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Toyota tops Consumer Reports best, worst used car values

We often mock Toyota for building boring, soulless cars, but a new study by Consumer Reports suggests that regardless of whether that's true, the company has some of the best used cars on the market. In its report on used cars from 2004-2013, the Japanese automaker had 11 vehicles among its brands on the list - more than any other automaker.
CR breaks the list down by cost and vehicle size, and Toyota has at least one entry at every price point and in nearly every segment. To score a recommendation, a vehicle had to perform well in the magazine's initial tests and score above-average reliability results. It also tried to only suggest cars with electronic stability control. Of the 28 recommended vehicles, Honda/Acura had the second most mentions at six, and Ford, Hyundai and Subaru managed two each.
The Detroit brands also made it to the list, but not in a positive way. Consumer Reports compiled a list of 22 vehicles it wouldn't recommend because "they have multiple years of much-worse-than-average overall reliability." General Motors had the most unrecommended models on the list at six, but Chrysler and Ford weren't far behind, with five cars each from their brands not making the grade. The full list of recommendations is available on CR's website.

Scion was slain by Toyota, not the Great Recession

Scion didn't have to go down like this. Through the magic of hindsight and hubris, it's easier to see what went wrong. And what might have been. What the industry should understand is this: Scion wasn't a losing proposition from the get-go. Its death is due to negligence and apathy. This is more than just the failure of a sub-brand. It's the failure of a company to deliver new and compelling products over an extended period of time. Toyota will point to the Great Recession as the reason it hedged its bets and withdrew funding for new vehicles, instead of using that as an opportunity to redouble efforts. This was as good as a death warrant, although myopically no one realized it at the time. Sadly, GM's Saturn experiment was a road map for this exact form of failure. No one at Toyota seemed to think the Saturn experience was worth protecting their experimental brand from. Or they weren't heard. Brands live and die on product. Somehow, Scion convinced itself that its real success metric was a youthful demographic of buyers. It seems like this was used to gauge the overall health of the brand. Look at the aging and uncompetitive tC, which Scion proudly noted had a 29-year-old average buyer. That fails to take into account its lack of curb appeal and flagging sales. Who cares if the declining number of people buying your cars are younger? Toyota is going to kill the tC thirteen years [And two indifferent generations ... - Ed.] after it was introduced. In that time, Honda has come out with three entirely new generations of the Civic. Scion wasn't a losing proposition from the get-go. Its death is due to negligence and apathy. At launch, the brand could have gone a few different ways. The xB was plucky, interesting, and useful – a tough mix of ephemeral characteristics – but the xA didn't offer much except a thin veneer of self-consciously applied attitude. That's ok; it was cute. Enter the tC, which managed to combine sporty pretensions with decent cost. It took on the Civic Coupe in the contest for coolness, and usually managed to win. More importantly, an explicit brand value early on was a desire to avoid second generations of any of its models, promising a continually evolving and fresh lineup. At this point, the road splits. Down one lane lies the Scion that could have been. After a short but reasonable product lifecycle, it would have renewed the entire lineup.

Fascinating if true: Toyota GR 86 could spawn Lexus variant

Neither the Toyota GR 86 or its Subaru BRZ platform twin are out yet, but there are already whispers of a third variant for the lightweight sports coupe. Japanese media are reporting that the GR 86 will spawn a Lexus variant, and that there's already a name for it, the Lexus UC. According to Japanese site Spyder7, the UC will stand for Urban Coupe, fitting in nicely with the Lexus UX nomenclature. It might measure slightly larger than the GR 86. The upcoming GR 86 has a length of 168 inches, but the report says the the Lexus UC could be almost a foot longer, with a total length of about 177 inches. That doesn't mean there will be any more interior room. The extra length will likely come from a heavily redesigned front and rear fascia, much more different than the GR 86 and BRZ are from each other. Lexus Enthusiast has a spy shot of the vehicle allegedly undergoing testing. The car in the photo wears a version of Lexus's trademark spindle grille. Meanwhile, Creative Trend reports that the UC's 2.4-liter boxer engine could be mated to a plug-in hybrid powertrain. Subaru does not currently have a PHEV system attached to that engine. The Crosstrek PHEV uses a 2.0-liter engine for its gasoline half, so if these rumors prove correct it would be a first for the 2.4-liter. The report also states that the interior might take on the new Lexus interface that debuted recently with the NX. That would differentiate the Lexus even more from the Toyobaru twins, which have almost identical cabins. While all of this still resides in the realm of rumor, Toyota did make one official announcement regarding the GR 86. It will make its driving debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where the GR Supra made a similar appearance in 2018. We'll be looking for it when the event opens July 8. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.