Scion News, Updates & Info

(Long Island, N.Y.) – Teenagers are involved in fatal traffic accidents at more than twice the rate of the rest of the U.S. population, and according to the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration, New York ranked among the top 15 states in highest number of teen driver fatalities in 2006. To help prevent future teen driving deaths in the area, Toyota is hosting its hands-on teen and parent advanced driving skills program, “Toyota Driving Expectations,” in Elmont, N.Y. at the Belmont Park Race Track, May 2-4.

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What would you do with $733,000?

For the Davis Schools Foundation, this is enough money to fund 10 teacher positions and one-and-a-half librarian positions. The funds will go toward elementary school high school teachers. As of Monday, the foundation had raised $733,000 with the help of Hanlees Auto Group.

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Rachel Farris isn’t superstitious, but she knew the 666-HXX license plates on her Scion tC were a bad omen. When a friend and fellow Barack Obama fan told her OBAMA vanity plates were still available in Texas, the 24-year-old felt karma shift back her way.

“I went from having devil plates to having Obama plates,” said Ms. Farris, who volunteers on Democratic campaigns in Austin and has a Texas political blog, www.MeanRachel.com. “I mean, what are the odds?”

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The expert editors at Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com (http://www.kbb.com), the leading provider of new- and used-vehicle information, today announce their picks for the Top 10 Coolest New Cars Under $18,000. The vehicles that made Kelley Blue Book’s 2008 list of Top 10 Coolest New Cars Under $18,000 — typically a gas-sipping bunch — arguably are cooler than they have ever been. More fun, more practical and more amenity-laden than ever before, today’s entry-level vehicles deliver more than simply affordable and efficient transportation.

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ATCO, N.J., April 26-27, 2008 - WORLD Racing crossed the country last week and returned to their home territory of the East Coast to compete in the NOPI New Jersey Nationals at Atco Raceway. Chris Rado and his Pro FWD 2007 SCION tC were in top performance shape and ready to battle.

In the first round of qualifying Saturday, Chris qualified 1st with a 7.32 ET at 196.27 MPH, beating out competitors Marty Ladwig, Gary Gardella, and Jason Hunt - not to mention obtaining the first half of new best national FWD Pro elapsed time.

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Although Toyota has recently claimed the title of the World’s Largest Automaker in terms of global sales, the Japanese-giant is finding out that life at the top isn’t all it’s cracked-up to be. While the Camry, Corolla, Yaris and Prius sedans are reportedly brisk movers, the same thing cannot be said about Toyota’s line of trucks and sport utility vehicles. Toyota has cut Tundra and Sequoia production already, but dealers are still declining to purchase them, pushing the number of unclaimed units to an all-time high. Automotive News quotes an unnamed Toyota dealer as saying, “Last month, Southeast Toyota had 9,700 vehicles that had been turned down twice by dealers and are either sitting at the port or at sea. That’s a significant number.” Right now, Toyota/Scion has a high 58-day supply of available inventory on hand.

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The AIADA newsletter reported that Toyota and Scion vehicle inventories have risen to record levels because the company misjudged just how much the U.S. market would decline this year.Automotive News reports that the number of units in dealership stock and en route have swelled to about 376,000. That’s about 100,000 units more than were on the ground last summer, and up from about 348,000 a year ago.

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In a strongly worded warning to consumers, Toyota late Wednesday said that scam artists are “using Toyota’s name” in a couple of schemes, including one that involves a forged Toyota check.

“Here’s more proof that somebody out there wants whatever it is that you have,” wrote Jon F. Thompson, editor of Toyota’s Open Road blog. “It’s come to our attention that there have been several efforts to scam people out of financial information through the use of correspondence on a falsified Toyota letterhead and accompanied by a forged Toyota check.”

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Google Streetview camera captured a 1st Generation Scion xB pulled over by the police somewhere in or around Pittsburgh, PA.

Click on the picture below for a larger image, or visit the actual page here.

Japanese automaker sold 2.41 million vehicles in the first quarter compared with GM’s 2.25 million.

General Motors Corp. fell behind rival Toyota Motor Corp. in the global sales race for the first quarter, dragged down by anemic U.S. vehicle sales and speed bumps elsewhere around the globe.

GM sold 2.25 million cars and trucks worldwide through March to Toyota’s 2.41 million vehicles, according to sales figures released Wednesday by each automaker.

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