2007 Toyota Camry from North America - Comments

- Transmission "problem"

My 3 gripes with the car:

- Transmission "problem"

Some of you may not call it a problem, but it is definitely an inconvenience. Basically, there is a lag when trying to accelerate the car. From the moment you push the pedal to when the motor actually responds takes around 1 second or slightly more. It may not be a serious issue, but the other day I had to keep up with another car and it was frustrating experience; the car felt unresponsive. But hey, who knows, as another reviewer said, maybe it was done on purpose.

- Interior of the car

My previous car was a *Japanese* Camry (I emphasize the word Japanese because the American and Japanese made Toyotas are different). The inside of the Japanese Camry, although austere, was finely and precisely put together. On the other hand, in the American model, the inside components do not fit that well and actually leave gaps in some places. Some components just look plain cheap (take the spring mechanism in the middle of the cup holder). I maybe nitpicking, but I have come to expect something close to perfection seeing that I am accustomed to the Japanese model.

- Finally, the rear seats are not that big. I'm 6 ft, but when sitting upright my knees touch the front seat.

Aside from these 3 things (being the 1st one by far the most important) I believe the Camry is an excellent buy. You get a roomy car that takes any type of gasoline (screw you Passat) for $19k (base model), and it's a Toyota. Also, I like the new styling.

I bought my 2007 Toyota Camry May 2006 and 15 months down the road have had no problems with it yet. I do agree with the "lag" you've noticed. My parents have owned Toyotas as long as I can remember and having driven their camrys in the past I have not felt the same hesitation with the older cars. I wonder if it is some characteristic of the newer cars. I don't really like it, but it's an inconvenience to me and not a real performance issue. I notice it more when trying to accelerate from a stop. When I'm over 40 mph it seems accelerates pretty nicely.

Haha, I loved the comment you made when talking about gasoline ("screw you Passat"). Although I am a Passat admirer, that was hilarious.

I bought an '06 Camry when the new '07 models were just coming in. I made sure it had a "J" VIN (ie, assembled in Japan). It has more headroom in the rear seat than the newer model does. I got it with the 4-cylinder and manual 5-speed; no lag, engine is very drivable with that tranny IMO, gets 35MPG on highway, 30 around town (don't need a hybrid IMO). With the J VIN, the car was impeccable and still is (46,000mi now) ; just oil changes and tire rotations.