I went to a local Toyota dealership and they didn’t have the grand Highlander hybrid that I wanted in stock, but he said that one of them was coming in about 20 to 25 days, and if I wanted to, I could put down a $1000 refundable deposit on that car to set it aside.

I agreed to do the deposit only after we agreed on a price, so after some back and forth, we both met in the middle and agreed on a price, and he printed it out for me, and I put down my $1000 deposit.

I asked him “does this deposit prevent anybody else from coming in and buying that car?” And he said “yes, it’ll be set aside with your name on the file.”

And then asked him “and this price that we agreed on will be upheld when I return to purchase the vehicle when it arrives?” And he said “yes.”

But I don’t have any paperwork that says any of that specifically. I have the receipt from the deposit, and I have the printout of the OTD price breakdown on the make/model/year/color/trim.

The VIN was a “generic vin” because the car was still in production I guess? He called it a “generic VIN.”

He said one time he can remember a car that was supposed to be set aside for someone got sold, but they remedied that by giving the customer a very big discount and got him the car he wanted. He said it rarely if ever happens.

I guess I’m just nervous that I don’t have any paperwork that says “Car number XXX belongs to Jane Doe.”

Did I make a mistake?

My dealership tried charging me $400 for floor mats on the camry lease, i denied them and they took it off the price. They then delivered the car to me with paper mats? A brand new 2026 lease with no miles.

I was like wow and immediately went to walmart and bought $18 temp mats, then proceeded to buy weather tech for $140.

Chimes

- When starting the vehicle (car in park, foot not on brake) the stupid seatbelt chime goes off 5 times. It is really ridiculous and idk who thought that was a good idea. (Am i supposed to be an asshole and put my seatbelt on before starting the vehicle and not take it off until turning off the vehicle?)

- God forbid you leave a backpack or small item on the back seat while running errands. The car will alert you to check your back seat AND send a notification to your phone lol

Other

- Remote start on the phone does not pair the phone with apple car play

- The car LE, does not auto unlock when walking up to it, you have to manually click the button (kinda weird for a 2026 vehicle)

Otherwise i love this vehicle, i was checking another dealership who was trying to screw me, went to the one i bought from and saved a lot of money, even with the stupid car mat situation i still made a good choice.

EDIT - I drive a lot and am averaging $30 a week in gas, my old car i was spending $100-$115 a week in gas. So the lease payments essentially are not a new cost to me and im basically break even driving a car 19 years newer with no miles (aside the down payment, which realistically is just paying for the depriciation you are putting on the new vehicle)

Is it worth paying for toyota connect seems expensive and doesn’t do much ?

Hey all, I’m starting to do research to replace my 2007 Camry. I’m receiving some money to put towards a new car in the next year, and am leaning towards a ‘17 hybrid Camry. I feel like getting a brand new car is overkill, 2017 was a good year and they don’t have the transmission issues of newer models, and I like the look of the slightly older models that don’t come with huge screens.

Aside from size, what are the major differences between the Avalon hybrids and Camry hybrids? I’m a nerd and I like the classic look of the Avalons, but they’d be a little more difficult to park in cities, and at the end of the day I’d rather have a reliable car than a very nice one. I know I can also try to find a 2017 XLE Camry as a middle ground point. Are they generally less reliable than Camrys as they’re a “luxury” model instead of a standard, “drive it into the ground” Camry? Any insight? Thanks!

Hey, I drive a 2000 Toyota Corolla and it just finally reached 100,000 miles. I recently got a new job that requires me to go onto the highway but bringing the car up to 55mph makes the entire thing shake.

Is there anything I can replace so it can handle higher speeds better? Also general maintenance tips so it doesn’t explode or anything lmao

Hi. My car has been sitting on my drive for a while now. I have bought those self jump starting kits from Amazon. It does jump start the car and engine comes on but once I turn off the car, same issue again. I drove it for about 20ish minutes and still same issue so I suspect I’d need to change the 12v car battery.
I had a look at what I currently have and it’s a S34B20L-A battery.
Money is pretty tight right now so is there a cheaper alternative that I can buy? When I go on euro car parts it keeps bringing up car batteries that are not AGM and said it’s compatible but I’ve heard that you should not fit a non AGM battery on a stop/start car :/

My car: Toyota Auris Hybrid 1.8 2016 Hatchback

I reserved a Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid Limited about a month ago. It has now arrived, and I am scheduled to pick it up this week. The dealership sent me the out-the-door quote, with the vehicle priced at MSRP and a $490 documentation fee.

I just noticed that the same dealership has another Grand Highlander Hybrid Limited advertised with a $1,250 dealer discount. It is a different color that I would not prefer, so I would like to keep the one I reserved.

Is it reasonable to ask them to match that discount on my reserved car? I am not very knowledgeable about cars or negotiating with dealerships, so I would appreciate advice on how to approach this.

Should I call or email my salesperson before pickup and ask them to match the advertised price, or bring it up in person? Has anyone successfully negotiated a discount at this stage?

So I found a 2026 RAV4 FWD with a Japanese vin. I called the dealership to confirm if the car is coming from Japan before going in to put a deposit, and they informed me the car has components that were made in Japan but ultimately was assembled in Canada and is being shipped from Canada.

I apologize if this is a silly question, but my understanding was that the Japanese vin meant it was fully assembled in Japan. Can anyone offer clarity? Thank you.

I was looking at gas prices and thinking what my first car should be and I have always loved the older Tacomas that just dont quit but their mpg is not so good with high gas prices. So i wanted to know is it possible to install a battery in the bed a small one so it can go like 60 miles hook up an elctric motor to the driveshaft and drive it in nuetral until I need the gas engine again then i guess if im coasting on a road I just turn it on and put it in 4th or so so i dont money shift. It sounds stupid and i bet theres better logistics i could do with your help but is it possible to do under 10k for the truck and all modifications

Hi all - I am currently looking to buy a car that will mainly be used on weekends and day trips. To start, I’m 31, single guy, living in the northeast (so I want AWD). I plan to pay cash for this car and I budgeted up to 45k or so but obviously cheaper is better. Now, the options I thought to myself are to get a crown signia XLE, that’s 38 mpg, genuine leather seats, Lexus suspension, etc., I got them down to 42k vehicle selling price. Or, should I just go full on econobox car and get the Camry SE (48 mpg, softex leather seats) for $33k. That’s a $9k difference and I’m trying to decide if it’s worth it. Are the extra features, sound deadening, and nicer ride worth it or just drive the cheapest possible thing at 31? As mentioned, I’ll be paying cash for both so I can afford both and neither car will put me in a bad spot (I have other savings besides this). I just don’t know how the resale value on the crown signia will be compared to very strong for the Camry. What do you guys think? Save the money or live a little?

PS, I considered the rav4 but it was basically the same price for the XLE Premium as the crown signia so it didn’t make sense to go rav4 over crown signia (I feel like family’s might prefer the rav4 but again, I’m a single guy). I also looked at the crown sedan but I didn’t like the styling and if I’m paying up, I’d prefer a little more ground clearance for the northeast winters.

Hi All!

I want to start by saying I am not currently paying for the remote start subscription on the app.

I have recently started to use my Key Fob to remote start my 2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid, however, and have noticed some issues. For a week, everything was fine. I used the fob to remote start and when I unlocked the car, it turned off (like it’s supposed to). The last few times, however, I remote start and before I get out to my car, the car has already turned off and I can tell that it didn’t run for more than a few minutes as it’s still freezing and my windshield is still frozen solid. I probably start my car about 10-15 minutes before I plan on leaving.

I’ve done a bunch of research and I can’t figure out why this might be happening. Should I take it in to get looked at by the dealership? Is it user error?

Since October my check engine light for my 2016 Corolla has turned on 8 times, counting today. For the previous 8 times, it has been a bunch of issues. We checked and fixed O2 sensor, gas pump, gas cap, purge valve. Idky it has to bombard all of them in one month. I was stranded 3 times bc the engine refused to turn on, and we fixed. Literally fixed the purge valve not even 3 days before, and check engine light turn on again.. At some point when would this become a factory issue? My car is not even that old, it's cranking 95k miles right now. And I alr paid nearly 1k for the previous issues. Havent been able to use my baby normally

Hello, a week ago, my husband and I test drove a used Rav4. It is a 2025, and I drove it first. I drove over a bump and thought I felt the rear suspension shift to the side. I brought it up with the salesman who assured me that there was no issue with the car. My husband and I switched out, and he drove the car back to the dealership and didn't notice the issue, but he also didn't go over any bumps. I assumed that I must have imagined it, and I'm absolutely kicking myself for that. We had spent a lot of time online looking for what we thought was the perfect car, and this Rav4 is Gold Certified and still under the manufacturer's warranty, so for that reason, we decided to buy it. However, when my husband drove it the 20 miles home from the dealership, he went over some bumps and noticed the same issue with the suspension that I had noticed during the test drive. He called the dealership the next morning, and they said that it wasn't a problem because of the warranty and to bring the car in, so my husband took the car back to them over his lunch break. He also asked them to go through the Gold Certified checklist again for us because it didn't seem that it had been done properly the first time.

It has now been a week, and they still have the car. My husband has reached out multiple times to ask for updates. He has also asked for the service records and said that he doesn't feel the car was represented truthfully. He has emailed both the salesman and the manager, and the salesman keeps responding with "I'll check on it and get back to you," but then, he never does. The manager hasn't responded at all, and they never provided the service records, so at this point, I'm panicking and thinking that we threw away $30,000 (which is a lot of money to us).

Maybe I'm overreacting? Maybe these things just take this long? I had a Toyota before this, and I had to get some work done via the warranty, and I don't remember it taking more than a day or two. We also still have no idea what the issue even was.

If we had been in California, we would have returned the car under the CARS act, but sadly, we're in Ohio. We're not super experienced car buyers, and we both feel like idiots right now, but my husband feels especially bad, which is hard to see. Please be gentle with me, but if you're more experienced with this stuff than we are, what would you do in this situation? Or if I need to just calm down and wait for the update, I'm happy to hear that as well.

Thanks so much for any feedback. I appreciate it.

I made a Toyota logo to my CarPlay Home Screen I just don’t know what side it should be on

Bought it with 67k [km] last year; reached 70k [km] this past Friday, and drove another 600 km over the weekend.

Looking for opinions on the 3M, rust protection and undercarriage protections from the dealership for a 2026 4runner. They are quoting $900 for each package. If I get 1, the next is 50% off but if I get 2, the third is free. Are any of them worth it? this is in Edmonton, Canada where the winters are rough and salt and chemicals are used for ice control on the roads.

Edit to add, each package comes with lifetime warranty but would require a yearly inspection to keep the warranty active.

Bought a used 2018 XLE last year with 66K on it. Use to drive a 2002 Toyota Echo but wanted a bigger car for road trips. Daily drive to work is about 20 miles each way, and I drive it to my girlfriend’s a few times a week also 20 miles away. Drove it out of state a lot ( I live in NJ, drove it all over the Poconos and New England this summer). I put 30k on it in a year. It’s now at 97K. I do routine maintenance regularly, wash it regularly and try my best to prevent rust. I want to try and get as much life out of this car as possible. How much longer can I realistically expect out of it? I would say it does 60% backroads 40% highways in terms of driving

I have a roadtrip planned next month that will be 800 miles round trip, but no other big drives planned.

I would like to get at least 5 years to maybe 10 years out of the car.

Pops up 4 times but can’t figure out what this means? Is it related to the DCM and connected services perhaps? FOB still works fine. EDIT 2022 Sienna XSE. I' not interested int he air conditioner or Blind Spot Monitor, i know those issue. its the Lost communication with Accessory Gateway U111787 that's puzzling

....and I miraculously caught it before all the oil leaked out and killed my engine! I was on the highway all weekend, and if it had blown out while driving highway speeds it would have absolutely destroyed my engine.

Yesterday, I ran a couple errands and when I parked at the library I smelled burning oil. Got out and immediately saw a catastrophic oil leak pouring out onto the street. Well it must have just started, because I checked the level and had lost less than a quart of oil, so I immediately called a tow truck rather than risk topping it off and limping home.

I already knew about the problematic rubber oil pipes in these engines; when I bought this van I checked the upper hose and it had already been replaced with the metal upgrade, so I figured the hidden pipe underneath must have been replaced as well. I guess I made an ass out of u and me, because I assumed wrong.

I'd usually do this repair at home since it's just a simple swap, but of course a car never breaks down at home and always when it's raining for a week so I had it towed to a mechanic. He doesn't really speak English, but he took one look at my car and immediately said "oil pipe, very common" and seemed to agree that I caugt it early enough to avoid any damage.

I should probably go and buy a lottery ticket today, because at the rate it was losing oil while under pressure I probably only had a couple minutes until it ran dry.

If any of you drive an older Toyota with the 2GR-FE, make sure your rubber oil cooler lines have already been upgraded to the newer metal ones! This known issue can and will absolutely destroy your engine!

Apparently Toyota/Lexus for those with the pre-Arlene infotainment systems have an option to support Apple Music for integrated streaming and Amazon Music whereas for Arlene based systems you use Spotify.

99% of people are probably going to”use CarPlay” and that’s fine and dandy but just wanted to let you know of its removal as I was not notified of its removal to link from the apps.

On the plus side they no longer charge for integrated in the premium now, reducing the cost from $25 back to $15.

Discuss.