I am gleefully awaiting some reasuurance that the Gen III Prius will meet my expectations. However, my Biggest concern Is ride quality and from what I have read the Gen III Prius has been greatly improved in that aspect. but I have not seen any one that has used a Camry as the point of comparison. I am extremely happy with my 2006 Camry, Here is what I like about it. It is super quiet to drive, wind and road noise are minimal at highway speeds. It feels like I'm driving on air, I love not feeling the road, not feeling any steering wheel feed back, the comfortable drivers seat. I love that the car is heavy enough that at highway speeds It feels secure in the lane; There is no turbulence from surrounding traffic. I am wondering if there are any Camry owners that have switched to the Gen III Prius. Will I find the same things in a Prius that I love about my Camry? I live in Central Texas so I am concerned about the heat (100+ degree summers where the interior hits over 150) destroying the batteries, any thoughts on that? I have put 86000 Miles on my Camry in 3 years. I drive a 50 mile round trip on the highway to and from work. I then may start my car a dozen times during the day with small trips totalling 100 miles a day. Do I need to be concerned about destroying a Prius with heavy use? My Camry has held up wonderfully, with no repairs. All I do is 5000 Mile Oil changes and tire rotations. I also have a lifetime allignment on my car and have the allignment checked and alligned every 15000 miles. Can I expect the same in maintenance from a Prius? Thanks to all who help.
I have a 2006 Camry with 96000 on it and it has been the same way. The Prius is Toyota so yah you can expect the same thing except double the MPG.
I have a 2007 HyCam. I traded a 2004 Prius for it because my wife was driving back and forth to north Texas twice a month for awhile, and it was wearing her out. The Camry is a wonderful highway cruiser and made those and other long highway trips much easier and much more relaxing. The new model V is heads and tails above the 2004 Prius in highway handling, and I won't hesitate to take it on highway trips. It also has much better seats. The Prius seats are actually a little more sculpted and supportive than the Camry seats, but not as cushiony. The new car has also passed the wife test. She really likes the new seats and the vastly improved highway handling. I haven't driven anything but my V yet. I'm not sure how much of a trade off there is between the theoretically more stable but less cushioned ride of my 17" wheels, versus the more cushioned 15" wheels, but I'm not really seeing any complaints about highway ride or stability for the other models. All that being said, the Camry is probably still the better highway cruiser, just because it's heavier and has greater overall comfort and power. On the other hand, it looks like the Prius will easily get 52 to 55 mpg on the highway (with no special hypermiler tricks), compared to 37 to 40 mpg for the Hycam, or much less for your 2006.
We had a 2002 Camry (so same generation as yours). The ride on that was superb as you've said. It's comfortable, quiet and stable on the highway. The 2010 should be closer to that feeling than the Gen 2. Heavy use? problem? Nah. If it survives taxi duty (in numerous cities across the US and Canada), it'll survive a private ownership.
The default is to recommend the Prius, but I hesitate because it seems you are so happy with your Camry. Given all that you seem to like about The Camry, have you considered a Camry Hybrid? The mileage isn't as great as a Prius but you might just be happier with it.
I was initially looking at the 2010 Camry. Lots of reviews mention bad seams and plastic joins along with squeaks and rattles in this generation of Camry's. This left me feeling uncomfortable with the prospects of a '10 Cam. Also, it appears that acceleration is even worse in the new Camry than the previous generation. i see good things about the Gen III Prius acceleration, especially over 55mph. I do plan to take a test drive in both, but not sure when I'll find a Prius in Austin to compare it to. Also, I find that when I test drive, I do not immediately notice flaws or certain perceptions like ride comfort due to my excitement brought on by the prospect of a new car. also, seat comfort is one of those things that you may not discover is a problem until you've spent a few hours in the car. I Like the styling of the new Prius, and the milage would be great. It would definitely lower my monthly vehicle costs since I spend more on gas than my car payment. I also feel bad about my gigantic carbon foot print due to my car emmissions. so I would love leaping into the nearest 2010 Prius III with Navigation. I haven't seen anything that I don't like about it. once again, It's just the ride quality i'm not over confident with. The help you have all provided so far is great, Thank you. And the more comments the better I'll feel informed of my choices.
I got out of a 1990 Camry Wagon. I'll never go back. The Prius has more room, smoother, quieter, and much more economical. I know my 1990 Prius doesn't compare to your 2006 but it does show I intend to keep my Prius for a lot of years to come and I expect it to do the journey with me pretty well trouble free. I love my Prius, ask my friends who are sick of me talking about it.
