New Toyota Camry Hybrid Owners - Give Us Your Report
Are you the proud new owner of a Camry Hybrid? Congratulations on your purchase! This is the place to let us know how much you're enjoying your new vehicle.
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Without the NAV package, what does the center console display look like? Any comments on the "blue rings" around the speedometer that change intensity based on current fuel economy? That's a bit under-described in the reviews.
Finally, do you have side-mounted turn signals? I saw what looked like signal indicators on the eBrochure for the TCH. Haven't seen anything like it in other pictures, though.
Anyway, thanks for letting me pick your brain!
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/PhotoGallery/styleId=100699449?synpartner=e- dmunds&pageurl=www.edmunds.com/new/2007/toyota/camry/100699449/photogallery.html- &app=il&pg_type=Sedan&styleTitle=2007%2520Toyota%2520Camry
Enjoy.
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Sorry.
Bill
At this point, I'm really hoping some proud new owners will start posting impressions, pictures, etc. Thanks for the response nonetheless.
Which dealer in Portland?
Thx,
GB
1. What does the center screen look like without the nav system (is it a similar appearance to the high-end models or more like the LE? Do you have a photo?)
2. Any problems with the aftermarket leather? Does it affect the warranty or airbags?
Thanks for the info.
The aftermarket leather is being done by the dealer for $1500. They will put it in next week. They are currently checking to ensure that the pattern for the hybrid is the same as the pattern for the other Camrys. It shouldn't affect the warranty.
0-60: 7.8s
Tested mpg: 33 mpg
Liked the car.
This thing is cooool!
Titanium, loaded
Wow, Lori530, I figured I'd be the only one crazy enough to trade my FX45 for a TCH. Welcome to the forum.
I've just filled up again, 810 total miles and I'm a shade over 38mpg average
Where did you find your TCH?
Thanks for the warm welcome!
Refer to the Hybrid Highlander and Prius forums here at Edmunds and at the database at GreenHybrid. What you will find ( expect also on the TCH ) is that your combined FE value will be just at or just below the EPA Hwy value. 38 mpg sounds right but I wouldn't be surprised if it was 36.
If you happen to have the perfect situation where your driving conditions correspond closely to the EPA testing criteria then, as in some Prius owners who report over 60 mpg, you might be able to attain 40+ mpg in your driving.
36-38 mpg is where I'd expect 50+% of samples to fall. That's about 35% better than the combined values on a 4c or the new V6, which is extraordinary btw for a V6.
I live in WV. Many of the dealers got thier first one last week.
I've been trying for over 38 mpg - it's so hard
Lot's of tricks, but unless you're obsessive complulsive like me (and some others on this board) realize that the difference in 36 mpg and 38 mpg is not that much in terms of overall consumption. Last night I filled up with 6.9 gallons before I go on a trip this morning. My car was showing 40.5. I squeezed in another few squeezes to "top it off". When I got home and calculated my milage it was a shade under 38. With numbers this high and short milage fill ups, you'll not accurately calculate the actuals. A quart of gas makes a small difference and you never know if you got it to the same level as you started with. Over time it won't matter (I'm over 38mpg on 810 miles). But single tank fillups with small gallon usage won't necessairly be accurate.
The hard part: Don't do this in heavy traffic! If you truly want to see what this thing is capable of you'll be able to learn quickly. It won't be like driving your FX without a concern for milage. Put the nav screen (if you have it) on the consumption monitor where it shows the flow of energy on a schematic. If you don't have a nav then simply use the display screen that shows the battery, engine and wheel schematic. Also watch the consumption gage. You'll notive I imagine that you normally are applying your foot pressure to the gas pedal all the time, even when going down hill. What what the gage and screen does if you lift. You'll even soon see that there are times just before you crest a hill that if you lift your foot the car's momentum will still top the hill without slowing. Same for level cruising, you'll lift your foot slightly to see the consumption gaga go from 20 mpg rate to about 60 mpg, or even into the E mode. These are only little things but they add up. My biggest increase thoug is realizing I don't need to pass everything on the road just because I can. I have people passing me all the time. It's amazing how this has changed my driving habits and my attitude. Before I never gave much thought to trying to achieve 18 mpg instead of 16.5 (although that's a statistically HUGE) increase. But now that I'm driving this and know it can indeed get high mpg's it seems to drive me to achieve it (safely). I do get a little upset when I'm doing the speed limit and people start lining up behind me on a 2 lane. I laugh because I know that two weeks agon I would have been one of them. I can see that the driving habits of Americans is terrible. Yesterday I was doing the limit at 45 when an impatient F250, with a 6" lift kit and large tires passed me and sped off into the horizon. I'm sure he was not getting 10 mpg , but he does not care.
Enjoy the drive at 36MPG OR strive for 38+. Either way, you'll enjoy the drive.
All very very true. In the TCH you have all the power you might need but you also can drive in the best manner to achieve the best FE.
The most important variable in this system is -- the driver!!
Great discovery
TX
There is an auxillary connection for the ipod or other Mp3 players. Personally, I find that simply burning a CD with my folders and songs labeled works fine sine the system plays Mp3's anyway. It's really neat that you can put enough music on a CD to last a whole vacation and that it's easily accessible with the controls on the steering wheel.
I believe you'll need to provide your own connection cable if you don't already have one.
BTW, there is a nice place to store stuff in the front console (where there is a 12v plug and the accessorie Mp3 plug) and it even has an access opening you can pop out for running cables. Nice touch, especially considering my 350Z did not even have a 12V plug anywhere on the dash or console.
I'm going to hot wire my Escort and buy my wife a bluetooth cell phone (for hands free operation). This set up is as good as I've seen for being able to plug all your toys in.
Do the steering wheel controls for the music, etc light up at night?
Thanks,
Tony
Have my bluetooth phone now and MP3 player pre-loaded.
Several posts indicated that the NAV information was outdated.
Does anyone know what the 'latest' date is on the NAV information and how/when you could get any updates?
Tx
The JBL without Nav is made by Panasonic & JBL. The NAV system is made by Denso & JBL.
Both utilize a digital amplifier located underneath the front passenger seat. An AVC-LAN digital communication network is used to transmit the sound level data from the head unit to the amplifier. The sound quality shouldn't differ between the two since they are using the same amp.
DENSO Navigation System Earns Highest Customer Satisfaction Ranking in a Tie, Reports J.D. Power and Associates
Date: 1/15/2003
DETROIT, Mich. – The DENSO navigation system equipped on the Lexus GS Series earned a top ranking in overall customer satisfaction in the recently released J.D. Power and Associates 2002 Navigation System Usage and Satisfaction StudySM. DENSO tied for the top ranking with Alpine.
In addition, the DENSO navigation system in the Lexus ES 300 earned a third place ranking and fourth place was a tie between DENSO systems in the Lexus RX 300 and the Toyota Prius.
According to J.D. Power and Associates, the study focused on overall navigation system satisfaction based on performance and layout as well as system design and integration in particular vehicle models. More than 5,000 consumers, who recently purchased or leased vehicles with factory-installed navigation systems, participated in the study.
“DENSO, which introduced its first navigation system in Japan back in 1987, is one of the few companies in the world that develops global car navigation systems and supplies them to automakers in Japan, Europe and North America,” said Mitsuharu Kato, DENSO Corporation director and head of the company’s global telematics business. “We continue to see navigation systems as a vital area and expect our research to keep pace with the car’s increasing integration into information networks.”
Currently, DENSO supplies DVD-based navigation systems for 26 countries, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, China, Japan and 21 European countries. In 2000, DENSO’s in-vehicle navigation system was the first to offer complete digital U.S. map coverage. The company successfully merged two mapping databases to create a single new DVD database that covers all U.S. highways as well as urban and rural areas.
Other DENSO advanced car navigation functions include the industry’s fastest display scrolling and route searching and the industry’s most extensive Japanese and English vocabulary voice recognition function.
In the U.S., DENSO navigation systems currently are available on the following 2003 model year vehicles:
-Lexus – GS 430, LS 430, SC 430, LX 470, GS 300, RX 300, ES 300, IS 300, GX 470;
-Toyota – Camry, Land Cruiser, Prius, Abalone, Sienna;
-Jaguar – S-Type, X-Type, XJ, and
-Cadillac – DeVille and Seville.
Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is an ISO 9001-registered global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, consulting, training and customer satisfaction. The firm’s quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually.
DENSO Corporation, headquartered in Kariya, Aichi prefecture, Japan, is a leading global supplier of advanced technology, systems and components. Worldwide, the company employs 87,000 people in 31 countries, including Japan. Consolidated global sales for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2002 totaled US$18.1 billion* (2,401,098 yen or 20.7 billion Euros). DENSO common stock is traded on the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya stock exchanges. In North America, DENSO employs 14,000 people at 25 companies with consolidated sales for the above fiscal year of US$4.7 billion*.
*Figures for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2002 include the effect of an irregular 15-month reporting period, due to 45 overseas subsidiaries and overseas affiliates changing their year-ends to March 31 from December 31.
Sorry but no, not that I remember (I should know that for certain but I don't). I'm 99% sure they don't.
There are controls on the music for volume and to move up and down on tracks and folders (for Mp3 files). Also, with the nav system there are buttons for the phone system which I have not used yet. I believe the music controls would be simple to operate even without lights at night or I would have noticed.
I burned my first CD incorrectly and it did not. However I read the manual (and I'm no techie on this stuff) and I added .mp3 after the folder name, reburned it and it then showed the album and title. Pretty nice when you're scrolling through the folders. I have not hooked up an Mp3 device so I don't know exactly what the screen shows when you do that. I assume your controls interact with the device and you would operate it just like the CD's. Someone else will need to comment on that. If it doesn't then I'd simply burn everything to a CD which seems a lot easier than plugging in a device anyway to me.
I have noticed the shopping plaza we shop at that is 3 years old does not show on my nav system. Also the road to my house changed names after 9/11/03 to a standardized system to help emergency responders and the name on my Nav system is still the old one.
One cool thing though. (I'm new to the nav system maybe they all do this). I used it yesterday on a trip to Mom's just to hear the voice commands and other functions. When I approached an intersection on the interstate it actually showed a picture of the intersection type with blue lines showing the lanes I needed to be in. If this is like it is on all major intersections that will be great as I have lots of times found myself in the wrong lane in heavy traffic because I did not know if the exit was on the left or right.
Not the driver doesn't even have to glance down to change something.
I just went out to my garage and checked and YES the various controls on the Hybrid Steering wheel do light up. The symbols and letters on the buttons are translucent and a light green light emits when the lights are on. Sorry for my earlier posting.
Hope this clears up any misconceptions.
GregB
Once I get mine in a couple weeks I'll probably end up being scarce on these forums (unless something notable comes up) and post more over there, and become part of the data pool.
I don't see the TCH in the greenhybrid.com Real Hybrid Mileage Database. When I try to add a car to the database, the list of years only goes up to 2006 and the TCH isn't one of the models to choose.
I was told by the moderator when I joined that he is working on adding the TCH
Here's a link to our new Toyota Camry Hybrid: Real World Mileage Numbers discussion
First let me say my averages ran 1 to 2 mpg better than my pigheaded wife's. She's come around on this though and is willing to drive this like it was meant to be.
My overall average is about 37.5mpg due to two long trips from Central WV to Charleston. The hills are mostly rolling, but there are some steep hills on I79 (as well as some long coasting downgrandse). She drove mostly 75 and one for long streches was doing 80. She was not practicing taking her foot completely from the gas pedal on coasting situations. Even then she got on the two trips 36.5 to 37.
Last week she drove to Bresden Ohio from Central WV. Not really any steep areas, just rolling hills until you get to Ohio. I would estimate 30% hills and 70% relatively flat cruising at 70 mph. She got 39.91 mpg on that trip.
Driving locally I had been getting about 38.5mpg. I live near a small town and don't use this for commuting so I don't realize the advantages of adding a lot of city milage in the overall average.
I had noticed on several trips into town that I could stay in the mid 38 range. If the road wasn't crowded I wouldd experiment driving at 40 on the 2 miles of rural road. That didn't help as the engine would kick on an off. Last night, starting with a fairly new tank sitting at 38.5 mpg, I drove to my daughters school. That included driving through town and out to the lake where the hills are fairly steep. This time when I pulled out onto the main road I went ahead and gently sped up to 55 and let off the gas. I was able to get into town without the engine kicking on much. My milage started climbing. When I got home last night my average on the tank was 41.9
I believe if you're in a rolling hill area you're better accelerating and getting to road speed than you are driving at 40 and trying to get the car to run on battery. There's just too much mass to keep rolling without the engine at 40 but at 55 I was able to let off on mild slopes and the engine didn't kick on.
For normal family driving (to the store, church, and to town) I don't see a problem getting 38.5 all the time. For 75 mph driving to go to Charleston I'm more than happy getting 37 but I can't wait to see what it gets when I drive it using a different approach than my wife.
By the way, I can cruise completely around my town (25 mph speed zones) with nothing but battery power.
Caution, experiment when there is no traffic. I appoligize to the 80 year old blue hair lady riding my tail in her Buick last night.
Seriously. I have started driving the speed limit. That is a new experience for me. However I am amazed how many people get totaly ticked off following you when you are actually doing the limit.
Take the following description and story as another data point, a point of view of, say, 20 - 40% of the drivers out there.
I'll happily stay at a safe distance behind someone who is going 60 in that same 55 speed zone. I'd do 62 or so. If they are going exactly 55 I'm not thrilled, but I'll probably put up with it for a little bit.
I was coming home from work last Friday, my last stretch being a county road with a 55 speed limit. There was this guy in a Prius doing 40 - 45, and my gosh people were pi$$ed off!!!! About 8 cars behind him, all trying to pass at some point or another.
Doesn't the Prius driver realize that going so far below the speed limit may give him his 60 MPG average for that dang tank, but meanwhile a hundred other cars over his 500 miles traveled got pi$$ed off, floored their accelerators where they otherwise wouldn't have, and collectively wiped out all the Prius gas savings 5 times over?....all because he had to get his 60MPG average.
I'm averaging 29MPG right now in an '02 4cyl Benz that should only be getting 28 EPA in driving highway only, so I'm pretty sure I'll average 40MPG in the TCH. I go a few ticks over the limit in most cases. But I don't want to make people around me angry while trying to get 45MPG or whatever the car wasn't designed to do.
Just one man's opinion....
And a very good opinion, I might add...
Well, at least in my case, after 5+ years of driving my Insight, I'm no longer obsessed with squeezing mileage out of it (not that I ever was discourteous in the process). In fact, I rarely pay much attention to what I get per tank anymore. Interestingly, acquiring a TCH has renewed my curiosity as to how little gas I can use, but that's more an intellectual exercise, and after I know, I'll probably revert to just driving as the circumstances and mood dictate, safe in the knowledge that however I'm doing relative to the max potential of the TCH, I'm still beating the tar out of what I would be with a comparable gasser.
I have tried to increase my mpg by going 65 (yes 65, not 55, not 50) on the highway. I go in the far right-hand lane, and I get tailgated constantly, even by people who are about 1/4 mile from the exit they are about to use. Talk about nuts. Screw these people. I'm right. They are wrong. No, I do not believe someone like me should clog the left-most lane, or even one of the middle two lanes (4-lane hwy). But I do have a right to go 10 miles/hour OVER the limit, don't ya think?