2007 Toyota Camry XLE V6 from North America - Comments

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.

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.

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.

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.

Wow, this was an interesting read! Lemon-lawing the wife, that is hilarious!!

Hello.

I have a 2007 Camry XLE. I bought it July 2006. I ordered the car from the dealership with all the options I wanted. It came straight from the port in Houston, TX. When I picked the car up it had 9 miles on it. Starting this October of 2007, the check VSC System light has come on. I have taken it to the dealer twice already. The first time they replaced the computer, the second time it was a sensor. They seemed puzzled by this also. Well, it has started happening again. I am about to take it in for a third time. These visits have been with in a few days of one another. Anybody else have the same problem? If so, was there a true solution to the problem. Did your dealership really know what caused this?

Stephanie in Texas.

It just seems like you bought a Lemon, I have the gold colored 2007 Camry XLE, and it's been the best car I've had in years. Good gas mileage, a mean 270 HP engine, and very sleek looking. I've had no problems whatsoever.

I have a Toyota Camry 2007 XLE. We had it about two months before we noticed that the transmission was acting up. The car engine would surge, yet loose power at the same time. We took it in to the dealer and of course we were told, there's nothing wrong. I insisted they bring in a Toyota Rep (a mechanic that specializes (which many of the 2007 have). They replaced the transmission, and within a month of that, we were right back where we started. Also, we had a wheel bearing replacement at two months as well. Again, we had to insist they get to the bottom of the noise issue we were having, they insisted it was the low profile tires (which they installed prior to our purchase). You have to really push to get your issues resolved. Besides these things, we have really liked the car and it's features.

12:36 Well, you got one thing at least correct. Lexus, made by Toyota, is still in first place. The rest of it is pointless. If any of it were true, which it isn't, GM and the other domestics wouldn't be losing market share to Toyota and Honda every year. Anything can be manipulated on paper. The fact is that Toyota and Honda are growing because more people are buying them, GM is losing customers to them and doing worse every year. Nice try, but there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. While you may not understand the fact that Toyota quality is genuine, most car buyers do, which is why they've switching to Toyota from domestic brands for years now.

Added to the import/domestic ownership comments previously on transmissions, a/c units and sound systems...Over many years I have owned many various imports and domestics in our household and the a/c were definitely one of the weakest areas on all accounts in nearly every import model I have ever owned. They either failed or in the case of my wifes last new TL you cooked it was undersized (granted it was a black car, but never cooled off and I sweltered) the brakes were lousy and the Xenon lights although great on other cars where terrible on my Honda undersized bulbs. The transmissions also on late models (Honda) were also the weakest major mechanical components I have ever experienced ever... as far as sound systems I liked the Bose with the factory sub in my Acura the best of any new car I have owned and the Infinity in my wife's Intrepid when they first came out had an outstanding factory sound system. But she switched to imports until recently. I also owned new Nissan Z 2+2 models had great sound systems at the time, but awful a/c units as well. As far as sound systems it is so easy to just remove and upgrade the sound system add better speakers, IPOD etc. today. My son was not even content with the one in his Range Rover and redid it all front to back including removing the factory sub with better aftermarket units. I have new domestics and am still upgrading them and they are better than ever especially the more durable drivetrains.

To anyone owning a Camry I offer my sympathy. I just traded my 2004 Camry in on a 2008 Fusion last October. The Camry was the worst car I ever owned.

I would like to thank the reviewer and many of the folks who left comments for exposing the truth about Toyota's poor quality and reliability. I almost bought a Camry until I read this review. After reading all the Toyota horror stories I test drove and purchased a Chevy Malibu instead. The Malibu is light years ahead in terms of features, heritage, quality, and design. Thank you all again for steering me away from a potential disastrous decision!

To the person who traded his Camry for a Fusion:

Good for you, I had an 04 as well, total crap. Everything on the damn thing rattled. EVERYTHING! I sold mine, paid of my CC card debt and got a 99 Civc for now, which has been decent for the money I paid for it. I may go for a fusion next as well.

My friend's Camry rattled so bad you couldn't hear conversation inside the car. Very poor build quality. None of our domestics has ever had a rattle.

I'm the original poster. I still have the '07 Camry. The problem turned out to be an exhaust valve choking one of the cylinders. It cost almost $1,500.00, under warranty, to repair one valve. I told the salesman, "you sold me a piece of crap", in front of a whole host of potential buyers on one day because of the issue. It got resolved, and now I get 33mpgs (supposedly) on the highway, when I'm on long trips, with 93 octane. The car finally behaves properly, and I haven't had issues since.

However, when I got rid of my '04 Mustang V6, instead of the IS350 I was wanting, I bought a used Mercedes CLK500. I think that was the best car purchase I ever made. Do yourself a favor, and buy a used German car.