Toyota and KBB- Karate Chopping to Victory

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You've probably used Kelley Blue Book at some point during your car search. It's a great online resource for getting an initial estimate on the value of a specific car, whether you're buying or selling. The estimates they give for trading in your vehicle to a dealership are pretty competitive too. I once looked up the value of my car and then asked my sales manager to give me an estimate. Both numbers weren't too far off from one another.

For the Toyota enthusiasts out there, if you've found your eyes drifting towards a new Camry or an Entune equipped vehicle lately while browsing KBB, feel free to rejoice! Since the beginning of 2010, car shoppers on KBB have been most loyal to Toyota compared to other auto brands. KBB did a study and found that the majority of people searching their site were looking up Toyota vehicles. In fact, in August of 2012, of the 25 most shopped for vehicles, number one was the Camry (the Highlander was the 13th most searched for, Corolla 17th, RAV4 18th, and Tacoma 23rd)!

"Toyota's reputation for quality, reliability and strong resale values undoubtedly contribute to the brand's success. New-car shoppers on KBB.com continue to prove their love for Toyota, time and time again," said Arthur Henry, manager of market intelligence for Kelley Blue Book. "Recent redesigns of best-selling models like the Camry, and increasing popularity of fuel-sippers like the Prius family, continue to drive interest and traffic to Toyota's new cars on KBB.com. The brand also has very impressive, longstanding shopper loyalty statistics."

You know who else was loyal and succeeded? Daniel LaRusso, the karate kid. That famous song from the equally famous movie was one of the first things to randomly pop into my mind. Followed up fairly quickly by "Wax on, wax off!"
I'm sure the guys at Toyota are celebrating the news of their victory on KBB's website by playing Joe Esposito's ultimate montage song repeatedly-

Now that we've gotten the nostalgia fix out of our system- do you use Kelley Blue Book? What other resources do you search when looking for car information online?

Music and Millennials

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Staying trendy is key when it comes to movies, entertainment, and technology.

My friends used to talk about going out and picking up the latest album from their favorite artist. There was a time when having a cd collection was something you showed off, with big binders full of discs for your friends to browse through as you drove somewhere. I remember when Outkast's double album, Speakerboxx/The Love Below came out. Even if you weren't a huge fan of hip hop, you bought that cd and made sure everyone could see it. Now? Not so much. Step into your nearest Best Buy and the music section is but a fraction of what it once was 10 years ago. Today, where digital downloads reign supreme, most of us require an auxiliary port in our car so we can listen or stream music from our smartphones and mp3 players.

Well, after reading a LA Times article on the habits of millennials and their declining taste in older movies, I imagine the same has happened with their preference for the ways in which they listen to music while driving.

As Neal Gabler puts it in the article- "Young people, so-called millennials, don't seem to think of movies as art the way so many boomers did. They think of them as fashion, and like fashion, movies have to be new and cool to warrant attention."

He compares the newest Spiderman movie to the one that came out a decade ago with Tobey Maguire, saying that Maguire's version is ancient in comparison (doesn't that make you feel old?)

As far as Toyota goes, they've taken steps to make sure people's spidey senses are still tingling with their cars. We often focus on safety features, but with my generation, convenience and trendiness are key. Starting with the 2012 Corolla, Toyota listened to customer feedback and finally added much needed USB and auxiliary ports to all models of the car, giving drivers music options other than the cd player. Nice! Entune is also starting to become more widely available on most newer Toyota vehicles as well. It combines a bunch of useful applications, such as Bing, iHeart radio, and data services (so you can find restaurants, weather, traffic, and other useful info all on the fly).

I think we're going to see a whole lot more connectivity between cars, drivers, and smartphones in the next year or two. We might not perfect something as crazy as the self driving car that soon, but hands free entertainment options for drivers are going to become a lot more accessible and available. How long do you think it will be before cd players go the way of the 8 track and cassette players, and are no longer featured in cars? 

How Do I Qualify for the Toyota College Grad Rebate?

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"Higher education is not a luxury. It's an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford." These words were recently spoken by President Obama at the University of Michigan, and reflect the trend of universities across the country increasing tuition rates, with last year seeing the average cost of college increase by 8.3 percent.

The majority of us seek financial aid or scholarship opportunities to help pay for college, though not everyone always gets help. Most of the time, we're still faced with student loans to pay off as we begin our job search. In fact, statistics from 2010 showed that the average student left college with $25,000 in debt. That's painful! When you graduate, shouldn't there be some sort of incentive to look forward to other than looming debt? A sort of pat on the back to say "I did it!" or a perk to keep your optimism rolling?

Fortunately, there are opportunites such as these, and I wanted to point out one today that not everyone may know about. Toyota has a rebate program to award students who graduate college, where you can get $1000 back when you purchase a new Camry, Corolla, Matrix, RAV4, Tacoma, or Yaris between now and January 2nd, 2013. An extra grand is definitely a nice chunk of change regardless of how old you are! Along with that, you may also qualify for no money down and zero monthly payments for 90 days depending on the vehicle you select.

So you want to finally upgrade out of that old junker of yours, and qualify for this rebate. What do you have to do? Here's the breakdown. You need to meet one of the following criteria:

• Have graduated from an accredited four-year college, university, or registered nursing degree program during the last two years or graduate from such a school/program within the next six months
• Have graduated from an accredited two-year college during the last two years
• Be enrolled in an accredited graduate degree program or have received a degree from an accredited graduate program during the last two years
• Have graduated during the last two years from the two-year Toyota Technical Education Network (T-TEN) Program or any other two-year post secondary automotive program accredited by the NATEF
• Have completed an electrician apprenticeship/certification program during the last two years through the NJATC and the IBEW

And you need a job:

• Show proof of present employment or future employment with a start date within 120 days of your purchase contract date. Note that Toyota Financial Services must deem your income sufficient to cover living expenses and vehicle payments.

As long as you can show employment and are a recent or expecting grad, you're good to go! Toyota even has a nifty tool you can use that lets you plug in numbers (such as what you want your down payment  to be, monthly payment, etc) and it will recommend vehicles that are in your price range.
For more info on the college rebate program, visit us at 10725 Manchester Rd in Kirkwood, MO, or call (800) GO-TOYOTA to request a brochure.

Do you know of any other good programs or incentives for college graduates? If so, leave a comment below or share them with us on Twitter @LouFuszToyota !