Toyota Announces Expanded Service Support for Independent Repair Facilities

TORRANCE, Calif., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (TMS) unveiled today valuable new service resources for the independent repair community at the annual Automotive Service and Repair Week, hosted by the Automotive Service Association. These new services, improve upon the Toyota/Lexus/Scion technical information Web site [http://techinfo.toyota.com], with new functionality including:

• Short and long-term subscriptions to the Toyota Technical Information System (TIS) diagnostic software application, TIS Techstream(TM)
• TIS Techstream(TM) Lite; a J-2534 based vehicle interface kit for diagnosis and reprogramming
• Vehicle calibration updates available as direct download
• Technical Assistance powered by Identifix Direct-Hit(TM) (available December 2009)
  

These new capabilities are available through a new Professional Diagnostic subscription option, available in two-day or one-year intervals. Two-day subscriptions are offered at $55 and full-year accounts are initially available for $995. A special introductory offer is also featured for full-year subscribers, bundling the annual subscription with a Techstream Lite interface kit for $1345. The bundled package provides a great way for facilities to upgrade to full diagnostic capability and expand their service capability on Toyota products. The Techstream Lite interface kit as a stand-alone item normally retails for $495 and the Diagnostic Professional subscription will retail for $1095 after the introductory period ends in March 2010.

Customer First
"With over 26 million total units in operation in the U.S. market, we understand many Toyota owners utilize the independent service community for their repair and maintenance needs. Of course we would love these folks to visit a dealership for their service. However, regardless of the service location, we want owners of our vehicles to have a great experience with the product," explains Bob Waltz, Vice President, Product Quality and Service Support. Waltz, continues, "Ensuring all of our vehicles can be serviced swiftly and accurately - of course, we hope with our genuine parts - puts customers first and truly enables that positive ownership experience."

Identifix - A Partnership for Technical Assistance
To assist with challenging repairs, Professional Diagnostic subscribers will have access to the vast library of Identifix Direct-Hit(TM) fixes along with one free support call per year to the Identifix Repair Hotline. Combining factory service information and vehicle diagnostics with Identifix Direct-Hit(TM) in a single, economical subscription will empower independent facilities with a full set of essential service resources for Toyota products in a single, easy to use web location. "We are honored by Toyota's decision to partner with Identifix to create this unique service offering. Toyota again has set the standard for the industry by combining Identifix experienced based diagnostics with factory service information, which will provide a best in class service experience for Toyota owners," said Jeff Sweet, Identifix president.

For more information, please review the subscription details and Techstream Lite product description found on the techinfo.toyota.com home page.

For more information about Toyota, visit:
Service Web sites: http://techinfo.toyota.com
http://www.toyotapartsandservice.com

About Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc. is the marketing, sales, distribution and customer service arm of Toyota, Lexus and Scion. Established in 1957, TMS markets products and services through a network of more than 1,400 Toyota, Lexus and Scion dealers. Toyota directly employs nearly 34,000 people in the U.S. and sold more than 2.2 million vehicles in 2008.

For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyota.com, www.lexus.com, www.scion.com or www.toyotanewsroom.com.

About Identifix:
Founded in 1987, Identifix(R) has evolved into the nation's best source for knowledge of what breaks on vehicles, what vehicles it breaks on, and how to fix those vehicles correctly.

The knowledge base is created from data gathered from the more than 250,000 annual calls it receives from technicians seeking diagnostic assistance for vehicle repair problems; its staff of 45 master technicians (with over 1,000 years combined years of experience performing vehicle diagnostics); and the nation's most comprehensive on-site library of factory vehicle service information.

Direct-Hit, Identifix subscription based online diagnostic information source offers real-world, proven diagnostic and fix information. It was developed from over 3.6 million Identifix Repair Hotline calls. Direct-Hit delivers more than 350,000 vehicle specific Hotline Archives that contain symptoms, associated short-cut tests and fixes, including over 150,000 Confirmed Fixes. Direct-Hit is updated constantly with over 6,000 new symptoms, associated short-cut tests and fixes added to the database each month.

For more information about Identifix visit: http://www.identifix.com

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