Jacob Smith
Sales and Leasing Consultant

This month our employee spotlight focuses on Sales & Leasing Consultant Jacob Smith. Jacob has worked at Handy Toyota for a few months growing his client base in sales and leasing. He has lived in the great state of Vermont most of his life and on the days he is not on the sales floor, Jacob typically rides his Harley Davidson motorcycle around the state. He also goes to the gym in his spare time and enjoys hanging out with his little brother. Jacob also enjoys four-wheeling in the mud. Jacob is a car guy at heart and it all started with his father asking him for help, holding the light. Jacob’s dream car would have to be a 1966 Pontiac GTO, but he would also be happy to own a brand new 2019 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road. His favorite Book series is Harry Potter, his favorite TV show is Viking’s or Game of Thrones and he claims the best movie ever made has to be Guardians of the Galaxy! Jacob’s goals are to smile as often as humanly possible and believes that: “life is like a bicycle, in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving forward.”

For any inquiries contact Jacob Smith at  jsmith@handycars.com or (802) 528-2246

So, you’re looking for more safety behind the wheel of a Toyota? This should please you: Toyota Canada has announced that the second generation of its Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) package of active safety features will begin rolling out as standard equipment on certain Toyota vehicles beginning in mid-2018.

Toyota now says its upgraded system is designed to support driver awareness, decision making and vehicle operation over a wide range of speeds under certain conditions. Packaged together into an integrated system, it helps to address three key areas of accident protection: preventing or mitigating frontal collisions, keeping drivers within their lanes, and enhancing road safety during nighttime driving.

What are these upgrades exactly?
The second-generation Toyota Safety Sense includes: 

– Pre-Collision System (updated) with enhanced deceleration capabilities and the ability to help detect a collision with a pedestrian in front of the vehicle during the day and at night, and bicyclist in front of the vehicle during the day;

– Lane Departure Alert (updated) enhanced with “road edge detection” to increase the vehicle’s ability to help drivers stay in their lane;

– Lane Tracing Assist (new), which provides steering support to help the driver keep the vehicle centered in its lane when Dynamic Radar Cruise Control is in operation;

– Full-Speed Range Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (updated) with enhanced forward recognition and acceleration/deceleration performance across a wide range of speeds (Not available on vehicles equipped with manual transmissions or conventional parking brakes).

As a result, the list of Toyota Safety Sense packages in Canada is as follows:

TSS-C (Certain current models)

– Pre-Collision System

– Lane Departure Alert

– Auto High Beams

TSS-P (Certain current models)

– Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection function

– Lane Departure Alert (available with Steering Assist function on certain models)

– Auto High Beams

– Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (Full-Speed Range available on certain models)

TSS (Beginning mid-2018 in certain models)

– Pre-Collision System with Day/Night Pedestrian Detection function and Day Bicycle Detection function

– Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist

– Lane Tracing Assist

– Auto High Beams

– Full-Speed Range Dynamic Radar Cruise Control with enhanced forward recognition and acceleration/deceleration

Read more at https://www.auto123.com/en/news/toyota-safety-sense-2nd-generation/64218/#XMGhPXV5LxBU0O1M.99

Last Night St. Albans
December 31, 2018, 4:30 PM – 11:55 PM EST
https://lastnightvt.com/

Celebrate the New Year at a one-night-only party featuring seasonal activities and engaging events for kids, teens, families and adults. Most events are free with an event button. Some adult events have an additional cost. Some adult events are 21+ only.

January Mixer & Bovat Award Presentation
January 17, 2019
Time: 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM EST

Every January, Peoples Trust Company and the Franklin County Regional Chamber
join forces to kick off the New Year with a festive mixer at the bank’s Main Branch.
This year, we’ll be presenting the Timothy Bovat Civic Involvement Award at the mixer. The recipients will be announced soon 🙂

The Civic Involvement Award is presented annually to an individual or group whose investment in the local community goes beyond the norm. The Chamber, in conjunction with the Bovat Family, has been presenting this award to members of our community since 2000.

Special thanks to our hosts, Peoples Trust Company, for their support of our presentation.

Waterbury Winterfest 2019
January 26, 2019 – February 3, 2019 Free for most events. Some require RSVP or have a cost

Waterbury Winterfest is a 10-day festival featuring indoor and outdoor venues, traditional and not-so-traditional events. There’s snowshoeing, skating, and skiing, as you might expect. We also offer warm venues. Think beer trivia at one of Waterbury’s local pubs, a game show at the American Legion, a felting workshop at the library or let the kids heat up outside at the Youth Snow Soccer game.

Get the details on each event (including what Human Bowling, Wassailing, and Drone Racing actually entail) by visiting WaterburyWinterfest.com. You’ll be able to sign up for our premiere events that require tickets and/or registration, and RSVP for other events that are free.

Whether you’re in the mood to learn, to listen to music, to socialize, exercise, or play, we’ve got you covered. With a festival that starts on a Friday night and finishes more than a week later on a Sunday, you’ll have lots of opportunities to join the festivities and discover Waterbury. We look forward to seeing you.

The all-new Toyota Rav-4 makes a bold statement with its freshly chiseled looks! You’ll find a wholly different Toyota Next-Generation Architecture underneath, a platform that’s some 57 percent stiffer than before. Riding atop a 1.2-inch longer wheelbase, the 2019 RAV4 is actually a smidgen shorter than its forebear, yet it’s roomier inside.

The new Rav is powered by a new powertrain, including a 2.5-liter Dynamic Force four-cylinder paired to an eight-speed automatic, or the same engine paired to a second-generation hybrid system and a continuously variable transmission. The Rav-4 will have more horsepower and better fuel economy all while weighing 4% less than the previous generation.

Toyota says to expect “class-leading fuel efficiency and increases in horsepower and acceleration, respectively.”

The cabin is all-new and features nicer-quality materials and a more contemporary aesthetic to appeal to a wider range of consumers. Like the exteriors, there’s also greater differentiation cabin-wise between everyday models, luxury trims like the Limited and lifestyle-oriented plays like the Adventure!

The heart of the RAV4’s dashboard is a new Entune 3.0 multimedia system, with every RAV4 model receiving Verizon-powered Wi-Fi, as well as Amazon Alexa and Apple Car Play integration!

Overall the new 2019 Toyota Ra-4 is a sportier, better built, more efficient and tech packed crossover! With the available white or black colored roof paired with a variety of different body colors, you can personalize your new Rav-4 just the way you like it! Visit Handy Toyota near Burlington VT, off exit 20 in Saint Albans for more information!

Reg Howard
Finance Manager

Reg has worked for Handy Automotive for over 10 years and he is one of our finance managers. He has been in the automotive industry in one way or another since he graduated From Johnson State College. He has lived in Vermont for most of his life and loves spending time with his wife Debie and all their local family. His dream car would be any of the 1960’s muscle cars, and one of his favorites from our lot would be the Toyota FJ Cruiser. Reg’s time off is spent with family and taking motorcycle trips to Maine. His hobbies include Harly Davidson’s, Nascar, road trips, and boating on Lake Champlain when the weather is good. His favorite book is Point of Impact, favorite T.V. show is N.C.I.S, favorite movie is Wild Hogs. What Reg enjoys most about working at Handy’s is the customers and being able to help them out.

4 Unique Roadside attractions in New England

Offbeat venues perfect for photo-ops 

The northeastern states offer a range of experiences and attractions if you’re looking for something out of the ordinary. For those seeking a bit more eccentricity in their lives, these four roadside attractions are sure to satisfy.

Vermontasaurus (Vermont)

Head to Thetford to witness a 122-foot long, 25-foot high dinosaur sculpture comprised of scrap wood. Brian Boland, an experimental balloon pilot, built Vermontasaurus back in 2010 to reuse discarded wood from his balloon manufacturing business. With the help of some volunteers, he nailed each plank together in a haphazard way to construct the spiked body of the dinosaur.

It was almost destroyed due to a zoning issue; however, the structure still remains. A portion of the underbelly collapsed in 2012, but volunteers repaired and slightly modified Vermontasaurus while adding a smaller baby version to keep the original one company.

Ponyhenge (Massachusetts)

Head about 15 miles west of Boston to witness the unique herd of plastic rocking horses and other toy horses that grace Old Sudbury Road in Lincoln. Though it’s a mystery how Ponyhenge got started, it keeps growing every year. As the owner of the property expressed to the Boston Globe in 2015, “There was something lovely about it being anonymous, and now every time we go away, another one appears.” The collection also gets rearranged every now and then — sometimes the horses are in rows, other times they’re in a circle.

Since the location is a bit tricky to locate via GPS, make sure to type in the following address when navigating to this destination: 39 Old Sudbury Rd., Lincoln, MA 01773.

Frog Rock (Connecticut)

Frog Rock is a boulder in Eastford featuring paint designs that resemble a frog. Legend has it that the painting tradition started in the 1880s when Republican state legislature Thomas Thurber passed it on his daily commute from Putnam to Hartford and thought it resembled a frog. Locals have kept up the ritual ever since.

Today, if you visit the special boulder located near the intersection of Highway 198 and Highway 97, you’ll find a food stand, picnic tables, playground and antique shop. Live music and local events — such as the Connecticut Volkswagen Association’s Frog Rock Gathering — are often held here.

International Cryptozoology Museum (Maine)

Portland provides an unusual site claiming to be “the world’s only international cryptozoology museum.” It was founded by Loren Coleman, who accumulated specimens, artifacts and replicas of popular and arcane cryptids over the years. She established a public display to share cryptozoology with Maine inhabitants. As Coleman explained, cryptozoology is “the study of hidden or unknown animals.” Witness the eight-and-a-half-foot tall, 300-pound “Crookston Bigfoot,” a replica of P.T. Barnum’s Feejee Mermaid. You can also browse photos, hair samples and footprint casts of cryptids.

Whether you prefer dinosaurs, mermaids, frog rocks or ponies, you’re bound to have a gratifying adventure at one or more of these locations.

Meet the modern legend of hybrid efficiency!

The Prius name has become something of a legend in the automotive community, as it was one of the first vehicles to make hybrid vehicle technology mainstream. Since then, it has become the most popular and famous of all the hybrids on the road.

Hybrid power

The Toyota Prius is synonymous with fuel efficiency thanks to its hybrid powertrain system. Each 2018 Prius, regardless of trim level, comes with the same engine under the hood.

The powerplant for the Prius starts with a 1.8-liter, four-cylinder aluminum double-overhead-cam engine, which produces 95 horsepower and 105 lb-ft of torque. This gas engine is combined with a sealed nickel-metal hydride battery and an electric drive motor, which puts out 71 horsepower and 120 lb-ft of torque. This system creates a net 121 horsepower, all of it transferred to the front wheels through an electronically-controlled continuously variable transmission.

That powertrain delivers fuel efficiency numbers of 54 mpg in the city, 50 mpg on the highway and 52 mpg combined.*

Many Prius models

Since the Prius is so popular, Toyota has generated many different trim levels to appeal to different drivers’ desires. The base-level Prius One offers the impressive efficiency of the Prius at a price available to most drivers. From there, features are added across the remaining trim levels:  Two, Three and Four.

Special trims

For 2018, Prius also comes in special versions for the Two, Three and Four models.

For the Prius Two, the special trim is called the Two Eco. This iteration replaces the standard nickel-metal hydride battery with a lithium-ion version to offer even better gas mileage of up to 58 mpg in the city, 53 mpg on the highway and 56 mpg combined.**

For both the Prius Three and Four, the upgraded trim levels are called the Three Touring and Four Touring, respectively. Each takes its mainstream trim and adds several features, including unique suspension tuning, integrated fog lights, LED accent lights, 17-inch five-spoke alloy wheels and a distinctive rear bumper treatment.

No matter what the trim level or battery type, the 2018 Toyota Prius continues the nameplate’s legacy as the absolute ideal example of hybrid efficiency.

*2018 EPA-estimated 54 city/50 highway/52 combined mpg for Prius. Actual mileage will vary.

**2018 EPA-estimated 58 city/53 highway/56 combined mpg for Prius Two Eco. Actual mileage will vary.

Ali Kamal
Sales and Leasing Consultant

Ali has been working here at Handy Toyota since 1992 and enjoys providing his customers with a quality found nowhere but Handys. He has lived in Vermont since 1980, he has a wife and they love to travel with each other. Some places they have traveled to include Senegal where Alis parents and family lives. Ali also has a bread delivery business for 20 years. Ali makes it a priority on his days off to spend time with his family. He likes to kayak and fish to enjoy the beauty of Vermont. When he stays inside he loves to watch a good comodie like Mr. Bean and Benny Hill. Ali’s favorite vehicle on the lots would be the 4Runner and the Highlander.