Blog

Have you ever horribly misjudged a road trip? No? Well, I have. Like, I’m not talking about I ran out of snacks or the drive was kinda long. I violently underestimated how far my car could go on 1 tank of gas and didn’t take the time to plot out where the rest stops with gas stations were. So here I sit, on the side of the road. No cell service and no idea where the nearest gas station is. My only hope was to wait for some kind person to stop and take pity on my stupid self. My situation was not looking super promising. I was running low on snacks and it was starting to get dark. I had basically given up hope that anyone would drive by when, like a beacon in the night, a police car showed up on the road. They pulled up behind me and asked me if there was a problem. No officer, I just like to chill out in the middle of nowhere on the side of the road in my Camry. Please feel free to go on ahead. Obviously, I didn’t say that, BUT I was feeling sassy so I definitely thought it. He was kind enough to get me some gas so I could carry on my way. I was very lucky this time, but I could have been out there for quite a while if he hadn’t come by. Other than the obvious concern of running out of gas on the side of the road there are quite a few reasons you should never let your gas go below ¼ of a tank. You can’t always count on your fuel gauge to give you an exact measurement of how much gas is left in your tank, so keeping the gas level above ¼ tank removes the concern of ending up stranded like I did. Additionally, allowing the level of gas in the tank to run low can damage your car. If you run completely out of gas it could cause damage to your catalytic converter which could be an expensive job if it needs to be replaced or repaired. The gas in your car also helps to keep the temperature of the electric fuel-pump motor regulated, much like coolant, so when your gas is running low, the pump sucks in air creating heat and resulting in the fuel pump to wear down earlier and potentially fail. That repair could cost a couple hundred dollars — which I’m guessing is significantly more than what you would have had to play to fill your tank. If saving money is your reason for holding off on buying gas, just know that this effort to save a few dollars could end up costing you hundreds. If you are really concerned, you can stop by Fiore Toyota and find a vehicle with incredible mileage and save yourself some money that way! So to recap, here are some tips to avoid running out of gas: Keep your gas tank no less than ¼ full. Fill up before heading out on a long trip or to work... Don’t rely on your car to tell you exactly how much gas is in your tank. Get a Car With Amazing Mileage Today

Summer is a great time for a nice family vacation. You can go somewhere for a week and just relax and enjoy some downtime. Or that’s what we all seem to have convinced ourselves. I don’t know about you, but never in the history of my family have we had a “relaxing” vacation. We pack every day with so many activities, that we need a vacation from our vacation when we get back. This year, my wife and I decided that we were going to go on a vacation...with our in-laws. Let me clarify, BOTH of our parents were going to join us on this “vacation.” We were not exactly starting out strong on this as it was. We then decided to up the ante and DRIVE to our destination. Honestly, the way this was shaping up if any of us made it home from this trip alive and somehow not arrested it would be a miracle. None of us had a particularly large vehicle so we decided to rent a 2017 Toyota Highlander. At first, my mother being the naturally worried woman she is, needed to be reassured that this vehicle was going to be a safe ride. Once I presented her with the list, the very long list, of safety features she was more than convinced that we’d all be safe and sound. My mother-in-law, being who she was, complained that SUVs are gas guzzlers and would cost us an arm and a leg to travel all that distance in this car. When I showed her that the EPA estimated MPG was 21 City / 27 Hwy, she couldn’t argue that was pretty impressive for an SUV. We’ve never been on a long trip with BOTH sets of parents so my main concern was being in such close quarters for so long. When we all piled in I was surprised to discover that we weren’t as squished into this SUV as I thought we would be. We had plenty of room for everyone to stretch out and even fit all of my mother-in-law’s SEVEN bags. The drive was 5 hours, so comfort was not something we could afford to be lacking if we all wanted to survive the drive without killing each other. My parents volunteered to take the 3rd-row seats, they’re 5 feet tall on a good day so they figured it would be easier for them to fit back there. As it turns out, we didn’t need to worry about that anyway as there was plenty of room back there for both of them to really spread out. The only concern we had was that my dad is a bit hard of hearing, and he’s the one who knew where we were going I was concerned that he wouldn’t be able to hear me when I asked him where we needed to go next. The Highlander solved that problem for us too with the Driver Easy Speak system makes it easy. This feature amplifies the driver’s voice to passengers in the back via the rear speakers. By the time we arrived at our destination, the whole family was talking and laughing. It seemed that our typical road trip issues were minimized by having plenty of space for everyone. Everyone was comfortable and seemed to enjoy the ride. The only thing we had left was to survive the actual vacation and for once it looked like a solid possibility! Check out the Highlander Today

I am not well known for my patience on the road or really in general. I have been known to get a bit, let’s call it, frustrated, while out on the road. It’s even worse when I’m hangry. I am in a constant state of apologizing for the mean things I have said while hangry. It’s not pretty friends. As such, I have taken it upon myself to figure out some ways to stay calm cool and collected during my ride to work. No one wants to start a long work day angry at 8am. So below you will find some tips and tricks to make mornings run more smoothly leading to a more relaxing driving experience. Get a good night's sleep. There is only so much a strong cup of coffee can do to make someone who is 100% not a morning person, a calm and conscious human at the crack of dawn. Getting a good night's sleep can help make the morning less brutal. Figure out what you plan to wear and eat in the morning. Planning has never been a strength. I tend to be the person flying around my apartment trying to find that one shirt that looks good with those pants and the shoes with the straps that I wore last weekend but haven’t seen for days. I spend easily 30 minutes looking for the clothes then need to decide if a shower or breakfast is more important to me before I am late for work. A little planning the night before removes the flustered mess sprinting around the house like a mad woman. Plan to leave with at least 20 minutes to spare if you have to drive through large amounts of traffic each morning. Going along with the frantic woman desperately running around trying to get her life together before work, planning to leave with enough time to make it through traffic will only make the morning run more smoothly. Listen to calming music or music that makes you feel good on your way to work. Now, my music that brings me to a happy and calm place might be totally different than yours. For example, my mother’s happy music is death metal, while mine is Natasha Bedingfield. You do you. If that’s the music that will keep you calm and collected for a highway full of people who seem to have forgotten how to drive, then run with that. Last, but certainly not least. When you feel yourself getting upset at a someone's foolish actions on the road, instead of immediately reacting, take 5 seconds to just breathe before you react. It usually only takes 5 seconds to decide that what you wanted to say and do were a bit of an overreaction. We’re all just people, we make mistakes, and there is no use getting upset over the things we can’t control. Hopefully, you have found one or two of these tips helpful to making your morning less of a nightmare. While my temper still makes an appearance, I’ve had less road rage issues since planning my mornings out a bit better. It gets better friends! Stick with it! Find Your Own Calming Car Today

Music is such an important part of my summer experience personally. I don’t know about you, but listening to music is my way of relaxing and I find that songs can hold memories. What better way to bring back fond memories and create new memories this summer than having the perfect summer playlist for your upcoming summer road trips?! To help you get started we have compiled a list of Pandora playlists to get you going! 1. Summer Hits of the 2000s. The 2000s were filled with great songs that are sure to bring you right back to middle school dances and a much simpler time when adult responsibilities were not yet a thing (Where my 90s babies at??). These songs are the classics that defined our generation and are sure to start your road trip of strong! 3. Maroon 5 A variety of music that is sure to get you and your friends singing along in the car! After all, it's hard to hear "She Will Be Loved" and not think of the movie The Last Song and want to sing scream it at the top of your lungs! 4. The Spice Girls. By simply playing the song Wannabe in any general location, you will inevitably have women of all ages coming together and belt out the song as one. It is a song that unifies people who may not have come together before and this station will definitely have your summer road trips coming together nicely! 5. Ms. New Booty. If you're looking for some old rap songs that we all love to sing and dance to, this is your number one station. 6. Matchbox 20. Looking for a playlist that speaks to the more relaxed road trip experience? This is the perfect playlist for you and your friends. Taking a nice night drive under the stars and you’ll be glad you have this playlist to enjoy the perfect night. 7. Country Road Trip. To all my Country Music loving fans out there, you know who you are, this station has some of the best country hits that just scream summer. If you're at the lake with your friends, or at the beach all day laying out, turn this station on for music that you can let play all day long. 8. Zac Brown Band. If you're looking for that twangy, summery feeling, Zac Brown Band has just that. A great station for some awesome summer tunes! 9. Jack Johnson. The ultimate chill summer station. For all the go with the flow, relax all day type of people, this is your spot. Jack Johnson is the bomb, and he won't fail to give you some tunes to chill out to all summer long. No matter where you’re going, the music driving your trip can make all the difference. Driving in the super awesome 2018 Toyota Avalon from Fiore Toyota will already have your road trip feeling like a top notch vacation may feel like but adding that perfect playlist will make the trip that much sweeter. With the sweet high tech touch screen in the Avalon, you can get your music right in your car so all your playlists are noteworthy. Find Your Summer Road Trip Ride Today

It has been approximately 1 billion degrees in my apartment this past week and let me tell you, with only 1 fan to my name, I’m not sure I’m going to make it. As the air outside is already center of the sun hot, going for a jog, even in the early morning, is out of the question! One of my friends recently gave me an air conditioner and let me tell you, balance has been restored to my apartment. It is keeping us cool enough that I can do more than sit on my couch and wait for death. I can actually do yoga in my living room and am able to do all the things I was able to do when it was beautiful breezy spring weather. Now imagine, if you will, that you are a car. Instead of a hot day, your engine is just getting absurdly hot, as engines do, and you have no means to regulate that temperature. Bad news bears, friends! This is why coolant exists. To regulate the temperature of your engine so that it can function normally without problems. It is not just to cool, either. You don’t want your engine to be cold.  You want the engine to be hot enough to burn fuel efficiently and cool enough to not melt and seize up. Mechanics call it the optimum temperature. The engine sweet spot. A running engine is HOT. It can get up to 6,000 degrees F. The optimum temperature for an engine is 1,200-1,700 degrees F. Super hot! The coolant helps keeps the temperature of the engine at a max of 1,700 degrees F. When your car is on, an engine is running continuously, so coolant is continuously being circulated or pumped. It is heated up as it passes through the engine and cools back down as it passes through the radiator. It’s a big circle of pumping coolant to help keep your very expensive engine happy and running at its best! Fortunately, your car has a way of telling you when it’s getting too hot. You know that C to H gauge on your dashboard? C is for Cool and H is for Hot.  Some cars have numbers instead of a C or H.  The numbers represent the temperature of the coolant. When you first start the car, the needle is on C.  Your engine is cold and the temperature of the coolant is cold. If the gauge does not get up to the middle, the coolant and engine temperature are too cold and your engine will not be burning fuel efficiently. If the gauge tips past that middle point of the C and H, your car is considered “overheating”.  The engine and coolant are starting to rise to dangerous temperatures and you are in trouble of damaging your engine! Coolant will start to boil off making the overheating problem even worse because you will have even less coolant. Shut off the car as soon as safely possible! Coolant also prevents metal parts of your car from corrosion and freezing in cold climates. The moral of this story is that your engine needs to stay at a regulated temperature to be able to function properly, just like you do. When you’re too hot, moving is not something you are willing to do, and when you are too cold, you’re so bundled up you can’t move even if you wanted to. Make sure you are checking your coolant regularly and if you have any questions, the fine people at Fiore Toyota will be more than happy to help! Stay Cool This Summer With Fiore!

The Meteor that Took out the Dinosaurs Created That Pothole! Let’s talk about potholes, my own personal arch nemesis. The winter months take a toll on the road, and it feels like the entire spring and summer are spent getting the roads all fixed up, but no matter what I do, or where I go, they find me. I try to drive so cautiously, but honestly when it comes down to it and you’re driving down a narrow road and you’re playing pothole chicken with an oncoming car and you have to decide to hit the car or the pothole and you briefly consider hitting the car because it will hurt less, but you inevitably hit the pothole for the sake of the other driver. LET ME TELL YOU, without fail it feels like my car has been hit by the meteor that took out the dinosaurs. The car shakes, I scream, my tires scream, let’s just assume we’re all screaming. Then I have to check out the damage. A number of expensive damages can happen to your car just from driving over a pothole or 20, starting with your wheels. At this point, am singlehandedly funding the entire tire industry with the number of potholes I have already hit his year. Tires are not cheap, friends. Neither are rims. Trust and believe that I will do everything in my power to avoid hitting every pothole, that apparently doubles as a portal to another world so that I don’t spend every paycheck for the foreseeable future on tires and pothole base repairs. While avoiding the pothole of death isn’t always an option, one main way you can try to avoid damage is by properly inflating your tires. Over-inflated and under-inflated tires increase the risk of tire and rim damage when driving over a pothole, so if you know your tire pressure is low, get to a gas station and put air in it. If it is too high, let some air out. Here’s a good question to ask yourself, “Do I know the proper tire pressure for my tire?” The proper tire pressure is NOT located on the tire. This value is the maximum pressure. Please don’t put 50 psi in your tire. The most common place to find the proper tire pressure is on the door or door frame of your car.  It is also in your owner’s manual. Close up of the tire placard sticker on the door or door frame which has some useful info like proper tire pressure.If all else fails, the average is 33psi. If you see an ORANGE symbol that looks a lot like a cauldron of exclamation mark soup light up on your dashboard, it means your tire pressure is low. If you don’t have this feature check tire pressure every time (of higher importance in winter) you fill up on gas and add air if necessary. Don’t let the potholes win. Drive smart, and safe. Well, as safe as you can when the streets you are driving on are full of craters. Avoid them when you can, and if you can’t and there is damage, stop by Fiore Toyota and we will be happy to get your tires serviced for you so you don’t have to worry. Get Your Tire Pressure Checked to Protect Against Potholes

Letting The Baby Birds Drive Away From the Nest So, you’ve got a teen driver in the family. It’s exciting, right? Well, mostly. For many parents, this is a big step into adulthood and you just want to keep your baby a baby as long as possible. I remember when my first born got his license, I was a mess. To be fair, at the time there wasn’t such a thing as Toyota Safety Sense, so there were many more safety concerns to factor into my usual motherly panicking. Now my son is 25, still living in my basement by the way, and honestly, it’s time for this baby bird to leave the nest already. My baby has been a baby long enough. Three teen drivers later and I can safely say it gets easier. Don’t get me wrong, I still worry about my babies out there on the road, but especially now in our family’s 2017 Toyota Corolla from Fiore Toyota, I know that my sons will be as safe as they can be and Toyota is there to help. I’m under no illusion about who my children are, while they are mature and responsible, they are still teenagers. As such, despite our reinforcement of paying attention to the road and staying focused, the occasional distraction happens. Who among us can say that they haven’t gotten momentarily distracted while on the road and almost gotten into an accident? That said, my children need to be not only aware of their driving, but also the driving of those around them. Other drivers get distracted too and so having Toyota Safety Sense as an extra set of “eyes” on the road while I can’t be is very comforting. One of the cool features of Toyota’s Safety Sense is its Pre-Collision System (PCS). This feature uses an in- vehicle camera and laser that enable your car to “sense” another vehicle in front of you and let you know when it looks like the probability of a frontal collision is high. It will let the driver know that they need to “take evasive action and brake, by using audio and visual alert.” When required the car might provide additional braking by way of Brake Assist. If the driver doesn’t breakfast enough and the car has determined that the likelihood of a collision is extremely high it may apply brakes on its own, in an effort to avoid a collision. Another feature that gives me peace of mind is If Lane Departure Alert. This feature lets the driver know when they are veering over the line into another lane, unintentionally. It will provide both audio and visual alerts to let you know. The system is also equipped in some vehicles with Electronic Power Steering which makes small corrective turns in the steering wheel if it determines that the vehicle is unintentionally leaving its lane. While I have grown to accept that my children have to grow up at some point, and I can’t be there to always protect and watch over them, at least I know that with Toyota will be there. Being a parent isn’t easy, and there isn’t an owner's manual for children, so we’re all kinda winging it hoping everything works out. At least for driving Toyota has taken away some of the worries for me. Get Your Baby Bird a Car Of Their Own

A Message From Your Tires Hey!! Hey, you! DOWN HERE! Yes, you. No, you’re not hallucinating. Yes, you are talking to the tires on your Toyota Highlander, and that does not make you crazy. Well, maybe a little bit. Now that we’ve sorted out the formalities, I think we need to have a talk. I’ve just been feeling a bit low lately, and I don’t know about you, but when I’m this low it really wears me down. Literally, though, my treads are really taking a beating down here. With that in mind, I feel like we need to go over some ground rules, mostly because the ground is literally the only interaction I have to this beautiful outside world. So I’m going to go over some of my requests to make our driving experience better for the both of us. Not to make everything about me, but, I’m pretty important to the whole “mobility” thing with your Highlander. Your vehicle might have all the gadgets and gizmos that make driving magical, but it could get exactly zero places without me. SO, checking in on me periodically would be just great. Now, I have no unrealistic expectations that I will live forever. I mean, when my time comes, I will roll happily to the junkyard knowing that we drove our hearts out while I was in my prime. But my time is not now, so let’s try to keep me at my prime so I last a while at least. The first order of business is, as I mentioned before, I’ve been feeling a bit low lately. You know, in the air department. The weather has been warming up a lot and honestly, it’s just taken the wind right out of me. To help keep me a bit more regular, it would be super helpful if you could check in on me once in awhile, perhaps monthly, to see how I’m doing. Letting my tire pressure stay low can really be costly. When I’m low, I tend to be more resistant to rolling. To be fair, who wants to rock and roll when you’re feeling low?? Basically, it means that the engine has to pick up my slack and put in more effort to move your vehicle. So Let’s try to avoid this awkward situation by keeping up on my tire pressure. Next time we’ll have to have a chat about your lead foot, but for now, let’s focus on keeping track of my tire pressure. If you ever feel like there has been lasting damage, or if you have any questions about how to keep me in better health you can definitely stop by Fiore Toyota, located at 1000 Logan Boulevard Hollidaysburg, PA 1664, and they can help you out. In the meantime, here is a quick little guide on how you can check my pressure to extend my life, and the quality of our driving. To check my tire pressure follow these steps: Remove the end caps on your tires' air valves (don't lose them! I need those!). Place the tire pressure gauge into the valve stem and press down quickly to get a reading. Check the PSI reading. Compare that to your vehicle's recommended PSI. It can often be tricky to get the gauge to press fully onto the valve, resulting in an off reading—so take a few readings just in case. If the reading is above the recommendation, push in the valve to let out some air (you might have to do this a few times to get it right). If the PSI reading is below the recommendation, fill your tire with air until you reach the ideal level (this may also take a few tries). Be a Pal and Get Your Tires Checked Out

A Letter From Your Local Crash Test Dummy Dear World, Hi, my name is Jim. I’m a crash test dummy with Toyota and LET ME TELL YOU, my job is not an easy one. The whole purpose of my job is to ensure that people like you stay safe. Some might say we are the unsung heroes of safety. Ok, I might have been the one who said that, but like, do you think you guys could get that started? Anyway, the real reason I’m talking with you all today is because I fear that my job is at risk. I don’t know if you’ve been in a Toyota car recently, but the safety features in those things are ridiculous. With the latest safety features for Toyota, like the Pre-Collision System, Lane Departure Alert and Automatic High Beams, I can smell downsizing a mile away. When I’m out there in the field we don’t even crash anymore. It’s like the car can stop itself so we aren’t needed. Switching lanes, nothing, not even a ding. I haven’t needed to go in for a repair in almost a year. I can read the signs, less crashing means less need for dummies like me. I mean I’m a crash test dummy, but I’m not a dummy. There’s not a lot of work out there for guys like me! I have three tiny crash test babies at home that need feeding and I can’t go back to working as a mannequin, the 90s really did a number on me. For more information, you can see this video below where Toyota basically announces that we, the crash test dummies, are obsolete. As crash test dummies, we deserve work too. If Toyota keeps making these vehicles so safe, we’ll all be out of work. Do you really want the livelihoods of so many dummies to be gone? Could you live with yourself? I can read the signs, less crashing means less need for dummies like me. I mean I’m a crash test dummy, but I’m not a dummy. There’s not a lot of work out there for guys like me! I have three tiny crash test babies at home that need feeding and I can’t go back to working as a mannequin, the 90s really did a number on me. For more information, you can see this video below where Toyota basically announces that we, the crash test dummies, are obsolete. As crash test dummies, we deserve work too. If Toyota keeps making these vehicles so safe, we’ll all be out of work. Do you really want the livelihoods of so many dummies to be gone? Could you live with yourself? For more information, you can see this video below where Toyota basically announces that we, the crash test dummies, are obsolete. As crash test dummies, we deserve work too. If Toyota keeps making these vehicles so safe, we’ll all be out of work. Do you really want the livelihoods of so many dummies to be gone? Could you live with yourself? To see all of these safety features for yourself you can stop by Fiore Toyota located at 1000 Logan Boulevard, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648. One test drive, and you'll see that our fate is pretty much sealed. So we beg you, ask Toyota to make their cars just a LITTLE less safe. Like, maybe a bump here and there for good measure. We're counting on you. P.S. Really though, if you could spread the thing about us being “unsung heroes of safety”, that’d be awesome. Thanks! All the best, Jim your Toyota Crash Test Dummy Check Out Toyota's Dummy Proof Safety Features

In their debut appearance, Toyota group will be participating in CeBIT 2017. CeBIT is one of the world’s largest international trade fairs to showcase personal mobility technologies. Toyota group is set to present personal mobility technologies that aim to ease the burdens of everyday living and assist in resolving social issues and robotics which will eventually be used in manufacturing plants and homes of the future. In addition, they will be presenting their proposals for a “Mobility Society of the Future” in which the goal is to implement driving support systems that strive for no casualties from traffic accidents and automated driving technologies. It’ll be exciting to see where all of this innovation takes us in the future! For more details, check out the article linked below. Toyota Motor Corporation. "Toyota Group Participates in CeBIT 2017 for the First Time." Toyota Group Participates in CeBIT 2017 for the First Time | TOYOTA Global Newsroom. Toyota Global Newsroom, 13 Mar. 2017. Web. 15 Mar. 2017. < http://newsroom.toyota.co.jp/en/detail/15517036/ >.

Total February sales for the Toyota Division, according to Toyota Motor North America Inc. came to 156,001 units. With 27,498 models sold throughout the month and the Camry was easily the brand’s top-seller. The Highlander, RAV4, and 4Runner each achieved new February sales records with sales of the Highlander up 27.8 percent to reach 15,928 units, sales of the RAV4 up 3.2 percent to reach 26,351 units, and sales of the 4Runner up 28.7 percent to reach 10,912 units. “Industry sales in February topped a 17 million unit pace for the eighth straight month,” said Bill Fay, group vice president and general manager of the Toyota division. “Led by best-ever February sales of RAV4, 4Runner, and Highlander the Toyota division also set a new light truck record for the month.” Sales of the 86 increased 8.8 percent to reach 603 units Sales of the Avalon came to 2,610 units Sales of the Corolla came to 25,395 units Sales of the Corolla iM came to 1,766 units Sales of the Prius came to 9,044 units Sales of the Sequoia increased 23.6 percent to reach 1,179 units Sales of the Sienna came to 8,965 units Sales of the Tacoma increased 0.6 percent to reach 14,256 Sales of the Tundra came to 7,234 units Sales of the Yaris increased 16.4 percent to reach 1,057 units Sales of the Yaris iA increased 21.5 percent to reach 2,801 units "Toyota North America Reports February 2017 Sales | Toyota USA Newsroom." Hub. N.p., 01 Mar. 2017. Web. 08 Mar. 2017. <http://pressroom.toyota.com/releases/toyota+lexus+february+2017+sales.htm>.

At Fiore Toyota, we want all of our customers to feel well informed when they make the trip in to see us from Hollidaysburg, Altoona, Johnstown, State College, and Indiana, PA. That’s why we keep our website, and of course, our blog up to date. Most recently, we’ve created a new Research & Review Page on the 2017 Toyota Tundra, which is now available on our lot at 1000 Logan Boulevard in Hollidaysburg, PA. Check out the page before coming in for your test drive and to talk about your lease and finance options, that way you’ll know all the details on the trim level options, safety features, convenience options, and the new standard and available technology features.