Motor Trend Car of the year: the Camry
Last Updated:
The Camry. Really?
Don’t get me wrong. I like the car. I drove one a few months ago and was pretty impressed.
It is great a what it is supposed to be.
But to me “Car of the year” means something more special. Something that brings something new to the plate.
The Camry is just a natural evolution of the previous model.
It is better than the old one, and not as good as the next one.
It does offer a Hybrid. A first for a midsize car. It is enough?
What do you think?
Vince, hasn’t there been a Honda accord hybrid for some time now? so technically the Camry-hybrid isn’t the first midisze hybrid.
Vanilla ice cream is voted desert of the year? WTF?
Don’t forget, the 1997 Motor Trend car of the year was the Chevy Malibu!
nope, Honda Accord was the first Midsize sedan hybrid.
Happy Thanksgiving Vince!
wasn’t the accord the first midsized car with a hybrid? i admit it was rather a half-hearted effort, but it deserves credit nontheless. i thought motor trend made an excellent choice last year with the civic, it really does offer something unique in the class, but the camry? i can’t recall any toyota vehicle (except for maybe the yaris or FJ cruiser) sold in this country that offered something ground breaking. if i was on the voting ballot, my vote would have gone for the honda fit this year because it is ingeniously versatile and no other small car can even compare to it for the price. a hyundai may beat it on that front, but the fit is more fun to drive, more versatile, and just a better car. my second choice for c.o.y. would be the lexus LS460 because like the first-generation model, it has a lot of features for its segment but is still tens of thousands of dollars cheaper than its competition (notably the germans). name one other car (in this country) that can park itself, has an 8-speed transmission, and has the best quality of any car (e.g.-a hand-polished dashboard) for under 75 large.
one of the things i read in why they picked the camry is because you have to take into account the mass appeal of the car not because of the cars top speed or ability on the slalom course.
The question is, did the Honda Civic deserve to be COTY for 2006, and does the Mercedes GL deserve to be SUV of the year?
The Civic was not any more of a significant step forward than the new Camry is.
So therefore, the Camry deserves it as much as these other models. Whether Motor Trend is using sound logic, or what exactly it means by “COTY” is another story.
You’re all right about the Accord Hybrid.
I forgot about it (like moxt buyers)
They use the hybrid to add power to the car while Toyota uses it to boost the mileage.
Which is what people want in an affordable hybrid.
This just in….Toyota BUYS another award! It’s a shame with all the real good cars out there that this lump wins.
We have one at home. It’s a great car. Good for the money. A lot of new technological features you didn’t even expect in a car in 2007, especially a non-luxury car. Boring to drive, though (of course).
“Happy Thanksgiving Vince!”
Thanks!!!
To you to!
i didn’t expect this.
I like the car and I’d buy it if it had been available when I bought my Camry Solara,
Vince, you’re right – COTY award should go to a revolutionary car.
The downside is, there hasn’t been any major innovation in this industry since a while …
” I bought my Camry Solara, “
How do you like the Solara???
I drove a convertible a few months ago, for just a few minutes, and I thought it was a great car.
“Boring to drive, though”
“boring” is in the eye of the beholder, sort of.
I thing being quiet and smooth is a kind of personality.
I drove a Lexus RX for a while (I still have to write a review) and it can be considered boring. But to me, being so pampering is a kind of personality on its own.
And quite a few people like that.
On the opposite end, you have cars like the Mini Cooper ( another great car) which are pretty stiff and noisy. And the last time I drove one for almost a half hour I was actually tired and happy to get out.
(A boring drive in the city and FWY, not cool trwisty mountain roads).
To me boring is more like an older Corolla, or a 7 year old Accord. These cars aren’t even that quiet or smooth to drive.
Vince, I didn’t know by your picture that you were a white haired senior. Do you really drive a toyota??????
town hall at edmunds.com talks in length about the ’07 Camry tranny problems that TOYOTA can’t fix! Sounds like another payoff/coverup!
Where did I say that I drive a Toyota??
I drove a Solara for a test a few months ago.
Tha’t the last one I drove.
But I wouldn’t mind…
The Camry transmission problem affects about 2% of The V6 cars that were produced in the first few months.
From what I’ve heard, they did take care of it.
Every company has problems at one time or another. If you are selling almost half a million Camrys a year, well, some of them will have problems.
No model is 100% problem free.
But if you still read actual researches done on thousands of consumers (not a few unhappy ones who post on forums) you will see that the Camry is still one of the most reliable cars out there.
it seems that some people here have a personal problem with Toyota.
You should try to contact them directly instead of keeping posting the same angry rant over and over.
It won’t solve your problem.
I don’t have a personal connection to the Toyoda family and there is nothing I can do for you….
Camry Hybrid is pretty darn advanced – more advanced hybrid system than Prius, that costs less than Camry V6, while getting average 38 MPG (reported by many) and 0-60 in 7 secs.
Accord Hybrid is not in the same league – it is mild hybrid, which has 11hp electric motor.
The Camry hybrid costs over $26 000 to start.
An LE V6 is $24 000. And you do get them for cheaper ($22 757 at carsdirect)
The best deal you get on a hybrid is full MSRP.
That’s a $3000 difference.
Just look at what Motor Trend has picked in the past, then you think about what it means to be “Car of the year” according to MT.
Vince,
He probably compared the Hybrid to the Camry XLE V6 since they have similar standard features. Also, when you mentioned that Honda uses hybrid technology for power and Toyota for mileage, you are wrong on both points. Both Honda and Toyota get more power and mileage from their hybrid engines.
Toyota Scores Another Win
Congratulations to Toyota for receiving the Motor Trend COTY award for their ’07 Camry.
Should this car have been the COTY? I don’t think so. The new Lexus LS460 should have been the obvious choice for several reasons among them the technological advances over the existing model it replaces in addition to the design enhancements.
Regardless, Toyota proves once again why it is the 500 pound gorilla in the automotive industry.
Jac
i think that the camry deserves the car of the year award because it is an excellent vehicle that is accesible to many people. i hate when car magazines give the car of the year award to vehicles like corvettes or ferraris…. how many people can actually afford to purchase a “car of the year” like that? of course at a price point like that, it had better be an excellent vehicle. however, at a price point like the camry’s the car does not necessarily have to be exceptional, and because the camry is, i think that motor trend is justified in giving it the car of the year award.
Hey, they breed horses down in Georgtown Kentucky to win races so it just proves they build cars down there to win too! But what does breeding horses have to do with automobile manufacturing?
You hybrid buyers keep forgetting to add in the few thousand dollars it’s going to cost to replace the batteries every few years.
But hey, those few more MPGs sure do save at the pump!
Enough about battery replacement people. Do some research.
Camry Hybrid owners are reporting average mpg around 37.
You don’t have to repace the batteries every few years. They are tested to 150,000 miles and and 8yr/100,000 mile warraty on ALL Hybrid components. If you did replace it, it would cost about $3900.00 and that price drops every year with the more hybrids that come on line using the technology. By the time you have to replace yours, it should be signigantly less. Lets not forget the tax credit.
Anyway, the hybrid cost differential is about the same as a V6 and the folks who have bought one from me have been tickled with getting aboout 38 mpg everywhere they go. The four cyl. wont do it.
And before you poo poo the COY choice, you guys should really drive one. It’s mainsteam, but without a doubt the best.
I think people buy hybrids because they want to make themselves feel good about enviroment. Like I am doing my share to save the world! Tragically the same people sit in traffic to drive to suburbia, to their 2500square foot homes, are obese, yadda yadda yadda pretty much hypocrites.
Camry as the award, way too lumpy, in more ways than one.
toyota had more recalls than any car maker in the the u.s. last year and you did not hear anything about it. I thought it was funny when i would hear people say that old people mostly drive toyotas. I actually started looking around and that is who was mostly driving them and i thought that was weird! Any way i think it is a pretty boring car and should not have won. Do toyota give free cars to the guys judging this award? This praising is a little too undeserving. Toyota can really do better.
fixitdude rocks, finally someone that sees the light