I came from a '98 Explorer for the same reason, lots of driving and was looking to get a better mpg. I have a 2012 Camry SE 4Cyl and haven't had any transmission troubles to date. Even though it is a possible issue, not everyone has dealt with it. I think you would like the Camry and enjoy the better gas mileage.

With any car I would always buy the extended warranty as repairing almost anything later down the line would cover the cost of the warranty. I always find its a smart thing to do.

 

No known issues to date with the 2015's.

I'd forget the extended warranty and put the money saved toward more aggressive preventive maintenance like transmission fluid changes. The 2015 transmissions have the revised shift programming that reduces wear and the extra magnets in the pan to better filter the fluid. But the fluid still deteriorates rather fast so pan drain and refills every 15-20,000 miles (or total fluid exchange every 30,000 miles) will help assure you get 200,000+ highway miles out of the transmission.

Also, spend extra for 5,000 mile engine and oil filter changes, 15,000 mile engine air filter changes.

 

The threads on here with transmission issues on 2012+ worry me. Do they have these worked out yet on 2015s? Is extended warranty something to look at? Or should I consider an accord instead?

If you went through that tread you should've noticed that there is only a few returning again and again posters there.

 

2014 camry here with 31k miles. All I've done are 10k oil changes and 5k tire rotation. Transmission is 100% fine here

 

DO IT! my bro has '12 and i just brought mine '15 SE. You will def enjoy the seats and the mpgs ? lol

 

I am thinking about buying a 2015 Camry... Coming from a Ford and considering the Camry because I have a long highway commute and want a car that I can put miles on reliably without worrying about issues.
The threads on here with transmission issues on 2012+ worry me. Do they have these worked out yet on 2015s? Is extended warranty something to look at? Or should I consider an accord instead?
The car I'm looking at BTW is 2015 SE 4cyl standard package.

I don't think you should buy a 2015 Camry because it is silky smooth and will provide many trouble free miles. Who wants a reliable car without any drama? I have 2014 Camry LE with 23000 miles without any transmission problem or any drama. The car is so smooth sometimes I just like to set my cruise control on and go to sleep until the destination. You want to avoid those people with serious 2015 Camry envy. You should buy an Accord because the CVT is a little jerky and the build quality is so so compared to Camry. Owning an Accord is like going to a church - just hard to convey. I own 2013 Accord LX with CVT and would not buy another Accord again until 6AT is back in I-4.

 

Buy a 2015 Camry and thank us later. While we can't guarantee that you won't have problems, we can assure you that you'll be buying a solid car. I've put about a 1000 miles on my I4 XSE and I love it as a daily driver. It's got good driving dynamics for the kind of car that it is.

I say pull the trigger; you should be happy with your purchase.

 

I never had problems with any of my camrys I've purchased. This is my third camry and so far, it's pretty solid. Probably the best Camry I've bought so far.

 

We purchased our 2015 SE just a month ago. We drove pretty much everything in the $20K to $30K range.

I couldn't stand the CVT in the Honda's or Nissan's. I work in the auto industry so I'm a bit more picky than most people.

I wouldn't worry about the transmission on the camry's. You will always find people reporting more % of failures then people reporting no issues. It's a natural bias. I would trust the Camry's traditional auto over the Accord's CVT.

edit: see the below response for extended warranties

 

If you want an extended warranty purchase it after the fact. There's a couple well know dealers who will sell you a warranty for much less than your dealer. Remember you can buy the warranty after the purchase.

Toyota changed the way they allow extended warranties to be sold and you can no longer purchase from an out-of-state dealer without physically going to the dealer (unlike Ford).

OTOH, Ford charges around $100 extra for the warranty after the first year or 12K miles of ownership and Toyota charges the same price (with possible annual increases) during the 3-yr/36K mile comprehensive warranty period.

I would wait on the warranty until near the end of the 3-yr/36K OEM warranty and decide based on that. There is a good chance the car will have zero warranty visits at that time and I might forgo the warranty. Or it might have been in the shop every other month and you just want to sell it. Most likely it will have 1-2 visits and it would be your decision if you wanted to cover additional visits with the warranty.

 

I don't want to be bias and would like to give you an honest opinion of the car. I purchase a used 2014 SE and Im sure they've updated a lot of things with the 15.

Not sure about mpgs though. I haven't hit 30mpg like the other thread that was posted here and Ive been driving it for a few months now. Also, my commute is probably around 30miles daily, maybe 85-90% hwy and it's a 2014 so it could be different now with the '15s. So im not sure, I haven't really taken a long road trip to really say how good the gas mileage is. The car does not feel heavy like a passat or a malibu. The doors feel kinda flimsy compare to the other two and feels light so I notice some road noise but very tolerable. I know the 15s have better noise dampening installed already but the road noise is not really that bad compared to what other people on here are complaining about.

I could say I enjoy the car a lot and the stuff that it came with. I don't have the entune system but I can't recall the last time I listened to the local sucky stations. The speakers are ok but im not a big audiophile, Im happy with the speaker output and it has enough bass for my liking. The seats are very comfortable and has enough back support and will sure be very helpful when taking a long trip. The steering needs a bit more feedback imo, but for a big car, the car feels confident and felt safe on corners I thought it was gonna roll.lol The price is also very reasonable, and I think is probably the cheapest compared to other (used)midsize sedans I looked at, except for the Malibu, and Fusion. But the camry is probably the more reliable out of the three and probably better mpg wise... I am overall very satisfied with the car and wouldn't think twice on getting another camry if i had a chance.

 

I have no idea how you didn't hit 30 mpg with a 80%+ highway drive! I just got back from a 10 mile all-city drive, with plenty of stoplights, in my 2015 I4 XSE and I averaged 28.1 mpg. When I'm doing a highway drive, I'm usually pushing 38+ mpg. I don't think anything changed in terms of fuel economy from the 2014 to the 2015.

If you drive conservatively, you will beat the EPA estimates on the Camry every single time. When I want to mash the pedal some and throw it into sport mode, I end up with something closer to 22 mpg city, which isn't bad for how much I push it.

 

My V6 is getting an avg of 28 MPG. 80% hwy/ 20% city. If I'm driving all city, I usually get around 24 mpg.

The highest MPG I got so far from my V6 is 35 MPG. Even though I can fill it with 87 octane, I've been filling up with 91 octane since I bought it. It's out of habit though but I doubt that is a major part for my MPG.

 

You realize that putting 91 octane in your car is literally a waste of money since the computer then has to compensate the difference in octane.

 

I have Had My 2015 Camry LE and No Issues To Date. Creeping Up On 800 miles. I am averaging 33 MPG going back and fourth on my commute to the city. She Handles very luxurious for a base LE, The Shifting is buttery smooth, If I punch the pedal she takes off with no weird issues. I have always been a Honda Fan and Still Have A 2013 Honda CRV AWD that is great for snowy issues. When CVT transmissions became the norm for Honda that's when I decided to go with a Camry with a traditional transmission. I also have read these forums with concern but thank god to date no issues yet. When the time comes i will purchase the extended warranty to cover any potential tranny issues if ever need be.

 

FYI I have been averaging 33 mpg on our 2015 I4 SE. 90% highway with a 35 mile commute @ 75 mph.

 

if you run lower octane fuel or poor quality fuel the computer will compensate in several ways including timing. If the computer has to retard timing, alter fuel ratios then you have de-tuned the engine to compensate for crappy fuel... all this equals loss of performance and fuel economy...
If you got the extra cash to throw at premium fuel then do it whenever possible

 

Yeah, like I said, I've been filling up with 91 octane for more than 5 years or so. I only put 91 in my Celica too, even though I don't have to, but it's a 14 year old car so it's better IMO. I guess it's me being paranoid, but I'm not comfortable filling up with 87 octane in cars with V6. If I had bought a I4, I would fill it up with 87 octane, no questions asked.

 

My brother has a 2011 RX350 and using 87 without any noticeable loss in smoothness, acceleration or MPG, but sis's 2007 IS250 doesn't take 87 well and runs smoother on 91.

 

Wow I don't know how he's doing that! I have a 2013 RX350 and I have to use 91 or I see a huge dip in performance. I'm not sure if something changed between 2011 and 2013.

 

I'm hearing so many "old tech" excuses from several people. 91 octane will not help performance nor wear on the engine because toyota did not tune it for higher octane fuels. Whether it's the 2.5 or 3.5 they are neither high compression or turbocharged/supercharged. The higher the octane of fuel the harder it is to detonate so the computer has to compensate and in some cases it is worse for performance and economy. Even with Lexus "premium" fuel is recommended but not required for the same reason.
I have owned many types of vehicles and currently have a twin turbo 300zx that runs on e85 so although I do not know everything, I do know this. After saying this obviously if you still want to put 91 in and waste your money you are entitled to.

 

There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that Toyco has "tuned" in a higher octane map as part of the ECU. Look up 2GRFE for Lexus and Toyco cars, will show you that it performs better (mileage, less knock, etc.).

I used to tune my own cars, more specifically my racing Evo (with over 200 dyno runs) via ECU flash. If Toyco is anything like Mitsu (and they should be), there are multiple maps built in for low and high octane mode, but for purposes of lawsuits (see Mazda hp), they probably just put the lowest # guaranteed with lowest grade gas. You think of maps as just "fuel", but its actually a 3D map composed of fuel, timing, and revs.

Here's ECU Flash high octane map:

This was my Evo (garage queen, dyno whore, and track star)...

 

Toyota used to recommend 91 octane for the 2GR-FE engines and it pissed a lot of cheapskates off. They "detuned" it in recent years to allow them to use 87 octane, but there is a noticeable difference in sub-3000 RPM performance in a 2010 Highlander between just 87-89 oct.

 

Could you convert "a noticeable difference" into seconds and difference in MPG?

 

^

What kind of driving does ur brother do? If it is mostly cruising around, then your mostly in open-loop mode, which wont make too much of a difference. Lead footers will feel more of a difference because ecu would go more into closed loop mode.

 

All city: his daily commute is from N.Plano all the way to the N.Dallas and back, something like 20-22 miles one way. All city, but no real traffics.

 

Lol, I just found a post on this where molson contradicts himself:

my brother in law drives 2010 RX 350. he averaging 19 MPG 100% city on 89.
on 87 MPG drops a bit, 1 MPG at or so but car feels less responsive and more sluggish.
he used to use 93 before prices went up last time, but besides felling that engine feels just little bit more responsive and extra 0.5 MPG at the most there is no difference.

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/3...012/407086-v6-2gr-fe-high-octane-regular-fuel-horsepower-vs-mpg-you-decide.html

 

Lol, I just found a post on this where molson contradicts himself:



http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/3...012/407086-v6-2gr-fe-high-octane-regular-fuel-horsepower-vs-mpg-you-decide.html

but besides felling that engine feels just little bit more responsive and extra 0.5 MPG at the most there is no difference.

Like I said, no noticeable difference, unless terms "just a little bit" and "0.5 MPG at the most" are showing very significant difference in your opinion.

 

Nope, the acceleration part.

 

but besides felling that engine feels just a little bit more responsive

That one? It doesn't mean noticeably or significant anyway, but since English is not my native language, I may be wrong.

 

Just for an update... I was away on vacation but came back this week and pulled the trigger on a 2015 Camry SE, standard package, predawn metallic. I got it with the 200,000km/72 mo Toyota ECP (124,000mi), mainly because I put on a lot of km (35000km or 21000mi a year) and I financed it over sort of a long term so I want coverage for most of the time I am paying for the car. Picking it up at the end of the week.

Not sure about the colour because it isn't the flashiest one or anything but it is similar to what I have on my current car, and I got a pretty good deal by going through a dealer I had a connection to so I just took what they had in stock (grey or white).

 

Nice color, same as mine :grin:. Truth be told, it took me a while to figure out what color Predawn Gray Mica really is... is it bronze gray, brownish gray, titanium??? In the end, what cannot be argued is that this is a very practical color.

 

The fact that you're on this forum probably means you're more excited than worried about a 2015 Camry. Your bigger comparisons should be between trims and no so much '12-'14 vs '15. For the most part you'll be fine, but there are those special cases where you'll scratch your head bald. My '14.5 SE just went to the shop for a leaking steering column which no one else has on this forum (I'm probably lying). If anything you should worry about people looking at that fake C pillar/window extension.

PS - weird leather material over cloth static generators any day; good choice on the SE

 

I think it will be a good color. Gray doesn't look as bad if it gets a bit dirty. Black shows every speck of dust and white looks okay until you wash a small section and then you have to wash the entire car.

 

My old '98 Camry was gunmetal gray, similar to Predawn Gray Mica, and it was so easy to keep clean. My RX 350 is also that same color, but I chose to go with Cosmic Gray Mica for my new Camry. I absolutely love the color but it's definitely a PITA to keep clean. Oh well, when it is clean, it looks damn spectacular!