It's the automotive equivalent of a valium hamburger. But the Toyota Camry is also insanely popular. It outsells its nearest rival in the medium car class by almost three for one. Joining us in the studio, someone whose almost re-awoken after his last experience with a Toyota Camry, Car Advice Road Tester, Alborz Fallah.
Is it really the automatic personification of the Calabase or are there redeeming features?
Well, I think it pretty much is what you just said but although there's a lot of redeeming features. It's a good car. It is boring as all hell but it is a good car. I'm still driving one. I've got a Camry Hybrid at the moment. And after a while, you actually get used to the fact that, yes, it is boring, yes, it is uninspiring, but it really does the job it's supposed to quite well.
I think a lot of taxis buy the hybrid Camry as well. And a lot of fleet operators use the Camry, and that's a good sign in some ways because it goes to show they have faith in the product.
So what about moms and dads out there in middle Australia. There's plenty of moms and dads who might have owned 4 or 5 Camrys in a row and been really happy.
Yea absolutely, I mean they're great. The reason they're popular is because they're really good cars.
They're quiet and trouble free and all that stuff.
They've got one of the best cabin noise of any car in their class. It's so quiet inside, it's very well refined.
That's got to be because the platform's also engineered for Lexus. Possibly.
So what does a Camry drive like?
Well, it's pretty good. The 5 speed automatic is very reasonable. The car does lack a bit of power, I think, but for most Camry buyers, I think that wouldn't be an issue. I think on the interior, Toyota seems to use a bit of weird plastic with backlit blue lights on the center console, which I'm not a big fan of.
But everything is placed really well. You can get into the car, you can turn on the stereo. You can set it to your favorite radio channel within 30 seconds
What about things like fuel efficiency?
The non hybrid Camry is not that right around town. I think the 4 cylinder engine uses a bit more fuel than it should in traffic situations, but the plus side is you can go for the hybrid. which is six liters per 100 K's, and that's pretty good for a car of it's size. Camry is manufactured here in Australia.
What about the quality? Is Australian-built quality equivalent to the Toyota's that we get from over seas? No, not that I can see. It feels just as good as the Corolla or any other Japanese made Toyota.
Let's say you have had 4 Camry's in a row, you've been pretty happy, it still makes sense to comparative shop the rest of the market.
If you do that, you go out and test drive some other cars, what would they be? I definitely try the Kizashi. I think that is a good competitor. I think the I-45 the Hyundai is also a great competitor and so is the Liberty and the Mazda 6.
Now we used to have a v-6 Camry in Australia until the current model, and now we've got a Aurion. Is Aurion really just another name for V6 Camry? I don't think so. I think the Aurion is a bigger car. There is more interior space. From the outside, if you look at an Aurion Next to the Camry it does seem like a much bigger type of car, it's more of a falcon and commodore coolant.
Meanwhile the Camry appeals to people that are not really after a car that big. Ok so in a nutshell. What don't you like about Camry? I think the exterior styling for me isn't so great. I think because there's so many of them around you feel like you're driving a taxi sometimes, and more importantly as a result of that, when it comes to sell, if you're a private buyer the market is flooded with ex-fleet Camry's and that bring the value of your car down.
Well, Toyota says the hybrid Camry is the most advanced car ever manufactured in Australia. What's it like? I think It's great! It's a fair bit quicker than the standard Camry. It accelerates quickly off the line. It's quiet. It obviously uses a lot less fuel. I think it is slightly overpriced, $7000.
on top of a price of a normal Camry is going to take a lot of years to make up for in fuel economy in fact many, many, years. So, probably not in the lifetime of the vehicle. I suppose though there's no payback period for a Swiss watch or a solar array on the roof in your home either. So if you've got green intentions then probably a hybrid is something that can a, make a statement and b, make you feel pretty good about the choices you make as a consumer.
Well, additionally some of the hybrids on the market, this one actually drives quite well. So its not like you're, you're going forward with a hybrid Camry as opposed to a normal one. So there's more performance apart from less. Is there any reason why specifically you would not buy a Toyota Camry?
I think if you If you want a car that speaks about your character, by the type of person you are, sort of car that you actually really enjoy driving, I don't think the Camry would be my perfect choice, I think I would go look at something like a Kizashi or a Liberty. Because I think those kinds of cars just seem to have more soul and character to them than the Camry.
Thanks Albolus. [sp?] Well, look down and if you're wearing beige pants, maybe it's time not to buy anything but a Toyota Camry. You can read the full Camry review, download the specs, add your comments and even get a quote from a Toyota dealer. Just follow the links on this page.
