Consus on 2007 Camry Hybrid

There is a lot of dispute about whether hybrid systems offer financial advantages over standard combustion engines. The consensus seems to be if you want the technical gee-whiz aspect or must make an environmental statement then maybe hybrids are your thing.

Personally I think the new Camry is very ugly. For some people that is a major consideration and for others not.

The Corolla is much bigger than it used to be and has nearly the same amount of interior space as your current Camry. It gets terrific gas mileage and may indeed be a suitable replacement for your 1986 Camry.

Just don't expect the same level of reliability with new Toyotas as you have experienced with your Generation 2 Camry. Those vehicles were legendary and I don't think Toyota has kept up the standard in that regard.

I think the new Camry looks great and with gas going up dont worry, it wont loose much value if you decide to sell it. They have good hybrids the camry is just another one till their whole line up is hybrid.

badgolferman, the corolla is ugly, not the new camry.

I too am interested.

I would like to know how they run on mountain interstates and whether the 40 mpg is for real.

Chris

Putting estethical taste aside, how long do you think batteries will last in the hybrid ? How much will they cost to replace ? How much will this hybrid will worth in a couple of years with dead batteries ?

Toyota's latest study is that the Prius NiMH battery pack is good for about 160,000 miles. This is longer than the original expectations. Replacement is about $1,800 - $2,000.

Dick

Regardless of how many years will it take to drive these 160k miles? Interesting - this number is surprisingly high.

Do you have any details of this study ?

Your "normal" NiMH battery pack used in electronics (for example photo digital camera) last usually about 1000 recharge cycles...

Check out

for comments by owners of the Camry Hybrid. I replaced a V6, 2000 Toyota Solara with a Camry Hybrid about two months ago. I now have about 1800 miles on it, and I feel this is the best car that I've ever owned. The car is noticeably quicker than the Solara, and this can also be seen in the test reports. I average about 37 mpg, mostly because I have to cross a range of hills, to and from work. On flat ground, I've had runs up to 200 miles at 40-44 mpg, at 70 mph. The car is exceptionally quiet at highway speeds, more so than the Solara, which was the quietest car I'd ever owned till then. If you're worried about the hybrid components, the warranties are exceptional, especially in California, and some of the eastern states. In California, all components relating to the hybrid other than the battery are warranted for 15 years/150,000 miles. The hybrid battery is warranted for 10 years/150,000 miles.

If there's any drawback, it's the enormous leap in automotive technology (not limited to the hybrid), especially since you're coming from cars from the early nineties. I got a fully loaded car and coming from a car that was only six years old, it took me two weeks to puzzle out all of the electronic systems, such as Bluetooth, the gps, the voice command system, the stereo, and info displays.

Almost forgot to mention the $2600 federal income tax credit if you buy a hybrid by September 30th. Some states also have a hybrid credit on top of that, and sometimes allow you to drive in car pool lanes (Camrys don't qualify in California) without having passengers.

What I cant figure is why aa or aaa NiMh last realy a few hundred cycles, not a thousand as advertised but you are supposed to expect a cars Nimh to last 15 yrs. I wonder how does the warranty work. If being dead [batteries take no charge] makes the warranty 100% effective and for example say your NimH are 70% dead but worthless anyway, could they charge you on a prorate basis to actualy not loose money on an actualy wothless pack. In other words rip us off on the deal. I lost on a sears battery that would not start a car, but Sears said took a charge. I also wonder at what % the batteries are worthless. I see issues on the warranty and true life of the batteries where the consumer may get ripped off continualy in the future. So an idea is lease it.

If they find the battery is dead when the lease end and they ask you to pay ? :-)

I think a hybrid with 50% battery left will just run more and more on the gas engine... The average customer will probably not notice the change, since the change will happen gradually over a very long time.