Toyota Camry Hybrid

[DawnM]

Anyone have one?

We are considering one.

 

[wiigirl]

My sister has one, she loves it.

 

[Ariel484]

Not the Camry, but we just bought a Prius this weekend.

We researched the car by going to the library and studying the current issue of Consumer Reports as it's exclusively about cars (I seem to remember the Camry Hybrid getting good reviews), so you may want to check out your local library.

One thing that really helped with research/negotiating was to order a full car report from Consumer Reports. It costs $14 and has a summary of what's available on the trims, as well as what a "good" and "great" price is for the car.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/12/the-consumer-reports-new-car-price-report/index.htm

It was a great tool for us to have and we ended up getting what we thought was an excellent deal. We also had a Kelly Blue Book report printed out with information on the car we were trading in and that helped us get an awesome trade-in price.

Good luck!

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Caranddriver.com

Edmunds.com

Cars.com

Kellybluebook.com

Truecar.com

I used these tools when researching the Toyota we bought a couple weeks ago. I read the expert reviews and the consumer reviews.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[DawnM]

We have researched the car. DH is a car guy and researches quite a bit.

We have no trade in.

Honestly, I am really thinking i like the look of the Honda Accord hybrid better but it is about $5K more. Dh doesn't want to spend that extra.

 

[clutter]

I'm a Honda/Toyota driver. I've had Accords, Camrys, Civics and Oddyseys for many years. Nine years ago I switched to a Prius (got a commuting benefit for a hybrid). They were great cars, and I really loved them. Last summer, I switched to the hybrid Camry. Loaded. I love this car. (For a car. I do prefer a mini-van or our used Rav4 for visibility while driving.) It feels so luxurious. (perspective, people, perspective!) It is a very smooth ride and has every bell and whistle I need. I've been getting around 38 mpg this winter, got more like 41 in the summer, due to the winter/summer gas. Which I expected, as I noticed about a 4-6 mpg difference in the Pruis when we switched to winter gas.

I haven't owned a Honda in a while, but I did test drive a CRV when I bought the Rav4, and a Civic when I bought the Camry. (As a point of reference, Honda did not have a hybrid Accord this past summer.) Both felt a bit 'cheap' in the interior, imho. (my Camry has leather seats, but the bottom of the cushion is suede. It's great because you don't slide - or stick in heat - to the seats like we did on the Civic test drive.) But, I felt that way about the Toyota van when I bought the Honda. If your husband really wants the hybrid, Toyota really leads the pack.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Consumer Reports (April 2014), rates the Toyota Prius the top "Green Car." I think it's ugly. Their best overall rated car is the Tesla Model S. At $89,650, might as well buy one for you and your spouse, 84 MPG!

 

[nadajoy]

I have an 07 Toyota Camry hybrid and I love it!! It is a smooth drive and so quiet! The first few months we had it we thought it stalled out at red lights because the car was so quiet we thought it was off!! Gas mileage is awesome in town and on the highway! I drive from California to Virginia and on the long stretches of highway I was getting over 40mpg!! We have put almost 120,000 miles on it and with keeping up regular service appointments it is still driving great! We will drive this car until it dies on us!! Highly recommend this car!!

 

[DawnM]

We have a friend who bought a Tesla this past summer.

It is not in our budget, but it looks fun!

The Prius is out. We test drove it. It isn't comfortable.

I think at this point we are only looking at the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord, both in the hybrid models.

After I posted here I talked to DH more. He doesn't like the Civics. He would love an Avalon, but it is out of our budget. He doesn't want a Ford and the Chevy only seats 4, we need it to seat 5 as we are a family of 5 and there may be times we all need to get in.

Dawn

Consumer Reports (April 2014), rates the Toyota Prius the top "Green Car." I think it's ugly. Their best overall rated car is the Tesla Model S. At $89,650, might as well buy one for you and your spouse, 84 MPG!

 

[DawnM]

Looks like we are getting the Camry Hybrid. We have gotten a good price.

We also looked at the Honda Accord Hybrid but the cost was much higher and we were told they only get one in every 4-6 weeks and they can't even order one or tell us when the ideal one we might want might come in.

Dawn

 

[Egdisney]

Not the Camry, but we just bought a Prius this weekend. We researched the car by going to the library and studying the current issue of Consumer Reports as it's exclusively about cars (I seem to remember the Camry Hybrid getting good reviews), so you may want to check out your local library. One thing that really helped with research/negotiating was to order a full car report from Consumer Reports. It costs $14 and has a summary of what's available on the trims, as well as what a "good" and "great" price is for the car. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/12/the-consumer-reports-new-car-price-report/index.htm It was a great tool for us to have and we ended up getting what we thought was an excellent deal. We also had a Kelly Blue Book report printed out with information on the car we were trading in and that helped us get an awesome trade-in price. Good luck!

Everyone says to do this. I did. I bought one for the 2014 Town and Country and their great price was more than the dealer was asking. I was not impressed. I must have gotten the deal of the century as I got it for 2000 below the price Consumer Reports said to pay.

 

[DawnM]

Well, you can find most of the info these days for free if you search in the right places.

We are paying $5,000 under MSRP and went to 3 dealerships. The first two gave us about $2K off off, but the 3rd dealership is giving us an additional $3K off.



Dawn

Everyone says to do this. I did. I bought one for the 2014 Town and Country and their great price was more than the dealer was asking. I was not impressed. I must have gotten the deal of the century as I got it for 2000 below the price Consumer Reports said to pay.

 

[newdeal]

I had one. If it snows where you live do not buy one. They have vehicle dynamic management that basically cuts all power to the wheels when they start to slip in snow. This is incredibly dangerous as its a great way to leave you in the middle of the road to get smoked by oncoming traffic. Seeing as I live in Canada I had it one winter and then sold it. They also make is difficult to turn it off! There is no real benefit to the hybrid camry. Trunk is smaller, pass through into the backseat from the trunk is smaller, car is heavier and is quite sluggish, fuel consumption is similar to a 4 cylinder car in the real world, performance is also similar to a 4 cylinder car because the of the weight increase from the hybrid system. Just my opinion as a past owner. I liked the camry, but I would buy a subaru sedan with a 4 cylinder over a camry hybrid any day, especially if you live in an area where you get snow. Yes I did have snow tires on the Camry

 

[Theaberdeenkid]

I may be wrong bit I seem to remember that the fuel savings with the hybrids was if you do a lot of city miles, if you do highway miles you won't see any savings.

 

[sherry7]

I may be wrong bit I seem to remember that the fuel savings with the hybrids was if you do a lot of city miles, if you do highway miles you won't see any savings.

My 95 mile a day commute is about 85% highway. I average 49 MPG in my Prius overall. When I drive solely in the city (stop and go), I get about 52-54 MPG.

OP, I didn't have a chance to test drive a Camry hybrid when I bought my Prius last summer. But, have you looked at the newer Prius V's? It's quite a bit larger than a normal Prius.

 

[ceecee]

DH has had his Hybrid Camry for 5 years and loves it. We have not done anything except maintenance on it. He gets close to 40 mi and drives mostly highway miles.

 

[idofabric]

We are on our second Camry Hybrid, the other was totalled in an accident that was at a stop light...DH was stopped for a red light, someone hit him going only about 40 mph. He was fine....
I have an 06 Prius with 130296 miles, 20+ trips to WDW. Best mileage down was over 50mpg, doing 85 on the interstate behind a truck from mid SC to Hwy 4. And we were going slower then most of the traffic. I LOVE my prius!

Our DIL and DS have a Camry Hybrid, 07 they love...DB and DSIL have the same one, color and all...DILs mom has a new one....

We had a 1991 Ford Explorer we bought sight unseen while in the military over in Japan, one of the first 1000 made. Did several trip cross country, and drove it till DH was stopped on the freeway and rear ended. He's got to quit stopping at lights and for traffic. I can get the same volume of stuff in my Prius. Not length wise for lumber, but volume of luggage, grocery stuff, and people its the same or better. If I had the money I would get a new Prius V, love the second row seats that lean back, the trunk space, and am lusting bad for one. Maybe when the kids leave, again, and I have 330296 miles on my 06 Prius....

 

[Sammybeau's Mom]

We have an '07 Camry and it is just 100 miles short of 190,000 miles and still going great. We bought aother one a few months ago. We really like our cars.

 

[jgreco]

We have two Prius' and had the Lexus CT200h Hybrid. We have found the he fuel economy is mostly realized on "in town" driving. Highway miles are comparable to any other fuel efficient traditional car. All of our driving is in town so it does not matter. If you are doing mostly highway miles, the additional price for the hybrid may not be worth the extra price if you are purchasing the hybrid based on gas savings alone.

 

[Gracie09]

We just traded out chevy traverse in for a Prius v. I have driven large SUVs for a long time so I'm concerned about driving a regular car, but between our high payment on the traverse and the gas savings we are looking at saving almost $500 a month.