Featured 2025 Camry SE HEV is lower rated than 2024 Camry LE HEV by Consumer Reports

Thanks! I was just looking reading about that. It looks like the Corolla hybrid comes with TSS 3.0, but to get all the features a person needs to buy a $930 package for the base LE model, or get the top spec Corolla. 3.0 is apparently over-the-air updated, so it should get better with time. Supposedly the 2013 Avalon had adaptive cruise control as an option, but it's not on my Avalon. I wonder if automatic braking would have prevented me hitting that deer in my Avalon. The lane following and such on the Kia Forte was, interesting at least. I suppose it might help prevent crashes. I did hate a Honda I drove not that long ago that would phantom brake about every time a car was passing us in the opposite direction.

I wonder why the Corolla doesn't come with a spare tire. That would seem like a logical safety feature. Now I need to google how much it would cost to add. At any rate, I don't have the money for a new Corolla anyway. I'll keep the Corolla and Camry hybrids in mind as a used car for my next car when the Avalon is beyond repairable. So far, that might be a long time from now.

 

I think that's what the Avalon has, as the car beeps and lights flash on the mirror on the side there is a car if I try to merge lanes with a car in my blind spot. It also does something similar if I'm backing up and a car is coming along. It seems like a useful feature. It's probably more useful in places with more multi lane highways, although the main two streets through town here do have 4 traffic lanes.

I agree that safety features should be standard on all cars, even though it will make cars more expensive. Usually if something is manufactured in higher quantities it's overall cost comes down.

 

TSS 3.0 includes Pre-Collision System, Lane Departure Alert, improved Dynamic Radar Cruise Control,Lant Tracing Assist (IMO this needs refining to keep you centered in your lane), Road Sign Assist (not always accurate, in my experience), Automatic High Beams, Proactive Driving Assist
https://www.toyota.com/content/dam/toyota/brochures/pdf/tss/CFA_TSS_3.pdf

The Premium Plus Package (on the XLE) includes
Traffic Jam Assist (TJA),
Front Cross-Traffic Alert (FCTA), (Everyone turns this off)
Lane Change Assist (LCA),
Panoramic View Monitor (PVM),
Front and Rear Parking Assist with Automatic Braking (PA w/AB),
Rear Cross-Traffic Braking (RCTB),
Driver Attention Monitor, (Everyone turns this off)
9-speaker JBL®10 Premium Audio system,
ventilated front seats,
10-in. Head-Up Display (HUD),
Digital Key capability, (subscription app based using your phone for a key)
panoramic glass roof with front power tilt/slide moonroof (removal of overhead sunglasses storage),
rain-sensing windshield wipers,
driver’s-seat and outer-mirror memory function

We wanted the Lane Change Assist, Panoramic View Monitor, Rear Cross-Traffic Braking, and the moonroof. Everything else was just added Toyota profit.

The Premium Plus is different on the XSE and not available on the LE & SE Trim levels.

 

Sure wish I could find a realistic mask for:


Bob Wilson

 

I wonder if there are any studies that point to what works and what doesn't as far as making roads safer. It seems that a lot of this stuff is to make cars more comfortable, not necessarily safer, yet may seem to make them safer, so who knows.

And I wonder how much of this is to make up for things that could make the tech totally unnecessary, like maintaining a maximum speed of 5mph in parking lots. I always go 5 mph or less in parking lots.

 

There's a huge one called Vision Zero. Relevant thread.

I love the idea of letting the data show us the right solutions.

 

I think logic is lacking today. I went to my local dealer to test drive a Camry before I drove 3 hours to my preferred dealer to buy one. I complained about the body being so high on the rear windows reducing visibility. The salesman actually said that Torota was more focused on safety than visibility! In my opinion, if the car had good visibility, safety would be less complicated. Just shoulder check & look before changing directions.

 

Kind of like people who want more efficiency yet also want to drive cars shaped like large boxes.

 

And I'd want all of that and be willing to pay for it except it comes only with the pano roof which I hate and would thus disqualify the car as a possible choice. Heck I don't even want the moonroof. Yet I'm willing to pay for the top trim and all the option packages. So they just outsmarted themselves as far as I am concerned.

 

Yeah, trying to find the right vehicle is pretty much impossible. I wouldn't like having a glass roof either, but for reasons most people wouldn't understand.

Manufacturer's are going to put in what makes money, which is understandable. They aren't going to make the kind of car I like for the price that I like.

I'm also going to say this: All of this automated software stuff is great when it saves lives. But to me it also makes cars very, very boring. Cars now shift themselves, brake themselves, keep in lane themselves, park themselves, and pretty soon will just drive themselves. And all this "glass roof this" and "touch screen that" don't make cars any more interesting to me, but have more of the opposite effect. And the price for a boring box on wheels that's safer, but still a boring box on wheels, is outrageous.