2007 Toyota Camry LE V4, slow, boring, basic

Summary:

A boring yawn-mobile, the perfect fleet car

Faults:

Nothing yet for 3 months!

I have been on a long road trip, (San Antonio to Los Angeles) so the oil was changed a few times.

General Comments:

I got this car from work, I did not pick it. I do not like Toyotas because they are boring in styling. Anyways, I got this car, its the base LE. I always get my cars with at least a sunroof or leather, this one had nothing. The interior trim is cheap and bland. The front seats for example are much less comfortable than a Pontiac Grand Am (my old car) or Honda Accord (my current private car). You can see that the Camry front dash is a cheap copy of the Accord. The tail lights are not sealed correctly so moisture gets in them and they get foggy. Transmission has already been recalled. I don't really care about running costs or gas mileage since the company pays for everything, but dealer service was terrible. I have been to 4 Toyota dealers in the area and none of them were ever able to change my oil because they don't have express oil service! Even on appointment, it takes days and none of them could do it because they don't take the company car credit cards!

Once I needed to get a small tube of paint because of a dent, and NONE of the 3 nearest Toyota dealers HAD IT IN STOCK, YOU NEEDED TO ORDER! 1 dealer had the paint, but was sold out. The Toyo dealers have been of no help to me and I just go to Jiffy Lube where they accept the card and do a quality job.

Now, about the car. The acceleration is very lazy and the car handles like a huge gorilla.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 5th July, 2007

6th Jul 2007, 16:34

Must be the "V-4" slowing you down.

First, there is no such thing as a v-4.

Second, what kind of acceleration are you expecting from a 4 cylinder family car? They're built for economy. It's not a racecar.

And third, Toyota's interiors are not cheaply made by any standard at all.

2007 Toyota Camry XLE V6 3.5 V6

Summary:

The Camry I own - piece of garbage

Faults:

Bought the car approximately 10 days ago on June 25th for my wife.

Things that have gone wrong:

Day 4 of ownership - small slippage on a wet road after rainfall. I didn't feel the slip, but the VSC came on and applied break pressure to apparently stabilize the car. Once traction was regained, the VSC refused to turn off and the car starts to shake violently, so we drove another mile to see if it would disengage the brakes; never did. Had to pull over and restart the car... problem solved.

Day 6 of ownership - heading out of town and all of a sudden on the highway, the VSC, check engine light, and some unknown hazard light come on. I restart the car, and nothing happens so I take it to the dealership to find out what the problem is. Turns out it's an engine misfire of ALL 6 cylinders. The dealer seems puzzled and the codes are wiped and everything is fine.

Day 8 of ownership - My wife starts the car to head to work and once again, all of the dash lights come on. We take it to the dealer, and once again, cylinder misfire.

The car is now sitting in the dealer's shop waiting to be repaired. Apparently the dealer can't figure it out and the manufacturer wants a screen shot of the code to see if they can figure it out, so our car is currently being ran through a gauntlet of tests.

General Comments:

My initial impression with the car was a good one. I've always liked the Camry design albeit, a little boring; and my wife enjoyed all of the options the XLE trim came with. It literally has everything you can get; the navigation, bluetooth, hands free entry into the vehicle...etc.

The ride is extremely smooth; you hardly feel any road bumps. And the power delivery is like silk. I'm not partial to the quick, high revs of the engine however. It will easily hit 5k rpm when you give the accelerator a decent push.

The leather is very comfortable and having a hands free entry and push button start really simplifies things. The navigation is a tricky little feature, but is very accurate thankfully and is touchscreen too. The bluetooth is nice, but it seems like you have to strain to hear the person you're talking too and in return, scream into the system when in actuality, they can hear you perfectly.

The whole layout of the interior is very convenient with everything within an arms reach. Unfortunately there are some features that the car is lacking.

There is only one auto up/down window and that's the drivers side. The XLE only comes with 16 inch wheels and the dealer refuses install 17s on the car because of the tire pressure monitor system; it can be done they just don't want to have to reflash the computer. The XLE doesn't come with a rear spoiler, although I saw 2 XLE v4s in the back lot that had them, so it is a possibility. There is no hand brake; only the normal foot e-brake.

Overall, I honestly think the Camry is a great car... just not this one. We've owned plenty of new cars, and never had any "new car" issues. My wife doesn't even want to drive the car anymore, and I don't blame her. This 'piece' is 2 dealer visits away from becoming a lemon.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 4th July, 2007

6th Jul 2007, 01:56

You can't beat that Crown Victoria/Grand Marquis!

6th Jul 2007, 06:52

You didn't notice some of this stuff on the test drive? You can get a after market spoiler. We did it way back in '97.

6th Jul 2007, 14:50

I'm the original poster. The car we test drove was not the one we bought because they didn't have the color we were looking for. The test car was Beige colored, and the one we wanted was Charcoal colored. I performed a typical customer road test with the car, and it didn't have any issues whatsoever, so naturally I assumed my car would be on par.

The car we wanted was 150 miles away, so between there and here, it could have been dogged on the way to the dealership. No real way of knowing. All I know is the car has issues, only about 2 weeks into ownership. The dealer called today, and "can't duplicate the problem", which was expected. It wouldn't have been such a big deal had I not put $3k down on the car.

Thankfully, the person that sold me the car is making every effort to fix the problem, and is definitely abiding by the whole "bumper to bumper; roof to road" warranty. The only real aggravation lately is having to hear my wife complain everyday about how much she hates her new car.

Maybe I can lemon-law her too.