Being new here I hope this is the right place to post this. I am looking at a 2009 Hybrid Camry, and I am trading in a Liberty diesel (53000 miles). I love the Liberty and gives great mileage; I have owned it for almost 2 years with no problems. That being said it is now out of warranty and with all the potential problems with these vehicles, the cost of repair and the fact that hardly anyone will work on them or knows enough to work on them has me looking.
This Camry appears to be the top of the line (30000 miles) with just about everything including the Nav system, premium sound, leather and sun roof. The price of the Camry is $23889.00 and I am being offered $19000.00 trade. I know Camry is probably priced a bit high and must be perfect according to KBB to bring that price on a dealer lot. It is flawless inside but does have a couple of pings on the outside but nothing really note worthy. I put on about 12 to 15000 miles a year and that would give me about two years of the remaining warranty and at that time I guess I could extend that if I felt the need.
I fully intend to read all the posts on this forum but do not have the time to do so now before I make this purchase. I would like and overall impression from you all on the dependably and satisfaction with owning the Camry and what is your opinion on the potential trade.

Thanks very much
dusty

 

Well, I put 60,000+ miles on my 2007 TCH is 3 years, without ONE SINGLE warranty visit, and turned around and traded it in on an identical (but different color) 2009 TCH! And, the 2007 was a first year vehicle, and a first year Hybrid as well. I'm pretty darn happy with this vehicle.

EDIT: Additionally, did you realize that the Hybrid components have a much longer warranty? I don't have the info in front of me at this time, and it is even longer in some states, but 80,000 miles or maybe even 100,000 miles seems to ring a bell.

 

Someone can correct me here but I thought it was 100K or ten years.

thanks
dusty

 

I think you will find that 98% of forum members love their car. It's a good vehicle. The only issue is age. A large percentage of owners have below 60M (I work in the financial industry where M is "thousand", MM is "million" and K is Kilometer, as in "I'm running in a 5K charity run this weekend, would you like to sponsor me?") miles on it. Notwithstanding the occasional member who has reached or achieved that milestone, no one can say for sure how the hybrid system, etc. will hold up as it ages.
Yes, the Prius is an older model and has achieved a good track record in their older cars, but can anyone say for sure how well the TCH will hold up at 80M miles or when it hits 5 years and beyond?

 

Now there's a change, Jeep Liberty to hybrid Camry! Have you test driven the Camry much? I would. The seats and driving response of the two vehicles are quite different. Make sure before buying.

 

Yes it is different but I appreciate what the Liberty diesel does and what the Camery does. I took an extended drive in the one I am looking at and was very please with every aspect of the car.

I have been reading here as much as I can and get the feeling that the overall track record of the Camry is great. We like to keep one 4wd in the family and my wife has been looking to upgrade her ride to one so it is a good time to make the switch myself.

I love the Liberty for what it does and it does it well at very acceptable MPG. But I have grown concerned about it reliability(althought it has been good to me) based on all the bad things I been reading on the forums. It seems to have a lot of problems based on such a small number sold in the US(about 6000) and are very pricey to repair.

I was hoping for more comments about issues with the Camry and what was thought of the deal on my trade.

To those that have responded a BIG THANKS and I will continue reading all that is here.

dusty

 

Despite the recent unintended acceleration hysteria, the Camry has been a reliable car for most people. My family has owned 4, with not a bad one in the bunch. And since there are over 1 million Toyota hybrid vehicles on the road, I think we'd know by now if there were any obvious defects in the technology.

 

I purchased my 08 TCH new in Oct. 07. I now have 28,700 miles. I have not had one warranty repair. It has not had one glitch or hick-up. My only complaints are that it doesn't seem to hold an alignment well and the original Bridgestone tires were junk (replaced at 24,500 miles with Good Year Fuel Max Assurance; Bridgestones started going bad at 17,000 miles). Other than that I'm happy. Some have complained about paint, but mine is as good as when I bought it. Even the seats are holding up well. However, I do have a growing number of squeaks and rattles that I will get resolved soon. My sunroof rattles and I have an annoying squeak in the rear battery area. It typically only makes the noise in above 60 degree weather and it can get pretty loud. Other than that I've had no issues. It has always started and it does great in the winter weather here in Central IL. I'm very satisifed not only with the reliability but how it is holding up. If I would detail it it would look like new - paint looks great, all plastic (around doors and covering headlights) looks like new and the interior is holding up really well.

Good luck.