The new 2012 Camry Hybrid should be revealed on Tuesday August 23, 2011

Lots of leaks, but is mostly pictures. The gray metallic car you may occasionally see should be the American version with the near all spoke wheels. It was used to make a upcoming TCH commercial.

I found some spec talk of the American version getting 40.3 mpg. I hope they are right. That's like 9 mpg over the 2011 model at 31 city/35 highway mpg, and the 2012 should have more power.

Here is a site explaining (audio is after the advertisement) the new 2012 Prius v. Not sure why they were allowed to include GMC text ads below each still picture of the Prius v.

Page down to the second picture to watch the video.

http://www.autoguide.com/manufacture...ideo-1561.html

 

I think Toyota is taking too long to refresh their models. I doubt if the new model will be that much nicer than the current one. Toyota is losing market share to companies like Kia who are much more aggressive and successful in updating their vehicles. It will be interesting to see the new model, but I am still very happy with mine -- and the nicest feature of all is that it is paid for.

 

Test drive the new 2012 TCH when your dealer gets one on his lot. Look it over carefully, then make your comparison. You can do your spec comparison, mpg, hp, weight, when that information becomes available.

I read that toyota plans to flood the marker with many advertisements in the month of October, mostly about the new TCH's safety.

 

historically speaking, ANY promised mpg turned out to be overestimated. can't beat that. so, wait until alpha buyers will get their 12 TCHs, and then post REAL mpg. betcha will be same as now. besides, mine does 40+ tank average anyway. and it's 07.

and exactly why would Toyota rush on new models? you ever watched Fight Club? "if cost of lawsuits exceeds cost of recall, then recall is issued". Camries sell like ice in mid summer, why bother? you seriously think Hyundai Blue drive will be anything better? Otherwise, there's no competition in that market segment with hybrid drives, and it already costs more than loaded TCH.

why GM ads in Toyota commercial? like you did not know that GM and Toyota been in long term kahutz? just like Mitsubishi and Chrysler/Dodge.

 

I think your talking about the chevy prizm and the pontiac vibe. Both were built in the NUMMI plant (a toyota, GM joint venture) in Fremont, California, is now a toyota only plant.

I did some calculations figuring the mpg vs gas cost difference.

gas car 20 mpg, 15k yr = 750 gallons @ $3.50 = $2625 yr x 5 yrs = $13,125

hybrid 30 mpg, 15k yr = 500 gallons @ $3.50 = $1750 yr x 5 yrs = $8750

hybrid 40 mpg, 15k = 375 gallons @ $3.50 = $1312.5 yr x 5 yrs = $6562.5

prius 50 mpg, 15k yr = 300 gallons @ $3.50 = $1050 yr x 5 yrs = $5250

prius 60 mpg, 15k yr = 250 gallons @ $3.50 = $ 875 yr x 5 yrs = $4375

The difference between the 20 mpg gas only car at $13125 yr vs a hybrid at $8750 yr would be $6563 difference for 5 years.

I paid about $2000 more for my 2007 TCH hybrid which did include some state and federal tax help. I figure i'm way ahead for the extra I paid for the much nicer hybrid.

About mpg, I see the 2012 Ford Fusion shows 41 city, 39 combined, 36 highway. I can see where toyota would try to match or better those figures with the new TCH.

The 2011 TCH was EPA rated at 31 city, 33 combined, 35 highway.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/byfue...eltypeNF.shtml

 

you ever heard about a very wise man, Dave Ramsey?

you buy used and you pay cash. $200 you give a licensed dealer, to get you one off dealers auction, is even a better investment.

don't want to brag, but in my case, as it costs me about 9 cents a mile, and I am paid back 50 cents per business mile driven, and I log around 1200 miles a month for business, mine is basically paid back and will start making profit soon.

can't help, mine still does 40+ tank average and is crossing back towards 39mpg. If not for that unfortunate trip to CA, would have had 39+ long term average by now again. so, what ever they say..

 

It's would be nice if the Atkinson type engine would get higher mpg than is does. I get 47 mpg highway when driving at 60 mph. Any faster it simply pulls that number down to 44 or lower depending on my speed, not to mention any cross or headwinds.

No doubt the TCH engine performs it's best for mpg at 45-47 mph.

 

I'm glad to see some Kia's around town. Their a great looking car and suv and look larger then their previous models. I looked them up and see they are a South Korean auto company and is partly owned by Hyundai. (wikipedia)

Looks like Toyota has done well redesigning their cars ever 4 years. I have not kept that much up with it other than the top selling Camry and Corolla. It's very costly for a auto company to do a redesign and then bring it out in production. Toyota has done well thinking way ahead.

Toyota had and tested the Prius in 1995 before it was ever offered for sale in 1997 only in Japan. The early models cost Toyota $49,000 each to build, but they decided to sell them for around $19950. That decision ended up making them lots of money over the many years of top Prius sales.

To me a quick and often redesign could lower your resale value on your older vehicle. I think of Chrysler and their many cars they used to sell. You buy some models and they would stop making that particular car 3 or 4 years later. That would really hurt your trade-in value. I only owned one, a Plymouth station wagon which was actually my very first car. Two years of that and I ran to buy a Chevrolet as my next car.

Chrysler did design and build some of the greatest engines ever. The top-fuel-dragsters/funny-cars of today still use a very modified version of that famous hemi-head engine from the late 50's.

Did you know that Toyota elected to use the hemi-head design on near all their engines. My wife's '78 Corolla with the 1.8 liter engine in those days was sure a hemi-head, then with solid lifters.

That same basic design is under the hood of our TCH other then the overhead cam which is a big improvement. The engine is now all aluminum, uses low friction rings, a off-set crank and lower valve spring pressures. This lowers the friction on the engine and increases the power.

The addition of the ECU with it's many sensors and fuel-injection was the biggest gain in mpg and power. Coil over plug ignition and no lossy spark-plug-wires to worry with.

I'm looking forward to seeing if Toyota comes up with more power from the 2012 TCH engine and how possibly they did it.

 

The only fair way to determine the value is to compare the TCH with the gas Camry and to use standardized testing.
Listing it against a larger, 20 MPH (or a smaller, 50 MPH) car yields a faulty conclusion. You might as well compare the TCH to a $200MM Abrams tank (1.5 MPG) or a $500 moped (120 mpg).
The EPA differential of the gas and hybrid Camry eliminates all other factors (driving style, weight, temperature, tires, inflation, etc.) and will best determine if the premium paid (~$2500-$3000) makes sense. Obviously the mileage squeezing techniques used by driver would boost the gas car's mileage, too.
By looking at http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymod...ta_Camry.shtml you can see that the 2011 (at current fuel costs) save $727 per year over the 6cyl Camry. That's a four year pay back on the premium. That's nice, but, again, few will be able to retire on the savings. Obviously as gas prices fall (and they are currently falling pretty quickly), the payback gets lengthened. Finally, the extra cost (the premium) has to be financed and might further alter the break even.

All cars run a profit on reimbursement. The cost per mile is supposed to factor in many other costs borne by the driver, including oil, depreciation, wear and tear, etc. not only gas.

 

I was doing a simple mpg comparison between the various gas mileages including the gas-only Camry. I use the www.edmunds.com/ web site and their True Cost to Own for the best comparison between various cars. Your right, the www.fueleconomy.gov/ is a good for basic mpg comparisons.

It will be interesting when these two sites start including the new 2012 TCH.