2013 Toyota Tundra Crewmax 4x4 Platinum Black W/ Red Rock 0% For Up To 60months on 2040-cars

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Toyota brings TRD Griffon GT86 to Goodwood [w/video]

In the midst of the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed, there's a particularly special Toyota running up the hill. This special entry is a GT86 (the cousin to our Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ) that's been poked, prodded, and tweaked by the minds at Toyota Racing Development. The result of TRD's fettling is a nearly race-ready car.
Starting with the body, the hood, doors, trunk lid, and wings are all made of carbon fiber. The lightweight treatment doesn't end there, though. The bumpers, fenders, and diffuser all feature carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic, while the windows are now made of polycarbonate plastic.
Under the hood sits the same 2.0-liter boxer engine found in the standard GT86, but its six-speed manual gearbox features a shorter final drive ratio for improved acceleration. The coilover suspension has been firmed up, and a TRD mechanical limited-slip differential replaces the Torsen unit. The TRD Griffon rides on TWS 18-inch wheels and Yokohama Advan tires. To bring proceedings to a stop, TRD has fitted its own mono-block caliper kit, complete with more robust racing pads.

GM repairing 40,500 Pontiac Vibes as part of Toyota airbag recall

General Motors has confirmed to Autoblog that the Pontiac Vibe is included in Toyota's just-announced recall action. The Vibe and the Toyota Matrix share a large number of parts, including the affected cable to the airbag.
"About 40,500 Pontiac Vibes from the 2009-2010 model years are included in the Toyota recall. Toyota designed and engineered the Vibe for Pontiac. GM will service customers with these vehicles when Toyota makes the parts available," said GM recall spokesperson Alan Adler to Autoblog in an email.
The recall covers 1.3 million Toyota units in the US, including 2009-2010 Corolla, Matrix and Tacoma, the 2008-2010 Highlander, the 2006-2008 Rav4 and 2006-2010 Yaris, plus the addition of the 2009-2010 Vibe. The models all have their airbag module attached via a spiral electrical cable. The connections on this cable can be damaged when turning the steering wheel. Once broken, the airbag deactivates and the airbag warning light comes on. Toyota has an improved part, but it's still making preparations to begin repairs. It will begin notifying owners soon.

Car theft skyrockets thanks to rising parts prices

Cars and trucks today have achieved a high level of average quality, with safety and technology features that keep occupants safer than ever and meet consumers' high expectations. But the National Insurance Crime Bureau finds that those components come with a rising price tag, leading to expensive repair bills — and rising vehicle thefts to support a thriving black market for parts. The nonprofit NICB said it looked at the cost of replacement parts for the top 10 stolen 2016 models, with average OEM part prices pulled from a database of more than 24 million vehicle damage appraisals generated for 2016 and 2017 insurance claims. The list did not include major components like engines or transmissions, only easily-stripped components like bumpers, doors, hoods and headlights. It found that: The 2016 Toyota Camry, which had a used market value of around $15,000, had 15 commonly replaced parts that added up to almost $11,000, not including labor, with quarter panels alone costing almost $1,600 a pair and a set of alloy wheels tallying more than $1,600. The Camry was also the top stolen vehicle in 2016 at 1,113 thefts. A 2016 Nissan Altima had 14 standard parts worth more than $14,000, including a single headlamp assembly that costs just over $1,000. The Altima was the second-top stolen vehicle in 2016 at 1,063 vehicles stolen. And the 2016 GMC Sierra pickup, which was No. 7 on the 2016 top-stolen list, rang up $21,000 from 20 standard components, including an $1,100 headlamp assembly and an $1,100 rear bumper. "For the professional theft ring, stealing and stripping vehicles for parts has always been a lucrative business," Jim Schweitzer, NICB's senior vice president and chief operating officer, said in a statement. "On today's cars and trucks, the parts are often worth more than the intact vehicle and may be easier to move and sell. That's why we see so many thefts of key items like wheels and tires and tailgates ... there's always a market for them." Check out the NICB infographic below. Vehicle thefts in the U.S. rose by more than 4 percent in 2017, based on preliminary FBI data, after rising 7.6 percent in 2016, though the overall trend has been down since vehicle thefts peaked in 1991, according to the NICB. Related Video: Image Credit: National Insurance Crime Bureau Aftermarket GMC Nissan Toyota Auto Repair Insurance Ownership auto parts car values stolen car nicb national insurance crime bureau components