's European fleet. The Uno family attorney will need to prove to the jury that it wasn't driver error that killed Noriko Uno.

J.D. Power study sees new car dependability problems increase for first time since 1998

For the first time since 1998, J.D. Power and Associates says its data shows that the average number of problems per 100 cars has increased. The finding is the result of the firm's much-touted annual Vehicle Dependability Study, which charts incidents of problems in new vehicle purchases over three years from 41,000 respondents.
Looking at first-owner cars from the 2011 model year, the study found an average of 133 problems per 100 cars (PP100, for short), up 6 percent from 126 PP100 in last year's study, which covered 2010 model-year vehicles. Disturbingly, the bulk of the increase is being attributed to engine and transmission problems, with a 6 PP100 boost.
Interestingly, JDP notes that "the decline in quality is particularly acute for vehicles with four-cylinder engines, where problem levels increase by nearly 10 PP100." Its findings also noticed that large diesel engines also tended to be more problematic than most five- and six-cylinder engines.

2014 Toyota Corolla priced from $16,800*

We'll be publishing our First Drive of the 2014 Toyota Corolla later today, but right now, we can reveal that the eleventh-generation compact will be priced from $16,800 when it hits dealerships this fall (*not including a $810 destination charge).
Four trim levels will be offered, and that sub-$17,000 price point reflects the base L grade with a six-speed manual transmission. Adding the four-speed automatic (yep) brings that price up to $17,400, which gets you the usual features standard on this class of car, including Bluetooth connectivity, eight airbags and - a first for this price point - LED headlamps.
From there, the LE trim ($18,300) adds a backup camera, cruise control, keyless entry, Entune audio (including a 6.1-inch touchscreen) and a brand-new continuously variable transmission replacing the four-speed auto. There's even an Eco version of the LE trim that uses a different engine tune to provide fuel economy of up to 42 miles per gallon on the highway.