I spent nearly 3 weeks evaluating cars on paper and then driving them. Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Mazada, Nissan, PT, Buick, Chev etc, drove about 25 and after a while they all seemed OK. I think I would have been satisfied with any of them so I had a lot of data and personal opinion to sift thru. We finally decided on the 05 Camry LE 4 cyl. 5 spd auto, with power windows, mirrors, drivers seat and door locks, cruise control, and radio/cd with steering wheel control in Luna Mist. After a lot of Internet bargaining our out the door price was $18165, MSRP $21444. My reasons for the Camry are based on the following perceptions or facts:
- high reliability
- lowest depreciation
- lowest price
- good gas mileage
- satisfactory performance
- adequate cabin room
- best trunk space
- quiet and smooth
- good warranty
- excellent ratings by several consumer reporting agencies
- 100,000 mile factory warranty available if I want just before regular warranty expires. .After 6 weeks the car has 5300 miles on it, 3 long trips. Went from Tulsa to Four Corners and Grand Canyon. Went over many 7500 ft. passes and car performed acceptably. I had no problem staying with the flow of traffic and had to restrain myself and slow down many times. the 4 cyl. 5 spd auto is fine with me. With 3 adults in the car and a full trunk the car averaged about 33 mpg at 75 and 80 mph, AC performed great, very good AC considering
Things I don't like:
- spongy feel of brake pedal.
- outdoor thermometer reads about 4 degrees too high.
- shifter out of park is not real positive
- trunk could be bigger
- gasoline gauge division don't make any sense except 1/4, 1/2 and full and not real accurate.
- the radio has good sound but AM gets images from strong undesired stations.
- XM or Sirus was not available as an option on this model and jumping up to a higher price didn't make sense.
- I would have loved to have a trip computer that showed mpg etc but again not available unless I jumped to a higher priced mode.
- I didn't use the steering wheel tilt at all after setting it. It would have been much more useful had they included telescoping.
- The factory trunk mat looks like it was home made.
Prior to the Camry all my similar long trips have been in my 1983 Mercedes Benz 300SD or rented Buick Regals or Chev Malibus. I really like Regals and Malibus but depreciation and reliability is not as good as some rice boxes.