Workin' my way up the "food chain" - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

TomJ · 10-23-2010, 09:10 AM

Hi, Folks.

I have been working my way up the Toyota "food chain." I bought an 09 Yaris in April of 2009, which I traded for a 2010 Corolla S in June 2010.

Thursday I traded-in the 2004 Impala that my wife had been driving for a 2011 Camry SE.

I had no complaints with the Yaris, and it was a fun little car to drive. I just got the itch to trade for something a little bigger, and I really liked the looks of the Corollas. I am VERY happy with my Corolla S!

That Impala was falling apart and seemed to be needing something all the time. I was VERY disappointed with the long term reliability of that car. It had 93,300 miles on it when I traded it in. I bought the car brand new and had all the proper maintenance performed on it. The car had not been abused. It was NOT a cheap car: it stickered for $27,750. I will most likely never buy another American branded car. (OK, I would definitely make an exception for a nice Camaro SS.

)

I LOVE the new Camry! I cannot believe the power of that little 2.5 L four banger. I'm sure that six speed automatic accounts for a lot of the good acceleration.

The car is smooth and quiet, and it handles extremely well. The stock radio has a really good sound. I have no complaints at all at this time after just a couple days of ownership.

I got the car in the "Classic Silver Metallic," which is the same color as my Corolla S.

Man, it seems like every third car you meet on the road is a Camry. I have no problem believing that they are the #1 selling car in the U.S. Apparently, the silver is a very popular color, too, because we saw about half a dozen identical Camry's on a little trip the wife and I took yesterday.

I am a very happy camper at this point.

Tom

MJZ · 10-23-2010, 09:33 AM

Cool, now you need to put on Coilovers and get bigger wheels. Your wife will love them!

10-23-2010, 11:56 AM

Welcome to the Camry family. Good thing that u stick with the Toyota family. Any plans for yur wife's car???

TomJ · 10-23-2010, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by -Kenny-

Welcome to the Camry family. Good thing that u stick with the Toyota family. Any plans for yur wife's car???

Thanks for the welcome.

No plans, other than to just let her drive it.

If it gets any mods at all, it will simply be tinted windows. Not even sure about that.

I have pleaded with my wife not to let the granddaughters eat or drink in the new car, and I have also begged her to park just a few more car stalls or a couple more rows farther from the stores, so that it is less likely that someone will park beside her and ding our car with his/her door.

Tom

***arabianobsession*** · 10-23-2010, 12:27 PM

Always a great idea....I'm kinda horrible for that. I will park farther out and take up 2 or 4 stalls depending on how I do it. No one yet has come near me.

Toyota2010xle · 10-23-2010, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arabianobsession

Always a great idea....I'm kinda horrible for that. I will park farther out and take up 2 or 4 stalls depending on how I do it. No one yet has come near me.

Have been told by both my kids *NOT* to park in more than one stall... the reason is the vehicle will be keyed.

So now I just park in one stall very far from the store... so far, so good!

Found this hard to swallow but they both sang the same song... and they're in their early thirties... so what gives? Is this a problem all over?

Gary

***arabianobsession*** · 10-23-2010, 12:37 PM

I've been doing that for ages now, and haven't had any problems. And to be honest, I live in a hood and so far so good. LOL I'm more worried about the hood than where I park at the mall.

I guess in my area that's not a big problem. Every day I see Shelby Mustangs, SS Camaros, etc. parked out in the middle of nowhere taking up 5 stalls and no problems.

TomJ · 10-23-2010, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arabianobsession

I've been doing that for ages now, and haven't had any problems. And to be honest, I live in a hood and so far so good. LOL I'm more worried about the hood than where I park at the mall.

I guess in my area that's not a big problem. Every day I see Shelby Mustangs, SS Camaros, etc. parked out in the middle of nowhere taking up 5 stalls and no problems.

I would be very afraid to park taking up more than one stall. That would invite punks to key the car just for spite. I just park far enough away from the store that it makes it very unlikely that anyone would park next to me.

Tom

private_number · 10-23-2010, 01:39 PM

I do the same. I park ages away from the entrance of a store or shopping center where there is no one around. I come back and i usually see other modified cars park next to me haha

***arabianobsession*** · 10-23-2010, 01:44 PM

I don't know, I've never had any issues. If I simply park far away in a stall someone ALWAYS parks RIGHT next to me, but if I park like I'm a moron they all leave me alone. I'm just surprised no one's decided to bash my car at home. But I'm glad I'm moving in December......

Dave-o · 10-23-2010, 01:48 PM

you guys would love the "and this is why ____ drivers are asshats" segments on jalopnik.com

shows pics of drivers always taking up several spots for their nice cars

great choice with the SE btw

***arabianobsession*** · 10-23-2010, 01:56 PM

However, I must tell all of you that I don't do it all the time. I did it when I first bought it (I'm 21 and this was my first ever brand new car), but now I hardly go anywhere with it, and when I do, it's either work (Toyota dealer), my house, or someplace else like that.

TomJ · 10-24-2010, 10:44 AM

Anyway, back to my Camry...

I can't believe what a nice car it is!

Have they made vast improvements in the sound proofing for the Camry in the last few years? I remember driving one several years ago as a rental car, and there was all kinds of road noise. The overall impression was that it was a "cheap" car. My new Camry is really quiet, and I feel that I am riding in a very high quality car.

I took advantage of some really nice pricing on this car. The sticker price was $23,245, but it was advertised for $19,988, which is what I paid for it. That price included a $750 cash rebate, so the real price of the car was $20,738 minus the cash rebate of $750.

I am blown away by how much car I got for that amount of money. This is not a stripped down car. It has a six speed automatic transmission; remote keyless entry; power windows, mirrors, and locks; rear window defogger; cruise control; and a power driver's seat. I'm probably forgetting some other features.

I financed for 72 months through Toyota Financial and got 4.75% interest. This gave me a nice low monthly payment of $264.16. (I was allowed $5000 trade-in on the Impala, so I only had to finance $16,466.78).)

Couldn't be happier!

Tom