2010 Toyota Highlander 4wd V6 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

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.

Toyota may put Mirai hydrogen fuel cell powertrain into a Lexus

Toyota is hoping to define the world of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles with its uniquely styled Mirai sedan in a fashion similar to the way the Prius pops into people's minds when they think of a hybrid. The Japanese automaker believes it can sell about 700 FCEVs worldwide in the first year alone and build rapidly from there to an estimated 3,000 sales in the US by 2017. Of course, not everyone is completely enamored with the Mirai's design. Toyota is rumored to have an alternative in the works to quell some of those naysayers, possibly taking flagship form with a new Lexus LS powered by fuel-cell tech. The LS FCEV could be unveiled by 2017 to sit at the very top of brand's lineup. According to an inside source speaking to the Australian website Motoring, the front end would feature larger air intakes to cool the electrical components. The fuel cell would reportedly be positioned under the front seat, and the hydrogen tanks would be located under and behind the rear seat. Somehow, Motoring claims that all of this might be lighter than the current LS600hL hybrid, to the tune about 440 pounds. The model is also claimed to offer a range of about 239 miles, just a bit shy of the Mirai's roughly 300 miles. Assuming this vehicle actually exists, the cost for buyers of this flagship would almost certainly ring up at more than the LS600hL's $120,440 base price. Autoblog has reached out to Toyota for any further info about this rumor, one way or the other. If we hear back, we'll update this story with the details. Featured Gallery 2016 Toyota Mirai View 15 Photos News Source: MotoringImage Credit: Toyota Green Rumormill Lexus Toyota Alternative Fuels Hybrid Luxury Sedan lexus ls toyota mirai rumor fcev Lexus LS600h

Toyota says no one wants a Toyota electric car

It's no secret that Toyota doesn't really have a heart in pushing pure electric vehicles. The very limited Scion iQ EV project was killed before it went very far and the RAV4 EV project with Tesla was always only meant to produce just 2,600 units, but it didn't even get that far. In short, by all public appearances, Toyota just doesn't see the value of a pure EV. "No one is coming to our door asking us to build a new electric car." – Toyota's Craig Scott Toyota's public reasoning for the lack of a Prius C EV, for example, has often been that customers don't want to compromise on range and that hydrogen is a better bet. Company executives like Bob Carter say so over and over again. A new comment by Craig Scott, Toyota's national manager of advanced technologies, says that the Japanese automaker, give a slightly different spin on things. "Toyota actually favors fuel cells over other zero-emission vehicles, like pure battery electric vehicles," he told the Los Angeles Times. "We would like to be still selling cars when there's no more gas. And no one is coming to our door asking us to build a new electric car." This, understandably, has riled up a lot of EV supporters, many of whom have called on all automakers to sell more electric vehicles. After all, if Nissan can sell around 3,000 EVs a month in the US, couldn't Toyota do something similar? Are there thousands of people coming to the door asking for the fuel cell sedan that Toyota will start selling in the US next year? That answer is unclear, but it certainly doesn't look like Toyota is backing off its H2 bet any time soon.