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With gas prices the way they are, many people who own large cars, trucks or SUVs are looking for ways to downsize their vehicles. Many have even taken the plunge and invested in a fuel-efficient hybrid so they can save money at the pump. Downsizing is a great idea for some drivers, but is it for everybody? Here are some things to consider if you’re thinking about downsizing your vehicle.

New Car Costs
If you downsize from your current car into a smaller car, you’ll save money on gas. But will that make up for the money you save in car payments and insurance? For drivers who do a lot of driving, the money they save on gas by switching to a smaller car or a hybrid will likely make up for the car payments and insurance. In some instances, you might even be able to save money on your payments and insurance, too! Then it’s a win-win situation for you.

Hidden Costs
Did you just buy that new truck or SUV a year ago? If you just purchased a new vehicle recently, it’s already depreciated a great deal. Consider that when deciding if you should invest in a new or used car.

Savings at the Pump
Analysts estimate that you can save about $1,000 or more in fuel costs each year by downsizing. That number depends on what you’re downsizing from and the type of car you choose. Consider this when buying your next car.

Is downsizing right for you at this time? If so, your local Toyota dealer has a number of compact cars, hybrids and other fuel-efficient vehicles available to fit your needs. Whether you’re looking for a new or a quality used car, you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for. Visit one today!

If you do a lot of “stop and go” driving, a hybrid is ideal for you. Why not try the 2008 Toyota Camry hybrid? Here are some things you can expect when you purchase one of these great vehicles.

Starting out at a base price of about $25,500, this second model year for the hybrid version of the Camry uses the same system the automaker used in its ever-popular Prius. Combined together, the electric motor and gasoline-powered engine provide more than 185 horsepower so you really don’t feel like you’ve lost anything underneath the hood. But you also get about 34 miles to the gallon, making a normal gas-powered engine simply a thing of the past.

If you’ve liked the appearance of the previous Camry models, you’ll like the exterior of the 2008 hybrid model, too. It’s really not any different than what you’re used to except for a full chrome grille. Once inside, though, you might notice a few things. The windshield is made from special material that reduces any outside noise so you can listen to your radio without blasting it or have a conversation without yelling at the passengers. The hybrid Camry holds up to five people with standard cloth seats. Or you can opt for the more luxurious leather ones if that’s what you prefer.

There’s so much more to experience with the 2008 Toyota Camry hybrid. Words simply don’t do it justice. You can read more of the expert review here. Or you can visit a local Toyota dealer today and take one for a test drive. Chances are that you’ll just fall in love with it.

If you live anywhere near Nebraska, look for the Nebraskaland Days festival going on right now. While you’re there, don’t miss out on the Toyota Tundra Experience.

With the Toyota Tundra Experience, you can fulfill all of your life’s dreams…in pictures. That is to say you won’t be able to actually take the stage with your favorite country music star, but you can get a fake picture of doing it. You won’t be able to race against Tony Stewart on a NASCAR racetrack, but you can get a fake picture of yourself doing it.

That’s what the Toyota Tundra Experience at Nebraskaland Days is all about. It’s a totally interactive experience that offers plenty of photo opportunities. Simply give the person at the booth a smile and then visit ToyotaFishing.com to find your picture. The best part about the experience is that it’s absolutely FREE!

Imagine printing those pictures and showing them off to your friends. You can even send one to your high school guidance counselor who thought you’d never amount to anything. You and I will know the secret, but chances are that they won’t.

If you don’t live anywhere near Nebraska, though, you can still visit your local Toyota dealer and get treated like a VIP. Check one out today and get a new or used fuel-efficient car. Heck, with the money you’ll save on the price, you might even have enough left over to drive to the Cornhusker State.

If you’re an affluent African-American woman, Toyota wants you. In the automaker’s newest online advertisement, there is a series six videos in episodic form that targets African-American women between the ages of 25 and 40.

The new campaign’s tagline is “where espionage and high fashion collide.” It features a high-class fashion designer and Toyota Camry owner who get involved in an espionage plot. While you’re viewing the website, you can navigate within the various scenes and pick up clues. You can even help the lead character through her dilemma. As you go along, you can even register to win a number of valuable prizes, including digital cameras, gift cards, an iPod and even a Paris vacation. A 2009 Toyota Camry XLE is also available as a grand prize.

Toyota is promoting the website through venues like BET.com, Essence.com and other mediums that attract the automaker’s target audience.

If you want to take a look at the new website, click here.

In all, Toyota has spent about $900 million on advertisements since 2007 with $245 million of that in the first quarter of 2008. All of these ads are designed to get motorists to visit their local Toyota dealer and see the best of the best. Why not visit one today and take one for a test drive?

The Big Three aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch of rising gas prices. Toyota has noticed declining sales of its full-size Toyota Tundra and Sequoia models in the last few months. To combat the problem so far, Toyota offered huge incentives to customers who purchased one of these vehicles. But that can’t last forever.

As a result, Toyota has been looking at strategies that will make these larger vehicles run more efficiently without losing any power. The main strategy the engineers are working on right now is a clean-burning diesel engine. In fact, this new engine could be hitting the markets by as early as 2010.

The year 2010 is going to be huge for the auto industry. In addition to Toyota planning to unveil its cleaner, more efficient engine for full-size vehicles that year, the three domestic automakers – Ford, GM and Chrysler – are also releasing their own version of a better engine for their trucks and SUVs.

According to this report, Toyota’s new diesel engine is already in production. It offers more than 280 horsepower, which is comparable to many of the current engines on the market today. The only obstacle Toyota has in its way is making it fit the emissions standards in North America.

Don’t forget to visit your local Toyota dealer in 2010 to see their new diesel engine. While you’re at it, why not stop in today and see the new models they’ve added to their inventory this year? You won’t be disappointed!

At the beginning of this year’s NASCAR season, the Joe Gibbs Racing team began using Toyota sports cars instead of its usual Chevrolet cars. So far, the switch has definitely paid off.

As of last week, three of the team’s drivers hold spots in the top 12 contenders to win the coveted Spring Cup. Kyle Bush leads the team. Denny Hamlin comes in fifth and Tony Stewart holds the number 12 position.

But that’s not the only exciting thing for Toyota in NASCAR. In addition to the JGR team enjoying more success, other teams have improved their performance with Toyota’s racing cars as well. Red Bull Racing is one team that wasn’t doing so well before this year but has increased their performance with Toyota’s cars.

In all, Toyota drivers have “combined for 20 top-five finishes through 14 races, compared to two all of last season.” Even I know those are pretty impressive improvements and I’m not even a NASCAR fan!

You probably won’t find a car ready for the Daytona 500 at your local Toyota dealer, but you’ll definitely find a lot full of quality vehicles that you’ll love. Why not visit one today and see why Toyota continues to dazzle and impress in NASCAR and all over the world?

Did you know the Toyota Yaris was named the Green Car of the Year for 2008 in the UK? It’s true!

The award came at the same time that the UK is kicking off its Green Transport Week, which is a week of spreading awareness concerning the environment and eco-friendly vehicles. The week begins June 14 and ends June 22.

The Environmental Transport Association (ETA) is the organization in charge of giving this award. The organization evaluated more than 1300 models on sale in the UK. Researchers based their decision for Green Car of the Year on aspects like power, fuel efficiency, noise levels and emissions.

But the Yaris wasn’t the only Toyota model that the ETA recognized. Three other models, including the Prius, Aygo and Auris were named in the top ten greenest vehicles on the UK market today. That’s not too shabby. That means Toyota holds four of the top ten spots when it comes to evaluating green cars.

In addition to that, the Toyota RAV4 received honors for being the most eco-friendly vehicle made specifically for going off-road. The Aygo was also named at the top of the list for eco-friendly city vehicles.

With all of these awards and accolades, what are you waiting for? Visit your local Toyota dealer now and get one of these great cars. Some are only available in the UK, but you can still find a similar model here in the States. It’s never too late to start thinking about the environment and Toyota is helping you do so.

If you answered “me” to the title question, join the club. Everybody’s looking for a Prius nowadays and I don’t need to tell you why.

But did you know that searches on Cars.com have skyrocketed almost as high as the gas prices have? The Toyota Prius is currently the most searched for vehicle on the Internet, indicating that drivers are getting fed up with gas prices and looking for alternatives before it goes up much higher. “It’s not surprising that the Prius became the No. 1 most searched vehicle on Cars.com at the same time gas reached a $4 national average,” according to the website’s editor in chief Patrick Olsen. He went on to say that Americans have repeatedly said $4 is the tipping point that would make them look for alternatives to their transportation situation.

In addition to monitoring the number of searches, Cars.com has also done a survey to find out how long it will take drivers to actually purchase a hybrid or something more efficient for their needs.
Last week was the first time the Prius jumped ahead of other cars like the Honda Accord and Toyota’s own Camry. About 85 percent of the people who answered the survey said if gas prices stay at or above $4 a gallon for a prolonged period of time, they would search for another car. Of that number, 28 percent said they wanted to buy a more efficient car immediately and the other 57 percent said they would get a more efficient car, but they would wait until it was time to purchase a new car.

Toyota had other models make the top ten searches, too. Those include the Toyota Corolla, Toyota Camry and the Toyota Yaris. Visit a Toyota dealer today and check these “green” cars out. You might just end up saving a ton of money in the long run.

Is anybody else sick of paying the high prices at the pump? Toyota knows you are. That’s why they are racing to produce a plug-in hybrid car within the next two years.

By 2010, the Japanese automaker wants to have a hybrid electric vehicle available at Toyota dealer facilities across the United States, Europe and Japan. But in addition to simply being a plug-in hybrid, the automaker wants to use the new and improved lithium-ion battery instead of the current nickel-metal batteries. This announcement is fairly shocking as other car manufacturers say the lithium-ion battery won’t be ready for mass production by then. But if Toyota is confident about it, chances are that it’s going to happen.

To accomplish this goal, Toyota has partnered with Matsushita, a huge electronics company, to help produce the new lithium-ion batteries. They won’t start producing these batteries until 2009 and increasing the production in 2010. Toyota is also working on future batteries that are even better than the lithium-ion. The automaker created a battery research department for the sole purpose of making better batteries than the ones they have now.

There are some exciting things in store for the Toyota hybrid and electric car market. Is it any wonder why this automaker is one of the highest in demand for people looking for hybrids and fuel-efficient cars today?

Toyota has captured the future in airbag technology. Just when you thought you couldn’t add more airbags to a vehicle (besides your mother-in-law), the Japanese automaker went a step further and added airbags to the exterior of the vehicle.

That’s right. I said Toyota is working on a concept that has airbags on the OUTSIDE of the vehicle. At first, it sounds strange. But these airbags are on the front of the car in hopes of protecting pedestrians in the event of an accident. The new airbags are strategically places – one on the front of the hood and one at the base of the windshield – to protect the waist and head area of a pedestrian when hit head-on by a car.

In addition to that, the driver also has added features to detect pedestrians in the distance so they can avoid the need to even have these airbags deploy. A new radar and camera constantly search what’s ahead of the vehicle and the driver has a screen on the inside of the car that shows him/her what they are about to encounter.

This seems like a great piece of technology. Some will argue that too much help makes drivers lazy and they forget to pay attention to what they are doing. I, on the other hand, say that these types of features are needed because drivers are already lazy and don’t pay attention to the road ahead. And if these new airbags and safety features help save a life, I’m all for it. Besides, drivers who already pay attention to their driving habits are still going to do so. Airbags are great safety features, but who wants to take a chance and trust them to save a life?

You won’t see cars with these new features at your local Toyota dealer just yet. The company hasn’t released a date when it’s going to start including these on vehicles. But you can still find the latest safety features and options on the market today with a new Toyota vehicle. Test drive one today and see what peace of mind really feels like!