2007 Camry?

About two months after its introduction reports surfaced that the automatic transmission can skips gears. Not all of them do of course, but I consider a tranny skipping gears a major problem. I don't buy first year models for precisely things like this, and would wait to let the bugs work their way out. .

Denis snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote:

I just bought an 07 Camry le and have had no problems with it. No leaks, squeaks or transmission slippage. Now there is only 500 miles on the car so I can't give an account yet. It has the 4 cyl eng and great pick up. The only thing is that it's so smooth that you have to watch your speed on a highway, it will cruise at 80 mph so the cruise control is a must to keep it at the posted speed.

In my own opinion (based on 5,000 miles LE) Positives The way it looks. It's the latest body style. honda, nissan and hyundai have not changed the exterior for awhile. Aux-Input stereo system, great for mp3 players great legroom gas saver.... now that fuel prices are dropping. I wish I got the 6cyl well priced

Negatives power steering is not very soft dont drive with only your rear windows open and the wind noise is painful I think cruise control performance is lousy and have strange downshifts, can't pull down the rearseats from the inside.

Overall, its a goodbuy and no regrets.

I love my XLE and have had no problems at all with it. (Of course, I just brought it home Friday night!)

Ha! That sounds like evaluating a first date over the first course at a restaurant, or during the trailers preceding the movie. Let us know how you feel after six or eight months.........

I will get back to the group but I don't expect any major problems. It is under full warranty for 3 years.

Yeah, I know. As for evaluating the predecessor car (a '98 Camry LE): I loved the car and was very happy with it. Didn't actually get rid of it. It's now my son's car (college graduation present). And, at 159K Miles, it's just broken in!

Is it the case that you can't get the XLE without the fake woodgrain trim?

Thanks, R.

How about trial by mileage, rather than time? Bought my 4-cylinder SE a month and a half ago and just hit 4,000 miles......Had a job transfer and wouldn't have been able to afford my previous vehicle (V-10

4x4 Dodge). I debated the four over the V-6 and let "common sense" and the extra cost of the larger engine, and went with the four. "Consumer magazines" claimed that their tests showed a "real world" mileage difference of only 1 mpg between the two, but that just doesn't make sense to me (how can an additional 110 hp only account for 1 less mpg?). I didn't want to finance the extra amount either (I was already stepping up to this model as I had originally considered the Corolla for mileage only), so 4-cylinder it was. 80-85% of my mileage has been on the highway (none of the tanks purely highway, however) and I have gotten between 27 and 30 mpg with a relatively gentle toe on the gas pedal (72-73 in 70 mph zones on cruise). I had seriously hoped to be closer to the 33 mpg which the EPA and Toyota has listed on the upper end of their scale on the sticker and sales brochures.....Guess I have to stick to slower highways and drive no more than the posted limit...... I have a rattle/vibration in the dash above and to the left the steerng wheel, one possibly in the lower front passenger door (might be something in the map pocket--haven't checked yet, doesn't do it all the time) and have noticed the downshifting from 5th to 4th at highway speeds when the incline even gradually increases, but I figure that this is just the overdrive and it doesn't seem annoying, and I probably wouldn't have ever even noticed if it weren't for this site...... Someone has mentioned the cloth wearing out on the driver's side armrest--4,000 miles and mine still looks brand new. I love the body style and it gets lots of comments from passersby. I have noticed a somewhat annoying noise at the driver's window whenever it rains--the rain hitting the window "frame" is noticeable..... The car is quite comfortable, I haven't taken a trip longer than 3 hours in one uninterrupted trip yet, but will be in a month or so and am not concerned about getting cramped up--wish I could've had the leather, but the cloth looks good and this also saved a bunch. Even though I purchased this for mileage (and comfort, upgrading from the planned Corolla), the SE package with the 17" wheels and upgraded suspension package makes it handle like a dream (remember, my comparison is from a 4x4 truck, so you may want to take this with a grain of salt) and I can take my off-ramp from the freeway (which crosses back over the freeway) faster than I feel comfortable with.... Anyway, hopefully my ramblings have given you a good feeling about the car--I also like the grill and dash on the SE better than the ones on the other three models......I would definitely buy it again though I would like to know what the V-6 truly gets in mileage......

Stan

=============== They well may be locked from inside the trunk. Check the Owner's manual, unlock them and try again.

I purchased the 6 cyl and my percentage of freeway driving (no traffic) is running at 25mpg consistently. My very first tank of gas (from the dealer) yielded just above 30 mpg. But I never drove above

65mph and that was almost entirely freeway. I've been running on premium. The manual indicates that testing was done with premium gas. But on the freeway I have to admit I do exceed 65 so that may be the reason why my mileage dropped after that first tank. I just can't help thinking, though, that they put some kind of additive in the tank to impress me with that first tank. I've never come close to that 30 mpg mark since my first tank of gas.

My only complaint is the road and wind noise. I was after a car that was quiet. This one isn't. On a very smooth road at less than 50 mph, it is very quiet and smooth. On the freeway, I have to really crank up the volume on the radio to hear soft music. I'm constantly changing the volume between rock and light music. And forget AM. My last vehicle had a telescoping antenna and AM was fine. The Camry has the antenna built into the windshield and the AM reception is terrible. But the radio is fine. When I play CDs or my mp3 files, it sounds fine.

Wind noise is very pronounced. What makes it worse is that the source comes right next to my ear. I think it's caused by the small gap between the door and the body at the tail end of the door directly next to my left ear.

Smooth and quiet is what I was looking for. When I first test drove the car it was in another city where the roads were really terrible and I was turned off immediately and started looking at other cars. But then I gave it another try at another dealership and was impressed. But those roads were like silk and I only drove for a very short period on the freeway so I made the purchase. I learned a great lesson there.

By the way, the first dealer suggested I install DynaMat throughout the car to quiet it. So he wasn't even arguing the point regarding noise.

But to be fair, I was look> How about trial by mileage, rather than time? Bought my 4-cylinder

The Camry is, by far, the smoothest and quietest riding vehicle I have ever been in. That covers over 60 years driving or a passenger in a motor vehicle.

=================================== There shouldn't be any gap there. See if a body shop can make the adjustment for you. The secret was revealed to me once. I saw the guy simply open the door and push inward on the upper back corner hard enough to bend it in a little bit.

I have a motor home that I plan to take first to Florida from Michigan and then out to the west for the winter with a tow dolly behind. My

2004 Avalon is going to be towed on either a Master tow with surge brakes or a Demco Kar caddy. What do I do with the shift gears? Do I put it in park or do I leave it out of gear ? Anything else?

ROBERT F. THOMAS

I've had luck getting better mpg with synthetic oil in cars with 4 cylinder engines. A switch to synthetic is easy and not too expensive if you do your own oil changes. Otherwise, the least expensive way to try synthetic is to buy the oil yourself (Mobil 1 Extended Performance

5W-30 will last at least 10,000 miles) at a WalMart and provide it to your oil change place. Synthetic oil may get you that additional 10% mpg. You get to weigh the costs of synthetic oil vs conventional oil once you determine your mpg increase, if any, with synthetic.

YMMV

Daniel,

I read with great appreciati "...open the door and push inward on the upper back corner hard enough to bend it in a little bit."

The upper back corner of exactly where....somewhere on the door or on the body of the car itself? I'm ready to push...just would like to know exactly where!

Thanks,

Rob from Arizona

============================= This was a number of years ago with a full size Cadillac. I had it in the body shop because I was in a big rush and backed out of a parking space into a concrete pillar denting the fender. The owner of the body shop, made this alteration when I was picking up the car. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing. If I were doing this on a Camry, I would first take a narrow strip of newspaper and lay it along the top of the door then close it and see if there is looseness between the door frame and gasketing material. All he did was hold the middle of the door and pull hard enough on the top of the door to bend it inward slightly. Don't recall whether the window was open or closed. You might just ask an experienced body repair shop to look at this for you.