2007 Camry Hybrid

[artc]

I'm awaiting delivery of mine and would be interested in any comments from current owners about yours, especially mileage and handling.

Well, I took delivery last Friday (10 week's wait) and have put all 100 miles on the car. I am getting about 38 combined highway and city miles. More highway than city. It's a cool machine, more complex than any other car I've owned. It replaces a '99 Camry 4cyl. so it has power to spare. Of course, I am driving it during the break-in period, so I suspect my driving habits will change somewhat once I feel comfortable with it. Mine is the "basic" car, no extras. It compares favorably with the XLE model without the premium seat/moonroof package. Seats are comfortable. Interior space is larger than my old Camry. The big disappointment is the reduced size of the trunk. We'll have to pack differently for trips. It will force us to carry less. Isn't that the idea? Save gas.

You don't start this car so much as you boot it up! I teased my wife that it has a proximity fuse with its keyless entry system. It's hard to remember to leave the key in my pocket and just open the door.

Also, the car is Jasper Pearl. A real green machine. So, it makes a statement just by sitting in the parking lot. I'm the car guy in the family, but my wife really likes it too. We paid MSRP which was 25,900 + 199 for floor mats and delivery. We will get the $2600 tax credit, so the car is affordable. I did something I would never have thought of doing before, I bought the extended warranty. Toyota is offering to return 100% of the cost of the warranty at its expiration if you don't have to use it. So, you loan them the cost and bet you don't have to use it. Fair, given the complexity of this beast.

[makiev]

Originally Posted by artc

I'm awaiting delivery of mine and would be interested in any comments from current owners about yours, especially mileage and handling.

Had my TCH for about a month now, 38.5MPG. Steering wheel is the lightest I have ever experienced.

[PhantomZX]

I'm also on a list, but after reading these horror stories about both 4 and 6 cylinder trannies, I may pass...

[thoots]

Originally Posted by PhantomZX

I'm also on a list, but after reading these horror stories about both 4 and 6 cylinder trannies, I may pass...

Oh, don't worry about any of that. The V6 thing is, from what I understand, more of a "fastener fastened during the installation of the transmission into the car" in a relative handful of almost exclusively Kentucky-built cars. There are reports of hesitation with the I4, and some folks have blown that all out of proportion, but the rest of us have been finding that we've just kept on driving the car until we have virtually unconsciously figured out how to drive the car with no hesitation at all. There is a certain amount of "adapting" or "learning" on the part of some or all of the computerized systems in the car, and in my opinion it just takes a while for those to settle in and adjust themselves from their "default factory values" to values that work with you instead of against you, and then you just drive away with no worries at all. I don't think there's anything mechanically "wrong" with the I4 transmission at all, but rather just a substantial amount of computerized systems than most people have encountered before, so it all just takes a while to get used to everything, and a while for the systems to do whatever adapting they can do....

[PhantomZX]

Thoots - you did a nice writeup to reassure me, but I just can't help but feel that Toyota quality is starting to go down. First it was the Avalon, now the brand new Camry.

I've been a huge die hard Toyota fan for years, convincing many people to go with Toyota/Lexus, and even owning 3 of my own (currently on my second GS400).

I'd be selling the GS to get the TCH, and I really can't imaging trading my super-reliable and comfortable GS for one that may give me maintenance headaches.