Camry Hybrid Vs. Prius

Camry is their flagship car. Very popular. More conventional-looking. I personally prefer the Prius, but a lot of people will be willing to buy a hybrid Camry because they perceive it as a more conventional car, with a new drivetrain, while they perceive the Prius as risky because it's entirely new. This is not logical, but it is human psychology.

Toyota, having made a committment to hybrid technology, wanted to offer it in its flagship product immediately after breaking into the market with the Prius.

 

I agree with your assessment on the cars. The Camry was just coming out when I was buying my Prius. For a long time I was considering the Camry as it has more of a luxury feel to it, but after reading more about the versatility of the Prius I re-thought and bought a Prius. I'm happy I did. Another factor was that the Prius is always a hybrid and I wanted to make a clear statement with this car (it seems like car manufacturers are starting to get the message! Great!).

On the other hand it speaks to Toyota's belief in the hybrid synergy drive when they make it available for the best selling sedan on the market. In a way that is a gutsy move! Making the Camry a hybrid really tells people that hybrids are mainstream and not only for us ultra liberal tree huggers.

I hope to see hybrids in all car sizes soon. In a few years my wife needs a new car and we we probably need a station wagon at that point, or say the Escrima (Toyota are you listening?). That said I'm still holding out hope that GM or others will have an EV out by then!

 

I want a 2008 Prius XLE.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Feb 23 2007, 10:35 AM) [snapback]395307[/snapback]</div>

Facts, logic, and rational thinking have no place in this forum. Consider this a warning.

 

This is a long post, but since you asked a complicated question, a long response will be required.

Last year (around May - June), I was looking for a replacement for my '96 Grand Am. As I was hitting the different lots comparing the different cars, trying to find cars that would fit my requirements (comfortable, room in rear seat for a REAL person with legs -- with the front seats pushed back, comfortable, acceleration and braking that was about the same as the Grand Am, comfort, cost: 35K (max), comfort, etc -- Oh, did I mention comfort?) I was getting the idea that most manufacturers had downsized their fleets and getting a useable rear seat with the front seat pushed back would be difficult.

As I was going past the Toyota lot, I remember hearing about a hybrid car and had never seen one. What the hey, I might as well do some sight-seeing.

The dealer had some Pruis' on the lot (plural = Pri, Priuses, priusses, herd or pride of Prius, what? B) ). He took me out for a test drive (around 1 mile). I was impressed. Economy, handling, extremely smooth shifting (couldn't even fool the transmission (then I was told about the CVT), turning radius, etc. A couple of weeks later, I heard advertisements where you could take the car overnight for a test drive. The local dealer wouldn't allow that, but would let me go on a 30 minute test drive w/ salesman in car.

Overall, that test drive UNimpressed me! Within 1 mile after leaving dealership, I took car onto I95 (long inclined access ramp). I floored the accelerator. My impression, it was a gutless wonder! The Grand Am would have easily been passing 80 - 90 by the time I hit the top of the ramp, Prius was doing good to be approaching 60. (Could it have been that traction battery had low charge?) After about 15 minutes, the lack of extra padding/foam in the seats that I was familiar with started to become apparent. Returning to the lot, I wanted to go up a road that I knew was steep to test out the power again. Salesman directed me to a different road, saying that it was steeper. WRONG. His path was only 1/2 as steep.

On return, I told them I would not buy car due to comfort and power. Then they told me that the Camry was being built as a hybrid, with an engine twice the size of the Prius. They didn't have any TCH on the lot and that they wouldn't have any as a demo. I took a conventional Camry with the smallest engine (almost same as TCH) for a test drive. Response was good (for a small engine -- but I realized that the elecrical engine would increase power). Comfort was good -- IMHO, superior to the Prius.

CAMRY -- Pro's -- 35 - 40 mpg vs 20 - 24 mpg of Grand Am; comfort (subjective); power; room for front AND rear seat adult passengers; leather seat availability; CON's -- loss of ~ 3 cubic feet of trunk space due to traction battery TCH trunk = 10 cuft); folding down rear seat does not increase storage capacity -- extremely small pass-through slot to allow carrying long objects.
PRIUS -- Pro's -- 50 - 60 mpg; storage/load carrying capacity (putting down rear seat); rear back-up camera; since it is a "mature" car line, many user-installable mods are available (EV mod kit, lock-picks, etc.)

Overall, the selection of PRIUS over TCH or TCH over PRIUS is subjective, otherwise, every manufacturer would make only one model/trim line. People purchase hybrids for various reasons. Some because they want to save the earth and resources, others because ot the gee-whiz and technology factor (me), still others strictly for the fuel savings/cost factor.


BTW, I purchased a 2007 TCH with everything on it. Gee-whiz, technology, mpg, comfort factors. Save the earth and ecology factors did not impact my decision. (I know, in a Prius forum, some may thing that is herecy -- oh, well ).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Feb 23 2007, 01:35 PM) [snapback]395307[/snapback]</div>

I would buy a Camry Hybrid long before I'd buy a Prius for myself as a daily driver for all these reasons on top of the fact that is more comfortable, more refined, more features (power and heated seats, auto headlamps, dual zone climate etc).

What I would love is a Lexus ES hybrid, but I dont think they'll be coming out with one anytime soon. The GS450h is so expensive I probably would just buy an LS460 instead for $5k more.

 

one of the "wigs" at work has one, so grabbed his fob and took it for a drive. Love the power seats and absolutly hate the gated shifter. The door knob that designed that should be taken out behind the office and whipped with a willow cane. It has nice power and is really smooth riding, a very luxurious feel and look to the interior layout and fitting. Main detraction in my estimation is the trunk. For a 5 passanger vehicle it's really small. That is the first thing the taxi driver said, too small of a trunk for taxi service. Yellow Cab has 64 Prius in the fleet and 2 HyCams for a reason, too small of a trunk. As Jon said it's a good value in Canada compared to the Prius which is greatly over priced up here.

 

They did the same thing with the Lexus ES350 which is a huge shame. My 03 ES seems like a much more expensive car than it is, and the new ES350 is exactly the opposite. As a matter of fact, had they done the new ES350 right I'd have traded for one. I'd rather drive mine with 80k miles than a new one.

 

my wife traded her Prius in for a Camry Hybrid, and looks and power were not reasons. Her reasons were:
1. heated seats (which could of course be added to a Prius for $500-600)
2. moonroof
3. quieter, more luxurious.

I still have my Prius, and although I do think the Camry is a much nicer car and a better value for the price, I would continue to choose the Prius over it for these reasons:

1. 9 mpg better
2. better cargo carrying capacity (by far)
3. Prii are unique; a Camry's a Camry.

minor peeves for me about the camry:

1. you have to put lever in Park before shutting it down.
2. don't like the consumption readings by minute instead of 5-min. intervals.
3. no backup camera in Camry (although I must admit that doesn't really bother me)

 

I love the feature set of the ES350, it has a lot of great content for the money (high res nav, bluetooth, SKS, rearview camera, panoramic sunroof, power tilt/telescoping wheel, 270hp, LED interior illumination, heated & cooled seats, dynamic cruise control, pre-collision system), I also love the way it drives and looks from the outside. The only this is the decontenting of the quality of the interior materials. Thinner carpeting, cheaper and lighter plastics, less wood, cheaper leather thats no longer triple stitched. It would bug me every time I'd drive it.

So, now my options are to get into a GS for more money and deal with a little bit firmer ride and less passenger space, spring for an LS, or keep mine until the wheels far off.

Maybe we should buy every 10 years LOL

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jonathan Rohr @ Feb 23 2007, 07:17 AM) [snapback]395165[/snapback]</div>

I agree with the OP. I just bought a Prius and am delighted with it, but I would have strongly considered a small two-seater hybrid if Toyota made one. Of all the hybirds I looked at the Prius was clearly the best value for money. The Honda hybrids all seemed to be barebones and noisy.

I have no need for a large vehicle, so I never even considered a Camry hybrid. I have never owned a car larger than a Corolla, so the Prius seems roomy and downright luxurious to me.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jonathan Rohr @ Feb 23 2007, 10:17 AM) [snapback]395165[/snapback]</div>

Toyota already has a hybrid SUV, the Highlander Hybrid.

The most glaring ommission of available vehicle types, which you do not mention, is that Toyota has not released a hybrid minivan in the US, although they do have one availalble in Japan.

 

The Highlander is too expensive though, if they made a Hybrid Rav 4 we'd trade the Prius in a heartbeat. A loaded Highlander Hyrbid is $40k, my broker just bought one.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SW03ES @ Feb 25 2007, 05:59 PM) [snapback]396390[/snapback]</div>

I agree that he HiHy is too expensive, but at least they do have hybrid entry in the SUV market. If I were in the market for one, I might actually be looking at the Ford Escape Hybrid. I agree that a RAV 4 Hybrid, at a reasonable price, would be a real hit. But I still think it's far more important for Toyota to be the first to deliver an affordable hybrid in the minivan segment.

 

Thats true, you guys get hit big time on new car purchases.

The Ultra has semi-analine leather which is nice, roughly equivalent to whats in my 03. The new standard leather however is very low quality. Leather wrapped and felt lined handles have always been standard.