I'm not sure this is the right place to post, but I am so happy to find a Camry Hybrid community that I wanted to jump right in.

My current car is a 99 Corolla. I love my Corolla, but I have an almost 2 year old son and he can put his foot on my shoulder while I am driving (he is, of course, riding in a car seat-- center rear, the only place a Britax car seat will fit in a Corolla of that year with the driver seat all the way back for a tall Mama) . It's just not a family car.

The most important criteria I have for my next car were: 1) Has to have more rear seat leg room than my Corolla and 2) Has to get the same or better fuel economy as my Corolla. And, I really, really, really wanted to stick with Toyota, because my Toyota experience has been so positive. Plus my father and both sisters have Toyotas... all positive experiences. (My husband has a 99 VW Jetta TDI--- pretty car, fabulous fuel economy, expensive service, AND horrible and expensive repair issues.)

SO, sorry I am long-winded, today we went to a nearby dealership and arrived for our test drive appointment minutes after they rolled a Camry Hybrid off the truck! The salesperson told me when I called for the appointment that they usually don't get a TCH on the lot unless it's already matched with a buyer. She told me they had one in their inventory, but it was still at the port in another state, and she wasn't sure when or if they would actually get it in, or if it would be matched to someone by the time it got there. She was excited to tell us this morning that it was, in fact, NOT matched up yet, so we could test drive it!

I know that you all know how wonderful it is. But, I have to gush a little bit. It drives like a dream. It is so quiet. It handles so nicely, it breaks so nicely... the base model is so well equipped you can hardly call it a base model (remember I drive an older Corolla and it's a base model, enough said).

I have to say, the ONLY thing I did not love about it was the color. It was white. I don't think there's anything wrong with white per se, but it's not the color I really want. I want Jasper Pearl. You see, I did not get to pick the color of my Corolla (even longer story involving my 1986 Chevy Nova with over 190,000 miles dying while on a trip out of state to visit my family while I was in grad school). In addition to wanting fabulous fuel economy and good rear passenger space, I want to pick the color of my car. So, what I am wondering is... does it really take SIX MONTHS to get the color of your choice?

Our salesperson said she would be more than happy to be "on the lookout" for the color of our choice, but that she can't promise that we will get it any time soon and the dealership tells the salespeople that they must tell the customer that it could take 6 months to get a specific color of the Camry Hybrid. I have plenty of time to wait, but (shhhh don't tell my husband) I don't really want to wait for SIX MONTHS.

Well, in the meantime I will be happy with just reading your posts, learning more about my future car, and seeing all the great photos!