Leighcm

Ouch...that seems a bit excessive. $10k!!!

Looks good...what else did you say you were going to do to it?

Never mind...it was just my stupid work internet access blocking the pics. Looks like it's in great shape!1

Pics?

Welcome to the wonderful world of black paint! Unfortunately, black paint shows anything and everything as far as defects. Black paint is softer than any of the other colors, so it is unfortunately more prone to damage like stone chips, scratches, swirl marks, etc. As long as you have it touched up whenever you get a chip, you'll probably be fine when you turn it back in. I'm assuming it's a lease car through Toyota Financial Services? Congrats on your new Camry...they are beautiful cars!!

Do you have auto-up on your driver's side power window? If so, open the window, leave the car on, get out, close the door, reach in through the open window, and pull the window switch up. Take your hand out before the window hits it. Make sure you have a spare key. The doors will NOT lock while the car is running and a door is open. It's a safety mechanism to prevent you from locking your keys in the car. Automatic starters are nice too.

Or you could try resizing your photos. I think there's a max size listed by the upload button.

Welcome!! Got pics? For you, if any parts are still being made for your truck, I'd say Centennial or Findlay Toyota, depending on where in the valley you live. That way, if you get the wrong part, it's easy to return. Other than that, check out parts.com.

Top Gear is great...it's too bad my cable package here in Vegas doesn't include it, darn it! Welcome!!

We have something sort of similar here, but it's not as nice of a surface...at least not the ones I've seen. It's kind of grainy and bumpy. And yes, that's frequently used for advertising here too. If the surface looks very much like paint, this could be a fun, comparatively cheap update on an older, perhaps faded, car...

Quite a bit, apparently...he bought the Bimmer too somehow! I thought that was pretty sweet, and it might not be a bad idea to protect the car. Here in Vegas, we have gravel trucks ALL OVER THE PLACE, so a lot of people put clear bra on their cars to protect them...that would just cover the whole car instead. I wonder what the finish looks like?

The Ford GT is great car...it's only about 20 seconds behind the LF-A. And the LF-A was only there as part of the pre-production testing. I wonder what will happen the production LF-A is raced with the intent to win, not just to be tested? I'm looking forward to that race! Is that Radical a production car? Nope...didn't think so...just a pure race car, not made for the street. I believe it's actually a Suzuki Hayabusa derivative. And while we're on the subject of cars that Toyota or Lexus will never aspire to, let's discuss the McLarens, with their abysmal reliability rating. As I remember, all of the Mclarens in the Gumball 3000 cross country race that came through Vegas a year or two ago broke down due to alternator issues. Porsche GT...do you mean Carrera GT? Yes, thank you for bringing that up; I'll definitely take credit for that one. Remember when Porsche was going down hill rapidly in the early 1990's? Do you know who they hired to teach them to build cars properly? The Toyota Production System is now in full effect in Porsche factories, and Porsches are now a much higher quality automobile than ever before. As for the Ferrari FXX: yes, amazing car. However, comparing the LF-A to the FXX is very much like the comparison you did above between the Ford GT and the Toyota MR-2. They're different car classes, completely different price ranges. Regardless of brand, you will get more if you spend 4 or 5 times the amount. Perhaps the only current car the FXX can compare to is the Veyron (both $1 million+ price tags). Perhaps I will ask them for a job. After all, I could stay in the US as so much of the Toyota operations are based here. For example, if you look at the domestic content of a Camry, it's significantly higher than the domestic content of a comparably sized Ford Fusion. It's unfortunate that a US company would take US jobs and move them elsewhere to save money, and then bring those same cars back to the US for sale, while a foreign brand will actually bring operations into the country it is selling to, thereby improving the economy by generating jobs directly and indirectly through employees and suppliers. Yes, everyone needs food and clothing...I'm not arguing that point. I've been on the production end of those veggies in my fridge, so I am very familiar with farming, especially in Michigan (like Henry Ford). And by the time Toyota has been in Formula 1 for 45 years like Ford, I expect they'll be much better. Quality and reliability goes a long ways in those races, after all. Remember Kimi in Monaco with the broken down Mclaren?

Hmmm...there could be a problem. You should be able to push it into neutral fairly easily, without hitting the release button, because the release button is just to get it out of park. However, if it's going into neutral without being touched, that could be a real issue. Some simple things to look for: 1.) Do you keep anything on the center console? Make sure there's nothing that could push against the transmission shifter if you hit a bump or turned a corner. 2.) You could try driving it in a bumpy but safe location (like an empty parking lot) to see if it happens again. 3.) Have you ever checked your transmission fluid? You could have a slow leak. ...I don't think that dealers treat women any differently...I'm female, never had an issue with being treated differently or victimized "because I'm a woman". It would be a dumb move for a dealer to treat a woman badly just because she is a woman because 90% of all car purchases are influenced or made by women.

Scary! Are you talking about an automatic transmission? It sounds like you are. Do you keep anything on the center console that could nudge it?

No suggestions...unfortunately, Celicas aren't my strong point. I've always loved the old AWD Celica though. It sounds like a great project. Got any "before" pics?

Oh...and speaking of roots, perhaps Ford should go back to farming? That's where Henry Ford started out, after all.

Of course the US had a big influence...and Toyota has had a huge influence on the US and all around the world. You've heard of the Chevy Nova, the Geo Prizm, the Pontiac G6, the Pontiac Vibe, the Lotus Elise, and the Ford Escape Hybrid in the US? All licensed Toyota technology, motors, or platforms, and in the case of the Escape Hybrid, Toyota's old hybrid system that was no longer being used was sold to Ford for lack of anything better to do with it. Toyota may not be the innovator of the car, but they have a conservative policy of developing other good but flawed ideas to perfection before production. Look at the Sienna, the Tundra, and the LS400/430/460 for prime examples. Did you happen to see this? "Lexus Ranks Highest in Vehicle Dependability for a 14th Consecutive Year" http://www.jdpower.com/autos/articles/2008...y-Study-Results http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/rele...pdf/2008115.pdf Hmmm...Lexus...that's not Toyota Motor Corp. by any chance, is it? PS. The nice thing about TRD is that the parts always fit, they're very high quality, they're covered under Toyota factory warranty, and they do amazing things to your car. As a past multiple Supra(s) and TRD parts customer, I can attest to this. Oh, and speaking of racing: did you see the LF-A at Nurburgring in April?...yes, as a matter of fact, I think it did break the track record.

Wow...any recent pics?

The guy that started Toyota actually started as a business before Henry Ford. It's a similar naming strategy: Henry Ford = Ford Motors, Sakichi Toyoda = Toyota. He started the Toyoda company around 1890 as a loom manufacturer, and the company moved into automotive manufacturing when his son, Kiichiro Toyoda, was interested in the industry. Toyota Motors was formally founded in 1937, and manufactured their first cars in 1938. So Toyota has been building cars for sale for 70 years, and has been in business for 118 years. In that time, Toyota has actually become the world's largest auto manufacturer (it was GM prior for a long time prior to that, Ford isn't even close), and has been the recipient of quality award after quality award in many countries. Those quality awards are big reason for the success of the company...Toyota operates under a manufacturing policy of continuous improvement, and you can see the results in the sales numbers. As far as safety is concerned: yes, Ford does a good job over all. However, I think if you do the research, you'll find that Toyota as a manufacturer has a slight edge in the ratings over Ford. Both, however, are excellent, and ahead of most of the rest of the manufacturers. Safety ratings sell cars, so all manufacturers pay close attention to the independent ratings. As for mortgages: Toyota employs about 380,000 people worldwide, including 36,000 in the US. That certainly helps to pay a few mortgages. Ford, on the other hand, has only about 250,000 employees worldwide. That doesn't include the dealer network, which pays a few more mortgages for their employees.

That's pretty cool...you could change it every year. Awesome! Good to hear from you, Alberto!

lol... :P

Nope...it doesn't work on the 2008 models. More than just the loading file has changed, so burning a disc with the old Loading.kwi file isn't that easy this time around...worked great on the 2007 GS, but not on the 2008. Trust me, I've burned several discs with different configurations...no luck. However, I've since fixed it with the installation of a switch between the speed sensor and the nav system...flick the switch, the speed sensor stops sending info to the nav unit, the car thinks it's stopped, and everything works. Flick the switch again, and everything goes back to normal. Yay!

At that price range: www.discounttire.com www.discounttiredirect.com www.tirerack.com

On that Bridgestone topic...I'm still firmly convinced it had nothing to do with Bridgestone. Did anyone other than me happen to notice that it only happened to Fords? Hmmm.... I have had several perfectly good sets of Bridgestone high performance tires on many of my cars, and I have yet to have any issues at all. And at the same time Ford was installing Bridgestone/Firestones and having problems, Toyota was installing the same Bridgestone/Firestone tires on the Toyota Tacomas and having absolutely no issues. Hmmm...

Not to TOTALLY diss Honda drivers...but did I mention I hate Civics? ...Especially the ones with the buzzy exhaust, "VTEC" stickers on non-VTEC cars, bad bodykits, and stupid displays of horsepower that they don't have... (okay, yes, sometimes Toyota people do bad things, but they always reform :D ). okay, okay...yes, I know...that new Civic is pretty cool...wish Toyota made a nice Corolla coupe.