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2013 Toyota RAV4

A Nicer View Than Ever Of Middle Of The Road
When we had our first shot behind the wheel of the 2013 Toyota RAV4, the overall judgment from Managing Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski could be summed up in a sentence along the lines of, "Eh, not bad." The truth is that the compact crossover segment, now filled with not-so-compact offerings, is as cutthroat as any in the industry these days. When a heavyweight player like the RAV4 comes to market with a new generation, it is not at liberty to start from a clean sheet, lest it throw cold water on a vehicle that sells tens of thousands of units globally every month. Like De La Soul says, "Stakes is high."
If the choices in the marketplace were still largely limited to the Honda CR-V, as was the case when this market niche was green, the Toyota offering might actually seem like the exciting choice. But with new players offering better dynamic thrills (Mazda CX-5), cool turbo motors and fancy technology (Ford Escape), or even crunchy cred (Subaru Forester), the small crossover shopper is really spoiled for choice in 2013.

Honda Civic losing ground to Toyota Corolla, sales crown threatened

Oh, what a difference a year has made. When the numbers were tallied for 2013, the Honda Civic was riding high by claiming its segment's sales crown in the US despite being challenged by the latest generation of the Toyota Corolla for part of the year. However, with just a month to go in the battle for C-segment supremacy in 2014, it looks like Toyota gets to hoist the trophy this time. Looking at November sales numbers, Honda moved 300,644 Civics through the first 11 months of the year, down 2.1 percent in volume. Furthermore, for the month alone, the company sold 23,060 Civics, a 12.3 percent drop. Meanwhile, on Toyota's side, business has been booming comparatively. Through the first 11 months it sold 309,373 Corollas, a 10.6 percent jump, and for November alone it moved 25,609 examples, a 14.2 percent improvement. With fewer than 10,000 cars between them, it would take quite a December slump for the Corolla to lose this fight. According to The Truth About Cars, the Civic actually started out the 2014 somewhat positively with 5 percent growth over the previous year, though still behind the Corolla's figures. However, the Honda has seen a slide since then with five consecutive months of sales drops. Meanwhile, the Toyota has generally kept showing growth. Being the newer model of the two, the Corolla comes to this fight with an advantage. Honda hasn't let the Civic languish; it gave the model a CVT in 2014 to boost fuel economy. That's nothing like the Toyota's thorough recent rethink, though. According to TTAC, Honda does have reason to crow about the Civic, just not necessarily in the US. The model is on track to be the bestselling vehicle in Canada for the 17th consecutive year and have its best sales since 2008 there.

177k Toyota Camry Hybrids being recalled for brake issue

It looks like Consumer Reports might be getting part of what it wants regarding the Toyota Camry Hybrid and its braking system. Toyota is issuing what it calls a limited service campaign, rather than a full recall, covering about 177,500 of the hybrid sedans from the 2007 through 2011 model years because of an issue with the cars' brake fluid reservoirs.
The models have a filter separating two chambers of the brake fluid reservoir, and the part can get clogged over time. If this happens, the fluid level in one of the chambers can get too low and eventually cause the power assist to fail. There are multiple warning lights on the dashboard that illuminate over time if the filter gets obstructed, though. The company is replacing the entire reservoir with an improved unit, and the fix takes about two hours to perform.
Consumer Reports recently began asking for a recall on these models for the potentially clogged filters. The magazine also reported a second issue with the ABS brake actuator that could lead to a difficult to depress brake, but Toyota has increased the warranty on the part to 10 years or 150,000 miles.