I am unhappy with quick availability of air conditioning on my 2012 Camry Hybrid, but the heat is less than half what I expect and not there as quick as it should be, compared to anything. On longer trips it is less a problem as the heat seems to stay in the car.
A long test drive on the right day would help determine your tolerance.
My 2010 Camry Hybrid did not have this issue. My other cars are not a problem for me.
Toyota Customer Experience brushed me off, saying it is operating as designed. Since they ran no tests, it is obvious they know something about the model.
Other than a very poor imitaion of a navigation system, the car is just great.
Good tip, thanks. My wife is the finicky one here. These are the kinds of things that never get mentioned in reviews. After the new car honeymoon, one tends to focus on these things. I will have to check this out before I decide. The V6 does a great job.
I put a .jpeg pic on my USB at the top directory level and tried to import it as the startup picture. The 2013 Hybried Nav system did not see it. USB input on the Nav works great but will not pull up (find) my .jpeg even though my lap top displays it fine from USB. Asked the experts at Toyota and they said - Call Toyota...
Here is my report on this car. As an Engineer, I rang this car out 10 ways from Sunday before releasing it to the Wife. I love this thing. The Software on this Gen is awesome. What is this now, the 6th generation for their Hybrid? Real Problems found - Zero. After going thru the 300 plus pages in the Nav manual alone, my head was spinning, but I got it now. The expanded voice vocabalary in the Nav is dead on. "Go Home" and the Nav takes off. News Flash - The wife still has no clue why she now starts the "System" instead of the "Car"... I'm a tech manual writer and I can't believe how well written the Hybrid manual and Nav manual are written. End Review
Take it to arbitration. Last time I did that, Toyota ended up taking the car back under the Lemon law. Know your rights.... Fix it or eat it, I think the word was to the dealer. It's been a while!
Yes, that is a plus - Since the engine is actually running less, I would have thought that to be true. But, I do question the practice of leaving this car out in the cold winter elements where you can get moisture build up in the oil that may get burned out but leave unwanted by-products like an acid, or so I have been told. This is an on-going argument which I take neither side. But it would mean to me that you still need to change the oil once a year if driven under 10,000 a year and parked out on the street. Note: I refuse to keep a high-tech automobile like this out on the street as most probably agree. If you plan to keep this vehicle, I'd keep it in the garage. If it's a lease, you know what that generally means. 50 bucks a whack to change the oil in these machines isn't exactly hay either. Does the term "Coming or Going" mean anything here?
Picked mine up last week after seeing the regional leasing offer of $189/mo on the LE with $3369 due (plus dealer fees, license, etc.) Local dealer was already aggressively pricing the Camry Hybrids, so thought I'd take a look and see what they could do on an XLE.
Car I settled on is an XLE with Convenience Package, full carpeted mat kit (including trunk mat), door edge guards, rear bumper protector, alarm and remote start. (Not an options list I'd personally order!) MSRP was just over $30K.
I was able to pick it up for $260/mo (plus local sales tax = $285) with a total of $1250 out of pocket.
We also test drove both the TCH and TAH when we were looking for a new car earlier this year. We really liked the TAH but decided it just wasn't worth $8,400 more than the TCH. The two technical reasons where we preferred the TCH were the TAH is quite a few inches longer and would barely fit in our garage and the touch controls. We found in driving the TAH you could very easily hit the wrong button just by trying to brace your hand while operating the controls (like on a bumpy road). We drove both for a few days and weren't sure we'd find a way to use the touch controls without accidentally hitting the wrong button.
We lease a 2011 TCH and love it. When our lease ends in 2014, we would seriously consider another TCH. We saw a 2013 at a car show and one thing about it really bugged us: the battery vents were located on the left and right sides of the rear seat. They looked ugly and felt uncomfortable when our arms rested against them. They also seemed perfectly positioned to receive dust, snow, leaves and whatever else might come in through the rear doors. Big turn off.
For anyone who owns or leases a 2014 TCH, or has spent some time in one: Where are the battery vents in the 2014 model, and how do you feel about their location?
Gotta say that after nine months and 10K miles with my 2016, I have no complaints. Heat is strong in winter, AC is strong in summer, stereo is good for a factory system, seats are very comfortable, and I am hitting the advertised MPG. I like the fact that it shuts down and runs in electric mode at low speeds, as my commute has started to include a lot more stop and go this year. The power is good, especially at high speeds for passing and going up hills. I had wondered when I got it if the battery would often be discharged right at the moment I needed to make that pass, and acceleration would suffer accordingly, but the system is excellent at keeping the battery well charged for when speedier driving is called for.
I would like to see them put in a bigger battery for the next time around - I can get about 2 miles of pure electric running at speeds up to about 40 mph, but I need more like 5 miles of electric range to get through the worst of the gridlock.
And my car has the Entune/NAV package, which is absolutely not worth the money. I never use the NAV, my phone is much more convenient, and Entune sucks. Crashes all the time, does all sorts of weird stuff, after six months of trying to make it work I just gave up and now just run the stereo off my phone through the Bluetooth connection.
Love the electric blue color of mine - I think that is just on SEs, as the LEs and XLEs get a darker midnight sort of blue.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Comments
I am unhappy with quick availability of air conditioning on my 2012 Camry Hybrid, but the heat is less than half what I expect and not there as quick as it should be, compared to anything. On longer trips it is less a problem as the heat seems to stay in the car.
A long test drive on the right day would help determine your tolerance.
My 2010 Camry Hybrid did not have this issue. My other cars are not a problem for me.
Toyota Customer Experience brushed me off, saying it is operating as designed. Since they ran no tests, it is obvious they know something about the model.
Other than a very poor imitaion of a navigation system, the car is just great.
The 2013 Hybried Nav system did not see it. USB input on the Nav works great but will not pull up (find) my .jpeg even though my lap top displays it fine from USB.
Asked the experts at Toyota and they said - Call Toyota...
To all you Techno Geeks, what's up with that?
Real Problems found - Zero. After going thru the 300 plus pages in the Nav manual alone, my head was spinning, but I got it now. The expanded voice vocabalary in the Nav is dead on. "Go Home" and the Nav takes off.
News Flash - The wife still has no clue why she now starts the "System" instead of the "Car"... I'm a tech manual writer and I can't believe how well written the Hybrid manual and Nav manual are written.
End Review
Fix it or eat it, I think the word was to the dealer. It's been a while!
But it would mean to me that you still need to change the oil once a year if driven under 10,000 a year and parked out on the street.
Note: I refuse to keep a high-tech automobile like this out on the street as most probably agree. If you plan to keep this vehicle, I'd keep it in the garage. If it's a lease, you know what that generally means.
50 bucks a whack to change the oil in these machines isn't exactly hay either.
Does the term "Coming or Going" mean anything here?
Car I settled on is an XLE with Convenience Package, full carpeted mat kit (including trunk mat), door edge guards, rear bumper protector, alarm and remote start. (Not an options list I'd personally order!) MSRP was just over $30K.
I was able to pick it up for $260/mo (plus local sales tax = $285) with a total of $1250 out of pocket.
36 month lease with 12,000 miles per year.
For anyone who owns or leases a 2014 TCH, or has spent some time in one: Where are the battery vents in the 2014 model, and how do you feel about their location?
I would like to see them put in a bigger battery for the next time around - I can get about 2 miles of pure electric running at speeds up to about 40 mph, but I need more like 5 miles of electric range to get through the worst of the gridlock.
And my car has the Entune/NAV package, which is absolutely not worth the money. I never use the NAV, my phone is much more convenient, and Entune sucks. Crashes all the time, does all sorts of weird stuff, after six months of trying to make it work I just gave up and now just run the stereo off my phone through the Bluetooth connection.
Love the electric blue color of mine - I think that is just on SEs, as the LEs and XLEs get a darker midnight sort of blue.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)