Hello to all. I am new to this forum and I am considering the purchase of a Camry Hybrid I have many questions most of which have been answered by following this great TCH forum but need some help. The first item is if anyone has had a Kentucky built Camry for some time and can give me some feedback as to quality and or problems. One concern is that I have read that the paint chips easily and I have seen this on used Camry’s (any model) but the ones built in Japan seem to be better. Is this Toyota paint or Japan vs Kentucky. I know I can get 3M Chip Guard but the installer I talked to did not recommend doing the bumper as he said he has seen it pull the paint in that area. He also claimed that Toyota went from a 3stage paint to a 2 stage paint process whatever that means. Also there is the rest of the car for door dings fenders etc. I keep my cars for many years and the only TCH cars being shipped to my area are Kentucky build. The other item is the seats. I prefer cloth over leather but I would like to know if these light colored interiors dirty easily. I cannot Scotch Guard the cloth due to allergies. I would consider leather but I have read that some claim the wires for the heated seats are felt in the seat bottom after time and this is also on other Toyota / Lexus products. On my short test drives it seemed like the leather had less padding but the cloth is soft when new and may be the same after time. I need some feedback from those who have many hours in the drivers seat. I have other concerns which I have to decide for myself like there is no way to turn off the traction control and I live in snow country which can be a negative under some conditions. I have owned many Toyota products and have an older Camry at present. I am a bit of a lead foot and I like my V6 power so I don’t know how I would adapt to the Synergy Drive System. Sorry for the long post and I hope someone can reply.

 

My Camry is from Kentucky as well, apparently, but I've only had it for a month or so, and I got paint protection, so I can't really speak to that just yet. The cloth seats feel nice to me, and a friend of a friend brought his kid in the car last night, who left a bootmark on the backseat which I'm gonna go clean today, so I'll let you know if that turns out badly.

My grandpa had a Chrysler with leather seats before he died, which I found quite nice, but I took a look at the ones in the Camry when I was shopping, and they looked kind of flimsy. Didn't sit in them though.

As for power, I'm a former Corolla driver (and a tercel and a colt before that), so the power of the TCH is very adequate for me - I've hit the, umm, gas a couple of times in traffic and it responds nicely. The Hybrid is right in the middle of the 4 and the V6 in terms of power, so depending on how old your current Camry is, you'll probably feel it as somewhat of a decrease, but you'll like it when you fill up less. :>

 

Thanks JTode When you say paint protection I wonder if it is like what I had years ago called Permashine. It was not a paint protector for chips as it was a permanent wax type deal. I did not like it because when I washed the car the water beads up quickly and left little rings no matter what you did. For leather it seemed ok for the sample I drove but you can also get aftermarket leathe but for a high cost. I have a 1995 so yes the power is about the same but not for take off like from a light. The gas version is faster than the TCH.

 

You can get a piece of 3M film big enough to cover the entire hood. That will take care of any chipping short of a severe impact.

The bumper seems like it'd be tricky to apply the film to but there are a variety of pre-cut kits available so it's not impossible.

I've never heard of the film removing paint. If anything, the difficulty is getting the film to stick to the paint.

I'm waiting for warm weather before attempting to install the film.

 

The installer said he did do a Camry bumper but when he pulled back the Chip guard to re-position it it pulled th paint so he does not want to do it again. His story not mine. It is harder for paint to adhere to bumpers as they are plastic which requires special paint, so I have been told. Again this may be Toyota paint quality.

 

My experiance with the 3M material is if applied rite using soapy water and squeegy, you can reposition it anyplace for a few minutes and it will not pull paint. Must have been an amature lol.

 

Perhaps you don't really want a hybrid.

What I have come to realize (trading in a 2005 3.5L Altima V6 for the Camry) is that I paid for an electric engine in my car. My previous car was very fast. I drove it that way. Now I try to use the electric engine as much I can get the car to cooperate. This means that I do not gun it all over the place, I don't drive 90 on the highway anymore either The best part, is that you learn to appreciate that instead of filling up every week and a half, its between 2-3 weeks for fillups.

I don't mean to say that I drive like an old man, but I drive smarter. I normally drive 5-10 miles over speed limit (highway mainly, I dont feel comfortable driving slower than the rest of the traffic), I am just in no hurry now trying to get up to speed. I also don't keep my foot planted on the gas, mainly because you don't need to. The car more or less stays at whatever speed you wish, with some light feathering on the pedal.

The car has about 200hp (190ish combined) and can certainly get out of its own way. I find its similar in power to the 2000 turbo'd beetle I had a while back.

I can honestly say the Camry hybrid is my favorite car I have ever owned. Its the most quite car I have ever been in as well. Both inside and out.

 

If you like power and acceleration, you probably will be disappointed in the TCH. I agree that it holds its own, and I can easily find myself driving 75 mph without even thinking about it, but my mom has a Camry V6 (older model) and it really zooms.

 

Once you drive a hybrid car with a CVT, you'll never go back to a conventional ICE.

 

Just take both the V6 and the TCH on extended test drives and put them through the hoops. Don't let the dealer bully you into just taking a 3 mile test drive--take your time. Benny