Formal apology to 2012 Camry styling

I just got back from driving the Camry Hybrid. I can't believe I bought into all the hype. While the car was good, but it certainly isn't much better than the Prius. Matter of fact, I would argue they come in pretty much the same in overall grade once you consider everything.

Here are the things I like

Like
#1 HSD. The new engine is awesome. It is WAY faster than the 3rd gen Prius, it is WAY quieter, but at the expense of about 10mpg in my brief test.
#2 Engine and road noise seem to be way down compare to the Prius
#3 More shoulder and head room front and rear.
#4 Great price for what you get

Dislikes
#1 Ride. The ride is better than a Prius sure, but it isn't great. I felt every pothole and bumps on the road.
#2 Trunk space is marginal for a giant car like this one, small pass thru instead of a complete fold down seat.
#3 Rear seat position. While you get more space and everything, but the rear seat actually sits lower than the Prius. I felt like I have to spread my legs in order for me to put my foot flat on the floor without my knee caps going higher than my nuts
#4 Driver seat position is even worse. The lack of adjustment on the front side of the seat bottom blows.
#5 The car is HUGE

With everything said, I would still recommend the car given the price (I can get it for $1500 off sticker). For me personally it is a a big no. On the other hand, the Highlander is way cheaper than the RX450h and the MDX that I was looking at, very tempting

 

Trunk space is larger with the conventional Camry and the rear seat does fold down, not just a pass thru.

 

if you think that trunk is bad, you should see the first gen. the new one is much larger.

 

my car is probably about 24 feet long.

you ever drive a big car? (camry doesn't count)
like a GM B chassis? ford Panther Chassis?

you learn your corners REAL fast, the size of the vehicle makes no difference after a week of driving.

 

I seem to recall the early 2000s ones had a bigger trunk. To be fair, this was a hybrid so it does suck to have to deal with the loss in space.

I have driven plenty big cars, it doesn't mean I like it. I just think the car is pointlessly big. It's bad when a 7 passenger seat is around the same length as the Camry.

 

I plan on taking an XLE Hybrid for a test drive while my Prius C is in for its 10K maintenance. Dealer has 5 in stock with the leather package. Heard good things about the seat comfort. The Prius C seats hurt my wife's bad back after about 30 minutes.

 

The Camry is a lot more comfortable than the Prius. That's why I traded my Prius and went for the XLE Hybrid. However, both my wife and I found the cloth seats more comfortable than the leather. The cloth seats seemed a little softer (to us).

 

I have never liked Camrys...they always felt...light, cheap, unsafe, underpowered, 'loose' and just not a solid, powerful car that I would drive for any length of time. I think it was an '02 or '03, I had it as a rental car.

 

There's a big difference with the '12...

 

i've never had a 'fancy' car, but the camry was the smoothest, quietest, fastest, most comfortable car i ever owned. first one was an 02 i believe. and the genI hycam is 25% better. i can't imagine how nice the genII is. we rented a fusion in cali for a week, didn't come close to the camry imo.

 

it might also just be me, I am used to being around heavy trucks, and much older cars...like, dash of steel cars...the newer cars I am around are like mercedes, and no one can come close to one of those.

 

^I know, right?

I had to work on an '05 lexus sc430, which is a blatant rip off of a Mercedes CLK...my coworker has a CLK, like an '03, has a 3.0 V6, not a race car, but still a great car.

anyway, the lexus felt cheap, and not...right, I guess...the suspension was too firm for a luxury car, but too soft for a driving car, the engine, despite the displacement, had almost no torque, and reliability can't be that great, it spun a cam bearing (still trying to figure this one out) at 47k, and grenaded the rest of the motor. (loltoyotaV8)

also, the Mercedes was SO much faster you put your foot down, and that sucker GOES, no questions asked. but when you weren't driving aggressively, it was smooth, controlled, comfortable, and still felt poised and ready to go...

tl;dr, they shouldn't have tried in the first place. Mercedes spends a million a day on R&D, there is a reason they are WAY better.

 

yes, you're definitely comparing apples and oranges. i used to drive the big '85 mercedes diesel sedan. 300sd i think? LOL, talk about a load!

 

^I would love a car like that...had I had more notice on my car search, I would have loved something like that.

also, in high school, my friends parents had one that had like 400k on it...I think they still own it

 

I test drove the car. I love the engine as it is much more powerful and smoother than the Prius, but everything else is boring and blah

 

could be a nike commercial