For 8 years we made a 180 mile round trip to work & back, Monday-Friday. We needed a car that was reliable, so we read everything we could in Consumer Reports. I have fibromyalgia, so comfort was very critical. But, the deciding factor was the backseat room. My daughter has very long legs (necessary equipment for a cheerleader) & has no problem letting us know if a car we were looking at didn't fit her (I think she was born a Princess in another life) Review after review talked about the roominess of the backseat. We took her along, tried her out in the back seat, & she regally nodded her acceptance.

We bought the first Camry in '88. We literally drove that puppy to the ground. At 210,000 miles, we finally had her overhauled, replaced most every harness, a/c unit, pumps, filters & timing belt (I didn't know they needed replacing every 60k miles -oops) & after spending $3000 on the car in '92, gave the car to our then 16 yr old daughter (who put another 30k miles on it before a lady running a stop sign totalled it)

In '92 we bought our 2nd Camry. This one had way more whistles & bells than the first Camry. The first Camry had auto transmission, a/c, & headlights that would go off when you opened the door (I never had to worry about accidently leaving the lights on in our foggy valley) The 2nd Camry had power steering, Moonroof, a/c, power locks, cruise control, burglar alarm, back seats that folded down so you can reach into the trunk from the interior, and glowing lights so you could see where to put your key (door locks & ignition) The first Camry averaged 37 MPG, while the 2nd Camry only averaged 32 MPG.

I no longer commute 180 miles a day (because of FMS, I cut my commute down to 8 miles/day) My 2nd Camry has 220,000 miles on it, & we've done no major work to it.

During our commute via Hwy 237 (at Hwy 880) we've been rear-ended 3 times & hit once from the side (people out here are NUTS!) & we haven't had to have anything repaired. The bumpers worked great! There was a bit of bending from the last rear-ending, so when we got hit when someone came into the lane we were currently occupying, he only added to the bending & it was hardly noticeable. On our car! His whole front light section was gone!

Although the Camry served me well, I am looking forward to upgrading to a car with dual climate controls on my next car (yeah, right! Like you can buy a car *AND* a house in Silicon Valley?)