Our long-term 2007 Toyota Camry's backseat hasn't gotten much attention on the blog to date, but just as in past Camrys, it's comfortable and functional for everyday family use. Sitting in the back of our LE V6 long-termer feels almost exactly like sitting in this 2002 four-cylinder LE model we tested several years back -- the bench feels a little too low (for a long-legged adult like myself), but there's plenty of legroom behind the front chairs.
During the '07 redesign, Camry gained exactly 1/2-inch of rear legroom...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
Read through the most recent blogs regarding the leather seats on our long-term
Audi Q7
and
Hyundai Azera
: They're filthy (the seats, not the blogs). It seems that a team of belt and jeans wearing car writers will have that effect on a light colored interior rather quickly.
Not so with our Camry. 20,000 miles into the test and the cloth bares not a scuff nor spot of dye transfer...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
I noticed when I checked our archives this morning that
we've commented on this issue before
, but I saw it myself for the first time last night, so it's new to me: The area surrounding the ignition on the Camry's steering column looks like it's been mauled by a gang of bored kittens.
Guess we need to have our editors declawed. Not really sure what goes into making a steering column scratch-proof. Looks like Toyota hasn't quite figured it out either...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
I spent a week in our 2007 Toyota Camry LE and drove a patriotic total of 1776 miles. If you spend that much time and those many miles behind the wheel you feel you should know the car through and through. So I feel I should have a summary comment about this car and it's value to the Great American Consumer.
An earlier blog post sparked a lively discussion of whether the Camry is simply an appliance...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
I drove our 2007 Toyota Camry for 430 miles and it didn't even break a sweat. My family and I drove from Long Beach to Davis, California, to look at colleges for my son. When you're going through the Central Valley on Interstate 5 most of the traffic is doing over 80 mph. We weren't really in a hurry to get there so I set cruise control at 75 and just chilled...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
I know a dark gray 2007 Toyota Camry isn't the type of car that stands out in a neighborhood where orange Lambos and red Ferraris are parked in front of the local gym but, come on, that doesn't mean it's completely invisible. I was crossing the intersection at about 10 mph during rush hour, almost on the other side of the traffic light, when this black Jeep Cherokee who had been waiting on my right to turn into my lane decided he didn't want to wait any longer and barreled through. He would have hit me if I hadn't done some evasive maneuvers, i.e. turn the wheel and stop...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
Last week the ever-helpful "MAINT REQD" (Maintenance Required) idiot-nee-warning light popped up in our long-term Camry. The car was not, as the screaming-yellow beacon intimated, on the verge of catastrophe; we were simply a thousand (2,541) miles or so past the 15,000mi recommended service. Phew.
The service included inspections of the brakes, tires, belts, hoses, lines, bolts and the battery...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
OK, the title alone is enough for this post to get dismissed by hard-core car guys and exotic-car fans, as well as alienate me from the car guys on staff. But oh well. I rode in the Ferrari (I'm not on the short list of people on staff who are allowed to drive it) and drove our 2007 Camry this weekend.
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
My Dad back in Virginia has never been, well, very style-oriented. The wallpaper at his office now is the same as it was during the Nixon administration. So when he bought the new 2007 Toyota Camry, I dismissed it as another chance for him to buy the most vanilla car around.
In some ways, I was right. The Camry does not provide much excitement to the driver and there is nothing particularly bold about it, but having spent an evening in our long-term Camry left me pleasantly surprised in the style department. I noticed on the Auto Show floor that this new generation looked much better, but upon driving it, it really came through that, though not necessarily exciting, the interior actually is a little creative and stylish.
Though not to everyone's taste, I really liked the illumination of the center stack. It is fairly futuristic and cool, and fits in nicely with the otherwise tasteful interior. Again, we're talking relative to expectation here, but still, I want to thank the folks at Toyota for giving my father a little dash of style.
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
If only it stung like a bee. . .
The last time I drove the Camry, I made much hay about how impressive its V6 is...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
As you might guess from the Camry's ample size hind quarters, it has a large trunk area -- notwithstanding its unimpressive 14.5-cubic-foot trunk capacity spec. But in the midst of cleaning my apartment over the weekend, I happened upon another useful attribute: The lid pops halfway open when you push the button on the remote or yank the lever in the driver footwell -- handy when your hands are full of junk. I realize this is not an earth-shattering feature on a mid-priced midsize sedan. Plenty of competitors offer the feature or have offered in the past...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
Last night I was feeling uncharacteristically Camry: I wanted something big, comfortable and quick to drive, so I asked for our LE V6 long-term car. This was a change of heart. I've been slow to warm to the new-gen Camry. In addition to my complaints about its build and materials quality, I was prejudiced against its size...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
As those of you who slavishly devote yourselves to my every word know. . .
I'm not a huge fan of the Camry...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
It had been a long time since we checked the lifetime average fuel economy for our 2007 Toyota Camry. I hauled out the battered notebook in the door panel and spent a half hour crunching the numbers. The final result was a tepid 25.09 average over the 16,167 miles we've driven it.
There was, however, an interesting pattern in the numbers...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
I was driving my sister-in-law around in our 2007 Toyota Camry recently. After about 20 minutes, she remarked out of the blue, "Jeez, there are really a lot of Camrys on the road, aren't there?"
I remember having the same experience as my sister-in-law the first time I took the keys to our long-termer. Toyota Camrys of every generation were no longer automatically filtered out by my brain. They seemed to be everywhere and in places I never thought possible...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
Having an auxiliary jack in a car, such as our long-term 2007 Toyota Camry, and an MP3 player is fab. It's all the songs you like, all the time. (Erm, until you get tired of them, that is.)
But I have to admit that, after fiddling with my iPod while driving on a couple of occasions, I've thought to myself: "This is pretty distracting from a driving standpoint." According a NHTSA study published last year about driver distraction, "...nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the event."
Is an iPod any worse than a cellphone, an in-dash radio, a backseat full of feuding children or the consumption a Taco Bell bean burrito? In some ways, I think it is...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
"Welcome To Camry." This statement scrolls across the head unit's display as you start up the car. For me, it should read "Welcome Back To Camry" as it's been six months, 9,020 miles and a few Mr. Pund-penned anagrams since I last drove our long-termer.
Not much has changed...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
One thing Barry failed to mention about driving our long-term Toyota Camry from Detroit to LA was that he was transporting a large piece of furniture in the backseat during the whole trip.
It seems while visiting my family in Michigan, someone (let's call her Grandma) thought Barry's cross-country drive was a good opportunity to move the hope chest my shop teacher-father made for me when I graduated from high school in 1987.
The chest measures 36" x 21" x 23".
We live in a small beach apartment.
There was a reason it was left in Grandma's basement...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
Considering the varied conditions encountered while driving the Toyota Camry a final total of 2,292 miles from Detroit to Long Beach, I was anticipating minor front end paint chips or scrapes. But after an extensive cleaning, inside and out, the Camry's none the worse for wear.
Kudos to the Toyota paint shop for protecting the magnetic gray metallic coating.
Barry Toepke at 15,042 miles
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
Locals warned that I should take dirt from the three surrounding mountain ranges before leaving Fruita, Colorado. Otherwise it's destined I will return. While I didn't heed their suggestion, the thought of returning to this serene Grand Junction neighbor is not entirely awful.
However, if taking road grime, salt, snow and rocks with me, then the Toyota Camry's got me covered...
Continue reading...
Categories: 2007 Toyota Camry
