Toyota Enthusiasts Club

The Toyota Enthusiasts Club was founded by in 1991 by Nik Ellis and Bob Willis, who both shared an appreciation for Toyota cars. Last weekend the club celebrated its 20th anniversary at its annual meeting at Billing Aquadrome, near Northampton, with around 45 classic Toyotas on show.

The club has around 150 members and some of the cars that turned up included a 1970′s Hiace Campervan driven by Raf Evers from Belguim, who also owns 36 Toyota vehicles in total. Other classic models at the event included the Cressida, Crown, Corolla, with a classic Toyota Celica ST from 1977, 1985 Celica Supra and an Avon Celica cabriolet version headlining the show.

If you own a classic Toyota and you are interested in joining the TEC then you can get more details off their website which can be found at www.toyotaenthusiasts.com . However, if you are interested in a brand new Toyota car (Avensis, Aygo, iQ, Prius ,Yaris, RAV-4, etc) then of course we have Toyota contract hire prices on the site now.

Toyota Verso-S

The new B-segment MPV, the Toyota Verso-S, gets its world premiere at the forthcoming 2010 Paris Motor Show and will be launched in the UK in early 2011. This new Toyota is small, spacious and smart and is a lesson in space management as it is less than 4-metres in length, but offers maximum space through its flexible design. Further details of the new Toyota Verso-S will revealed on the press day, which is on the 30th September.

Toyota will also be making its Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) a focal point of its stand, to celebrate 10 years of hybrid history and the recent launch of the Auris HSD. The feature of the stand will be the Hybrid Synergy Drive Gallery which is an interactive exhibition charting the company’s drive to sustainable mobility through its development of HSD use in Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles (PHV), Electric Vehicles (EV) and of course fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicles (FCHV). They will also unveil the FT-CH Concept which is their proposal for a full hybrid in the small compact car segment.

In addition Toyota will also launch a new interior finish for the iQ and a new colour scheme (and easy to use multimedia system) for the Aygo. You can find Toyota in Hall 4 of the show from 8.45 a.m. on Thursday the 30th September.

Toyota Prius

According to latest figures from automotive analysts Clean Green Cars, Toyota continues to lead the UK motor industry in bringing down CO2 emissions across its entire motor range.

The figures from Clean Green Cars show that for the first quarter of 2010, the mean figure for new Toyota cars sold in Britain was 124.55g/km which is well below the EU target figure of 130g/km set for 2012.

Central to the Toyota achievement has been Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive, which powers the Prius and is soon to be seen in the Auris HSD and of course Toyota Optimal Drive technologies.

The new Auris HSD is set to deliver CO2 emissions from 89g/km and added to the range of Aygo, iQ, Yaris, Urban Cruiser, will help Toyota maintain their position below the key level of 130g/km. Contract hire on the Toyota Prius and all other Toyota models is available now.

Following the news item yesterday, Toyota has named the cars that may be affected with the potential accelerator pedal recall problem and the precise number of cars affected may be as high as 1.8 million.

There is a possibility that the accelerator pedal may stick or return slowly to the idle position and these are the Toyota cars affected.

1. AYGO – Feb 2005- Aug 2009)
2. iQ ( Nov 2008 – Nov 2009)
3. Yaris ( Nov 2005- Sep 2009)
4. Auris ( Oct 2006- 5  Jan 2010)
5. Corolla (Oct 2006 – Dec 2009)
6. Verso ( Feb 2009- 5 Jan 2010)
7. Avensis ( Nov 2008 – Dec 2009)
8. RAV4 (Nov 2005- Nov 2009)

Toyota is making great efforts to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and if you have any concerns or drive one of the cars above call Toyota GB Customer Relations on 0800 1388 744.

VW Polo

The new Volkswagen Polo has beaten six other finalists in the 2010 Car of The Year Award to scoop the top prize. The result was announced by Autocars’ Steve Cropley, who is one of the six UK based jurors and one of 59 senior car motoring experts from 23 European countries who make up the COTY jury.

The top 5 results are as follows;

1- Volkswagen Polo – 347 points.

2- Toyota iQ – 337 points.

3- Opel/Vauxhall Astra- 221 points.

4- Skoda Yeti – 158 points.

5- Mercedes-Benz E-Class - 155 points.

Contract hire prices are available on all the above makes and respective models now.

Toyota iQ

Toyota has been awarded the title of “Greenest Car Manufacturer” by cleangreencars.co.uk and is the first manufacturer in the UK to dip below 130g/km level for mean carbon emissions across their range.

cleangreancars.co.uk has calculated that the average emissions are 129.15g/km. The Prius leads the way with CO2 emissions from 89g/km, however iQ, Aygo, Yaris, Urban Cruiser and Auris all offer low CO2 car emissions as well.

Three boldly-liveried Toyota iQ’s have started work with Derby’s leading letting agent and are proving to be a real hit with the IMS Lettings fleet.

Toyota iQ

The cars are the iQ 1.0-litre VVT-i petrol engines with manual tranmissions and they have replaced a variety of their cars including a 4×4. The cars offer a CO2 of only 99g/km and a combined mpg of only 65.5 and with their 67hp and Toyota Optimal Drive, provide an efficient solution for the job in hand.

Key features include air-conditioning, alloy wheels, electric front windows, ABS, heated door mirrors and six speaker radio/CD system plus many other features. Toyota car leasing prices are available now.

iQ for Sports

Toyota has been showing two new bold body designs, for the sub-100g/km Toyota iQ, at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The “street cool” bodykits and interiors now offer the opportunity to put your own personal mark on the world’s smallest four seat production car.

The Q Sports offers customer made 18-inch alloy wheels, aero-headlamps with LED lights, rear roof spoiler and central exhaust with a bespoke bodykit with powerful, sweeping lines giving the car a dramatic look. Inside the theme continues with illuminated door handles and bright green and grey upholstery.

iQ Collection

The iQ Collection focuses on the cabin with the white pearl finish on the body continuing throughout the inside of the car with the leather upholstery, instrument binnacle, door panels and centre console all matching.

Auris HSD Hybrid

Toyota is unveiling their new Auris HSD Full Hybrid Concept car at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show and this new model will take centre stage at the Toyota stand.

This is a milestone for Toyota as they have introduced full hybrid technology into a mainstream model and is the first step in rolling out their Hybrid Synergy Drive across the company’s whole range of vehicles.

Other models on the Toyota stand at Frankfurt include the Prius Plug-in Hybrid Concept, enabling pure electric car operation for short range day-to day transportation.

Prius Plug-in

Toyota plans to trial 150 of these models in 2010 which will be leased to selective fleet customers. 

In addition to the all-new Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota will also be showing two customised iQ cars, namely iQ for Sports and iQ for Collection.

iQ Sports

New comparison tool

Toyota is offering customers the opportunity to use its new comparison tool on its website where you can compare the hard facts about the benefits of Toyota Optimal Drive versus other rival models. All the data is updated monthly and is sourced from KWIKCarcost.

The first step in using the calculator is to click on “Take the Challenge” on the home page, then select a current Toyota model from the drop-down menu. You then get an instant comparison on cumulative three year running costs. Clicking on “further comparisons” and you get to see graphics, power, mpg efficiency, road tax/CO2 emissions and residual values.

The calculator demonstrates the strong performance of the latest Toyota models including iQ, Aygo, Avensis, Auris and Yaris. However before you buy your car think about car leasing as all cars will depreciate in value.