Author Archive for Jason Lancaster
Jason Lancaster is the editor and founder of TundraHeadquarters.com. He has nearly a decade of experience on the retail side of the auto industry, and another decade of experience of the part and accessory side of the industry.
Tell The Kids It’s OK To Touch The Windows in Your Toyota
When I was a kid, my dad would have a mini-meltdown anytime I got my greasy kid fingers on a clean surface. Window glass, TV screens, mirrors – the rule was always “don’t touch!” If the video below is a window into the future, my dad ain’t gonna like it.
Toyota Europe’s R&D division, working in conjunction with the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, has developed a cool “augmented reality” window system that might be best explained by watching the video below.
Window to the World (CIID/Toyota) from CIID on Vimeo
What do you think? Cool, right?
The thing is, there are more questions than answers right now. It’s far too soon to expect to see this as an option on your next Toyota. However, the technology behind the system – while expensive – is readily available. It’s not like this is science fiction or anything…
You can read more about it on Gizmag.com
The Turbocharged V6 Truck Revolution Is Coming
This week’s Automotive News includes a somewhat startling fact: for the 2nd quarter of 2011, about 40% of F-150’s were sold with a turbocharged V6. When combined with Ford’s naturally aspirated 3.7 V6 (hello, fleet!), that means that Ford sold more V6 than V8 between April and June, 2011.
The surprising popularity of the EcoBoost V6 is bad news for all truck manufacturers who don't have a comparable option.
In my opinion, this represents a sea change in the truck market. For years, many so-called experts (myself included) assumed that truck buyers were likely to reject new technology simply because it was new. Just a few months ago I wrote that Ford truck buyers might be concerned about EcoBoost reliability, wondering if perhaps Ford truck buyers would stay with the tried-and-true V8 rather than go with the more fuel efficient V6.
However, the consumer has spoken. Ford’s strong sales of the EcoBoost V6 show that tens of thousands of new truck consumers are interested in buying a more fuel efficient V6 over a more traditional V8. This is great news for Ford, but obviously bad news for GM and Chrysler-Fiat, neither of whom have a working turbocharged V6 they can slap in the Sierra/Silverado or Ram. Only GM, with their new 2013 hybrid half ton, has an engine/transmission combo on the horizon that could possibly surpass the overall value of the EcoBoost.
For Toyota, the EcoBoost V6 is a threat to not only Tundra sales, but it’s also a threat to Toyota Tacoma sales.
Toyota USA President Hints At HD Tundra’s Future
In Automotive News, Toyota USA President Yoshi Inaba answered some questions about Toyota, including offering some interesting tidbits about the Tundra. From Automotive News (subs. req’d):
Question: Why is the Tundra having only limited success against Detroit’s full-sized pickups?
Inaba’s Answer: Let’s face it. Tundra competes in a subsegment of full-sized pickups. It does pretty good. The simple situation is with the market collapsing and fuel prices going up, it hinders us from being more aggressive and not reaching the volume where we bounce from there. We are not disappointed. We are not 100% happy, but we are not discouraged.
Here’s what I think these comments mean.
Power Seat Problems? Toyota Tundra Power Seat TSB
Toyota has released a TSB for some of its 2007-2010 Tundras regarding a power front seat that fails to operate because the 30-amp seat fuse is open. An improperly seated wiring harness has been determined to be the cause and installation of an updated wiring harness protector has been identified as the fix.
Installation of the updated wiring harness protector will be installed under Toyota’s Comprehensive Warranty until the expiration of 36,000 miles or 36 months from the date the vehicle was placed in service. The TSB number is 0060-11.
How to Repair the Power Front Seat and Open Fuse Issue
1. Make sure that the front power seat is inoperative and that the fuse is open. If either of these conditions is not met, then this TSB isn’t applicable. There will be another one, not to worry.
2. Remove the front power seat switch.
Toyota Delays 2012 Tundra Regular Cab – Is Regular Cab Going Away?
In a sign that Toyota may abandon the regular cab, Toyota has decided to delay production of the 2012 Tundra regular cab until December. In years past, sources at more than one automaker have commented to me that the regular cab really only makes sense as a fleet vehicle – consumers, as a general rule, are more interested in double cabs and crew cabs, which means that the regular cab is one of the least popular configurations.
I also have it on high authority that Ford considered canceling the regular cab F-150 prior to the 2004 F-150 redesign, but relented because fleet buyers prefer that configuration. I have also been told – again by numerous sources at multiple automakers – that the cost of building a regular cab pickup is only slightly lower than the cost of building a double cab…which brings us back to the 2012 Tundra. It could be that, when the next generation Tundra debuts, a regular cab model is not available.
