I bought my 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid in August of 2006, so I've owned it a year now and have put 26,000 miles on it. I cannot stop raving about this car, and I have owned quite a few cars and trucks in my day.

I LOVE IT! I have a white one with light tan leather interior. I got the loaded hybrid package with leather and navigation, and I'm very happy I did. It has power windows and doors, power auto dimming mirrors, voice-activated DVD navigation, power moonroof, power seats with lumbar support, telescoping steering wheel for short drivers (although I'm not short), push button start, 4 disc CD changer, 8 speakers, butt warmers, dual zone climate control for the front....just...everything you could ever want in a car. It's awesome. Plus it gets 35-40 miles to the gallon! WHOO HOOO! I usually fill up and I can go at least 500 miles before I have to stop for gas again. I can get pretty darn far away in 500 miles! It costs a mere $40 to fill up, even with these insane $3.25/gallon gas prices.

I test drove a blue non-loaded hybrid camry a few days before I bought my white one. There may have been something wrong with the blue one I test drove becuase it felt sluggish and like it was shifting gears constantly, and the one I bought doesn't feel like that at all. When my car shifts, I can't hear it or feel it, and does not alter the speed of the car in any noticeable way. It also feels bigger than the blue one, but I think that's just because of the lighter colors. Anyway, I love love love my car! It's gorgeous, inside and out.

The push button start is so cool. You don't even have to get your key out of your purse. You just walk near the car, it senses the key there and opens the doors for you, and then you get in and push the start button and go! The navigation system is so cool too. It shows every building on the street you're driving on if you zoom in while in a large city. Plus you can talk to it when you're driving and tell it to route you to the nearest pizza place or toyota dealer or whatever. AND there's this phone thing in the steering wheel so you can hook up a bluetooth cell phone and call people through the car, and you hear them through the stereo speakers. I can also hook up my ipod thru an aux jack in the compartment below the stereo (which conveniently has a 12v outlet so I can also charge the ipod while listening to it thru the speakers). It's a genius car.

The ONLY downside to this car is that the trunk is quite a bit smaller than my old non-hybrid Camry. I realize the hybrid batteries take up some trunk space, but I still wouldn't have guessed it would cut the trunk space by more than half. I used to be able to fit anything in my trunk, especially with the fold-down seats. I could haul lumber, doors, waterskis, bikes...anything! With the hybrid, I can hardly fit a couple of medium-sized suitcases before the trunk is maxed out. I went camping a couple of times and had a very difficult time fitting a tent, two blow up twin beds, two sleeping bags, 4 pillows, and a cooler into the trunk and 2/3 of the backseat. The stuff was crammed in every inch of the trunk and the backseat, and we had no room to buy anything while we were camping. It's not normally a huge problem, but a larger trunk would have been better, especially since we always take the hybrid on car trips for the great gas mileage.

After 26,000 miles I haven't had a single problem with the car or anything in it. It has been an absolute dream to own. It's incredibly comfortable to drive, puts my passengers to sleep all the time. It's beautiful and stylish inside and out, and it has excellent horsepower and torque on top of the great gas mileage.

I have been in the habit of trading my new cars for other new cars about 10-20 months after buying them. I've had the Camry Hybrid 12 months now and I wouldn't sell it for any price. If I do decide I want a different car, I'd still keep the hybrid just to have a reliable car that gets good gas mileage. I think I'll keep this car for a long, long time.

The navigation and stereo is something I've come to use daily and depend on for all my road trips. For the small difference in price ($2500 or so) to get leather and nav, I say go for it and never look back. I'm so glad I did. I still can't believe you can get a hybrid Camry for almost the exact same price as a non-hybrid V6 Camry. There goes that erroneous assumption that hybrids are more expensive than regular cars!

One thing to note: be careful that you don't start the car in the presence of someone with a key and then drive away without a key of your own. One time we valet parked the hybrid in Vegas and the valet guy forgot to give me the key when he pulled up with the car. Once you start the car with the push button start, the key can be taken out of the car and the car will still drive normally until you park it. After that it won't lock or restart without the key being in range. So...when I arrived back at our Vegas hotel, I tried to lock the car with the button on the door handle and it beeped, telling me it would not lock. I soon discovered it would not lock because I didn't have the key. I couldn't restart the car to go back for the key, so I had to call the valet place and they had to drive the key back to me while I waited. I just have to say...it's a good thing I didn't get too far away from the key! Oh and another word to the wise - make sure you turn the car off when you park. I have gone on quick errands when I didn't lock the car and realized later than the car was running (silently) the entire time and the AC was slowly using up the gas. Because the car is on and it will stay on without the key, someone could have stolen my car those times - good thing they didn't.
Amount Paid (US$): 30600
Condition: New
Model Year: 2007
Model and Options: Hybrid with leather/navigation package