The annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is quickly turning into a Nurburgring equivalent when it comes to bragging rights of electric vehicle makers. The venue is perfect for EVs:  The track is 12.42 miles long, as cinch even for the most range-challenged EV.  The track finishes at 14,110 ft, a height that deprives ICE-powered cars of oxygen and some 40 percent of their power. An EV just laughs at the breathless engines. I learn all those trivia today in Mitsubishi’s showroom in Tamachi, Tokyo. A descendant on Mitsubishi’s iMiev will be part of the electrified hill climb.

The last year’s winner was the Toyota TMG EV P002. It will defend its title.  Across town in Tokyo, Mitsubishi fields its MiEV Evolution II all-electric racer.  The sport appears to be one for mature men. Mitsubishi-driver and two-time Dakar Rally overall champion Hiroshi Masuoka is a relative youngster at age 53. Toyota’s driver Rod Millen is 61. Pikes Peak legend Monster Tajima, himself 63, won’t return in an EV, but will arrive with a 670hp hachi-roku.

TTAC’s favorite beige appliance, the Toyota Corolla, is due for a redesign this year, and powertrain details are starting to leak out. For TTAC readers, there’s nothing but bad news.

It looks like buyers will have their choice of either a 4-speed automatic or a CVT. A 6-speed manual is technically available, but anyone who ever encounters a Corolla on the rental lot will most likely be stuck with one of these two transmissions.

The question for you, my darling readers, is which one would you prefer? The 4-speed seems like old hat in this day and age of 8,9 and even 10-speed transmissions, but it gets the job done with minimal fuss. Many of us also have a philosophical opposition to CVTs, but as Alex Dykes reports, some of them are actually quite good.

What would you rather take? Me? I’d demand an upgrade at the rental counter. But you don’t have that choice.

Stephen writes:

Sajeev,

My wife has a ’99 Camry (4-cyl) that smokes like a chimney. While I think it’s fun to see other people’s reactions while sitting in traffic on the 405, she’s getting tired of the constant smell of noxious gases and embarrassing looks in the office parking lot.

I’ve narrowed the origin of the smoke down to the exhaust flex coupling right under the oil pan, which is covered in baked on oil residue. It looks like when the engine is running, oil is dripping out of that basket-weaved coupling and causing the smoke. I can’t see anything dripping down onto it from above, however, and it doesn’t seem to consume too much oil, maybe 1/2 qt. over ~ 2 months. This may be due to my wife’s short commute – only about 4 miles a day, on city streets, so it doesn’t have too much time to burn off a lot. Apparently it doesn’t take too much oil to create a large amount of smoke, though.

The forums haven’t been too much help on this one so far, and so I’m stuck on how to proceed. Other than replacing that flex coupling, where’s the next place to look? I’m suspecting it’s a combination of head gasket replacement and a valve job, but I’d rather have a little more confidence in that solution before spending the weekend rebuilding the top end.

Looking forward to your expert opinion.

Sajeev answers:

Dude, I seriously doubt you have a head gasket problem. You’d have far more issues on the 405 if that was the case.

Usually an oil leak (on an otherwise fully functioning engine) dripping on the exhaust comes from leaky valve cover (cam cover to be exact) and that’s not a big deal at all.  I know that 4-cyl Camrys from this era did have bad valve stem seals, but that only causes a little blue-ish smoke at start-up.

Unfortunately I don’t have a Camry around to eyeball me a diagnosis.  So my guess is you have a bad valve cover gasket, loose valve cover bolts or a combination of both.  Do two things, right off the bat.

1. Re-torque the valve cover bolts to spec.

2. Wash the engine with a can of degreaser ($3) and a garden hose. Or a coin-operated car wash. Since you have a drip all the way to the flex tube, spray the degreaser down there too before hosing everything down.

Now what?  Monitor the valve cover gasket for leaks.  Hell, check every single place oil can leak, as you now have that luxury.  Odds are you will find the source, and odds are it is a very cheap gasket that needs attention.

Send your queries to sajeev@thetruthaboutcars.com. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry…but be realistic, and use your make/model specific forums instead of TTAC for more timely advice.

Toyota’s CEO Akio Toyoda threw another bucket of cold water on wild fantasies of autonomous cars. Instead of developing cars that drive themselves, Toyota is thinking more of cars that assist you in driving.

“The driver should be given the freedom to freely select the road to drive on, and where they want to park,” Toyoda told reporters in Tokyo today. “That’s what is making cars unique. Control should remain with the driver.”

Toyoda can envision technology that “provides additional support for better driving, or to avoid risk and danger on the roads, something that might even exceed current abilities of human drivers. Automated driving that fully respects the capabilities of human drivers – that’s what we could support.”

By now, most of you who care about these things are aware that Toyota today announced an annual net profit of $9.73 billion for the fiscal that ended on March 31, more than three times of what the company made in the year before. By now you probably heard that the “weaker yen” is the reason. Not really, says Toyota, claiming that “effects of FOREX rates” added only $1.5 billion to the bottom line. There is another number you may not have heard.

Buried in the supplemental materials, handed out at 3pm in the packed basement conference room at Toyota’s Tokyo HQ, is the news that for the first time, Toyota budgets to cross the 10 million unit mark this fiscal. According to its plans, Toyota wants to sell 10.1 million units this year, including Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino, and, often a source of confusion in the past, but no longer this time, including China. China is looking a bit better after emotions over the islands have cooled down a bit. April sales in China were at 93 percent of their previous year levels, I hear today, and with a few new and sorely needed products, Toyota wants to sell more than 900,000 units this fiscal in the Middle Kingdom.

A few weeks ago, we predicted 10.06 million units for Toyota’s calendar year.

If Toyota delivers this plan (and they usually budget like a porcupine having sex – very carefully) it would be the first auto manufacturer in the world to cross the magical 10 million unit line.

Toyota is even more careful when it comes to bricks and mortar. Other than some OEMs who build new factories faster than cars, overcapacities elsewhere be damned, Toyota wants to use what it has. It will stick with building planned factories such as in Thailand and Indonesia. It may add a little capacity here and there, but otherwise: “No new factories,” its CEO Akio Toyoda says today.

Whenever we talk about production volumes and new records, there are the usual comments that what counts is profits, not volume. Toyoda agrees. “Growth is not the same as the expansion of sales volume,” says Toyota’s CEO today. “Some may think that now is the time to get aggressive. However I think that we are just about to start our sustainable growth.”

Like no other carmaker, Toyota went through a series of gruesome catastrophes that would have brought many others to their knees. What did not kill it, made Toyota stronger. It also taught it to plan for other catastrophes.

For those who advocate that profits are more important than volume, here is a handy table with volumes for the last calendar year and profits for last year’s reporting period. In case you wonder about Volkswagen, refresh your memory here.

Subaru is set to expand capacity at its Indiana plant by 100,000 units, adding the Impreza alongside the Legacy, Outback and Tribeca to help fill demand for its vehicles in the United States. Automotive News is reporting that Impreza’s built at the plant will be sold domestically.

The Japanese-built Impreza will be a welcome addition to the plant, which will serve to further isolate Subaru from things like currency fluctuations and parts shortages. The long rumored expansion will not affect production of TTAC’s favorite punching bag, the Toyota Camry.

Toyota plans to defend its electric title at this year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with a tweaked TMG EV P002. The electric racer is currently on its way to Salisbury, N.C., where TRD USA will perform aerodynamic upgrades to the Radical-based chassis.

On June 30, 61-year-old Rod Millen will  attempt a new record in the TMG EV P002 at Pikes Peak.  TMG is using  an off-board battery-to-battery charger, because there is no reliable connection to the power grid at the race site. A 42 kilowatt lithium ion battery is mounted into the back of a Toyota Hiace,. and can quickly charge the TMG EV P002 even in places where there is no plug in sight.

Ford is “seeking to challenge Toyota Motor Corp.’s dominance in gasoline-electric vehicles,” says Bloomberg.

According to the report, Ford “has rolled out the new C-Max hybrids and electric versions of its redesigned Fusion sedan in the past year to take on Toyota, which has dominated with its Prius hybrids since the early 2000s.” Some say, Ford already subjugated Toyota.

Ford left Toyota in the dust, says Seekingalpha, which reports that in April, Ford delivered “35,034 Fusion hybrids compared to the 3,257 Camry and 19,889 Prius hybrids Toyota moved. “ That of course is complete baloney.

Nobody keeps better track of hybrid sales than our sister publication Hybridcars, which runs a monthly report. According to Hybridcar’s tally, Ford is far away from taking on Toyota. However, sales of Ford’s Fusion hybrid are up, whereas Toyota’s hybrid sales are mostly down.

Toyota’s Americas chief Jim Lentz blamed falling U.S. gasoline prices and said last month that Toyota may not reach its U.S. sales target for Prius hybrids of about 250,000 this year.

The Stagecoach Music Festival is a lot of things to a lot of people. Really, it’s the lifeblood of the place where they hold it, though I’m not entirely sure where that is, because I hadn’t heard of it until yesterday when Toyota released the redesigned 2014 4Runner there.

By “redesigned,” which is Toyota’s word, what I actually mean is “facelifted.” And by “facelifted,” what I actually mean is: I have absolutely no idea what’s changed. I’ve looked over the photos and it still looks identical to the old 4Runner, which is to say that it’s 5 percent brawny, hulking SUV and 95 percent brawny, hulking wheel arches. Also, there are now LEDs.

By coincidence, I got behind a 4Runner in traffic the other day. This provided me with some good reading, because all 4Runner owners are required by Toyota to have bumper stickers. Seriously. When you’re test driving one at the Toyota dealer, they say: do you have a lacrosse bumper sticker? If you reply “no,” they show you a Highlander.

Between the bumper stickers and the Stagecoach Music Festival, I was lost in thought about Toyota SUVs. And that’s when it hit me: Toyota now sells seven different sport-utility vehicles. How did this happen?

A Little History

In order to dissect Toyota’s current SUV lineup, we must return to 1984, which is when the 4Runner first debuted. Back then, there weren’t any music festivals, presumably because the top song was “Karma Chameleon,” and no one wanted to hear that played live.

When the 4Runner came out, it was little more than a Toyota pickup with a roof. Actually, it was quite literally a Toyota pickup with a roof, since most of the early models didn’t even have rear seats. This helped Toyota avoid the famed Chicken Tax, though it didn’t help the owners avoid the question: Why didn’t you just put a camper shell on your Toyota pickup?

Of course, the answer to that question is that even by the mid-1980s, SUVs were already starting to become fashionable. Toyota’s other SUV, the Land Cruiser, was already making its transition from being owned by people who kill things for a living to being owned New England doctors who save lives, but occasionally have to venture out into the great beyond. (This mainly consists of New Hampshire, where they can buy shoes without paying sales tax.)

This SUV fashion statement was furthered by the second-generation 4Runner, which came out in 1989. No longer a pickup with a roof, the new 4Runner actually had creature comforts like sound deadening. The Toyota SUV lineup expanded even more in 1996 with the addition of the RAV4, which arrived on the market before its closest competitor – the Honda CR-V – but failed to offer the CR-V’s highly important stowable picnic table.

Toyota’s SUV lineup grew rapidly after that. In 2001, we got the Highlander, which is tremendously good at delivering reliable, safe transportation, provided you hit the right pedal. The enormous Sequoia arrived the same year, which finally allowed Toyota employees to transport the whole family and the boat. By the end of the decade, Toyota brought its SUV total to seven by adding the Venza, aimed at people who wanted a Camry on stilts, and the FJ Cruiser, aimed at people without eyes.

Too Many?

My first thought is that seven SUVs is just too many for one automaker. After all, this is the same number of models offered by the entire Jeep brand combined with the entire Chrysler brand. How is there even room for all of Toyota’s SUVs? (Like, physically, how is there room at dealerships? Do they use the Mitsubishi lot next door?)

But after careful consideration, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Toyota SUV lineup is just right. This is because no one who buys any Toyota SUV would ever consider buying any other Toyota SUV. Allow me to explain.

At the bottom end, you have the RAV4, which now comes only with a four-cylinder engine and two rows of seats. This is for the CR-V buyer: a small family, or maybe a single person (fine, a single woman) who wants to sit up high but doesn’t have to cart around six different people to soccer practice. Next up is the Highlander, which is for medium-sized families who occasionally do have to cart around six people, but really can’t bring themselves to get a minivan.

Then there are the two muscular, off-roady SUVs: the FJ Cruiser and the 4Runner. While these two are mechanically similar and not far off in purpose, the buyer couldn’t be more different. FJ Cruiser owners think the 4Runner is for old people with families, while 4Runner buyers believe the FJ Cruiser is driven by the kind of people who think it’s acceptable to own an FJ Cruiser. Which, decidedly, is not 4Runner buyers.

At the top of the range, you have the Sequoia – apparently for families who tow boats – and the Land Cruiser, which is bought solely with cash by people who don’t understand why it’s socially awkward to ask the salesman: “So, where do you summer?”

Sadly, I’ve left out the Venza, which is the only part of Toyota’s grand design that’s never really clicked into place. But for all you Toyota folks out there, I have an idea: add some LEDs and make a “redesigned” 2014 model. It would be a big hit at Bonaroo.

Doug DeMuro operates PlaysWithCars.com. He’s owned an E63 AMG wagon, road-tripped across the US in a Lotus without air conditioning, and posted a six-minute lap time on the Circuit de Monaco in a rented Ford Fiesta. One year after becoming Porsche Cars North America’s youngest manager, he quit to become a writer. His parents are very disappointed.

Hello TTAC! For those who wondered where I went, I’m back from my global tour with the USAF. I am back in my native West Texas, attending Texas Tech University in pursuit of a Mechanical Engineering degree. As a break from finals, I test drove the best selling car in the US, with a decidedly continental Captain Solo slant. Thus far, I have consumed two overpriced lattes and wandered around Lubbock for 45 minutes in an attempt to organize my thoughts and come towards an unbiased conclusion about the baffling Toyota Camry.

I’m filled with competing emotions of loathing, rage, and acceptance. I loathed the way it drove, I raged at how the car failed to respond, and came to accept that Toyota did not design the Camry SE for me, but for the demographic lurking in the suburbs of sprawling cities whose main focuses are safety from anything that could harm them, and ignorance in the art of driving.

Toyota designates their sporty models with the badge of “SE”, to separate these offerings from their more pedestrian LE and XLE offerings. The SE’s dual exhaust tips hinted that the crisp lines offered more on tap than the general white goods Camry seen plodding along the commutes of America. The latest redesign of the Camry sports crisp, almost Euro inspired lines. Which results in fewer curves, making the rather large previous generation look bulbous. So, in the great vein of middle-class middle-sized sedans, the Camry looks like a car.

The Camry plies the middle road with no-risk styling, modernizing lines seen on a cabin birthed back in 2001. And the field left Toyota behind: the Fusion, Sonata, Optima and even the Mazda6 advanced the mid-sized segment. They look beautiful, futuristic, elegant, and attractive. Mr. and Mrs. Suburbia can drive something with distinction formerly relegated to the premium classes. Take note Toyota, before it’s too late.

The interior speaks more of the same: functional, useful, and up to date, with nothing distinguishing. Gone are the slick glass panels, now in matte black plastics. Then I detected misaligned buttons, plastic flash seams on the door panels, and mismatched fabric colors. They stand out like a hipster on Wall Street. Never in a Toyota product have I seen build quality issues like these! While minor and common in Chrysler offerings, if quality control Fail crops up in plainly visible areas, where else has Toyota gone astray?

Luckily the stereo’s touchscreen interface uses an adequate speaker system to speak to serene commuting levels. On bumpy roads, touching it without a ‘double-click’ is challenging. The tiller contains numerous buttons to mitigate this problem, all stereo controls (among others) are accessible here. Sadly the buttons protrude heavily into the sporting zone, threatening to change radio stations should you thrash at the wheel in an attempt at sporting prowess.

One major cost-cutting maneuver lies plain once you adjust the climate control. Both fan and temp settings must be adjusted continuously, as Toyota has not installed automatic climate control on the SE, unlike most of its rivals. The fan has a great range (with over 10 settings, wahey!) but once the cabin cools, position 1 wheezes cool air while 2 forces air hard enough to demand splitting the flow between your feet, the dash, and the windshield in order to get a comfortable, cool waft through the cabin. My kingdom for a superior rheostat!

So far, the Camry’s given nothing to inspire rage and loathing on levels not seen since Fox canceled Firefly. But one turn of the wheel brought all these emotions to the surface in a petrolhead rage.

I have not felt steering this bad since the days of British Leyland. The typical numb on-center feel and lack of feedback give immediate and distinct impressions of “toaster on wheels”. Or maybe “outdated and dumb Cylon”. Entering a corner, the steering firms up in a progressive but ultimately futile attempt at sport sedan prowess. I pitched the Camry SE into several hard corners and was rewarded with phenomenal understeer. Any lifting of the throttle in an attempt to tighten up the line resulted in eHarmony levels of rejection. The Toyota plowed ahead like a clueless tourist in Times Square, complete with abundant squealing.

The most recent Camry national advertisement has a typical couple exclaiming the sporty SE is “Grounded to the Ground!” Yes, the tires give ample grip, only noticeable in the minute the car is gripping. Then next comes the aforementioned squealing understeer: this is driving Novocain with track tires.

“But Capt Mike! It’s not a sports car!” you say.

Of course not. Yet in situations where steering feel warns of problems (hydroplaning, ice, collision avoidance) the Camry SE gives lifeless to the point of useless. Beating at the steering column with a wiffle bat and screaming like Yvette Fielding in ‘Most Haunted’ are more entertaining than trying to make the Camry hustle. It doesn’t move, flow, or have chassis alacrity all its rivals exhibit. If Toyota went for safe, they made boringly unsafe instead.

To its credit, in situations needing only straight ahead mindlessness, the Camry does demonstrate remarkable body control and damping. Never upset by rough surface, nor jounced by sudden bumps, the sportiest Camry remains calm, composed and quiet. The V6 pumps out a nice sounding, rev willing 268bhp coupled to a competent shifting 6-speed auto. The shift paddles behind the wheel respond quicker than most systems I’ve driven, yet lag behind the wonderful DSG and PDK systems of Audi and Porsche. (Given the asking price, no surprise there?) Shifts are smooth, and on downshift, the computer actually rev matches! It’s almost sporty: except when shifting, you are still holding onto that wheel and not an actual gear change lever…which kills my inner child.

Brakes? Yes. It has them. Progressive feedback, stops quick, anti-locks engage at the right time. The stability control only intrudes when your attempts at carving corners fails in a squealing mess, yet doesn’t kill all power like some systems that entirely remove the driver from throttle control.

So as I sit here at J&B Coffee across from Texas Tech, surrounded by hipsters, cowboys, students, and apparently a drag queen, have I come to a conclusion about the Camry?

Yes. Toyota built a sequel hoping people will line up like Twilight fans.

Fans completely devoted to something mired in mediocrity, while its competitors, namely the Ford Fusion, and the Kia Optima/Hyundai Sonata twins went for full reboot. Would I recommend the Toyota? 10 years ago, yes, but today, there are far better alternatives, purchased for less and are on-par in reliability. So I plead to Toyota: remember the Supra? The Celica? The 1st and 2nd-gen MR2? You CAN do exciting and beautiful, you just need to rediscover that passion and verve before you become the next GM circa 2005.

]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/05/review-2013-toyota-camry-se-v6/feed/ 124 http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/04/car-redux/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/04/car-redux/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:20:04 +0000 Bertel Schmitt http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=486312

One (not the) car of the future will be extremely low cost, extremely simple, extremely light, it won’t need maintenance, it will be extremely cheap to fix – or so cheap, that it can be tossed when broken. It could look something like the Me.We, a concept car developed by the French architect and designer Jean-Marie Massaud for Toyota.

The car consists of a tubular aluminum structure that carries interchangeable body panels designed in expanded polypropylene. Yes, Styrofoam. The car weighs only 1,650 lbs, the car body itself weighs only 31 lbs. Floor, roof, hood are made from wood, actually from bamboo, wood that grows like weed.

The car can be turned into a pickup, a convertible, an off-roader a small city car.

Massaud’s car is powered by electric wheel hub motors, but that’s not the important part. More important is that there is no adjustable suspension, no panoply of plugs, switches, no electric motors for any and everything that add to the weight clever engineers just have saved. No other technical data are available. “The car drives,” is all a Toyota spokesperson would confirm to Der Spiegel.

We’ll probably never see that car. But it points to one part of the automotive future. Whether we like it, or not.

Toyota released global production numbers for the first quarter of 2013 today, which gives us a chance to officially initiate our 2013 tracking of the World’s Largest Automakers, based on hard data. Having made 2.5 million units in the first three months, Toyota maintains its lead over runner-up GM and third-place Volkswagen, however, the field is tight.

In the first quarter, Toyota is 154,000 units ahead of GM, only 91,000 units behind GM follows Volkswagen. Toyota had planned for a flat 2013 to digest the large increases in the prior year. Asked why his company is down by seven percent in the first quarter, Tokyo-based Toyota spokesman Dion Corbett said that this is largely a mathematical phenomenon: “In the first quarter of 2012, we were still in the catch-up phase and worked overtime after the natural disasters of 2011.” Indeed, Toyota’s worldwide output in the first quarter of 2012 had jumped 66 percent over the first quarter of 2011, which had only be down 14 percent compared to the prior year. The full impact of the disasters was felt only in the months later.

The on-going troubles of Japanese brands in China affected the Q1 results, but only marginally. Toyota’s first quarter production in China stood at 176,000 units, Corbett says. That is down 17.2 percent. In a tight race like this year’s however, every unit counts.

Overall, Toyota is well positioned to maintain its lead throughout the year, and to end the year as the first automaker to pass the 10 million unit mark. A lot can and does happen throughout the year, and the race is still winnable by all three, with varying degrees of difficulty. Volkswagen is held back by a dismal Europe, however, via Opel, GM has to contend with the same problem, albeit to a lesser numerical degree. Toyota’s exposure in Europe is minor. GM and Volkswagen are neck-on-neck in China, where Toyota will continue to suffer. All three are well established to profit from a growing U.S. market, GM and Toyota more so than VW. Slightly off most RADARs, Toyota will gain most from a surging Southeast Asian market. 2012 total sales in the region (including India) exceeded 9 million, with most indicators pointing up. Toyota’s sales in the region were around 1.5 million. “That’s roughly double of what we sell in China, and in China, we have to share,” quipped a Toyota executive a while ago.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Before we dive into the Avalon, let’s talk competition. Back when the LHS and Park Avenue roamed the land, the Avalon’s competition was easy to identify and easy to overcome. Nearly 20 years later those shoppers are in a nursing home and Toyota is hunting for younger flesh in a more competitive market. We now have the larger-than-ever Taurus, a new Impala that doesn’t make me want to put my eyes out, the Azera/Cadenza twins, Nissan’s Maxima and the less-Bentley aping 300.

But wait, I’m forgetting one. The “elephant in the room” that is the Lexus ES. You see, the kind of shopper that needs a new car and immediately thinks “Toyota Avalon” is far more likely to cross shop the Lexus ES than the gangsta 300 or the Impala. (You know I’m right.) After spending a a week with the twins back-to-back, this comparison is even more valid.

Exterior

While the “I’m a bigger Camry” look is still going on, Toyota has injected enough creases and curves that my 33 year old eyes gave the Avalon a second look (of course, I did buy a 2000 LHS new in 2000, so…) It’s not as exciting as the new Cadenza, but Toyota’s efforts look better thought out than the 11/10ths Cruze grille Chevy put on the Impala.

The new rump features more chrome, dual exhaust tips and tail lamps that wrap well around the side and thankfully share no styling cues with the Camry’s funky “apostrophe” shaped lights. The engineers stretched the greenhouse over the trunk to increase the visual length of the car, a trick that worked on me until I looked at the spec sheet. At 195 inches, the Avalon is 6-inches longer than the Camry, but it’s several inches shorter than the Chrysler, Chevy and Ford. Since the ES and Avalon are now twins separated at birth, most of the dimensions are common except that the Avalon gets a bigger booty (and more trunk space in the process) and has a lower ride height giving it a more aggressive stance.

Interior

The exterior looks like a Toyota product. No news there. Inside is a different ball of wax. The interior is why you may have heard people saying they prefer the Avalon to its Lexus sister. If you recall from our review of the Lexus ES 300h, there were plenty of hard plastics within reach of the driver, and instead of a leather dash (like the 300 wears) or stitched pleather goodness like the competition is wearing, the ES stuck with an injection molded dashboard “faux-stitched” with real thread. In an unexpected contrast, the Avalon’s interior has a more premium feel, thanks largely to heavy use of (you guessed it) stitched pleather. The faux-cow in the Avalon may not be hand-sewn (Toyota is mum on the subject) but its liberal use on the doors, dashboard and center console beat every competitor (except for that Chrysler with the leather dashboard option.)

My lunch group was divided about the styling, some feeling that Toyota had gone too far and the rest thinking it was a bold choice for Toyota. I fell into the latter camp. Yes, there’s an enormous driver’s window defogger vent (in the picture above), but I appreciate the fact that a styling direction was chosen rather than just repeating the same “beige” the Avalon has been known for. That a group of adults in their 30s were arguing the merits of an Avalon interior is nothing short of revolutionary.

Compared to the Avalon’s Lexus sister, the interior has a more expansive and harmonious feel despite the heavily styled parts. I think I chalk some of this up to the tan-on-black color scheme our tester sported, but plenty of it has to do with dashboard shapes. Lexus’ two-tier dashboard and the “high and centered” position of the infotainment screen make the dashboard feel more imposing than the Avalon’s sweeping forms and less “bulky” dashboard on the passenger’s side.

The front seats are functionally identical to those in the ES with the exception that the number of power-motions varies by the trim level. The thrones are thickly padded and comfortable for long journeys but larger shoppers should know that they are more “bucket” shaped than previous models. Taller drivers and passengers will appreciate the largest cabin Toyota has ever built, including the LS 600hL. With 42.1 inches of legroom up front, 39.2 in the rear, and class leading headroom, the Avalon swallows those tall kids of yours more easily than any front driver this side of the Cadillac XTS. How does Toyota do this with a shorter sedan? They “skimp” on trunk space. Our tester’s 16 cubic foot trunk is nearly 25% smaller than the Taurus and 18% smaller than the Impala.

Infotainment & Gadgets

The Avalon comes in four trim levels, three of which have no available options for the picking. Things start with the $30,990 XLE which comes well equipped with 8 speakers, a touchscreen audio system, Bluetooth integration, dual-zone climate control, keyless go, and a heated 8-way power seat for the driver. The $33,195 XLE Premium tosses in a moonroof, backup cam, an extra speaker, and an auto-dimming rear-view mirror. For $35,500 the XLE Touring adds navigation, shift paddles, driver’s seat memory, fog lights, 18-inch wheels with 225-width rubber, and Toyota’s Entune data services. Our tester was the top-of-the-line Limited which starts at $39,650 and gets auto-dimming side mirrors with puddle lamps, HID headlamps, 11 JBL speakers, rain sense wipers, three-zone climate control, heated rear seats, ambient lighting, a color HVAC control panel, and a passenger seat with eight powered directions instead of four. Limited buyers can further option their car with two technology packages, for $1,750 you get radar cruise control with pre-collision warning and automatic high beams and for an extra $200 Toyota will integrate a wireless charging mat into the console.

On the infotainment side it is important to remember that Toyota makes two different systems that share nothing with one another. The picture above is the 7-inch system in our Limited tester and the picture below is the 6.1 inch “display audio” system in lesser Avalons. The 6.1 system has more basic graphics but is more responsive and is designed around an “app” model where things like navigation (available only on the Touring trim) are just another “app” available via the “apps” button on the dash. The 7-inch system uses XM Satellite data services while the 6.1 uses your paired smartphone for dynamic content. The 6.1 provides a fairly basic navigation experience, but it is easy to use and very responsive. The 7-inch system (only on Limited) is the familiar Toyota/Lexus system that’s been around for several years that has been updated with Entune data services, smartphone app integration and voice commands for controlling your media device ala Ford’s SYNC. This is the same software used in the Lexus, except without the atrocious “Remote Touch” joystick.

Going back to the ES comparison, since the Limited model uses essentially the same system, driving the ES and Avalon back to back served to solidify my dislike of the Lexus pain stick. The exact same interface is considerably easier to use, less distracting and more intuitive when you can glance at the screen and stab the option with your finger.

Drivetrain

The 3.5L V6 is buttery-smooth, but churns out a less-than-thrilling 268 HP and 248 lb-ft of twist. For reasons I don’t understand, Toyota has yet to fit their D4-S direct-injection system which would make it more competitive on paper (the competition are all around 290 HP). (Ford of course still offers the insane 365HP twin-turbo V6.) Proving that horsepower isn’t everything, the Avalon’s light 3,461lbs curb weight allows it to scoot to 60 in 6.25 seconds, among the fastest in the group behind the 365 HP Taurus SHO and the 290 HP Maxima (thank the Nissan CVT). While we haven’t been able to get our hands on the new Impala, expect it to be fairly quick thanks to its low curb weight as well. Meanwhile the 300 V6, LaCrosse, Azera, MKS and plenty of others will be seen in the Avalon’s rear view mirror.

The only major change for 2013 is the fitting of paddle shifters to the 6-speed automatic transaxle in Touring and Limited trims. With the paddles comes revised software that blips the throttle on downshifts. Don’t get too excited, since this cog swapper is just as up-shift-happy and down-shift-resistant as it was before.

For $2,360 on XLE Premium and $1,750 on Touring and Limited you can opt for Toyota’s 200 HP hybrid system. This is the same setup under the hood of the Camry and ES 300h and increases the Avalon’s MPGs from 21/31/25 (City/Highway/Combined) to 40/39/40 resulting an a savings of $900 per year at $4 a gallon. The trade off is the loss of one full second on the run to 60, well worth the cost in my book.

Drive

For 2013 the Avalon has ditched the wallowy ride synonymous with the model in favor of stiffer springs and a more buttoned down demeanor. Thanks to the new found corner carving skills and a curb weight that is 600lbs lighter than the Taurus, the Avalon is more engaging, composed and nimble than the heavy Ford. Notice I didn’t say “handles better.” The reason the Taurus clings onto first place in our road holding test is down to rubber, seriously wide 255/45R19 rubber (Taurus Limited.)

The Hyundai Azera and its Kia cousin are well-priced alternatives. While the Avalon beats them handily in terms of interior refinement, the Koreans have plenty of power (293 HP) and coupled with a curb weight that’s only 150-200 lbs more than the Avalon they are quicker off the line. Thanks to more aggressive rubber and excellent suspension dynamics the pair is also faster around a track. Of course, shoppers in this segment don’t really care about handling limits and that’s a problem for the dynamic duo because their refinement quotient is still a notch below the new Avalon.

Nissan’s Maxima is fairly light at 3,565lbs and has one of the more powerful engines at 290 HP and 261 lb-ft of twist. Thanks to the low starting ratio and step-less nature of the Nissan CVT, the Maxima burns rubber on its way to the best 0-60 time in this bunch of 5.6 seconds. Of course I can’t talk Nissan without admitting that the CVT isn’t the “sporting” choice because of the “rubber-band” like feel they impart but I don’t think its much of a problem in this segment. On the down side, the Maxima is starting to show its age in a stable of products shifting to a new design language.

The Chrysler 300 is the odd man out. I’m including it because some of our readers would have complained if it had been left out. The problem is the 300 appeals to an entirely different sort of person, both because of its aggressive looks and its RWD drivetrain. Still, the 300 V6 would be my personal choice in this shootout, but I have to acknowledge that a bold RWD American sedan isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Chrysler’s smooth 292 HP V6 and the slick ZF 8-speed automatic are no match for the 300′s higher curb weight making the 300 slower to 60 by nearly a full second. Although I prefer the RWD dynamics of the 300, the heavier curb weight means the Avalon is the nimbler choice. On the flip side, the 300 Luxury Series (the most appropriate cross shop) has a gorgeous full-leather dash and the ride of a full-sized luxury sedan.

That brings us full circle to the elephant in the room: the 2013 Lexus ES. Our Avalon Limited tester has so far knocked the ES to its knees by delivering a better interior, nearly identical feature content, and an easier to use infotainment system. Of course, siblings fight dirty and the Avalon kicks her sister while she’s down by handling better thanks to stiffer springs and wider rubber. When you factor in the Avalon’s lower sticker price and the reality that the Avalon and ES are likely to be as reliable as one another and cost essentially the same to maintain, you have to ask yourself how much that Lexus logo is worth to you. Even outside the direct Toyota vs Lexus comparison the Avalon is highly competitive with an excellent interior, plenty of power, huge back seat and a price tag that isn’t as frightening as the “luxury” alternatives. I never thought I would say this about the Avalon: it’s the aggressive sister that knocks down her stuck-up twin and steals the boyfriend by promising to be a cheaper date. Since I like my women cheap and feisty, I’d take the Avalon up on her offer and only think about the ES once a year at family reunions.

Hit it

• The best interior with a Toyota badge.
• Never thought I would call an Avalon “nimble.”
• “Better” than the Lexus for less.

Quit it

• No ability to add navigation to the base display audio system.
• 268 HP is nothing to brag about in 2013.
• Smaller trunk than the competition.

Toyota provided the vehicle, insurance and one tank of gas for this review

Specifications as tested

0-30: 2.55 Seconds

0-60: 6.25 Seconds

1/4 Mile: 14.51 Seconds @ 98.8 MPH

Average Fuel Economy: 23.2 MPG over 534 Miles

I recently watched a rather disturbing YouTube video. In it, a Toyota Highlander is seen terrorizing a quiet suburb, not unlike a kid with a loud exhaust on his car, or worse: a neighbor who hasn’t mowed his lawn for a few weeks.

For those of you who are at work and can’t watch the video, I’ll sum it up for you: a security camera shows a Highlander pulling up to a quiet home in the kind of suburb where covenants say your bricks can be one of three highly distinct colors: light brown (which the builder probably calls something like “Stable Hay Cream”), dark brown (“Mojave Bronze”), or – for the uncultured among us – normal brown (“Sahara Sand”).

The Highlander slowly pulls into a driveway, and then quickly accelerates to attack the garage door. Then it backs out into the street and lunges forward once again, slamming into the garage door a second time. Finally, it reverses into the street again and does a wild J-turn that looks more realistic than any car-related scene in the last four James Bond movies.

The video’s description, which blames a stuck accelerator pedal, says the driver is a woman who was picking up teenage girls for a carpool. When Autoblog posted the story, their astute commenters – who use names like Johnny Trailerpark and PICKLEBOY (yes, with the caps) – needed to hear no more. This is a sample of several highly sophisticated remarks from the Autoblog comment section:

1. It’s a woman that got confused. It happens :)
2. I only see a foolish woman behind the wheel.
3. 100 bucks it was a woman driver
4. Attacking the house of the woman cheating with her husband?

I’ve never really bought into the “women are horrible drivers” thing. This is because many of my worst on-road experiences have been with men, who say things like “watch this” significantly more often than they use their turn signals. Recently, for example, I crashed a Panamera into a guy who was trying to make an illegal left turn across seven lanes of traffic. In the rain. At night. His excuse, quite memorably, was: “I didn’t see you.” If only my car had been Stable Hay Cream.

My Theory

Once I rejected the “it’s a woman, so she must be at fault” theory, I started to come around to the stuck accelerator explanation of events. There were two reasons for this. One is obvious: Toyota recently had highly-publicized problems with stuck accelerator pedals. This led them to recall every single model since the 1979 Corona, plus a few thousand Power Wheels children’s toys and dozens of wheeled drink carts.

The other thing that convinced me the driver wasn’t at fault is the simple reality of what’s shown in the video. Consider it: first, she hits the garage door in Drive. Then she takes her foot off the gas, places it on the brake, moves the gear lever into Reverse, and backs up. Then she takes her foot back off the gas, places it on the brake again, moves the gear lever back into Drive, and hits the garage door a second time. Finally, she does the very same thing again, resulting in the J-Turn. With so many switches between the gas and brakes, it could be intentional – but it can’t be pedal misapplication.

To confirm my analysis, I sent the video to a friend who is a highly competent attorney in the automotive industry. Actually, I don’t know if he’s highly competent, but I believe he must be since he often uses words like “pursuant.”

His view on the video was very much the same as mine. But he had one question: do you need to push the Highlander’s brake to move the gear lever from Drive to Reverse? If you can move the gear lever without pushing the brake, the driver is probably at fault, since she was moving the lever while mashing the gas. But if you have to push the brake to move the gear lever, then she couldn’t have been pushing the throttle. In that case, the culprit was probably a vehicle malfunction – or an intentional act.

The Test

Since I’ve driven many of today’s finest automatics, and also a few Fiat 500s, I was pretty sure that you have to push the brake to shift from Drive to Reverse. But since I’m committed to bringing you the finest automotive journalism on the planet, as long as I don’t have to change out of my pajamas, I decided to find out for sure. This would involve my friend Mark, who is also an attorney, though he rarely uses the word “pursuant.” To make up for it, he has a beard.

More importantly, he has a four-cylinder Toyota Highlander. While this causes a problem on hills and highway onramps, it would be perfect for my test. So I called Mark, and our conversation went something like this:

Me: Hey, man. Can I come over?
Mark: Uh, dude. It’s noon on a weekday. I’m at work.
Me: But I need to test the Highlander!
Mark: You’re wearing your pajamas, aren’t you?

Mark and I eventually made plans to meet up on Sunday, when we would test the Highlander in his driveway. And guess what? You can shift from Drive to Reverse without pushing the brake. You can also shift from Reverse to Drive. In fact, you can shift from Drive to Park without pushing the brake, and Neutral to Drive, and Low to Neutral. Basically, you can move the gear lever from any gear to any other gear while your feet just dangle out the window.

In other words, the driver in the video was probably jamming the gas while she was shifting gears. There’s no stuck throttle here. Just a very angry homeowner with a driveway full of Sahara Sand bricks.

Doug DeMuro operates PlaysWithCars.com. He’s owned an E63 AMG wagon, road-tripped across the US in a Lotus without air conditioning, and posted a six-minute lap time on the Circuit de Monaco in a rented Ford Fiesta. One year after becoming Porsche Cars North America’s youngest manager, he quit to become a writer. His parents are very disappointed.

The booths of Japanese automakers were mobbed today just like those of any other automaker at the Shanghai Motor Show. The action at the showrooms are a different matter. Sales of Japanese cars in China remain problematic more than half a year after rowdy crowds took to the streets last September to torch Japanese cars and showrooms. Sales of Japanese cars in China were down 14.3 percent in March while sales of U.S. carmakers were up 31.1 percent. Sales of German brands rose 24.6 percent.

Toyota does not expect to reach positive territory until August this year, Hiroji Onishi, head of Toyota’s China operations, told a small circle of reporters this morning at the Shanghai show. Asked why August, another Toyota executive quipped: “After previous riots in 2005 and 2010, it took half a year to recover. We figure, this time it might take twice as long.”

Others think it might take longer. The worries that Japanese cars get set on fire or smashed have largely abated in China. However, the image of Japanese has taken a lasting hit. “I don’t want to apologize to my friends for my choice of cars,” an American-educated Chinese executive who works for a European pharmaceutical company told me today in the lobby of my Shanghai hotel. He is in the market for a new car, and cross-shopped the Land Cruiser Prado and the Audi Q5. He now tilts toward the Q5, despite the massive recall of the DSG double-clutch gearbox last March.

Onishi said there are “other issues” that hold his company back from recouping lost market share. Those issues being a lack of new and exciting product. Toyota hopes to get back in the good graces of Chinese buyers with revamped versions of the low-cost Vios sedan and its Yaris hatchback sibling. The approximately $14,500 cars probably aren’t low-cost enough to compete with the $9,000 Chevrolet Sail. Onishi said the Daewoo-platformed car was the only low cost car that so far has made a big splash in China.

Buick shows  a few interesting concepts in Shanghai. One, a business MPV attracted the interest on GM’s competition at Toyota. Soon-to-be Toyota chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada came for a quick visit, eyed the prototype for a few seconds, and left.

He completely ignored the China-designed Buick Riviera concept.

Within 50 feet of getting out of my old 74 Chevy C10 I hear a familiar voice.

“Hey Steve. How are ya?”

A 6 foot 7 inch monstrosity of a man pats me hard on the back and dislodges the few cobwebs that remained from a 5 AM wake-up call.

Editor’s Note: This is the second part of the series. The first can be found here.

Mike Thies is a retired warden from upstate New York. He is also a member of the local auto media association and spends his ample pension on a web site that specializes in publicizing local car shows and regional get-togethers.

We make the usual car related small talk while viewing a long line of vehicles. At least 50 or so. The line of rolling iron in front of us ranges from the sublime to the “They brought that!”. With plenty of the later to overcome the former.

This would be the time where I would normally share pictures with the TTAC faithful of all the wondrous rides. From the pristine to the junkyard ready. But instead, you’ll just have to imagine it.

For every 1966 Rambler American wagon, there are three tired early-80’s Oldsmobiles that look like they are too ratted out for the rats.  One of these, almost on cue, starts smoking and leaking coolant as soon as it arrives on the lot. That one gets sandwiched between two trucks at the parking lot so that the leaks don’t spread.

In our first meeting of ‘extras’ we are quickly given the ground rules.

No wandering.

No pictures or video cameras.

No commiserating with actors or personnel.

When we say, “Quiet on the set.” We mean it… so shut up!

The group is treated to a nice breakfast and, after an hour or so of moving cars, the set is ready.

For the next 45 minutes I get to see a bearded guy dressed in an earth tone suit get out of an orange 1976 Toyota Corolla.

He opens the door, grabs his satchel, closes the rickety door, looks at his watch, walks fifty feet, and spits. He gets to do this six times in a forty-five minute period.

We sit in the grass and do nothing. After that we spend two hours in a holding area and do nothing. We then have lunch, go back to the holding area, and do nothing.

By this time my wife and I have exhausted the 273 topics related to our kids and friends, and begin to branch out to the other folks who have decided to take a Monday off and enjoy an all too rare 70 degree day here in Atlanta.

Retirees, hipsters, blue collar folks who are light on construction work.  The gathering of personalities is a fun one and we begin to shoot the breeze on a long list of personal stories while the workers on the set walkie-talkie each other in a language that is riddled with acronyms and cliché.

“We need the MG at the RL with the blue crew on the ready for 49, Stat!”

It sounds like a football huddle. But in actuality it’s a bunch of people who seem to enjoy what appears to be low stress work.  Maybe it’s just that Southerners are a bit more laid back. Or it could be that the coffee I had earlier in the day is no longer able to keep me on an even keel. I start to break one of the commandments of the early morning and begin talking with the stage folk.

Within a few minutes, one of them recognizes that I’m wearing a Carmax Auctions emblem on my jacket. When I tell him that I write for TTAC he immediately blurts out…

“Wait, are you Steve Lang from The Truth About Cars?”

What follows is over an hour of “Can you help me?” and “Let me tell you about…” followed by a few stories about my car buying work.  One of the bigger wigs asks me if I can help him find a white on white 1999 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 convertible. I flip through his Iphone and hook him up with a wholesale auction site that will automatically ping me if one comes up.

Another asks me if I can find him a “Really cheap, cheap, cheap car that is reliable. I only have $1000.” I tell him about the coolant hurling 1983 Oldsmobile that is right next to my Chevy… and a 20 year old Cadillac that I just got as a $500 trade-in with a landau roof and trombone case red interior.

“I don’t want a V8. They drink too much gas. Do you have any Toyotas or Hondas?”

I restrain myself from saying my favorite line from Caddyshack, “Shut up! You will get nothing and like it!”. In fact, I used to be ‘that guy’ who wanted a chosen brand. So I figure maybe this is the right time to encourage some delayed gratification.

I tell him to save his money and take his time, “$1000 cars are junk. Save your money for a while and buy something worth keeping.”

He internalizes this for seven seconds and then starts hammering away again about Toyotas and Hondas. I feel like I’m back at the car lot instead of a movie set.

The long day of shooting film and shooting the breeze finally finishes at 6 P.M. 12 hours of non-work for me. Not even a scene for us extras! But no matter, I had fun. Before I leave, the guy who wants the Porsche asks if I want to come by on Wednesday and do a fitting.

A free tan, beige or brown suit with loafers?  Sure! Why not! I have a wedding in a couple of months and my future sister-in-law is fond of dressing like an old hippie.

I walk back to my car, pass by the “$1000 Toyota” guy who is now eyeing the coolant spewing Oldsmobile, and my wife and I pick up the kids and take them to Dairy Queen. A perfect end to a day with great conversation and Soviet levels of productivity.

Production of the Lexus ES will move from Toyota’s plant in Kyushu, Japan to a plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, where its platform twin, the Toyota Avalon, is built.

Previously, the Lexus RX was the only Lexus vehicle made outside Japan, produced at a plant in Ontario. The move to Kentucky was no doubt helped along by a $146.5 million “tax incentive package”. The Wall Street Journal reports that the expansion taking place to accommodate Lexus will result in 570 new jobs.

1998 Pontiac Rageous

All good things, even obscure and maybe even not so good, must come to an end. You can see previous installments of the Encyclopedia of Obscure Concept and Show Cars here, here, here, and here.

Oldsmobile, Packard, Plymouth. Another dead brand with obscure concept cars in this part of the alphabet is Pontiac. This is their Rageous concept from 1997, another proto-CUV, and what some have called “the Aztek that should have been”. Imagine a four door Trans Am (the rear doors are suicide style like on the RX-8 Mazda) with  a hatchback and a flat load floor that will accommodate a 4X8 sheet of plywood. A ’90s vintage LT1 and a Corvette based rear suspension completed the package, which of course had Pontiac’s supernumerary nostrils from that era. Actually, the Rageous isn’t that obscure. Mattel’s Hot Wheels released their own version of it in 1999 and reissued it at least 8 times since then. Like the Jeep Jeepster concept, if you’re a Gen Y’er, or a baby boomer who collects Hot Wheels you may actually remember the Pontiac Rageous.

Speak of the devil. Not a bad idea, but much better in theory than in practice.

The name Banshee has graced a number of sporty Pontiac show cars starting in 1964.  You can see how GM designers were trying to come up with an integrated rear spoiler and this 1988 Banshee did have an influence on the Firebird and Camaro but I think the 4th generation Camaro, which came out in 1993, had an even better integrated spoiler.

In the early 1960s, Pontiac made a couple of Tempest based concepts including the Monte Carlo in 1962, a two seat speedster with cut down glass and fairings on the back deck. I dig the period correct mag wheels secured with a single knock off hub nut.

The following year the Pontiac Tempest went from sporty to elegant with the Fleur de Lis, though if you look at the badge in the grille, it’s got a 326 V8 under the hood. You could argue that the first muscle cars were small Pontiacs with V8 engines.

The Pontiac Piranha, introduced in 2000, had a logo that could be used to make an Angry Fish spinoff. It’s so obscure that it doesn’t even have its own Wikipedia page, though Mattel’s Matchbox brand has issued it four times since 2002 and it’s apparently still in production. Perhaps Mattel sold more Pontiacs in that brand’s last decade than General Motors did.

Like Ford’s Ghia Prima, Pontiac tried the Nissan Pulsar sedan/hatch/wagon idea with the Salsa show cars in 1992: “A highly versatile small sport utility vehicle with a unique expanding body configuration.” Note the surfboards, a recurring show car motif.

Did anyone put a poster of the Pontiac Stinger on their wall?

In 2004, to demonstrate the flexibility of the then new but now abandoned Kappa platform, GM brought out three show cars, the production version of the upcoming 2006 Pontiac Solstice, the Saturn Curve concept and the Chevy Nomad concept. The Curve, a chunky, muscular design that I thought looked kinda funny, never made it to production but Saturn did get the Sky, it’s own version of the Solstice roadster. The Nomad, a modern take on GM’s legendary Corvette station wagon from the 1954 Motorama touring car show, was probably never even considered for production. Saturn and Pontiac are dead, as is the Kappa platform. As far as I can tell, since the Sky, Solstice and Sky-based Opel GT have gone out of production no current GM product is based on Kappa architecture. Of the three show cars in 2004, the Nomad was the most popular. My guess is that had Chevy made that version of the Kappa, the platform might still be alive. Somewhere a shuttered Pontiac-Saturn dealer is having Nate Altmanesque dreams of buying some tooling.

Some of the less obscure show cars of the late 1950s and early 1960s were ideas that seemed perfectly reasonable then but outlandish now, like the two wheeled gyroscope stabilized Ford Gyron. You may have heard of the Gyron, but have you ever seen the Simca Fulgur from Chrysler’s French subsidiary? Fulgar means “lightning” in Latin and I suppose the connection was electricity. The Fulgur was another supposedly gyrostabilized vehicle, with electric power (some references say atomic) and an “electronic brain”.

The 1990 Subaru SRD-1 was the first concept car out of the Subaru Research and Design center in Cypress, California. Recognizing that they were selling the most popular import station wagons, Subaru went with their strengths and designed what they called ”an innovative “dream wagon” concept for the ’90s and beyond”. The “beyond” part was a reference to a “family wagon” with features designed “with characteristic attention to the future needs of the mature wagon users”. The typical Subaru owner then was often rather frugal and I guess for that crowd knowing that the car would still be running after the kids move out and you start buying Depends would be a selling point.

The Suzuki Sea from 2005 and 2006 was one of a number of forgettable Suzuki concepts that embraced surfer culture. You’ll excuse me if I’d prefer a real woody wagon (and definitely not the Dodge Kahuna) if I was going to go surfing.

For a conservative company decried by some as producing “beigemobiles”, Toyota has made some rather odd concepts, like the Pod from 2002.

I’m guessing that like the Subaru SRD-1, Toyota’s CAL-1, from the 1977-78 show circuit, celebrated that Japanese company’s then new California design center, in this case CALTY. Though it was designed in the United States, it was revealed at the 1977 Tokyo show, which may explain the right hand drive. Based on an A40 Celica Supra, the CAL-1 was a ute, with wooden decking over the pickup bed. Also reminiscent of Subaru are the BRAT style seats in the bad.

The Volkswagen AAC, shown here at Chicago in 2000, was another VW pickup truck that they didn’t sell in North America.

Do you remember the Volkswagon ARVW (Aerodynamic Research Volkswagen) from 1980? For a while it was the fastest diesel powered car in the world: 362.07 km/h.

A show car doesn’t have to be old to be obscure. The Volvo Concept You was on the show circuit last year. It’s a gorgeous car and a look at what the next Volvo S80 flagship will be like, but I think even Volvo wants to keep it obscure. They kept it behind glass at the 2012 NAIAS.

Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, a realistic perspective on cars & car culture and the original 3D car site. If you found this post worthwhile, you can dig deeper at Cars In Depth. If the 3D thing freaks you out, don’t worry, all the photo and video players in use at the site have mono options. Thanks – RJS

GM published global sales numbers for the first quarter of 2013, and media from The Detroit News to Bloomberg considered it headline material that GM edged out Volkswagen – barely. Who would have thought that the scrappy maker of cars that – if the blogs are to be believed – can’t keep their wires from crossing is breathing down the neck of the formerly mighty General?

GM sold 2.36 million units worldwide in the first quarter, the company says. Volkswagen is just 90,000 units behind at 2.27 million sold. GM’s sales grew 3.6 percent in the first quarter while Volkswagen’s grew 5.1 percent – despite a very tough situation at home in Europe.

Toyota will publish its quarterly numbers some time next week, so for the time being we can only extrapolate from the first two months. The picture for the first quarter is what we probably will see for the rest of the year: A very tight race for the top spot that could be won by any of the three once the year is over.

Toyota had planned for a flat 2013 to digest the large increases in the prior year. This was before the island troubles put a crimp in their plans and those of all Japanese automakers in China. Toyota’s worldwide production was down 6.2 percent for the first two months of the year, and we expect this trend to continue.

In the same China, the race for world dominance is decided. Volkswagen sold 769,200 units in China in the first three months, up 21.3 percent from the 633,900 it sold last year. GM kept Volkswagen in check in China by selling 816,373 units, up 9.6 percent. Nevertheless, even there the race is tight, and the two contenders are separated by what counts as rounding errors in China.

The 420,000 mile Ford truck. The 420,000 mile Chevy truck. The 420,000 mile Camry. The 420,000 mile Accord.

I have covered all of these brands and models to the point now where I just hope, wish and dream of a different vehicle to highlight.

A few months ago I finally had a pair of Saturns make it to the top. A little before that there was a 90′s Altima that handily beat nearly 7000 other cars and trucks.  This week…

No such luck. Although there was one surprise.

This is how the Top 5 looked this time around out of 6863 trade-in contestants for the week.

1. 2003 Ford E-350 XLT:  426,776 miles

2. 2000 Honda Civic EX:  387,915 miles

3. 2001 Nissan Xterra SE: 377,966 miles

4. 2000 Ford Crown Vic:   353,951 miles (TAXI!)

5. 1999 Toyota Sienna LE: 341,630 miles

The Xterra was a welcome surprise from the usual Toyota, Honda, Ford, and Chevy domination.

A Manual. 4WD. The engine needed service but that won’t matter given that it will be fixed up and exported in short time. Almost every older, high mileage, Japanese SUV with four-wheel-drive and a handshaker winds up on the export side of the ledger.

Like many of the exported vehicles with gonzo mileage, I’m sure this one will also be given an ‘exempt’ recording of the mileage on the title and a nice healthy 200k mile rollback. They sell better that way.

So the big five here are more than likely highway oriented vehicles. Livery and transport companies usually favor domestics for their continuous travels, and we can argue the reasons why until Ford finally builds a suitable Panther replacement.

High mileage is fun to categorize, but let’s face it. There is bias. The fleet world is Ford and Chevy happy. So let’s look at the high mileage list from a more aged perspective.

What about vehicles that are at least 20 year old? What brands and models registered the highest mileage this time around?

Number one would be this 1992 Toyota Paseo with another handshaker and sun faded racing stripes on either side of the hood. Toyotas from the mid-80′s thru the mid-90′s have a notorious tendency to have their paint streaked and speckled at the points where the sun and debris hit em’ the most.

Still, even the worst Toyota paint jobs are far better than the wafer thin domestic paint-jobs of the time. But if I can offer one universal weakness to early-90′s Toyotas, it would be paint fade.

This 21 year old mileage champion was followed by a 1990 Lexus LS400 (290k), a 1990 Honda Accord (279k),  a 1993 Ford F150 (278k), and a 1992 Camry (277k).

So it seems like we’re stuck at the same point as before. Well, maybe not folks. I’ll throw in a few factoids given that today is tax day. .

After 64,049 vehicles tallied, the brands with the highest percentage of models with over 180k are…

1. Honda 

2. Toyota

3. Lexus

4. Acura

and a surprising 5th…

5. GMC

The first four have 20+% of their trade-ins with over 180k. GMC is at just over 17%.

Now for an even bigger shocker…

13% of Mitsubishis are now traded in with over 180k. I happen to finance an awful lot of them these days with a clear conscience. So this is no surprise from where I sit. 

Meanwhile, Mercedes tallies a mere 6.9%. BMW yields 5.9%. Audi barely hits the mileage pedal with only 4.5%, while VW does little better, even with dozens of TDI models, at 4.9%.

To further crown the European propensity for penurious plentitude when it comes to all things mileage related, the two absolute worst marques for mileage are Jaguar at 2.6% and Land Rover at 2.8%. Porsche is even worse at 0.52%. But since a Porsche daily driver is an exception rather than the rule, we gave it a bye.

On the homefront, we have one other surprise. Cadillac is barely beating the bad old Kias of the 90′s and early 2000′s. 3.8% for the former Northstar division vs. 3.7% for a company that brought us shitboxes such as the Sephia and the early Kia Rios.

Do you have free time today? Or happen to work for an OEM? Click here and have fun.

Yesterday, Ford announced that its Focus “is officially the world’s best-selling passenger car,” with 1,020,410 units sold worldwide in 2012. That according to registration data compiled by Polk.

“Wrong” Toyota said today.

Toyota’s spokesman Ryo Sakai told Reuters that Toyota sold 1.16 million Corollas in 2012 and that “Toyota still sees the Corolla as the world’s most popular car”.

Last year, Ford got into similarly hot water by quoting a report by HIS Automotive, setting off an intense discussion about the finer differences of models, body styles and name plates.

TTAC obtained a spreadsheet from Toyota’s car counting department that shows the Corolla ahead of the Focus any way you look at it.  The Toyota Sedan alone racked up 1,083,610 in sales, handily beating the 1,020,410 of the Focus. Various other Corolla versions bring the name plate total to 1,160,764.

Would one count the many derivatives and other model names under which the Corolla is sold around the globe, the total would grow to 1,381,842 units.

The mid-size sedan sales race has become a close one over the first quarter of this year – while the Toyota Camry has established a healthy lead, the race for second through fourth place comes down to an 8,000 unit spread between the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima and the (game-changing) Ford Fusion.

Despite leading the segment with 100,830 units sold in 2013, sales of the Camry were down 4 percent compared to 2012. Automotive News quotes Toyota’s Jim Lentz as saying that ”not sure we can do much more than 400 [thousand] Camrys”, suggesting that the car may lose some market share – and possibly the title of America’s best-selling car.

While Toyota has been willing to put cash on the hood of the Camry to move units, it is facing some stiff competition. The Camry was outsold slightly by the Nissan Altima in March, while the second place Accord, with 88,427 units sold, is apparently the best selling mid-size sedan on a retail basis – if you believe Honda’s claims.

The third place Altima is down by about 10 percent versus Q1 2012 sales, with 86,952 units. Last year saw Nissan dealers aggressively pushing stock of the soon-to-be-replaced 2012 model out the door to make way for the new car. Meanwhile, the Ford Fusion has cracked the 80,000 unit mark itself, reporting a 26 percent gain over the same period.

To illustrate the gulf in sales between those four and the rest of the segment, one need only look at the numbers; the Chevrolet Malibu, with 49,179 units sold so far, is outsold by the Camry on a 2:1 basis, despite the Camry being one of the oldest cars in the segment and the Malibu being all-new. Ditto the Sonata, which is also one of the segment’s older vehicles and, according to Hyundai, limited by capacity constraints.