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First, I'm still very interested in this car, and I'm probably going to buy a 2012 LE or XLE Hybrid this year. BUT, I can say I'm a bit disappointed in the "hidden" price increase. My 2007 Hybrid, non-nav, was still pretty well tricked out for $26,200. The 2012 Hybrid LE is $26,600 but so far it looks like it's lost:
*JBL premium sound system and 6-disc changer
*Alloy wheels, *and* outstanding OEM tires (Goodyear IIRC)
*Voice commands
*Power driver's seat
*Rear seat vents
*Auto-dimming mirror with compass
*Heated side mirrors
*Leather wrapped steering wheel
*HomeLink
*Chrome-tipped exhaust
That's a LOT of things to remove and still raise the price $400!
So, I may choose the XLE for $28,160 to gain back *most* of the missing items above, except for the 6-disc changer which is guess is lost forever to the iPod/iPhone/etc. Not sure about the tires.
Anyway, I just thought this might be an interesting topic of compare/contrast. And I also want to make sure I'm not overlooking something, too!
You do realize it's been 6 years since then and a lot of other things increased in price much more, for example tolls on my way to work probably went up close to 50% since then, but that's highway robbery and always was.
I think you're getting more HP, more MPG and isn't there more control over traction control and some other improvements?
Personally I would probably only miss alloy wheels and heated mirrors, however they fold on new model and I hate unfolding mirrors and already broke mine, if it was folding it would never broke, it wouldn't even scratch much, so the whole deal is more give and take, not the your painted 100% negative?
My post was deliberately negative, but I was hoping it would stimulate some give-and-take discussion on the changes. So far, it's proving an ineffective strategy.
First, I'm still very interested in this car, and I'm probably going to buy a 2012 LE or XLE Hybrid this year. BUT, I can say I'm a bit disappointed in the "hidden" price increase. My 2007 Hybrid, non-nav, was still pretty well tricked out for $26,200. The 2012 Hybrid LE is $26,600 but so far it looks like it's lost:
*JBL premium sound system and 6-disc changer Wouldn't miss
*Alloy wheels, *and* outstanding OEM tires (Goodyear IIRC) Maybe miss at first but could get used to it
*Voice commands Never used wouldn't miss
*Power driver's seat Don't change seat position, wouldn't miss
*Rear seat vents Wouldn't miss
*Auto-dimming mirror with compass Wouldn't miss
*Heated side mirrors Wouldn't miss
*Leather wrapped steering wheel Wouldn't miss
*HomeLink Wouldn't miss
*Chrome-tipped exhaust Wouldn't miss
That's a LOT of things to remove and still raise the price $400!
In my case there is a significant reduction in price compared to the 2007 model.
I paid about $36,000 (taxes, delivery etc) all in, for a (dealer installed) nav equipped model in back in October 2006 here in Calgary.
And to add insult to injury the nav is a regular Camry nav NOT a hybrid specific one which was not available in Canada at that time.
Look at it this way...the theoretical MPG for the 2013 is far above the 2007 model's, so in effect, you're getting more miles per gallon per dollar of cost of vehicle on the newer model.
However, there's not been a successful product (outside of technology) that didn't either raise prices and offer less features. Toyota's been doing this since day one...same for all the other car manufacturers.
A Bit Disappointed by Hidden Price Increase
