Any day now the 2010 Toyota Tundra should be available for ordering or purchase at your local Toyota dealership.  However, finding good 2010 Tundra pictures has proved difficult, even for those of us savy in the ways of the web.  Below are a few pictures of the 2010 Tundra assembled from various press releases and industry analysts.

To me, the 2010 Tundra looks like more of the same and possibly emphasis on the more.  In a market that is currently trying to get away from V8 power and look more green, why would Toyota still produce this work horse?  Oh that's right, because people still buy them and because you can't haul 500 lbs of tools around in the back of a Prius.  Oh yeah, how many trips does it take to help a buddy move their furniture in a compact?

As a bonus, here is video from the 2009 San Diego Auto Show, where the 2010 Toyota Tundra was on exhibit.

Mother Nature can be a real bitch, especially when she decides to drop mini bombs on our pride and joys.  Earlier this year I personally experienced some golf ball sized hail, luckily I was able to park my vehicles in a garage, so we didn't get any damage.  However, not everyone is so lucky.

Check out these pictures of hail damaged cars, it'll make you want to start parking your car in a garage or under a car port.

Of course, not everyone can afford a proper garage to park their vehicles in out of the weather.  So, next time your local weatherman is calling for storms and possible chance of hail, protect your car the cheap way.

Hail Damage Protection

That's right, the new minivan from VW, the Routan, was built and designed by our domestic buddies Chrysler.  Volkswagen, trying to attract as many customers as possible, rushed the Routan onto the market and brought a quality mini-van option to the dealership floors.  Rush is not a bad thing, especially when you consider the Routan, which is based off of the wildly popular Town and Country and Dodge Grand Caravan.

The VW Routan gets almost everything right, safety, options, cargo space, and thanks to VW some decent styling.  Basically the only thing touched by VW was the exterior styling ques and some of the upgraded seat options.  Even more impressive is that the base price for a VW Routan is only about $26,000.

Brooke Shields has been doing her best to get the word out about the new Routan.  However, according to VW only a little over 4,000 units have been sold to date.  Looks like Brooke has a little ways to go before baby making becomes a Routan past time.

VW Routan

Active Park Assist

Ford and Lincoln have announced that starting next year they will offer an advanced parallel parking system in 4 different models.  This new technology is comparable to radar that senses when you are close to an object and assists with the problem of parallel parking on busy streets.  It shall be called SkyNet...lol, joking, it's actually called Active Park Assist System.

Active Park Assist is more than just radar, it will also automatically adjust the steering to guide your vehicle into it's parking spot.  According to Ford, the system will ask the driver to place the vehicle into the proper gear (Drive, Reverse) and gently press the gas.  Basically the computer technology will handle the rest, making the fear of parallel parking disappear.

"You do everything but turn the wheel," Miglio said. "Leave the hard part to the car."

My concern is the liability of such a system and how it will create lazy drivers.  Some owners may become so accustomed with the Acive Park Assist that they may never bother to even look behind them.  So tell your kids and little fluffy you love them, because there is a new driver on the street and it's name is APA.

Easter is tomorrow and to celebrate I've combed the inter webs looking for the best Easter themed automobiles.  Generally speaking, the most girly cars are typically the ones transformed into the lovable Easter bunny, but the amount of dedication on some of these mods will surprise you.

Enjoy and Happy Easter from The-Grayline.com Automotive Blog!

Yeah, yeah, I know one of those cars is a Pikachu or whatever, but still, reminds me of the Easter Bunny so it was included.  Also, I suppose you could substitute any one of these Egg carrying cars with a pink or pastel paint job automobile...but that's just too easy.  Good luck finding the Easter Eggs!

Oh yes, I am a child of the internet, but it seems that the internet is growing up faster than I am.  Information is readily available and there are plenty of tools available to start archiving and presenting that information in a way that's usable.  One online tool that I cannot live without is my Google Reader, that allows me to pull RSS feeds from all of my online news sources.

The-Grayline.com Automotive Blog provides an RSS feed so that you can add it to your reader and stay up to date, even though you may not have the time to actually view the site.  Furthermore, unlike some official news site feeds, our automotive blog RSS feed is full.  This means that you can view the entire automotive article plus all the auto pictures attached to that post in your RSS Reader.

It's easy to sign up to our automotive blog RSS feed.  Simply click on one of the RSS buttons in the side bar or click here.  Fromt his screen you can choose your favorite RSS reader to view our feed in the future.  Also, if you don't like using a Reader and prefer to get updates via e-mail, we have those available as well.  Please simply sign up below, you will be asked to verify your email address, and under no circumstance will your contact information be sold or used for spamming purposes.

By signing up to The-Grayline.com RSS feed you are showing support for myself and other guest writers. Thanks for signing up and please share any comments or questions you may have.

The upcoming 2010 Kia Sporta was caught in camouflage testing in what appears to be offroad snow.  The production model won't be available in show rooms until late 09, with plenty of upgrades not found in previous year models.

Most notable change is in the transmission, which in 2010 will feature a 6-speed gear box.  The Korean car manufacturer hopes that this change will help improve fuel economy.  Equipped with a turbo-diesel power plant the compact SUV should please the green spotters.  According to experts the 2005 makeover was the most successful in the Sportages 14 year life span and hopes are that the power train change will prove a selling point in an otherwise slumping market.

Lexus is still enjoying ripping the corners up on the Nurburgring in it's all new 2011 Lexus LFA Super Car.  Wouldn't you want to draw out every last moment in the high performance monster if you were in the testing department?  Also, this would seem to signal that Lexus is serious about entering the super car market, making sure everything on the LFA is up to big spenders expectations.

Truly, it is a shame, that I will never set foot on the gas pedal of the LFA beast.  If I did have the estimated $200,000 to drop, it would probably be on this V-10 500 horsepower luxury monster.  Consider it a budget minded super rich mans car, considering it's closes competitor, the Ferrari F430 is priced at over twice as much.

I'll be interested in seeing if the production photos are true to form, once it finally hits the sales floor.  It's a little different than the one seen on the Nurburgring, so perhaps we'll see a special sport or racing trim.  No doubt this package would put it closer to the Ferrari's price tag, but no further from my grasp.

Lexus LFA

Lexus LFA

When we originally saw the Lexus LFA it was slightly toned down as far as aesthetics.  I'm glad to see the production model will look more like a Lexus, but pack a nasty punch.

World markets are a tricky thing and staying in the customers good graces can be a balancing act.  That's why, at least vocally, Toyota hopes that GM will succeed and are constantly sending good wishes their way.  But why would a competitor, in a ever growing cut-throat market, want it's biggest competitor to succeed?

Let's look at history, even a few short decades ago.  In the 80's and before there was huge hatred toward the foreign market.  The perceived quality of foreign vehicles had not yet been established, so Toyota like other brands were just trying to prove themselves.  Another challenge they were trying to overcome was the general publics patriotism, the hope, and want for an American company to dominate the industry.

How far have we come?  Obviously Toyota took over GM as the largest car manufacturer in the world, owed largely to it's ever increasing US market share.  So what does Toyota risk, if they don't actively support it's domestic competitors?  In a sensitive market, walking on egg shells may be the only thing that keeps Toyota from slipping back into the early 80's in the eyes of American car buyers.

Consider the devastation to Toyota domestically if the American people decide to rally against foreign competitors and strongly support their domestic car manufacturers again.  Potentially, all the work Toyota had done to generate brand quality would be destroyed.  I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but there is a reason the owl wants the rabbits to mate.

Boston.com is quickly becoming a popular source of great photo sets and slowly creeping up in world popularity in regards to news reporting.  However, the latest article, about the 2009 Honda Fit has me perplexed.  The reviewer focuses on the Fit's ability to handle a curvy highway, more suited to a super cars review platform.

Giving into the fact that the Fit has looks only a mother could love, since I wouldn't think 'Bug Like' is a positive remark, this brief review seems to give more life to the 09 Fit than deserved.  It's articles exactly like this that make me question, who paid for this review, and what relationship does the author have to it's local Honda dealership?

I can't put any faith in such a review, no matter the trim the 09 Fit may be wearing.  Furthermore, if the author was this impressed, how many vehicles has he actually driven on a perfectly curvy road with suspension worthy of such a review?  Nevertheless, the review has been done, and has done little to convince me that the 09 Fit is anything more than a throwaway car.

Yeah, yeah, I can already hear the negative comments and horrid emails from people who love their reasonably priced Fit.  Personally I think any throwaway car over the $10k mark is too much and the Fit tested was closer to the $20k price point.  No, I have not and will not drive a Fit, I'm scared of tiny spaces with wheels and the idea of a gas tank in the front seems like a bad idea.  Maybe really did want to start 09 boom, but I don't think this is what they had in mind.