2018 Camry Hybrid LE One Year Review

This review is largely the same as the original a year ago but it does include some updated information.

I’ve had my 2018 Camry LE Hybrid for a year now and I love it. The driveline is amazing with plenty of power and great mileage. Displayed mileage after one year is 56 MPG even. The display runs 4.5 to 5% optimistic so the real world figure would be closer to 53.5 MPG. The car did well on vacation at 75 MPH with the air on, getting perhaps 54 MPG with the wind and 44 MPG fighting the wind.


I expected to like the driveline and I expected that I’d be frustrated with the infotainment, both did not disappoint. Unexpected pleasures include wonderfully bright LED headlights, and the fantastic Smart Key System. With SKS you never need to take the keys out of your pocket. I’m spoiled by the 4x auto windows as well.


The Good:

Great combination of size, power and mileage. Good driving range.

Bright LED headlights with automatic dimming.

2x front doors with keyless touch. Combined with a push button trunk and push button starting you never need to take the FOB out of your pocket.

4x automatic up/down windows.

Radar cruise.

Backup camera.

Fully usable trunk with fold down seats and a spare tire (no space lost to battery).

Fully automatic transmission with no belts, bands or clutches to wear out.

Stealth mode or EV driving on the battery a short distance is possible.

Most all the buttons light up for easy viewing at night.

I like the interior styling.

The dual zone climate control includes a special feature called S-Flow that does not direct air at unused spaces.

The displays are very handy and allow for customizations.


The Bad:

Entune and Scout Link are terrible, just terrible.

Bright reflections from the hood and dash can be blinding at certain times of the year.

The overall exterior styling/appearance, especially in the nose is not great.

Steel wheels with hubcaps do not help the looks.

The brakes can be a bit grabby which makes putting the car in the garage a bit jerky.

The EV mode button has too many conditions and cuts out at only 25 MPG.

Evidently the low pressure light does not call out which tire(s) are low.

The clock runs a bit fast.

The rear child seat latch is at a weird angle and is difficult to disengage.

The rated mileage is optimistic, especially on the LE.

I don’t care for the tiny single button that cycles airflow options on the climate control.

The locations of individual fuses are not specified in the owner’s manual.

There are 3x seperate locations to search for fuses but at least there is an index each of the covers.


Notes:

The car has been completely reliable in the year I’ve owned it and hopefully this trend will continue.

I complained a little about the noise the car makes in earlier reviews but I’ve grown accustomed to the sound so it does not bother me.

It took me a couple of weeks to adjust to some of the car’s features and now that I’m accustomed to the Camry Hybrid it takes a bit of adjustment to go back to a normal car.

I really like the way you can get into the car or the trunk without the need to take the keys out of your pocket.

The power is handy when you need it and the mileage is very good for a car of this size but a Prius will do a fair bit better if mileage is your primary concern. While I did achieve the EPA rating most will not. I often drive in a specific (slow) way to save fuel and maximize MPG.

With Entune/Scout being so terrible we have resorted to having 2x stand alone GPS units (a phone and a Garmin) in the car for long trips.

 

You might notice that I'm both happy and dissapointed with the fuel mileage. The dissapointment is really just with the rating the EPA/Toyota gave this car. The car should be rated at perhaps 47 MPG IMHO.

 

So the Camry’s clock running fast is a tiny minor thing on one hand but it is really inexcusable in this day and age. There is a signal that comes from Colorado from an atomic clock that would allow for perfect time keeping. Everybody’s cell phone also keeps perfect time and the car’s infotainment depends on a connection to a cell phone. Why not use the phone to correct the time? It wouldn’t even take any hardware, just an app to check the clock or display the phone’s clock.

 

I think a regular Prius will easily match EPA while the Camry LE tends to lag a fair bit below EPA for all around driving.

The Camry is excellent on the road at speed. It really is amazing how well the car does.

My previous hybrid (93hp) struggled at highway speeds.

Autoglide may account for the increase in speed you mention. The Camry will use less regen if autoglide is enabled.

 

I'd estimate that your "calculated at the pump" mileage would be about 47.5 MPG based on the difference I see between the displayed and calculated figures.

 

Maybe you can. I didn't see the option but I'll double check to make sure.

 

That looks to be a plus or premium option. I'll check the car in a few hours but I don't think the LE has the option.

 

It looks like GPS time is an option on the fancier models.

BTW so far we have had mild winters so I don't know how the car does in ice/snow.

 

This shows why I think the Prius is the better choice for efficiency.

 

I'll never carry just one GPS unit again. On average Google Maps on a cell phone works great, however it has goofed up big time on more than one occasion.

One time Google Maps percieved some delay and sent us a significant detour. While taking the detour it evidently decided the delay was gone so it had us turn around and go the original way but then the delay must have come back so it had us doing back to back u-turns. At some point we just had to ignore Google and drive.

Another time Google Maps had us take an exit 180 degrees the wrong way (because the ramp for the correct way was closed) and then Google says "now take a u-turn". We couldn't just take a u-turn on an interstate so we took an exit hoping to effectively make a u-turn but there was no ramp on the other side to get back onto the highway. We ended up in the worst neighborhood you could imagine. Just then my wife lost the signal on her phone so we had no help figuring out how to get out of said neighborhood. This is the stuff of nightmares.

The Garman is prone to goofing up as well so I like to have at least 2 GPS sources. When not in use the Garman fits perfectly flat in front of the 12VDC outlet so it is always in the car.

Like azjerry I've got a magnetic phone mount. The metal plate for the magnet mount blocks wireless charging so I've got 2 identical cases for my phone. One with the metal plate for GPS duty and one without for daily use on the wireless charger.