Toyota Motor Corporation is a multinational automaker that is known the world over for producing reliable, safe, and fuel-efficient cars. The company is headquartered in Toyota, Japan, and is the world’s largest automobile manufacturer. Toyota was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 and was a spinoff from the company that his father had established, Toyota Industries. This new business entity was specifically created to design and produce automobiles. Today, the Toyota Motor Corporation divisions are Toyota (including Scion), Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino Motors. The corporation itself is part of the Toyota Group which is one of the biggest conglomerates in the world.
Largely due to the 1973 oil crisis, American consumers began to look more favorably on small vehicles with better fuel economy. American car manufacturers had always offered smaller cars to the public but had considered them more of “entry” level models. Therefore, most of them were produced with very little thought to quality. The main goal was to keep the price low so that more consumers would be able to afford them.
By the 1980s, many Japanese carmakers had begun construction on manufacturing plants within the U.S. Toyota was one of them, along with Nissan and Honda. Toyota was now offering American car buyers compact cars that featured stylish options and good fuel economy. The major U.S. car manufacturers were woefully behind in designing safe, reliable cars with good MPG ratings.
By the 1990s, Toyota increased its line-up of vehicles to include larger and more luxurious models, as well as a full-sized pickup. They also introduced several SUVs, a sport version of the Camry (the Camry Solara) and the Scion brand. In 1997, Toyota began production of the Prius, the world’s best-selling hybrid car.
Today, Toyota offers consumers a wide variety of vehicles- everything from a minicar to a large pickup truck. There are sedans of every size plus SUVs and a minivan. Toyota automobiles are known for innovative safety features and great gas mileage which is why they remain a favorite of drivers everywhere.
Be a smart consumer and learn the facts about the Toyota model of car you want to insure. Then contact several car insurance companies and compare quotes. The make and model aren’t the only factors which your insurance company will use to formulate your policy. Your personal driving history, your age, and other pertinent data will also be a big determinant. You can help keep your car insurance costs at a reasonable level by doing a few simple things: drive safely, take advantage of available discounts, add security and safety features to your automobile, and maintain a good credit score. All of these things can help lower the price you will pay!
Toyota Crash Test Results
Toyota is well-known and respected for producing cars which are safe and reliable. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety named its Top Safety Picks for 2012 and Toyota had the following models included:
- Minicars: Toyota Yari’s hatchback (only 4-door models)
- Small cars: Toyota Carolla and Toyota Prius
- Midsize cars: Toyota Camry and Toyota Prius v
- Large family cars: Toyota Avalon
- Midsize SUVs: Toyota Highlander and Toyota Venza
- Minivans: Toyota Sienna
- Large Pickups: Toyota Tundra (crew cab models)
All of these models were judged and awarded good performance ratings in all of these categories: front, side, rollover and rear crash tests and standard electronic stability control.
Toyota Insurance Risk Considerations
The National Insurance Crime Bureau reported that about 10% of the top 100 most stolen cars were Toyotas and these were predominately older models with less safety features. These included the Toyota Celica, the Toyota Corolla, the Toyota Tacoma pickup, the Toyota Matrix, and the Toyota Camry Solara. If you need to insure an older Toyota model, your insurance premiums may be slightly higher.
Toyota Auto Insurance
Nearly every insurance company offers discounts to their customers. These can range from good driver discounts to discounts for bundling your policies (such as life, home, renter’s, etc). If you have a teenager driver in the family, many companies have a good student discount if your child maintains a certain grade point average. There are usually discounts for completing driver’s training and/or defensive driving courses.
When you plan and budget for car ownership expenses, it is important to include the cost of insurance. The actual amount you will pay for an annual premium will vary depending on your personal information and what type of vehicle you are insuring. The quotes offered here are simply guidelines as to what you might be charged but they can help you estimate what the yearly cost of an insurance policy might be.
Generally, most Toyota models average around $1300-$1400 a year for coverage. You can expect to pay about $1480 to insure a Toyota Land Cruiser for a year while a Toyota Corolla may cost around $1300. Normally the higher the sticker price on a vehicle, the higher the insurance premiums. Also, family-type sedans usually cost less for coverage than an SUV and a sports car is typically the most expensive model to insure.