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2018 HyCam amateur review and ongoing blog

Discussion in 'Toyota Hybrids and EVs' started by CamryDriver, Jan 22, 2018.

  1. kgall

    kgall Active Member

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    My problem with the Honda hybrids is that they still use the right-side-only blind spot detection system.
     
  2. CamryDriver

    CamryDriver Active Member

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    I'm pretty sure the LE does not have blind spot detection...

    2 year review coming up in a few months. Notes to self:

    Summer vs Winter. The car is great (almost no complaints) in the Summer, the AC is outstanding and milage is great. Love the car in the Summer. In the Winter priority given to warm up can be annoying. Milage suffers in the Winter.

    A newish thing happened. After working perfectly for over a year and a half the radar cruise has been a bit too touchy a few times and has activated the brakes when someone was on the side of the road or in the right hand lane even when there was plenty of room to pass. Trucks seem to be more of an issue than cars.

    While the car is generally quiet sometimes there is a whine that sounds a lot like the police are chasing you. I don't notice it so much but my wife and a few friends have been looking for a police escort.
     
    #462 CamryDriver, Aug 30, 2019
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2019
    kgall likes this.
  3. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    That may not be RADAR Cruise, but AEB - maybe.

    I've a friend with a PASSAT, bought the same week as Samantha. His RADAR Cruise recently started working a bit erratically at times - he put it into VW for repair - they said "evidence that it's had a miniscule hit" on the sensor, therefore not warranty - insurance maybe. Sounds like they might be a bit sensitive. He's not worried about it - it works almost all the time.

    But - get the dealer to look, there could be some error showing up in the Vehicle Data record. Check the sensor is clean (and the windscreen too).
     
    CamryDriver likes this.
  4. kgall

    kgall Active Member

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    On the noise: Yes, but to me it sounds more like an ambulance approaching. I hear it mostly when coming to a stop, so I start looking around to see whether I need to move over.

    On the blind spot detection: That and the 360 Bird's Eye View explain why I got the XLE. Otherwise, I would have preferred the LE. I dislike the fact that car manufacturers (not just Toyota) make you buy a lot of stuff you don't want just to get the opportunity to buy safety features. They should price the safety features so as to make a fair profit on them alone.
     
  5. CamryDriver

    CamryDriver Active Member

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    Latest tank includes heavy but not 100% AC usage. Aggressive driving going to work but hypermiling on the way home and a new thing, taking the kid to kindergarten. The trip to school is short but often takes a while sitting and inching forward in line. Milage suffers during these short trips but I expect that the Camry Hybrid is among the best of the best of all the cars in that long line. All that creeping happens on electric power. Being a round trip with no shutoff helps as well.

    56 "lifetime" MPG (remember I accidentally reset this)
    608.9 miles, trip
    63.7 MPG displayed
    21,690 OD

    $22.52
    10.06 gal

    60.5 MPG calculated
     
  6. CamryDriver

    CamryDriver Active Member

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    Screenshot_20190907-005155_Samsung Internet.jpg

    Collecting little tidbits for the upcoming 2 year review. 1.5 stars out of 5 pretty much tell the whole story here.
     
  7. CamryDriver

    CamryDriver Active Member

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    More notes...

    Wife can't leave her purse in the car and lock it when riding together.
     
  8. mikefocke

    mikefocke Prius v Three 2012, Avalon 2011

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    CamryDriver: Remove keys from purse, you put them in your other pocket?
     
    alanclarkeau likes this.
  9. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Read story this last week - husband and wife met and swapped cars - both cars were running as they swapped, they forgot to swap FOBs. Both got to their destinations, long way apart and ... woops!!!
     
  10. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    My Prius knew when the fob was in the car when I tried locking the doors from the outside. Having a warning come up when the car is shifted out of park when it doesn't see its fob inside shouldn't be difficult.

    Assuming the couple didn't simply misse or ignore it.
     
    alanclarkeau likes this.
  11. CamryDriver

    CamryDriver Active Member

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    My Camry definately has some kind of warning when there is no key inside. This happens when my wife's key is being used and I don't have mine. She will not pull the car into the garage. When I move the car into the with no FOB there is a message of some kind for sure.

    Regarding the other issue...So yeah my wife could, in theory, find her key in her purse but for some reason that causes more trouble than it is worth. She can't ever seem to find it in the dark, or ever for that matter. We know it is in there somewhere because the car senses it but finding it has proven to be a bigger job than you might expect. This is as much a wife issue as a car issue. She often wants to leave her purse locked in the car but the car does not seem to allow it..
     
  12. CamryDriver

    CamryDriver Active Member

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    Just made a highway trip with somewhat curious results. 52 MPG displayed going downhill but into the wind. 56 MPG going uphill but with the wind on the return trip. That averages out to 54 MPG round trip (displayed) at 70 MPH with the AC on. Since the display is about 4.5% higher than at the pump the estimated mileage at the pump would be about 51.5 MPG, which isn't bad at all.

    The elevation change was about 950 vertical feet.
     
  13. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    There wasn't a lot of information in the roport - I don't think anyone thought to lock doors till they got to their destinations. And cars today beep so often - PRIUS does if you step out of the car - it's easy to ignore. I think PRIUS shifts to PARK when you open the door (?).

    Bigger KEY RING?

    At work, we had a key which kept going missing - people putting it in their pocket. I searched my shed, and found the old piston from an air-compressor - about 2½" dia, drilled a hole for a ring - it was too big to fit in anyone's pocket and got hung back up immediately. Talking about my shed - the key for that is on a short broom handle section - that way I never leave the key in the lock.
     
    #473 alanclarkeau, Sep 22, 2019
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 23, 2019
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  14. CamryDriver

    CamryDriver Active Member

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    New Tank

    22,226 OD
    57 MPG "Lifetime" displayed
    64.1 MPG tank
    536.3 Miles

    $20.13
    8.533 gallons

    62.85 MPG calculated for the tank.

    Mixed driving of all sorts including about 170 miles of hypermiling (no AC), along with 190 miles of highway driving at 70 MPH with the air on (54 MPG displayed for this portion). The balance would be normal commuting to work with the AC on. There was a bit less AC usage this time than last because it has been cooler at night.
     
  15. CamryDriver

    CamryDriver Active Member

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    22,911 OD
    58 MPG displayed "lifetime"
    64.5 MPG displayed tank
    $26.51

    684.8 miles
    11.05 gallons

    61.97 MPG calculated
     
  16. CamryDriver

    CamryDriver Active Member

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    Had the worst round trip I can remember this morning, 37 MPG displayed. Taking the kid to school is a short trip. Being cold and rainy didn't help as well.
     
  17. CamryDriver

    CamryDriver Active Member

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    26,489 OD
    58.2 "lifetime" MPG displayed
    577.7 miles trip
    59.5 MPG displayed tank

    $24.82
    10.348 gallons

    55.8 MPG calculated

    Cooler weather combined with the addition of a new short morning trip (to drop of my son at school, was mom's responsibility but now she has a day job) has the mileage lower. I don't expect to be back in the sixties until next spring.
     
  18. CamryDriver

    CamryDriver Active Member

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    35.8 MPG displayed on school dropoff round trip. That is garage to garage with no warmup because garage. Temps were in the twenties F or below zero C.
     
  19. CamryDriver

    CamryDriver Active Member

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    New tank, on the plus side we have selective use of climate control to minimize running the engine to make waste heat, and 40 PSI in the tires for the last part of the tank.

    On the minus side 30 PSI for much of the tank, cooler weather, and a new short trip to school that kills mileage because the trip is so short it does not overcome the warm up penalty.

    54.7 MPG displayed
    529.8 miles
    57.8 MPG long term average displayed
    24,019 OD

    $24.30
    10.389 gallons

    51 MPG calculated
     
  20. CamryDriver

    CamryDriver Active Member

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    57.1 MPG displayed
    525.8 miles
    57.8 MPG long term average displayed
    25,545 OD

    $22.35
    9.639 gallons

    54.55 MPG calculated

    First full tank with higher tire pressure and slightly warmer temps helped this tank be better than the last.