My 2022 Toyota Camry Hybrid at 1500 km: What I like & what I don't

The car is dead silent especially in EV mode. However, when the car is at a standstill and engine switches on to charge the battery, the car gives a mild jerk.

BHPian tanmay1904 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

So, the car has completed 1500 kms and I am writing down some likes and dislikes of the car. Also, I had forgotten to mention previously that the cars we have had in our house till date were all company owned and given as a perquisite to my father. The car is currently the only car in our house and is primarily chauffeur driven and replaced our 2010 Corolla Altis 1.8 G.

Likes:

• Space. This is a big plus when compared to the Altis. Me and my father are tall and we are very comfortable whenever I sit in the front passenger seat and my father is seated behind me. My knee does not touch the dashboard in this car now.
• Terrific fuel efficiency. We are currently getting ~17 kmpl in the city in eco mode. Last week, my father took the car to Mumbai and the car gave an average of 19.1 kmpl when driven by the chauffeur primarily in sport mode.
• Comfortable seats, especially the reclining rear ones. Seats are slightly on the firm side but are very good for long distances when compared to the Altis.
• Excellent suspension. Absorbs bumps very well, especially in our area where the roads are in a mess due to the metro construction going on.
• The car is dead silent especially in EV mode. However, when the car is at a standstill and engine switches on to charge the battery, the car gives a mild jerk which makes everybody in the car aware of the fact that there is an engine under the hood. When the car is on the move though, the passengers cannot figure out whether the engine is switched on/ off except the driver who easily makes that out due to the mild vibrations which creep in. Under hard acceleration though, the engine is quite audible.
• Powerful headlights. Really helps light up the road during the night. This is again a huge plus when compared to the poor halogens in the Altis.

Dislikes:

• Low profile tires: This is a cause of worry. There have been a few reports on Team BHP itself about people losing some tires to potholes.
• Some equipment missing, (360-degree camera, panoramic sunroof, additional parking sensors, etc.) which should have been made available considering how much the car costs
• Ergonomics should have been better. The memory seats button is placed far too ahead on the door and the windows switches itself are placed a bit ahead. It is impossible to open the front windows from the driver seat without looking at the switches directly.
• Continuing the above point, the attention to details could have been better. For example, the memory function buttons are not backlight, auto-headlamps are a touch too sensitive and as pointed out by Bhpian KKapidia, there is no OFF button for the headlights either.
• Sad and confused head unit. The user interface is plain pathetic. This kind of unit does not belong in any car. The buttons and knobs are premium feeling though.
• Interior colours. The car has a combination of white and beige upholstery which according to me does not gel well. Also, the car interiors get soiled easily.
• Boring exterior colours. Now this is subjective but when compared to the Skoda Superb (which has stunning colour options, especially the brilliant silver and Graphite metallic), the Camry does fall behind on the exterior colours. The only colours I liked was the Burning black and the Pearl White. Also, the white carries an additional premium of Rs 15,000 ex-showroom. We decided to go with White due to possible issues maintaining a black coloured car.

What is Ok/ could have been better:

• The ICE. There are 9 speakers in the car. While, this is a huge upgrade for me when compared to the pathetic 6 speaker system in the Altis. It cannot, however, hold a candle to the 12-speaker system in the Skoda Superb.
• Ground clearance. While the car has not scraped till date, it is a cause of worry for the driver and bumps have to be tackled carefully. What is surprising though is that the Camry never scrapped on those portions where the Altis would scrape in spite of the fact the Altis has a shorter wheelbase and higher ground clearance.

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