25th Feb 2009, 23:45

My parents have an '09. It's OK for 20,000 I guess.

It has good room in the front and rear seats.

The radio looks cheap with its dot-matrix LCD screen.

The seats are OK with good back support, but I personally like more plush seats for trips and such.

The CD sound system is OK at best. I test car and home audio equipment for an electronics repair company, and the radio in this car doesn't impress me at all. Most GM cars I have owned or been in have good speakers, and many have tweeters up high for good clear highs.

At any rate - the Camry is an OK car with a noisy 4 cyl motor, OK radio, and less than cool looks. I would expect the car to last well though - despite its old person looks.

26th Mar 2009, 21:02

I absolutely love my Camry. It is the best car on the market today. All you have to do is look at the sales charts for proof.

27th Mar 2009, 14:03

Sales don't mean reliability. The latest J.D. Powers and Associates long range reliability studies rank a GM car and a Ford car tied for 1st place. Toyota is 4th or 5th. Another Ford (Mercury) is also ranked higher or about the same. The Ford Fusion is rated 2 full levels HIGHER than Camry in predicted reliability. I just showed a good friend the data and let him drive my Fusion. He immediately decided to trade his Camry in on a beautiful white 2009 Fusion SEL V-6. He said after driving my Fusion that there was no comparison. It is smoother, quieter and handles much better.

29th Mar 2009, 17:18

Buick and Jaguar tied for the top two spots. Toyota was #3, Lexus #4. Mercury was #5.

Among these lines, Toyota is a standout because they have a broad range of styles, types, and sizes of vehicles. Buick, Jaguar, and Mercury are much more limited. Ford (#13) was also impressive in that it ranks pretty close to Toyota when all of its brands are averaged. Ford is Toyota's nearest competitor in this study because it is so close to them in terms of reliability and model lineup.

30th Mar 2009, 15:49

"Toyota was #3, Lexus #4."

Got that backwards. Oops.

Also the average of all manufacturer models has Fords having an average of 1.41 problems (parts replaced) per vehicle over three years. Toyota has 1.28. A .13 difference is definitely approaching meaningless.

1st Apr 2009, 11:46

It depends on WHAT parts are replaced. A Ford might require 1 light bulb replaced, while Toyota might require 1 ENGINE replaced. I'd say there is a big difference there.

1st Apr 2009, 17:34

"A Ford might require 1 light bulb replaced, while Toyota might require 1 ENGINE replaced."

I highly doubt that JDPower treats an entire engine made up of hundreds of individual parts to be one part.

CR standardizes for severity of failure... engines and transmissions being most heavily weighted. Ford and Toyota BOTH do well in their reliability surveys.

When you add in Scion, Toyota's niche brand, Toyota fares worse than Ford at 1.59 parts replaced. Both are very fine companies. Toyota has been more innovative in hybrid powertrain work. Ford has shown more improvement in overall vehicle quality.

2nd Apr 2009, 10:58

As of 2010, the Ford Fusion Hybrid will be, by all sources reviewing it thus far, the best hybrid in existence. It will be smoother, get better mileage than Camry, and offer a more reliable drive system than Camry. It will also be competitively priced. As the owner of a 2006 Fusion I can attest to the fact that even the non-hybrid version is a better driving and better handling car than either Camry or Accord.

2nd Apr 2009, 14:57

"As of 2010, the Ford Fusion Hybrid will be, by all sources reviewing it thus far, the best hybrid in existence."

That is true of midsizers... in 2010. This has not been the case up until now. The new Prius is likely to be a strong competitor in the next size class down. Furthermore, if I recall correctly, Ford purchased hybrid technology from Toyota. Their first application was the Escape hybrid. Toyota has been much more innovative and aggressive in the development of hybrid technology than Ford or GM. Both companies have said as much and have further suggested that they are stuck playing catch-up. The Fusion looks to be a class-leader and is evidence that Ford is a real player in the high mileage game. Kudos to Ford.

10th Apr 2009, 08:55

To the original reviewer: I don't know what the knock sounds like or if it has been diagnosed yet, but many of the newer vehicles I own and have owned have had an almost diesel sound at cold (20 below zero to 20 above) start-up. My understanding is that this is due to high compression and not due to any engine problem. It usually smooths out after a few miles. One of the vehicles that did this we sold with over 240,000 miles on it. So it definitely was nothing to be concerned about with that one. Hope everything works out for you.

10th Apr 2009, 12:31

"I don't know what the knock sounds like or if it has been diagnosed yet,"

Toyota has had a very big problem in recent years with uneven combustion chamber temperatures (HUGE variations), oil sludging and premature engine failure. No engine should knock unless there is a problem. My Fords don't knock and my GM's don't knock.

10th Apr 2009, 22:58

The Camry and Accord are better cars than anything Ford has ever produced. Time tested and proven for decades. Unlike any Ford car. You're only kidding yourself if you believe otherwise.

11th Apr 2009, 23:16

"Furthermore, if I recall correctly, Ford purchased hybrid technology from Toyota."

I have read it was a cross licensing agreement. Doing similar work, both companies had ended up with patents that overlapped. I suppose that if the patent office does its job perfectly there would be no conflicting patents and overlaps, but in reality, there often are overlaps. Anyway, Ford and Toyota agreed not to sue each other over pointless issues and just get on with the business of selling cars.

14th Apr 2009, 19:31

This is opinion. Please state FACTS to support such baseless claims. All automotive sources currently rate Toyota and Ford dead even in build quality and reliability. Consumer Reports rates the EXACT SAME PERCENTAGE (75%) of Fords as "recommended" as they do Toyotas. If you have some real, substantiated facts, we might listen. Otherwise don't waste our time reading such comments.

15th Apr 2009, 20:41

"No engine should knock unless there is a problem. My Fords don't knock and my GM's don't knock."

None of my lower compression engines knock either. Also this only affects my vehicles when it's extremely cold outside (Minnesota winter). Only the ones that are higher compression (V6 and I4 -- especially the 4) do so (or at least sound rougher at idle in extreme cold -- something that could be described as a "knock"). Again, if this were a problem, it would have affected the 240,000 miler. I'm just trying to help this person rather than just expressing assumptions based upon my personal biases against Toyota. Hopefully this is nothing more serious than my experience was. Surely you can at least be THAT generous even if you own stock in FoMoCo and GM.