If anyone has seen the episode of NBC’s The Office episode “The Duel”, you would know that Dwight Schrute would most certainly appreciate the electronic humming device.  In the episode, eccentric Dwight and quirky Andy Bernard duel over Angela.  Andy tricks Dwight into going down to the parking lot where he falls victim to Andy’s Prius trap. Famously silent, Andy sneaks up behind Dwight in his Prius at 5mph and harmlessly pins him against the fence. Oscar Martinez, watching from above comments on the action, “Prius’ are silent under 5mph. Andy deserves to win.” The idiotic banter carries on between the two for a few minutes, and the whole episode is genuinely entertaining and the perfect example of why Dwight would pay the extremely reasonable $148 for the warning sound of an engine. If you want to check out a new and used Prius, head over to your Champaign Toyota dealer, O’Brien Toyota of Urbana.

People who are especially appreciative of Toyota’s effort are those in the blind community.  The electronic humming device may not seem like a big deal, but for them, it could make all the difference. Props to Toyota for looking out for the environment and the people that live in it.  Other car manufacturers are taking note of the Prius’ sound device and beginning to develop their own for their hybrid line of vehicles. Remember your Champaign Toyota dealer, O’Brien Toyota of Urbana will have more information about the sound device and other safety precautions Toyota has taken to ensure your safety.

Every American knows Toyota is reliable, long lasting, and gets great gas mileage. What they might not know and be thankful for is Toyota ranking top on the list for crash test performance. We’ve all seen pictures and videos of cars being demolished and thought how cool that looked. The other side of the reaction we don’t think about is what happens if I’m in the car when that happens.

Toyota, despite  all the bad press of late, still has its customers at heart. Any company can put better speakers or more comfortable seats in a vehicle, but not all of them care enough to make you safe when a truck tries to turn your car into a crumpled pop can.

If you’re in Champaign, Toyota dealers of central Illinois are ready and waiting to help keep you and your family safe on the road. If you head east through Urbana, Toyota dealers there will have the same goal and the cars you’re looking for.

Toyota cars look great on the road, feel great when you’re driving, and are easy on the wallet both with price and upkeep. It comes as a great comfort when the things you don’t think about are the things that may matter most when the worst happens. The solid fact is no one ever wants to be in an accident and certainly no one wants to have their car destroyed. If you had to choose, would you rather have no car and lose the things you care about, or be the guy in the television that comes back one last time to see the car that saved his life? Again, no one wants to lose their car, but I’m glad when my accident happened, I walked away.

In many ways, the 2011 Avalon can be compared to the Lexus ES 350. These two models are similar in many ways, but the base price of the Avalon is $3,200 less expensive than the ES. The Avalon’s additional five inches of legroom guarantees Champaign Toyota shoppers more car for a lower price. Starting at $33,205 the 2011 Avalon offers a luxurious feel without the price tag or flashiness of the similar Lexus ES.

Flashy it is not, but this large car is most definitely a presence on the road. Offering more space than the Toyota Camry, the Avalon measures 197.6 inches in length and has a width of 72.8 inches. This car is large, but not to the point of intimidating. In fact, the 2011 Avalon is focused on the comfort of its driver, passengers, and others on the road.

Many of Avalon’s new changes were made with the idea of comfort in mind. For example, the Limited model includes a ventilation system that blows heated or cooled air through the pores of the front seats’ upholstery. Speaking of seats, they are “thickly padded leather” and come standard in the base model. As a bonus, the rear seats recline. Adding to the car’s comfort is ample foot room and ultra plush carpets. Not only does this car feel relaxing, but also there is minimal road and engine noise inside the Avalon making it a virtually silent ride. If nothing else, Champaign Toyota drivers will not be sore after riding in the 2011 Avalon.

The mechanical elements have stayed the same as the 2010 model, but the new Avalon sports changes in other areas. Among them are a matte wood finish interior (as opposed to the old model’s shiny wood), voice-activated navigation system, rear-view camera, a wider grille, and additional chrome trim. To see the other changes, hurry over to your local Champaign Toyota dealer, O’Brien Toyota, and look at their large selection of 2011 Avalons.

In the massive corporate world that is the auto industry there are many twists and turns in the route the truth seems to travel. In the early spring it was all over the news, print, and radio that there had been some faulty electrical problem. Then later it was discovered that some of the people involved were less than honest about the circumstances they experienced. In some cases it was revealed that drivers intentionally floored the accelerator and claimed uncontrollable circumstances in an evil effort to acquire money at any price.

Integrity seems to be a fading concept in this country and it weighs greatly on my heart. I am, however, very grateful for people like the staff at the O’Brien Champaign Toyota dealer. When I was looking for a used Camry, Champaign became the X that marked the spot. Having done business with the O’Brien team in the past I knew when it came time for a good quality used car I could count on them. When I heard the acceleration scare may have been a hoax, my confidence in the Japanese auto maker was quickly restored and I traded up for a new Camry right away.

There is plenty wrong in this world without people trying to make other things wrong for profit. I remember feeling something wasn’t right during the whole process the way it all happened at once. My worst thought was for the cop in California that used his own car and risked his life to supposedly slow down an out of control Toyota. That officer put his own life before that which he believed to be an honest person in trouble. What does that mean for the future? As the son of a cop, job or no job, if the integrity of your life is called into question before it is saved, you have to think your chances are probably going to go down.

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group in San Jose is one of the lucky companies that received a prototype of the hybrid vehicle.  The president of the group, Carl Guardino announced at a news conference that he intends to sell his Volvo on Craigslist and buy a plug-in Prius when they hit the market in 2012 at New and Pre-Owned Prius Champaign dealerships.

Coulomb Technologies, who was recently awarded a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to install public charging stations in metropolitan areas across the nation, will supply the charging stations to be used by the leadership group.

The new hybrid still combines a gasoline engine with a lithium-ion battery pack that is able to be recharged at home or work.  Supposedly the car will be able to drive exclusively via electricity for 13 miles before the gas motor kicks in.  The new hybrid utilizes the same Hybrid Synergy Drive seen in the 2010 Prius.  Indeed, as GreenCarReports.com points out, the 2012 Plug-In Prius is essentially a Prius with a larger lithium–battery pack and the ability to plug into the wall to recharge.

The Inside Line team at Autoblog.com noted the similarity between the original Prius and the Plug-In and went on to say that it was a bit of a let down.  They had accumulated approximately 500 miles on their prototype and were averaging about 62 mpg, which is very impressive, but no different from what drivers were averaging on the original Prius.  They did observe that the added weight of the batteries allowed the car to handle better.

Before investing in a new Plug-In Prius, you may want to visit your local Pre-Owned Prius Champaign dealer and consider the 2010 Prius.  Inside Line tracked the cost for charging the Plug-In Prius and came back with an average of 65 cents per fill.  Champaign Toyota dealers estimate a base price of around $27,550 for the 2012 Plug-In model, a $4,000 premium over a traditional Prius.

According to Champaign Toyota dealers, the 2012 Plug-In Prius is expected to be just one in a fleet of Prius-badged cars in a move meant to solidify the Japanese auto-giant’s place as one of the greenest automakers.

There have been rumors for a long time about the Toyota Prius minivan, but now Toyota is a lot closer to developments than ever before. The Prius seems to be expanding its fleet with its new Prius Plug-in Hybrid and the emerging hatchback Prius that is supposedly going to be launched sometime in 2011. Check in with your local Champaign Toyota dealerships for information on the Plug-in Hybrid Prius.

The Nikkei newspaper were the first to report that Toyota will begin producing a hybrid minivan, which should be expected in 2011 making itself the first Toyota production vehicle equipped with a lithium-ion battery pack developed in house. The Prius minivan will seat seven and will market itself towards the family oriented buyer.

An early price quote was said to be around $25,000, but this price could fluctuate depending on the economic situation in 2011. Considering there are very few other automotive companies pursuing hybrid minivans it will be very likely that the Prius minvan will become the first ever hybrid minivan available in the United States. This is a commodity that the public has shown interest in for a long time, being able to haul around seven people in a car with a decent fuel economy is something important to most Americans.

It was also confirmed that the minivan will use the lithium-ion batteries, which would be a first for a non-plug-in Toyota model. The lithium ion battery pack has a three-row battery situation and utilizes its core battery as the only source to provide an all-electric option. Once this all-electric battery source is depleted it will activate a second back up battery and following its depletion the system will resort back to the traditional Prius functionality.

Check out your local used Camry Champaign dealerships for information on Toyota’s best selling minivan, the Sienna, and news on the upcoming Prius minivan.

At the 2010 North American International Auto Show premier of the FT-CH concept car, Toyota Motor Sales, USA President Jim Lentz stated, “the FT-CH captures the spirit and functionality… of a car that thrives in the inner-city environment… ‘Sized-right’… to be nimble, responsive and maneuverable.”  Lentz went on to evaluate the agile compact hybrid as a smaller, cheaper version of the mid-size class Prius.  Measuring only 153 inches long, 68.5 inches wide and 55 inches high the FT-CH is designed to be deftly maneuverable and will be ideal for city driving.  Champaign Toyota dealers warn potential clients not to be thrown off by the compact size of the new concept car which has been designed for maximum passenger comfort and interior space.

Many preowned Prius Champaign dealers note that some first-time Prius drivers initially have reservations about the motor-power and durability attainable with a hybrid vehicle.  However, new owners find their fears quickly assuaged when they realized that their new hybrid not only sports Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive but is also more fuel-efficient than the competition.

Hybrid Synergy Drive technology functions by combining a small gasoline engine with a small electric motor to increase fuel economy and lower emissions. The motor runs on batteries whose power is generated as the car coasts and decelerates.

The FT-CH represents the expansion of hybrid options for Champaign Toyota customers in addition to expanding Toyota’s marketing demographic.  The hybrid concept car is being modeled at a lower price-point than the Prius, appealing to a younger, less affluent demographic.  Toyota’s European Design and Development (ED²) center, which styled the vehicle, has cited the vivid, retro, high-energy 8-bit generation as their inspiration for the FT-CH.

Lentz also announced at NAIAS that Toyota Motor Sales is in the process of developing a Prius family of hybrid vehicles for which the FT-CH is a definite contender, so expect to hear more about this prototype in the near future. Drivers who are hesitant to join in the hybrid movement should test the waters with a tried and true pre-owned Prius, available at preowned Prius Champaign dealers.

Maybe it’s the fact that Toyota has vowed to make their cars environmentally-friendly and help the planet move forward in terms of sustainability. Visit your 2010 Prius Champaign dealer and you’ll know what we mean. Toyota just announced a subcompact hybrid vehicle at the Detroit Auto Show and looks forward to creating hybrids across all models in the near future. Oh, and did we mention that Consumer Reports named the Prius the #1 most fuel-efficient car, getting 55 mpg on the highway? The Toyota Camry hybrid, Yaris Base Sedan, Corolla LE and Corolla (base, manual) also ranked among the top 15 models. And the 2010 Prius was named WhatGreenCar’s Car of the Year. See your Champaign Toyota for more.

Or it could be the fact that Toyota’s are incredibly reliable. In the 2009 Annual Auto Reliability Survey put out by Consumer Reports, not one, not two, not three nor four…but FIVE, HALF of the top 10 most reliable models were Toyota vehicles. Those models were the Venza (4-cyl), Yaris Hatchback, FJ Cruiser, Prius, and 4 Runner (V6). Not a single Toyota was among the 10 least reliable cars.

Or, it could just be a matter of price. Excuse us, not just price – value. Kelley Blue Book’s 2010 Residual Value Study gave Toyota the Best Resale Value award. And the 2011 Sienna was just given a very affordable price tag. Just one more reason to stop by your Champaign Toyota to see what Toyota has to offer.

Toyota also tops Consumer Reports’ brand perception study, taking into account safety, quality, value, performance, design/style, technology/innovation, and environmental friendliness. It even tops online auto searches for 2009. One thing is for certain – Toyota customers aren’t shopping around. With decades of quality and innovation under its belt, Toyota is just getting started.

Take a 2010 Prius Champaign test drive at your Champaign Toyota dealer and find out for yourself why you still can’t top Toyota quality, affordability and fun.