Toyota Tarago News

Almost 200 luxury cars are now exempt from Luxury Car Tax, so why do buyers of family cars pay millions for the tax-on-a-tax each year?

Honda is banking on a taller body, seating for eight and a swag of new features to boost its new fifth-generation Odyssey people mover closer to the top of the Australian people mover segment.Honda Australia director Stephen Collins expects the more van-like model to be “right up top of the shopping list in this segement,” despite price increases of $3,890-$4700 across the two-grade lineup. Helping to justify the price rise is the availability of an eight seat layout for the first time and new features like powered sliding rear doors, a 7-inch multimedia screen, auto parking function, a 360 degree camera, blind-spot and cross traffic alerts and LED headlights.The new model rides on a marginally 30mm longer footprint with 70mm added to the wheelbase, but the packaging improvements are gained mainly from a significant 150mm increase in overall height. With sales expectations of a 160 unit monthly average, a 1920 unit annual figure would nearly double the 1001 examples of the fourth-generation Odyssey Honda sold in 2013.This would still be some way off the 2847 examples Kia sold of the segment-leading Grand Carnival in 2013, but sales of this model are likely to taper with an all-new version due toward the end of the year. Honda’s projection should topple the ageing and commercial-based Hyundai iMax that sold 1455 units last year, and comfortably retain its lead over the once-dominant Toyota Tarago that sold 960 units in 2013.Honda claims the Odyssey is most likely to be cross-shopped against seven-seat SUV’s like the Mazda CX-9 and Toyota Kluger, but their respective 12,668 and 4184 unit 2013 sales results are not likely to be significantly dented by the new Odyssey. Toyota’s Kluger is being replaced by an all-new model next month, but replacements for the ageing Tarago, iMax and the CX-9 SUV are still some time away, so the Odyssey’s new kid on the block status is likely to last at least until the new Grand Carnival arrives.This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn

Jimmy Iskandar, from Casula, has been ordered to pay $31,762 by Parramatta Local Court for odometer tampering and other offences. The cars were bought from licensed car dealers, private sellers and auction houses, and were tampered with as follows:• On 12 February 2010, Iskandar purchased a 2004 Mercedes-Benz E320 sedan for $30,000. The odometer reading at the time of purchase was 210,000 kilometres. He subsequently sold the car with the odometer reading showing at 91,000 kilometres.• On 15 February 2010, Iskandar purchased a 2006 Toyota Aurion AT-X sedan for $16,990. The odometer reading at the time of purchase was 191,244 kilometres. On 29 March 2010, he sold the motor vehicle to Rana Motors Pty Ltd with the odometer reading 149,520 kilometres.• On 19 August 2010, Iskandar purchased a 2006 Toyota Camry Altise sedan for $6,000. The odometer read 152,153 kilometres but on 27 January 2011, he sold car privately with an odometer reading of 88,580 kilometres.• On 29 August 2010, Iskandar purchased a 2006 Toyota Camry Altise sedan, with an odometer reading of 170,000 kilometres, for $8,000. The same day he sold the motor vehicle to Rana Motors Pty Ltd with an odometer reading of 55,723 kilometres.• On 9 November 2010, Iskandar purchased a 2008 Toyota Camry Altise sedan from Hertz Australia Pty Ltd for $14,000 with an odometer reading of 68,826 kilometres. At the time of the sale in January 2011, the odometer reading was at 35,059 kilometres.• On 5 January 2011, Iskandar purchased a 2007 Toyota Camry Altise sedan for $9,000. The odometer at the time of purchase was 149,750 kilometres but when sold, the odometer had been wound back by more than 100,000 kilometres.• On 15 February 2011, Iskandar purchased a 2006 Toyota Camry Altise sedan from Rana Motors Pty Ltd for $8,000 with an odometer reading of 121,429 kilometres. Two months later he sold the car for double the price with an odometer reading of 46,118 kilometres.• On 14 April 2011, Iskandar purchased a 2007 Toyota Aurion Sportivo sedan with an odometer reading of 155,709 kilometres. On 9 August 2011, he sold the car with a reading of 55,944 kilometres.• On 13 May 2011, Iskandar purchased a 2007 Toyota Aurion Prodigy sedan from Highway Car Sales for $14,000. The odometer reading at the time of purchase was 140,105 kilometres. Four months later he sold the car for $15,000, using his business card with an expired wholesalers’ licence number. The odometer had been wound back by over 90,000 kilometres.• On 9 August 2011, Iskandar purchased a 2005 Toyota Tarago GLi van for $11,000 with an odometer reading of 177,623 kilometres. Two months later he sold the van for $20,000 with an odometer reading of more than half the figure.• On 18 September 2011, Iskandar purchased a 1997 Toyota Tarago GLi van for $4,000 and sold it two months later for $4,500. The odometer discrepancy was more than 48,000 kilometres.• On 17 December 2011, Iskandar purchased a 2005 Toyota Tarago GLi van. The following month he sold the van for $1,500 more to a church group, with the odometer reading reduced by almost 60 per cent.• On 15 February 2012, Iskandar purchased a 2007 Toyota Camry Ateva sedan for $10,000 with an odometer reading of 153,148 kilometres. He subsequently advertised the sedan for $15,500 with an odometer reading of 59,000 kilometres.Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said it was fortunate for Mr Iskandar that such offences do not attract a prison sentence.“While Mr Iskandar pleaded guilty in court, unfortunately he did not make the same admissions to his hapless clients and he stood to make a significant amount of money from his duplicity in the process,” he said. “Odometer tampering is a serious offence and poses a significant detriment to the consumer.’’ 

Even better news is the drop in price with Toyota responding to competitive pressure from Korean people movers and dropping the recommended retail of the Tarago GLi under the critical $50,000 physiological barrier. It is now listed at $48,990 – which Toyota Australia points out is the same price as six years ago, in March 2006. The value is further improved because the 2012 Tarago has substantially more standard features than that 2006 model. These include seven airbags (two in 2006), vehicle stability control, traction control and emergency brake assist. Pricing has been reduced on other models: by $2000 on four-cylinder Tarago GLX, $2300 on V6 GLi and $1300 on V6 Ultima. On the other hand, the Tarago V6 GLX variant has had a specification-related price increase of $1390. Four-cylinder Toyota Tarago GLi and GLX are now fitted with a fuel-efficient continuously variable transmission (CVT). It can be used as a normal automatic transmission or as a seven-speed sequential-shift transmission. The new transmission replaces an old-style conventional four-speed automatic. Toyota tells us the new automatic, allied with modifications to the Tarago's 2.4-litre petrol engine, lowers official fuel consumption by more than six per cent – to 8.9 litres per hundred kilometres, based on the Australian combined cycle. The biggest fuel saving is in urban driving where consumption falls 7.1 per cent to 11.7 litres per hundred kilometres. This cut in fuel usage is reflected in CO2 emissions that are down 6.75 per cent to 207 grams per kilometre. In Drive mode, the transmission control activates torque-converter lock-up at low vehicle speeds and widens the pulley ratio to keep engine revolutions low and save fuel. With the gear lever in the Manual position, the new CVT provides seven pre-selected ratios for what is virtually manual gear-shifting. MODELS AND EQUIPMENT As part of the Tarago upgrade, all models have revised interiors with new colours and ornamentation as well as new seat upholstery patterns. The four-cylinder models and the V6 Tarago GLi, gain Optitron instruments, making this feature standard across the range. All models now have push-button Smart Start; V6 GLX and Ultima also have keyless Smart Entry. Tarago V6 GLX now has a power sliding passenger-side door (already standard on Ultima) that can be operated from a switch on the dash, a button on the key fob or by moving the door handle. New on the Tarago V6 GLX are high-intensity discharge (HID) headlamps with an advanced front-lighting system (AFS) that provides better night vision by turning the lights in response to steering angle and vehicle speed. The HID headlights also come with automatic levelling and washers. Rear privacy glass is now used on the Tarago GLX. Top-grade Ultima is fitted with new-design 17-inch alloy wheels while the mid-grade Tarago GLX uses the 10-spoke, 17-inch design previously seen on the Ultima. Toyota Ultima's instrument panel, steering wheel, shift knob, centre-console and door-switch surrounds now have new-pattern woodgrain-look highlights. Tarago Ultima's rear-seat entertainment system has been upgraded to a high-resolution 9-inch VGA LCD display and is compatible with Blue-Ray discs as well as DVDs. The system also includes a single CD player, AM-FM radio. Both Tarago GLi models are fitted with an updated audio system that includes a three-line dot matrix text display, FM radio text, voice recognition for some phone and audio functions and Bluetooth phonebook access profile. There’s a single CD player, AM-FM radio. Connections on the audio systems can be made through an Auxiliary jack or USB input. Bluetooth hands-free telephone and audio streaming make life a little less dangerous for the driver and other road users.  

The Toyota peoplemover has had stability control, driver's knee and side-curtain airbag added to its safety features list. The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) has awarded it five stars, joining the Citroen C4 Picasso and Mercedes-Benz Viano as top-rated peoplemovers. RAA Head of Technical and Automotive, Mark Borlace said the people mover was subjected to an ANCAP pole test after the equipment upgrade. "That pole test was successful - the vehicle's passenger compartment held its shape well through the different frontal and side impact tests," he said. Department of Transport road safety director Martin Small urged new car buyers to check safety ratings when making their purchase. "Motorists have a wide range of models available to them these days at different pricing points, so it's important ANCAP provides this information and consumers know just how safe their vehicles are when shopping around," he said.

Just a brief look into any junior sports club shows fewer people now do more to keep such clubs and teams afloat.

These are two recommendations University of Queensland researcher Bronwyn Griffin expects to flow from her study into the incidents which is to be handed to Parliament by July next year.  She was speaking yesterday (FRIDAY MAY 21) at a demonstration of vehicle rear blinds spots held on the forecourt of Suncorp Stadium as part of an awareness campaign for national Fatality Free Friday (FFF) next Friday."Nothing replaces parental vigilance," Griffin said pointing out that in Queensland 196 children were seriously injured in low-speed accidents and 18 killed in the past five years.  "Queensland has the highest death rate in the nation probably because we have a higher proportion of four-wheel drives," she said."However, technology such as rearview cameras can't be trusted completely. It's a great aid, but it doesn't eliminate the problem. Also, it's not affordable to all families."  However, FFF founder Russell White said it was wrong to pigeonhole all four-wheel drives as a problem and pointed out with his demonstration that a Commodore sedan with a boot-mounted spoiler has a blind spot 15m long compared with 3.6m for a Land Rover Discovery.The demonstration also included a Holden Barina with a 6m blind spot and a Toyota Tarago with 10.1m.  "I would have expected the 4WD to be the worst, but you can't pigeonhole them as all the same," he said."Some of our sedans are a bigger problem. It depends more on the design of the vehicle rather than the type.  "The Disco has a big window in the back with a low tailgate while the Commodore has a high boot and a spoiler."Rear architecture of the vehicle clearly plays a huge role in visibility and we need to ask manufacturers if they ever take this into account."  While 4WD vehicles were involved in 10 of the 18 fatalities, passenger cars accounted for most accidents causing major injuries and 84 per cent of vehicles involved in low-speed run-over incidents were passenger vehicles.Griffin said most of these accidents happened in home driveways.  "Unfortunately most often it's the mum or dad that is driving," she said.  "With the decreasing size of homes these days the driveaway is an attractive place for children to play, but it's not a safe place."She recommended parents walk around their car before getting in, supervise and remove children in the area and separate their driveway with a physical barrier form the rest of the yard.White also suggested drivers should learn to adjust their rearview mirrors for better vision.  "But even with the mirrors correctly adjusted every vehicle will have a blind spot and we need to be aware of the size of that even in a small sedan," he said.  Drivers who wish to take part in Fatality Free Friday can register their interest online at www.fatalityfreefriday.com

In the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) results this week, the Toyota Aurion, Toyota Camry and Holden Commodore all received a four-star safety rating, adding to the previously tested four-star performers, the Ford Falcon and Mitsubishi 380.NRMA Motoring and Services Vehicle Safety Expert, Jack Haley says most of these cars failed to reach a top rating because of the lack of side curtain airbags.The Toyota Aurion is the only car equipped with side head protection as standard, but Haley says Toyota chose not to proceed with an optional pole test. This meant they were unable to score five stars in the overall testing. The testing involved the top-selling version of each model and Haley says the other large cars offered curtain airbags as an option, but not as a standard feature in the models tested.“Obviously our aim is to get all cars up to a five-star safety rating,” Haley says. “We'd like to see curtain airbags in all vehicles and we would also like to see stability control as standard.”The Toyota Aurion and Holden Commodore have stability control as standard, but it is only an option in various other family cars. But Haley says stability control didn't contribute to the ANCAP testing, as the results show how a car performs in a crash, whereas stability control is an active accident-prevention device.Each car underwent three main areas of testing under ANCAP.They included frontal, side impact and pedestrian tests.Many Japanese and European cars have already received a five-star rating in the European version of testing, known as the EuroNCAP.They include the Toyota Corolla, Peugeot 207, Ford Focus XR5, Land Rover Freelander 2, Citroen Picasso, Mitsubishi Outlander, Volvo C30, VW Passat and Mini Cooper.Most of these models were tested as top-of-the-range, whereas in Australia the extra airbags are optional on some models. ANCAP advises motorists to buy vehicles with a full six-airbag package, including side head protection and electronic stability control.The Toyota Tarago and Mitsubishi Triton also scored a four-star rating in the recent testing, an improvement for the Triton, which is up from a previously low two-star rating.The Hyundai Accent scored three stars and the Mitsubishi Express van scored poorly with just one star. STAR RATINGS  Source: ANCAP 2007 

The Royal Automobile Club of Victoria has just completed its annual cost of ownership survey of a range of current models.The survey looks at total running cost and is based on vehicles travelling 15,000km a year, which is the Australian average.It factors in the cost of a typical car loan, depreciation, registration, club membership, comprehensive insurance plus servicing, fuel and tyre costs.Fuel costs were calculated on an unleaded petrol pump price of $1.26 a litre, $1.31 for diesel and 47c for LPG.Fuel prices have risen significantly since the survey was finished so true running costs will be even higher.The survey results show the cheapest car costs about $6000 a year to run, compared to $18,500 for the most expensive.The most affordable car was Hyundai's Getz at $116.54 a week, followed by Holden's Barina ($120.85) and the Toyota Yaris ($125.88).Go up a size and Toyota's Corolla was the winner at $154.49, followed by the Ford Focus ($156.49) and Holden Astra ($158.12).The medium class sector was won by Toyota's Camry at $193.05, followed by the Mazda6 at $197.85, and Honda Accord Euro ($218.07).Large cars are, as expected, more expensive to run but, surprisingly not that much more.The best was Mitsubishi's 380 at $200.44, so it is cheaper than the Honda Accord. Toyota's Aurion was next best ($217.60), followed by Ford's Falcon ($229.13).For large families, the Kia Carnival people mover at $216.68 beat the Honda Odyssey ($228) and Toyota Tarago ($267.61).Diesel and hybrid cars were cheaper to run but don't forget diesel cars initially cost more and replacement batteries for hybrids are hellishly expensive and have a short lifespan.The cheapest was the Honda Civic hybrid at $175.29, beating the Toyota Prius at $200.63. A VW Golf diesel was better than the Prius on the wallet at $187.93.A Ford Falcon running on LPG cost $211.43 a week, while the dual-fuel Commodore came in at $225.10.The popular compact SUV market was headed by Honda's CRV at $203.86, followed by Nissan's Xtrail ($207.36) and Subaru's Forester ($208.52).Medium SUVs had the Holden Captiva out in front at $225.16, followed by the Ford Territory ($234.47) and Toyota Prado ($286.16).At the expensive end of the running cost spreadsheet were the big four-wheel-drives.The cheapest was Nissan's Patrol at $269.53, while the Toyota LandCruiser cost $357.51 a week.

That confession has killed forever any vague claim to being "in". People movers aren't supposed to be a must-have item for yummy mummies yearning for slimmed-down shapes and sex appeal.But when you're more soccer mum than yummy mum, you want space, LOTS of added features and ... did I say space?Soccer mums are supposed to worry about these practical things, and just accept that mud, scrapes and spilt juice are a fact of life of the family car.But people movers for a while have included all the gadgets that make our modern cars virtual moving entertainment units, and Toyota's put a fair bit of work into the Tarago's look.They've put in sleek lines with a swooping nose and curvy rear, and the interior provides more options than a sandwich bar. When you want to check out gizmos in a family car, you might as well bring the family. So we let them loose and before long they found a middle line of seats that slide forward or back; rear seats for one, or two, or three. Or they can flip forward to give more storage for must-have family items, like bikes.As a one-time owner of the previous-shape Tarago, I still prefer the older model's feature of the rear seats folding flat then up to the side – opening up plenty of floor space.However, we did find a couple of extra handy storage spots, even under the rear floor. And no matter which seat you're in, Tarago has provided plenty of cup holders, storage spaces and safety-conscious airbags. Our gadget-mad mob quickly discovered drink holders in every row, and storage pockets all over the place, including a small flip-lid for the driver – somewhere to put the phone out of temptation's reach.Tarago used to be the sexier model of the people-mover offerings and was pretty much priced to match.Experts tell me that other "buses" handle better, have more power or give better fuel economy. This could be true, but I just can't help it – I'm a girl who loves a Tarago.My childless friends raise their eyebrows and think I'm slightly unhinged for talking affectionately about a people mover.My friends with children nod knowingly.LOVE IT LEAVE ITToyota Tarago GLi 2.4lPrice: $48,990LOVE ITPlenty of handy storage spots; all that space; sleek styling; great safety features.LEAVE ITThe speedometer in the middle and high up on the dash – that angle keeps me craning to check I wasn't going to get a ticket; flip forward rear seats.