I had the opportunity to purchase our second Toyota from Dianne Whitmire at Hooman Toyota in Long Beach this past week. Dianne has been on Tundra Solutions as a preferred dealer almost as long as I have been a member. Our first Toyota, and we still have it, is our 2001 Tundra. I bought it back in November of 2000 from Dianne when she was at a different dealership.
The Corolla purchase was every bit as easy and painless as the Tundra purchase. We...uhhh...my wife, had three very specific requirements for the car. 1st: Barcelona Red. 2nd: 5 speed manual tranny. 3rd: an 'S' model. Dianne found out that our exact model was going to be built at the Freemont facility in California during the week of September 15th. The car was then shipped down to Long Beach Toyota and I flew down on Jet Blue out of Sacramento and picked it up on Friday the 26th. Dianne even picked me up from the Long Beach airport in the new car. What service! I stayed the night at a hotel in Carson, then drove the 540 miles home via hwy 101 on Saturday. I stopped once to fill up the car and me. The car averaged 37 mpg! Basically I drove between 65 and 75 mph. I'm very happy with that gas mileage! This Corolla has everything we wanted and more. All this out the door for just over $19K.
If you're looking for a new Toyota car, truck or SUV , definitely check with Dianne first. I'm sure it will be worth your while!
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My daily driver - 2008 Vios 'S' sedan. Tinted windows in the rear, TRD anti-sway bar for the rear, 17" rims - Samurai SC02 Hyper Black. TRD lowering springs. Megan Racing header.
My favorite ride - a 2001 SR5 4x4. With - RCD 6" lift, JBA Titanium coated headers, JBA y-pipe, Unichip PnP, ARB rd-129 air locker (rear), Camburg UCA's, custom front Sway-A-Way coilovers, custom Sway-A-Way's with remote reservoirs and billet mounts for the hind-quarters, PolyPerformance limit straps with adjustable clevis's, Stubbs Welding rock sliders and custom front skid plate, 315/75/16 Toyo Open Country M/T's, on all 4 corners wrapped around 16x8 MB Motoring Blitz rims, cryo'd 4.88's set up by Inchworm Gear, Trenz billet grill upper, T-Rex billet grill lower, on board VI-AIR aircompressor and 3 gallon air tank, AutoMeter A-pillar pod with trans temp gauge (sending unit in the tranny pan), Long Tru-Cool LPD tranny cooler, 10" Flex-a-Lite tranny cooler fan w/thermostat, TRD billet oil filler cap, TRD air filter, TRD dual exhaust, and TRD add-a-leaf rear springs. Superlift TruSpeed Speedo Recalibrator. Warn Trans4mer system with a 9.5ti winch running Amsteel Blue winch line. Budbuilt traction bar. Staun tyre deflators. Spitz Lift portable crane. Marlin Crawler 1.5" wheel spacers. Our home away from home, 2004 Outback 26RS travel trailer with 15" MB Motoring Blitz rims to match the Tundra.
What is it now, the 10th generation of these great "little" cars? Well, actually the new Corolla makes my Yaris look tiny, oh, wait, it is tiny!
My wife has been doing the minivan-SUV thing for 11 years now and was yearning for a stick shift. When I married her (way back when), she owned a 1985 Toyota Supra and we ended up selling it when our daughter was born in 1997. That was a tough move from the Supra to a minivan! But practicality won out. So FINALLY she is able to get a stick shift. Granted it's not a Supra, but it still is fun to drive! This past weekend she figured out how to program the Bluetooth integrated phone with her cell phone. Apparently the system can recognize more than one phone. I still need to "pair" my phone to the car for those occasional times that I drive it.
Our biggest challenge so far has been to fit a bike rack to the car. My wife teaches at one of the elementary schools in town. My son also goes to that school and until this year, so did my daughter. My daughter still rides in the car with my wife and son to their school, but then she rides her bike from that school 2.5 miles to her new middle school. So we had to get a bike rack to transport her bike. I knew I wanted a hitch mounted rack and I actually had a hitch before I picked the car up, that was the easy part. I bought a bike rack that inserts into the 1 1/4" receiver only to find that the rack hits the lower part of the rear bumper! Crap! I then had to buy a 6" extension, waited 3 days for that to come in. Now the rack fits into the extension, which fits into the receiver on the car, but oh wait! Her bike is way too unstable on this bike rack and I was not happy with it. I took that bike rack back and ended buying another one at almost twice the cost that supports the bike by the wheels. This one is working out much better. It's a Thule T2 for anyone that's intersted. It's real easy to load the bike and strap it on, plus when the bike is removed the rack folds up vertically to take up less space. WHEW!!! I think I've finally solved this problem.
We've only filled the tank twice since we've owned it and the 2nd tank averaged out at 33 mpg. There was still more highway then city driving. The next tank will be 98% city. No complaints with this at all. I commute in the Yaris (averaging about 32 mpg), so the Tundra is finally getting a well deserved rest and will only be used for truck stuff.
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My daily driver - 2008 Vios 'S' sedan. Tinted windows in the rear, TRD anti-sway bar for the rear, 17" rims - Samurai SC02 Hyper Black. TRD lowering springs. Megan Racing header.
My favorite ride - a 2001 SR5 4x4. With - RCD 6" lift, JBA Titanium coated headers, JBA y-pipe, Unichip PnP, ARB rd-129 air locker (rear), Camburg UCA's, custom front Sway-A-Way coilovers, custom Sway-A-Way's with remote reservoirs and billet mounts for the hind-quarters, PolyPerformance limit straps with adjustable clevis's, Stubbs Welding rock sliders and custom front skid plate, 315/75/16 Toyo Open Country M/T's, on all 4 corners wrapped around 16x8 MB Motoring Blitz rims, cryo'd 4.88's set up by Inchworm Gear, Trenz billet grill upper, T-Rex billet grill lower, on board VI-AIR aircompressor and 3 gallon air tank, AutoMeter A-pillar pod with trans temp gauge (sending unit in the tranny pan), Long Tru-Cool LPD tranny cooler, 10" Flex-a-Lite tranny cooler fan w/thermostat, TRD billet oil filler cap, TRD air filter, TRD dual exhaust, and TRD add-a-leaf rear springs. Superlift TruSpeed Speedo Recalibrator. Warn Trans4mer system with a 9.5ti winch running Amsteel Blue winch line. Budbuilt traction bar. Staun tyre deflators. Spitz Lift portable crane. Marlin Crawler 1.5" wheel spacers. Our home away from home, 2004 Outback 26RS travel trailer with 15" MB Motoring Blitz rims to match the Tundra.
Overall we were trying to keep the cost down and the fuel economy up. With the 2.4 liter we would lose a bit in gas mileage and insurance costs would be higher. Truth be told, I didn't even show my wife the XRS! Shhhhhhh!!!
__________________
My daily driver - 2008 Vios 'S' sedan. Tinted windows in the rear, TRD anti-sway bar for the rear, 17" rims - Samurai SC02 Hyper Black. TRD lowering springs. Megan Racing header.
My favorite ride - a 2001 SR5 4x4. With - RCD 6" lift, JBA Titanium coated headers, JBA y-pipe, Unichip PnP, ARB rd-129 air locker (rear), Camburg UCA's, custom front Sway-A-Way coilovers, custom Sway-A-Way's with remote reservoirs and billet mounts for the hind-quarters, PolyPerformance limit straps with adjustable clevis's, Stubbs Welding rock sliders and custom front skid plate, 315/75/16 Toyo Open Country M/T's, on all 4 corners wrapped around 16x8 MB Motoring Blitz rims, cryo'd 4.88's set up by Inchworm Gear, Trenz billet grill upper, T-Rex billet grill lower, on board VI-AIR aircompressor and 3 gallon air tank, AutoMeter A-pillar pod with trans temp gauge (sending unit in the tranny pan), Long Tru-Cool LPD tranny cooler, 10" Flex-a-Lite tranny cooler fan w/thermostat, TRD billet oil filler cap, TRD air filter, TRD dual exhaust, and TRD add-a-leaf rear springs. Superlift TruSpeed Speedo Recalibrator. Warn Trans4mer system with a 9.5ti winch running Amsteel Blue winch line. Budbuilt traction bar. Staun tyre deflators. Spitz Lift portable crane. Marlin Crawler 1.5" wheel spacers. Our home away from home, 2004 Outback 26RS travel trailer with 15" MB Motoring Blitz rims to match the Tundra.
Speaking of insurance, we received our updated policy yesterday and the Corolla is actually LESS than the Yaris! WTH??? They are both the 'S' model, so I would think the Corolla would cost more to insure as it is a more expensive car. I need to call our agent today and ask a few questions. It may be because my wife only commutes 6 miles each way to work and I drive 17 each way.
__________________
My daily driver - 2008 Vios 'S' sedan. Tinted windows in the rear, TRD anti-sway bar for the rear, 17" rims - Samurai SC02 Hyper Black. TRD lowering springs. Megan Racing header.
My favorite ride - a 2001 SR5 4x4. With - RCD 6" lift, JBA Titanium coated headers, JBA y-pipe, Unichip PnP, ARB rd-129 air locker (rear), Camburg UCA's, custom front Sway-A-Way coilovers, custom Sway-A-Way's with remote reservoirs and billet mounts for the hind-quarters, PolyPerformance limit straps with adjustable clevis's, Stubbs Welding rock sliders and custom front skid plate, 315/75/16 Toyo Open Country M/T's, on all 4 corners wrapped around 16x8 MB Motoring Blitz rims, cryo'd 4.88's set up by Inchworm Gear, Trenz billet grill upper, T-Rex billet grill lower, on board VI-AIR aircompressor and 3 gallon air tank, AutoMeter A-pillar pod with trans temp gauge (sending unit in the tranny pan), Long Tru-Cool LPD tranny cooler, 10" Flex-a-Lite tranny cooler fan w/thermostat, TRD billet oil filler cap, TRD air filter, TRD dual exhaust, and TRD add-a-leaf rear springs. Superlift TruSpeed Speedo Recalibrator. Warn Trans4mer system with a 9.5ti winch running Amsteel Blue winch line. Budbuilt traction bar. Staun tyre deflators. Spitz Lift portable crane. Marlin Crawler 1.5" wheel spacers. Our home away from home, 2004 Outback 26RS travel trailer with 15" MB Motoring Blitz rims to match the Tundra.
I did call my agent about it and due to the fact that we own three vehicles and who is listed as the primary driver for each vehicle and the guesstimated number of miles driven per year and whether the "someone" listed as the primary driver of that vehicle has a ticket from 3 years ago (not me ) and....on...and....on...and don't forget the phase of the moon when the policy was created and which way your dog turns around when he's about to lay down.
So it other words, somehow the "system" works it all out and the agent "changes" things in the system to provide the lowest rate while providing all the coverage necessary. Needless to say my head was spinning after that phone call.
We've been with him for 18 years, so I'll feel pretty confident he knows what he's doing.
__________________
My daily driver - 2008 Vios 'S' sedan. Tinted windows in the rear, TRD anti-sway bar for the rear, 17" rims - Samurai SC02 Hyper Black. TRD lowering springs. Megan Racing header.
My favorite ride - a 2001 SR5 4x4. With - RCD 6" lift, JBA Titanium coated headers, JBA y-pipe, Unichip PnP, ARB rd-129 air locker (rear), Camburg UCA's, custom front Sway-A-Way coilovers, custom Sway-A-Way's with remote reservoirs and billet mounts for the hind-quarters, PolyPerformance limit straps with adjustable clevis's, Stubbs Welding rock sliders and custom front skid plate, 315/75/16 Toyo Open Country M/T's, on all 4 corners wrapped around 16x8 MB Motoring Blitz rims, cryo'd 4.88's set up by Inchworm Gear, Trenz billet grill upper, T-Rex billet grill lower, on board VI-AIR aircompressor and 3 gallon air tank, AutoMeter A-pillar pod with trans temp gauge (sending unit in the tranny pan), Long Tru-Cool LPD tranny cooler, 10" Flex-a-Lite tranny cooler fan w/thermostat, TRD billet oil filler cap, TRD air filter, TRD dual exhaust, and TRD add-a-leaf rear springs. Superlift TruSpeed Speedo Recalibrator. Warn Trans4mer system with a 9.5ti winch running Amsteel Blue winch line. Budbuilt traction bar. Staun tyre deflators. Spitz Lift portable crane. Marlin Crawler 1.5" wheel spacers. Our home away from home, 2004 Outback 26RS travel trailer with 15" MB Motoring Blitz rims to match the Tundra.
Lord yeah I know that feeling. I know when I got my XRS they were telling me that I couldnt put it on my old account with my parents and such because of one thing or another. So I had to open up a new account and pay in extra because of this and that. Thankfully my agent called me up and got everything right. We've been with them forever so I'm like you. I feel pretty good that they're taking good care of us. They could have let that slip through otherwise I guess.
But yeah, the XRS is expensive on insurance. LOL its more expensive than my 05 DC Tundra X-SP was...
2009 Toyota Corolla 'S' - we got ours!
Our first Toyota, and we still have it, is our 2001 Tundra. I bought it back in November of 2000 from Dianne when she was at a different dealership.
Re: 2009 Toyota Corolla 'S' - we got ours!
But practicality won out. So FINALLY she is able to get a stick shift. Granted it's not a Supra, but it still is fun to drive! This past weekend she figured out how to program the Bluetooth integrated phone with her cell phone. Apparently the system can recognize more than one phone. I still need to "pair" my phone to the car for those occasional times that I drive it.
Crap! I then had to buy a 6" extension, waited 3 days for that to come in. Now the rack fits into the extension, which fits into the receiver on the car, but oh wait! Her bike is way too unstable on this bike rack and I was not happy with it. 
I took that bike rack back and ended buying another one at almost twice the cost that supports the bike by the wheels. This one is working out much better. It's a Thule T2 for anyone that's intersted. It's real easy to load the bike and strap it on, plus when the bike is removed the rack folds up vertically to take up less space. WHEW!!! I think I've finally solved this problem.
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