Hello everyone.

I am new to this concept of automobile and am still on the fence on purchasing one.

What are the up and down sides of of the Camry Hybrid?

I like to fiddle with my cars on the weekends...Is this vehicle shadetree friendly?

Any help on this would be useful.


I'm sure that fuel concomption is going to be the strongest up side.

Thanks in advance for the help.

There are are a lot (read LOT) of gadgets on this car. If you are a gadget freak - you'll be in heaven.

I'm a licensed journeyman mechanic (nowadays referred to as a technician) and engineer even though I no longer work professionally in the field outside of building racecars.
I'll tell you this much - you'll be able to do the following general maintenance;
* Tire rotation
* Oil / Filter changes
* Exhaust system
* Brakes (although at the present wear rate on mine - I think they'll be good for 100k - Read about regenerative braking)
* Fluids
* Front end alignment (if you get into such things)
* Fancy wheels
* Fuzzy Dice

That's pretty well it.. I've not yet used my Scanner to scan the ECU on this car but pretty much expect it to give me everything else that an OBD-III/CAN car would..

All in all - it's one of the best cars I've owned to date... I've owned over 100 Cars, trucks and Motorcycles in my life - this is my first Toyota..

Regards - Randy




If there's one thing I've learned in online forums its this:
Never argue with an idiot, they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience!

I guess that depends on what you mean by fiddle. If you are talking about playing around with the drive system, probably not a good idea. A few HSD systems have been modified for more battery power / custom plug in but I would not put that into the "fiddle" category.

If you are talking about accessorizing, then its about the same as any car.

Two climate control systems, one inside and the other at the tailpipe.

Distance: 29169km (75% city - 20 min trips)
FE: 6.77L/100km or 34.7 mpg
Operating Cost: $0.066/km / $0.107/mile

Upside, it gets great mileage for it's class.

Downside, the trunk is much smaller than a normal Camry.

Upside, it has many electronic gadgets to play with.

Downside, it has a bunch of electronics which makes shadetree mechanics impossible.

Upside, it is a toyota hybrid, so resale should be great.

Downside, it is a hybrid so if something does go wrong outside of warranty, open the wallet wide.

Sorry folks, but I decided on the FEH. I like the fact that I can make some cosmetic mods and make it look pretty tough.

Thanks for the help

Yea, good choice. The Fed Tax Credit plus the fact that Ford has included a $1900 bill with each vehicle sold in the past year (read their recent financial results) the FEH is a steal. Hopefully they stay in business long enought for them to make good on the warrantee. Since Chrysler, has the US Government given up on bailing out US auto companies?

Governments have steered clear of bailing out businesses for the past 15 years, especially US auto manufacturers. Too many companies in the 90's were cooking their books and making generally poor business decisions and investments.

I'd be interested to see the cosmetic modifications when you get them done.

I was thinking along the lines of larger/more agressive tires, fender flares, and possibly different/painted rims. That should get me started, then the other beefier mods will come.

I'd like to see what this thing can do off road.