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This year's all-new Camry has a much-improved interior. I think you'll agree when you enlarge the picture above.
I like the way each of the textures work together in our Camry SE. A padded and stitched dash is a welcome surprise in a car of this class. The plastic elements blend in well as do the brushed aluminum pieces. There is a nice symmetry to the gauges and dials.
What do you think about the interior of the new 2012 Toyota Camry?
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
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yellowperil says:
06:25 PM, 01/30/12
I like it except for the ugly button clusters on the wheel. But overall, very clean and 'straightforward' aethestics. Like you, I really like the stitching and padded dash too!
wjtinatl says:
06:28 PM, 01/30/12
Had a new rental LE last week in Orlando. Definitely better than last years, but I was not overly impressed. The dour gray on black likely contributed to the lukewarm impression. It's not popular, but I like the Camry, good value for the $$$ and always great resale. Drive wise no better/worse than a Altima/Fusion/Accord but never a bad choice. The new interior helps, but not as much as I'd hope and the '13 Fusion looks to be very stiff competition.
carchatter1 says:
09:21 PM, 01/30/12
It's nice overall. It reminds me a bit of a VW. Only dislike is the HUGE, flat, square slab of fake aluminum on the console. They could have given a little more detail to that trim and left a few more little storage cubbies, instead it looks like they ran out of design ideas when they got to that part.
jdubbs19 says:
09:46 PM, 01/30/12
The steering wheel design isn't the best in my opinion (quality and design), it really makes me paranoid for some reason. I'm sure it's functional, but it's looks aren't that great in comparison to other cars. Maybe among family sedans it's nice... but overall, it's whack.
billt9 says:
10:09 PM, 01/30/12
This Camry is awesome!
Top of the class. Only possible to be trumped by the 2013 Fusion. And the next gen Altima. And the next gen Accord. But top of the class at this time.
I'm not feeling the Passat's interior.
church123 says:
10:15 PM, 01/30/12
About time for an interior video tour Donna?
tjpark01 says:
10:55 PM, 01/30/12
It's better than the previous version, but no way top of the class. The Sonata and Optima still look and feel more contemporary.
accordv6exnavi says:
12:15 AM, 01/31/12
Saw the new Camry at the SF auto show in November. The stitched and padded dash is nice, there's still too much evidence of cost cutting at other areas. If I remember correctly, the front doors are padded at the top while the rear doors are all hard plastic. (Donna, can you please verify this if you have a chance? Thanks!)
Another cost cutting area is the rear deck cover which is no longer lined. It's just a piece of hard plastic. Toyota started doing this on the previous generation Camry. I think it's a step backward. My 04 Accord has a nicely lined cover but sadly when the Accord was redesigned in 08 the rear deck cover...you guessed right...became a piece of hard plastic too.
I don't know how much money Toyota/Honda (perhaps other automakers too) are able to save from doing this but I think this doesn't scream quality/luxury at all. I know the Camry/Accord aren't luxury cars but they were better detailed a few generations back. Call me nitpicking, but sometimes it's the little things that makes it that much better.
panerai250 says:
03:51 AM, 01/31/12
I guess It's ok for what It is....a snooze fest
panerai250 says:
03:52 AM, 01/31/12
I guess It's ok for what It is....a snooze fest
duck87 says:
05:55 AM, 01/31/12
It's a big improvement from the last two generations of Camrys. There two things about the interior that I can criticize:
-The semi-gloss plastic surrounding the top clock (and why does Toyota still insist on having a useless tiny clock separate from the rest of the center cluster?) is prone to scratching. At the NAIAS, I noticed that this is the one area of the car that scratches extremely easily... and judging by the numerous other scratches already on the area, a lot of people seem to have found out the same thing.
-The two big HVAC knobs need to be improved. They need to protrude out a bit more... and while they don't have any actual play when turning, it feels like they do because they don't take any effort to twist. Something more substantial would be appreciated.
jaeger1 says:
06:22 AM, 01/31/12
Material quality looks quite good and I like the overall layout. I positively hate the treatment of the passenger side dash panel - angling up and outward. Looks like it's ready to peel right off - quite visually distracting.
ctpaul says:
07:00 AM, 01/31/12
Too much meal look plastic (I assume it is plastic) - has the look of those appliques they sell on ebay to stick on. Especially as noted the big flat one around the gear shift. Also I think it looks odd that the middle of the dash above the radio where the dash vents are protrudes so much. Also do not like the weird uptick on the passenger side of the dash as noted before. Like the dash stitching, hope it holds up in the sun, as well as the other stitching on seats and console cover. Is this standard?
ewkid says:
07:37 AM, 01/31/12
Having driven an SE for over a month my two cents are the steering wheel and HVAC controls need to be rethought. The XBox style dpads on the steering wheels don't have a good feel to them. The two rows of buttons on the HVAC controls don't seem intuitive, the top row in particular doesn't have a good feel. I'm not a fan of the large HVAC knobs either. I prefer the HVAC controls on my old '97 Maxima over this Camry. These aren't show stopper problems though. The SE handles much better than I think a Camry should and gives a nice ride.
jjkroll32 says:
10:37 AM, 01/31/12
What's going on with the kink in the dash panel above the furthest passenger side vent? Looks kinda like the covering is flopping around.
jjkroll32 says:
10:40 AM, 01/31/12
What's going on with the kink in the dash panel above the furthest passenger side vent? Looks kinda like the covering is flopping around.
stovt001 says:
12:08 PM, 01/31/12
I generally really like the interior but the useless analog MPG gauge needs to go and allow room either for a a larger gas gauge (it is barely legible as is) or a temp gauge.
legacygt says:
12:57 PM, 01/31/12
Biggest improvement was the removal of the light blue translucent plastic they had around the audio and HVAC controls in the prior model. Somebody there realized this was an ugly look borrowed from 1990's desk stereos. Unfortunately they didn't realize it before convincing (I'm assuming they had design input) Subaru to put this plastic in the Legacy/Outback which soldiers on with this cheap/awful look.
kplacer says:
06:04 PM, 01/31/12
The "dashmat" treatment is really quite jarring. And the center stack and console borrow from the Ford Taurus "bulky" design idiom.
prndlol says:
07:34 PM, 01/31/12
There is something about it that I find off-putting and insincere.