First Post Looking For some info on 07-09 Camry Hybrids

[bigwebb83]

I currently own an 08 4runner and love it. My wife has a 2000 accord coupe that has been great but is approaching 150k on the odometer. I don't think its about to die but I do want to get her something newer, especially since we are going to be starting a family soon. She has expressed interest in the camry hybrid several times so I figured I would check into them. I am looking at a few used models right now in the Kansas city area that are priced at around 17k for an 07 with 30-50k miles on it. I'm wondering what you guys experiences are on pricing for these? What have you paid for your camry hybrid (include mileage and year and options if you would).


Also, are there any common issues with these cars that I should be aware of? Anyone running one of these with high miles? Just trying to get an idea of durability, reliability and maintenance costs.

The fed rates this car at 34mpg combined, is this fairly accurate or are you guys getting different numbers?

Sorry for all the newb questions, but hope some of you guys who have owned these for a while can chime in and help me out. Looking to purchase in the next month or two.

[ukrkoz]

Would you buy your Camry hybrid again?

so you already have a family saloon. why would you rid of a keeper and buy another one? if you treat your Accord right, it should run and run. a little bit of better mpg in TCH will take years to compensate through all the $$ lost with sell/buy thing.

of course, there's that infamous "itch" to do it. can't help. none of the creams works on it.

otherwise, i buy off craigslist. here for 07 they run fully loaded for around $16-15K. asking price. Seattle.

[Joe B]

Mileage average
Winter cold 32.6 or so.
Other seasons-36 or so.

[bigwebb83]

Originally Posted by ukrkoz

Would you buy your Camry hybrid again?

so you already have a family saloon. why would you rid of a keeper and buy another one? if you treat your Accord right, it should run and run. a little bit of better mpg in TCH will take years to compensate through all the $$ lost with sell/buy thing.

of course, there's that infamous "itch" to do it. can't help. none of the creams works on it.

otherwise, i buy off craigslist. here for 07 they run fully loaded for around $16-15K. asking price. Seattle.

It's actually a 2 door coupe. Could we make it work? Of course. But like I said I want to get her something newer and nicer. And although the accord will probably go another 100k miles there will be points where it breaks down or needs to have work done and I think we are just around the corner from that. I think we will still keep the accord as a grocery getter and I'll drive it a few times a week to keep miles off the 4runner and save on gas.

[ukrkoz]

oh, i understand. reasoning like this is very familiar to me, and i am not foreign to "buy a new car" male thing either. ultimately, i am a male. we get our urges.

so, what's wrong with 07 Accord Hybrid? with V6? it's kick ars horsepower and Honda's hybrid is said to be much more fluid than TCH's. yes, you do not get same mpg. true. few miles difference?
personally, i seriously looked into swapping mine for Accord. except that i do not fit well into 07, and they discontinued hybrid for 08, which i fit in very well.

for your plans, you might be better off looking into a Highlander hybrid. 25-26 mpg, yes, it's less, but it's a much bigger and safer vehicle. also, they have VERY NICE AWD. i can tell from my wife's RX300, which is Highlander based.

i mean - hey, i like my TCH. for my purposes. i drive almost always alone, it is good for a one person. i get decent mileage, and i am being paid for it. it is fairly jazzy car if so needed. is it nice? not really. is it quality built? not really. is it pretty inside? absolutely not. is it pragmatic for one guy? yes. is it pragmatic for 2 adults and possibly one child? i'd put a BIG question mark on that. is it well worth cost and hassle with HSD and expensive parts? absolutely not.

but, like every person that has ever "asked for advice" in these matters, you already have your mind set anyway. you are simply either looking for someone else to justify this for you, so you feel better, or trying to quench the common sense voice that says - don't do it. so many times have I done this to my wife - honey, you know, i asked in forums, and guys said it's a really good car.. shame on me.

oh, real life mpg here:
42.5 summer
36+ - 37 winter time. she hates cold weather.

[bigwebb83]

Originally Posted by ukrkoz

oh, i understand. reasoning like this is very familiar to me, and i am not foreign to "buy a new car" male thing either. ultimately, i am a male. we get our urges.

so, what's wrong with 07 Accord Hybrid? with V6? it's kick ars horsepower and Honda's hybrid is said to be much more fluid than TCH's. yes, you do not get same mpg. true. few miles difference?
personally, i seriously looked into swapping mine for Accord. except that i do not fit well into 07, and they discontinued hybrid for 08, which i fit in very well.

for your plans, you might be better off looking into a Highlander hybrid. 25-26 mpg, yes, it's less, but it's a much bigger and safer vehicle. also, they have VERY NICE AWD. i can tell from my wife's RX300, which is Highlander based.

i mean - hey, i like my TCH. for my purposes. i drive almost always alone, it is good for a one person. i get decent mileage, and i am being paid for it. it is fairly jazzy car if so needed. is it nice? not really. is it quality built? not really. is it pretty inside? absolutely not. is it pragmatic for one guy? yes. is it pragmatic for 2 adults and possibly one child? i'd put a BIG question mark on that. is it well worth cost and hassle with HSD and expensive parts? absolutely not.

but, like every person that has ever "asked for advice" in these matters, you already have your mind set anyway. you are simply either looking for someone else to justify this for you, so you feel better, or trying to quench the common sense voice that says - don't do it. so many times have I done this to my wife - honey, you know, i asked in forums, and guys said it's a really good car.. shame on me.

oh, real life mpg here:
42.5 summer
36+ - 37 winter time. she hates cold weather.

Actually my mind isn't even close to made up. When you say "hassle with hybrid synergy drive" what do you mean? Also, in what way do you think it's not practical for two adults and a child? (in this case it would most likely be my wife and a child and whenever we were all together we would drive the 4runner). Last question, why do you say it's not quality built? Do you mean it's not quality built in the same way a general motors car is not quality built? or do you mean that it's a borderline economy car?

[ukrkoz]

it is not. read posts all over the web. LOTS of plastic panels everywhere, squeaks and rattles. they even fell so low as to issue a TSB on rattles and squeaks. panels don't stay in place and pop out. i have 2 in mine, that i either have to continuously wiggle back in (pillar A pass side SRS cover) or simply tape in, like pillar B SRS cover behind my left shoulder. water pump issues at low mileage for Toyota. some folks, even here, i think - marc did it - replace struts at very low mileage. consensus is that ride is bumpy. i found quite few folks that have issues with tires being worn out without any apparent reason.

let me put it this way. anything i personally look at is from a stand point of a DIY guy and tree shade mechanic. i work on my own cars as far as i can. HSD is too complex and too sensitive for me to touch. on my book - it's a hassle. yes, i do know it's 100K miles warranty. but i drive my cars into grave before i rid of them. so what will happen to it after 100K miles expire?
12V battery $360? from a frugal guy perspective, this car is like my wife's lexus. it's a premium $$ anywhere you turn around it, simply because it's lexus. or "Hybrid".
funny enough, my wife was the one either, to chew me up into buying this car. my daily commuter was $300 Civic with average mpg of 38.
as of 2 adults and a child. you positive it will be just one child? what if you will be blessed with more? from what i saw in the country, one child comes with at least enough stuff worth 2 more adults in the car. is it big, comfortable and safe enough? not through my eyes. SUV - yes. pass car - no. think about this. you already bought a 2 door car for, prolly, coolness reasons. as a result, now, for practicality reasons, you need, or think you need to, upgrade it to a 4 door one. you want to try to pack all that stuff into in later, just to stand there and think - gosh, should have listened to that guy! room inside and horsepower ARE NEVER ENOUGH.
also, here's the thing. with every person you drive with, your mpg goes down.
no, it is not built the way the old Toyotas were built. they ran forever under proper maintenance. same goes for Hondas. except that my heart lies with Hondas. we simply had better impression of them. you realize that Toyota had major "head in the ars" issue and quality generally dropped down for the sake of profit? not as bad as GM, but it did.
btw, what about Mazda Tribute? you will have raised SUV, enough room, plenty of cargo area - yes, TCH has TINY trunk - and almost TCH-sh mpg in hybrids. i may even fall as low as to say - Ford Escape. which is nothing but rebadged Tribute.

but no matter what you decide - my opinion is hybrids in general are trendy cars, that will not hold future. i do not buy trendy stuff. i buy stuff that is good quality, lasts for long time, and stays functional for long time. problem with me is - i always end up with something i have been opposed to. kismet. this is how i ended with TCH. also, i have Cassandra curse on me. no one listens to me. so, my honest suggestion is - do your math. if you can easily efford switch over - hey, why not. but if you are working for your money and you know their value - you buy used, pay cash, and drive that car until wheels fall off. so, is it worth to do what you want to do from the standpoint of $$ and practicality?
it's your decision as a family and you will have to be happy with it. and i sure do not want to be Cassandra.

[andym1978]

Once I got the recalls and warranty work fixed (squeaks, rattles, etc), this car has become a gem. Very comfortable, QUIET, and performance is great. The HSD system is VERY reliable. After driving my wife's 2002 Camry 4cyl all winter, I have learned to appreciate my 2007 TCH. In my opinion, it's a lot of car for the money (has a lot of XLE trim included standard for 2007).

I like the Accord hybrid, but it's not designed for economy. It's designed to get v8 performance with the MPG of a v6. The TCH will beat it by far in MPG, (but definitely not performance).


My MPG FIGURES in New England:

Stock Bridgestone tires: 44 MPG summer, 35 MPG winter. (I hated these tires.. Noisy, bad grip.)

New TOYO Versado luxury touring: 39 MPG summer, 32 MPG winter. (Quiet, MUCH better performance, bad MPG)

[msbwo]

I have a 2005 Accord Hybrid. It gets the gas mileage of a Honda Civic. I have been getting 27 to 32 mpg around town on warm days. Short trips and cold temperature brings it down to 23 to 25. During the hottest month last summer, the Accord Hybrid got 1 mpg better than my 2008 Camry Hybrid. This was city driving. Air conditioning doesn't effect the Accord Hybrid much, but is hell on the TCH. The interior quality of the Accord is much better. Except for the summer, the Camry gets 3 to 5 more mpg than the Accord. Mileage on trips is 39.5 for both the Accord Hybrid and the Camry Hybrid. This is driving both cars at 65 mph. The mileage I quoted is me driving the cars trying to get the best mileage out of both. Stop and go driving is much better on the TCH. The Accord Hybrid shuts down the engine and starts back up every time you have to go just a show distance. Mileage goes down on the Accord Hybrid quickly.

[andym1978]

Wow. That is pretty impressive for the Accord hybrid. I did some more digging and found that the Accord hybrid also deactivates up to 3 cylinders to further boost economy. It's a shame it didn't become as popular as the TCH, as it looks to be a very nice car. Another interesting note: It has TWO A/C compressors! One is high powered and is driven by the engine. The other is 1/4 the size and is electric driven for when the gas engine is off. It's just enough cooling to maintain the temperature. Very "cool" indeed.

[msbwo]

The reason for my good mileage with the Accord Hybrid is I try to keep the car in ECO mode. That is when it is running on 3 cylinders. The motor will kick in if it needs just a little boost of power. The odd thing I noticed about this car is the engine oil gets real dirty quickly. I have had 5 4cyclinder Accords and the oil stayed clean much longer.

[andym1978]

Originally Posted by msbwo

The reason for my good mileage with the Accord Hybrid is I try to keep the car in ECO mode. That is when it is running on 3 cylinders. The motor will kick in if it needs just a little boost of power. The odd thing I noticed about this car is the engine oil gets real dirty quickly. I have had 5 4cyclinder Accords and the oil stayed clean much longer.

The dirty oil is something I experience on my TCH as well.

Come oil change time, my wife's 2004 Corolla with 130,000+ miles had MUCH cleaner oil than my TCH, even when new. I wonder if it is combination of lighter oil + frequent engine shutoff.

[razol]

As mentioned by previous posts, the fit an finish on this car are not good. In fact I would say that if my TCH is an indicator, domestic cars (particularity Ford) are doing much better in this area.

I just had my car in for the 60,000 mile service and was surprised to hear that the water pump was leaking, the brake shim is stuck (now killing the brake pad on the left rear). Toyota wants to tell me that this is normal wear an tear since it is part of the brakes, despite the fact that the right rear pad is not worn and the worn pad is a direct result of mechanical failure.

I have tried switching Toyota dealers to see if it was just an issue with a single dealer, sad to say it is not. Toyota has slipped into inferior products and not standing behind their vehicle warranties. I find myself fighting them on every single repair.

Ever part on this car seems have a special Hyrbrid only quality which just raises the price. The tires are low rolling resistance (much more expensive). the 12v batter is three times the cost of a normal car battery. I feel like I am paying the repair prices of a Jaguar, but I am certainly not getting anything in the way of quality as a return on my investment.

Without a doubt, this car has been the least pleasurable ownership experience. I had wanted to buy this car for the long haul, but it is clear to me now that this car is not built for longevity. I cringe at the thought of owning this car after the extended warranty expires.

[andym1978]

I hear you. For my 1st 2 years of ownership, I had many quality issues affect the car. I had the cold weather rattles and "cricket" noises, bad intermediate steering shaft, popping moon roof, recalled steering rack, failed engine water pump.

Once I got those items fixed, the car has been problem free for me, and I've grown to like it. Except for some cold weather noises in the dash, the car is pretty nice to drive. If we are to compare this car to my previous 1992 Camry XLE, the 1992 was light years ahead in quality. Even after 150,000 miles, I had no cold weather squeaks or unexpected part failures. I really miss that car.

Regarding the tires, you can put any tires you want on the car. I put TOYOs on my car, which resulted in much better handling, but a 4-5MPG drop.

To be honest, driving my wifes car over the winter has definitely inflated my happiness with the TCH. I drove her 2002 Camry LE I4 (95,000 miles) with 15" steel wheels during the winter months to give her the TCH and its stability control. I don't know if this 2002 is an oddball, but the engine was noisy (valve tap, intake droning), the transmission has an annoying 1st gear whine (since car was new), the interior has plenty of cold weather rattles, and the interior parts felt a bit cheap.

When I got the TCH back this month, it felt like I was driving a Lexus. The stereo was great, the ride near silent, and the security on high speed turns greatly enhanced. Before I drove her 2002, I was thinking of trading in the TCH for a Ford Fusion Hybrid (even while trying to save up for a new house).