After entering your zip code (for pricing options), shoppers will have an extensive choice of trim levels. Seriously, how does one decide?! Base 4-cylinder, 3.5-liver V6, Hybrid Drive, Two-Wheel-Drive or Four. What fits you best?

Next, color and interior seating options allow those interested in a 2012 Highlander to pick from cloth or leather, black or tan, and extra features including Touch Screen Navigation. You can even opt for a voice activated command center.

Extras on board Toyota Highlander are extensive. Place cargo nets in the rear for groceries, add different seating configurations, or even roof racks and sensors that alert you (as well as anyone around) when a window is broken.

Finally, there’s the breakdown. Review a summary of your personalized Toyota Highlander. All extra charges will be laid out, with the option to add or subtract even more. Base pricing for a 2012 Highlander is $30,115, but you can bring a fully loaded SUV home with an asking price tag over $50,000.

It all depends on your specific needs. Once ready, the site will direct shoppers to local dealerships, whose inventory matches what you wish to test drive. Good luck, future Highlander owner!

Toyota Camry had two spots during this year’s Super Bowl. Well, one was technically BEFORE the Big Game. Focusing on just one model in all their ads really drives home the long lasting love people have for Camry.

The spot above, “It’s Reinvented,” features several upgrades to everyday products (and babies). Just like Toyota, offering more options than you can shake a time traveling stick at.

Years ago, I owned a mid-90′s Avalon. Yes, this is a Toyota fan blog, though I must be honest – That Avalon was a lemon. It was not the car’s fault; I purchased it used and its previous owner did not take care of it (if you own a 90′s Toyota, do not park it on wet grass everyday for a decade).

Since then, I kept away from the big T. But Corolla brought me back. I always had friends who owned these smooth driving compacts throughout various generations. I’ve had the recent fortune to cruising around 2011 and 2012 models, thanks to rental car agencies. The idea of purchasing a per-owned certified 2011 Toyota Corolla appeals to me very much.

2011 models come in with a base MSRP of $15,900. For a barely-driven vehicle that should last you upwards of 300,000 miles, it’s a steal! Both Edmunds, as well as Car & Driver, predict a life-time ownership price of under $32,000.

The vehicle is reliable, I mean – it’s a Toyota after all! When properly maintained, Corolla will hit 250,000 easy, and at best over 300,000. It rides comfortably, the controls and extra gadgets in-dash are quality, and fuel mileage (26 MPG city, 34 hwy) is superb.

Base and S sedan trims feature a quality 1.8 liter engine, producing 132 horsepower. But if you want a Corolla, charging down the highway with massive horsepower is not your main concern. Corolla owners expect reliability and duration. You get that with Toyota vehicles like this one.

So, have we ever decided on “Prius-plural” pronunciations?

Aside from the much anticipated Prius-V “minivan,” the Japanese auto maker is also showing off Prius C Hatchback – basically, a hybrid version of Yaris in size. But wait until we read off EPA ratings.

It’s 5-door body styling will be a hit overseas, though possibly in North America. Toyota has a longer way to go for a positive impression. However, hatchback sales in the US are on a steady (all be it, very slow) upswing.

One of the biggest draws Prius C has working for it is a claim of 53 mile per gallon city (with combined rating of 50). This model also reaches a distance of 25 miles on battery power alone.

Prius C will be priced under $19,000, and expect it to be powered by a 1.5 liter 73-hp Atkinson cycle engine and hybrid motors. The combined output is rated at 99 hp. Expect a plug-in all-electric variant down the line as well.

Image: Auto Week

NS4 features attracted much attention to the Japanese auto maker’s booth in Detroit this year. Narrow lights peek out from just about every angle, with its sloping nose and transparent “special glass” roof, driver and passengers will receive an almost panoramic view of their surroundings.

Powered by electricity (Toyota is aiming for a plug-in hybrid version of NS4, with 475cc air cooled flat-twin motor), “NS4 demonstrates Toyota’s take on the human connection to the car with technology that considers both emotional and rational relationships, person-to-car and car-to-society.”

But with all these distractions to maintain or replace, and all that glass to clean and protect during collision, is something like NS4 realistic for the future of Toyota design?

As with most concepts, a final product will look similar, but lose much of the added shiny objects (we’re guessing a glass roof might stick around on certain trim levels, to compete with luxury auto makers like Audi and Mercedes-Benz). Expect the angles to be tuned down, and much of the lighting to take a hike.

NS4 includes a “suite of driver assist aids, including sub-millimeter wave radar to help the presumably Facebook-distracted driver avoid swerving into other lanes or running into anybody.”

Toyota hopes to bring a car similar to their NS4 Concept to a global market by 2015.

Source: Jalopnik

That’s right, somehow Toyota has people looking forward to long family road trips. Thanks to a stylish new design and spacious interior, the 2012 Toyota Sienna will take you from Oklahoma City to Chicago, Los Angeles to Seattle, and even across the United States in absolute comfort.

The 2012 Sienna offers both 3.5-liter V6 or 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine. The 3.5-liter generates 266 horsepower, along with an EPA-estimated mileage of 18 mpg city, 25 highway. Toyota’s 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine produces 187 horsepower and EPA-estimated 19 mpg city, 24 on the highway.

Inside, Sienna’s updated look offers an “open field” of view to create “airy, roomy ambiance throughout the cabin.” Both seven-and-eight-seater configure depending on passenger load.

“In seven-seat cabins, the second row captain chairs slide 23 inches, moving to the rear to create legroom for the tallest passengers and easier ingress and egress. Or, they can be moved forward close to the front seats to make it easy to reach a child passenger, while also allowing easy access for third-row passengers.”

There is a standard second-row “Lounge Seating” on Sienna’s trim. This set up includes leg and foot support, second-row captains’ chairs with dual armrests, and one-motion release mechanism for seat removal.

Check out 2012′s Sienna for yourself, and see how many configurations you can come up with.

The computer used to pilot this driverless car has been given the ok by officials.

Google’s calling it: ‘Transitioning a Mixed-mode Vehicle to Autonomous Mode.’ This allows a car to switch back and forth from human control to self-controlled (autonomous) mode.

Data is fed to the vehicle, telling it where to stop or move forward, up to 10 meters. A second set of sensors detect other vehicles and the cars’ surroundings: i.e.: trees, lampposts, landmarks, etc.

“The autonomous vehicle may be used as a virtual tour guide of Millennium Park in Chicago,” the patent explains. “In the example embodiment, the vehicle may have an instruction to drive to the Cloud Gate (Silver Bean) sculpture at Millennium Park. When the vehicle arrives, the autonomous instruction may tell it to wait in the location for a predetermined amount of time, for example 5 minutes.”

We still think Google owes the people behind Knight Rider some likeness rights.

Source: WCF

The automated hybrid from Japan was caught self-driving its way around Google’s Mountain View GooglePlex, carrying several employees who probably take home a larger annual salary than any of us will make our entire lives.

“The car was packed with people. I wasn’t able to tell if the guy in the driver’s seat was operating the car or just sitting there watching,” according to Barry Schwartz, CEO of RustyBrick, who took the photo.

This is not the first self-driving foreign vehicle to grab attention. Audi displayed one at CES 2011.

Toyota has been planning to introduce a driver-free version of their Prius at the Tokyo Auto Show. To help out, Nevada is apparently passing a bill that will allow self-driving cars on state roads.

A driver-less cab can’t be any more dangerous than every New York taxi cab driver.

Spy-shot: Torque News

The 2012 Camry has been redesigned inside and out. This new, angular sedan fits in nicely with fellow Corolla and Yaris models, which also receive similar sculpting for next year.

And for those who were wondering – yes, Kelly Clarkson still performs music. Good for her.

The commercial is called “People Person” and takes the expression too literal. At least the cars look good.