According to a Toyota spokesperson, Toyota plans to purchase $50 million in stock from Tesla Motors. “When we look at Tesla’s venture business spirit, we recall how Toyota started back in the day,” said Jana Hartline, Toyota’s environmental communications manager, in an interview with HybridCars.com. In a recent press release with the president of Toyota, Akio Toyoda stated: “Toyota would like to learn from the challenging spirit, quick decision-making, and flexibility that Tesla has.”

The new partnership will not only boost the image and perception of Tesla Motors, it will also help Toyota to move forward after the safety recall incidents have paid a toll on the reputation of the car known as number one in safety and dependability.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger who attended the announcement of Toyota and Tesla’s partnership was quoted as saying; “The Prius is an extraordinary car that goes more than 50 miles per gallon. That was revolutionary,” Schwarzenegger also said. “And we have Tesla. You can do something that is very sexy looking, that goes from zero to sixty in less than 3.9 seconds and something that is attractive.”

For those interested in new or used Toyota Cars or Trucks, see your local St. Louis Toyota Dealer, Spirit Toyota today.

Most police officers have little or no formal training that would help them to gauge how fast a vehicle is going by eyeballing it,

According to police training officials, “visual assessment is only a portion of the five-hour course on traffic enforcement. Instructors bring recruits to various traffic situations and have them guess speeds. The instructor then checks the guesses against what the radar gun says and calculates the difference.”  No comments were made about how far off the average officer in training really was.

The number of traffic citations received in a year can reach up to 35 million across the country, so it is big business for local governments in the U.S.  In some small rural towns the revenue generated as a result of traffic tickets is virtually the only source of capitol that funds their yearly operating budgets.

Many people take the path of least resistance and just pay their fines, it’s easier than taking the time and added expense of going to court to fight them.  If you live in Ohio, you may well save your energy and time-looks like it’s going to be your word against theirs from this point forward.

If you are looking for an inconspicuous vehicle, see your local Spirit Toyota Dealer in St. Louis and test drive a new or used Toyota today.

If, for example, you are driving at night with, lights and radio on and you notice that the headlights keep getting dimmer and dimmer soon the vehicle “dies” and now won’t start the most likely cause is a bad alternator, not the battery because if the battery failed the alternator would still keep power to the vehicle until you turned it off then it would not restart.

If you are driving for a while and the engine stops running and all the instrument lights come on but when you try to start it just turns over but will not start. First it depends what kind of car you have, , the engine timing belt may have broken (if it’s been more that 60,000 miles since you changed it last time) if so, you should be able to tell when you try to start the engine it sounds different like it’s just “freewheeling” faster than normal.  Be aware that severe engine damage could occur when a timing belt breaks when the engine is running, it is advisable to change the belt as part of regular maintenance as recommended in your Toyota owner’s manual.

If you decide to trade in that old car or truck that won’t start instead of paying to get it fixed, see   your local Spirit Toyota Dealer in St. Louis today .

The Prius has a state of the art hybrid powertain technology that was honored as well as the solar powered ventilation system, voice-activated navigation and radar cruise control with lane keep assist.

According to Kelly Blue Book;”To be considered for the green Top Ten, each vehicle was required to offer fuel economy and carbon dioxide emissions superior to the bulk of vehicles in its class and at the same time provide all the safety, creature comforts and driving enjoyment that would make it pleasant to own,”

Among the other top 10 greenest cars on the Kelly Blue Book list were; the Volkswagen Golf TDI diesel, and the Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, with features of an SUV along with a hybrid powertrain.

Among the top five are Honda Insight Hybrid (41 mpg), Ford Fusion Hybrid (39 mpg), Volkswagen Golf TDI (34 mpg) and MINI Cooper (32 mpg).  In sixth to tenth place is the Ford Escape Hybrid (32 mpg), Honda Fit (31 mpg), BMW 335d (27 mpg), Toyota Highlander Hybrid (22 mpg) and Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid (22 mpg).

Toyota introduced a third-generation Prius in May to support Toyota’s goal to sell a million hybrid cars in the next few years, from about 250,000 hybrids in 2008.

If you are looking for the top fuel efficient award winning car in the country, see your local St. Louis Toyota Dealer, Spirit Toyota and test drive a new or used Toyota Prius today.

Once you have selected the dealership you want to work with, consider the type of vehicle that most interests you.  Types of vehicles range from family cars to all terrain vehicles, vans, hybrids, luxury models, and more.

Toyota Camry has been the number one family car for 8 years in a row; it has high safety ratings and is noted for reliability.  Whether it’s for work or for play, there has never been a better sedan than the Camry or Camry Hybrid.

All terrain vehicles have become very popular even for motorists who never go off road. The added height and 4WD option really adds to the driving experience; consider a 4-Runner or a RAV4.

Leasing a vehicle is one way to get the car of your choice that may otherwise be out of your budget. For as little as $250 per month, you can lease the vehicle for pre-set time period.  Maintenance and the usual expenses involved in owning a vehicle will still fall upon the owner whenever a vehicle is leased.

If you want to continue to have the vehicle after the lease is up, many dealerships will offer to sell the leased vehicle to the person who leased it at After the lease period is over at book price.

Toyota manufacturers now place a variety of audio systems in the cars, trucks, and SUV’s they build just from the entertainment perspective.  A Car Audio system is mostly comprises of speakers, auxiliary input devices, amplifiers, and head units to operate the accessories. The head unit is an important aspect of the audio system and varies with respect to design and use. It can allow you to use cassettes and CDs or a mini tape, whatever you want to use. These days car technology is frequently updated; you can use your USB Drive to listen to songs; put mp3 songs just in the USB and enjoy in your car. An amplifier is needed to operate your digital speakers present at the back of your car. It allows handling treble and base, and many other systems to play with the sounds inside the car.

The speakers in the sound system are very important to the basic sound frequency that is produced by your  audio system.. Woofers widen the scope of car audio system, and have become more prevelent these days.  Auxiliary devices like  mp3 players or equalizers are also growing in popularity to lend effects to your sound. The choices for car audio technology is never ending.

According to managing director at Toyota Canada Inc.; “Toyota is very happy to accept these awards and on behalf of everyone at Toyota in Canada, I’d like to thank AJAC’s members for these honors, the Toyota Camry is North America’s most popular passenger car. The Toyota Camry Hybrid represents an important evolution of gasoline-electric hybrid technology in the second most popular market segment in Canada. And the redesigned Toyota RAV4 will be manufactured in Woodstock, Ontario when our new assembly plant, currently under construction, begins production in 2008.”

Toyota Camry, a mid-size best-selling car in the United States from 1997.  Toyota Camry boasts functionality and style, reliability, and safety.  The hybrid Camry employs Hybrid Synergy Drive setup, which is identical to that of Prius, Highlander Hybrid and Lexus RX 400h. Camry Hybrid uses a 4-cylinder gasoline engine that puts out 192 hp. Standard features of the Camry Hybrid include knee airbags, side torso airbags and side-curtain airbags, remote entry and start.

The RAV4 has been a top rated SUV/Crossover for years, with better safety ratings, handling, and reliability than any other vehicle in its  class.

No matter which 2007 model you select, when you choose a Toyota, you cannot go wrong.

A spray-on bed liner may be a better solution; this type of liner actually adheres to your truck bed offering more protection to the truck bed than the plastic type.  They are more expensive and need to be installed by a professional.  Another disadvantage to this type of liner is that the bottom of the truck bed needs to be scuffed up in order for the liner to stick which could affect your truck’s mint condition.

The newest and most popular type of bed lining that protects the truck bed very well,  and can be removed without damage is called bed carpeting.  It is made of marine grade polypropylene which does not absorb water; this avoids the risk of moisture collecting under the truck bed liner.  Like the spray on option, this option is more expensive as well, but you won’t need professional instillation, to drill any holes, or do anything else that would alter your truck, however you should have the carpet die-cut to match your bed.  This is the fastest growing most popular product for protecting truck beds.

Be sure to have any of the above mentioned options custom made to your specific Toyota model to ensure proper fit.
If you are planning to purchase a Toyota truck, see your local St. Louis Toyota dealer, Spirit Toyota today, we have a great selection of used, new, and certified pre-owned trucks.