2010 Toyota Camry Reviews

The market was in a state of transition in 2006 when Toyota released this locally produced Camry; buyers were shifting away from the traditional big sixes and seeking out more fuel-efficient models.

Ewan Kennedy road tests and reviews the 1999, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2015 Toyota Camry & Aurion as a used buy.

Graham Smith reviews the 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 Toyota Camry as a used buy.

Ewan Kennedy road tests and reviews the used 1999-2014 Toyota Camry and Aurion.

It's easy to criticise the Camry, it doesn't do anything very special, but it's also easy to like it, as many Australian families appear to do if you go by its continuing strong sales.The bottom line is that it's an easy car for a family to live with. Sure, it's not exciting, it doesn't challenge the senses, and it's not in the least sporty, but it drives with ease, it's practical and it's reliable. What's not to like when it's got all of that going for it.NEWToyota launched the sixth generation Camry in 2006 and at the same time realigned it within its overall model range. Gone was the V6 engine and its associated models, the sixth generation Camry was an all-four model and you had to buy an Aurion if you wanted the pep of a V6 engine.The Camry has never been regarded as particularly stylish, but it has evolved into a more eye-appealing car with each new model and there's nothing about the sixth generation model that warrants criticism.Four main models made up the range, beginning with the Altise and climbing through the Atevo, Sportivo and Grande, which topped the tree. There were upgrades in 207 and 2009, and a Touring model appeared in 2009.There was also a hybrid, but that's a specialised model and deserves its own treatment. The Camry is perfect for a family; it seats four adults in comfort, will take five at a squeeze, and has a decent boot. Inside, the cabin is roomy, the seats are quite comfortable, but if there's a criticism to be made it's that it's a little bland.With the V6 gone the only engine choice was the 2.4-litre four-cylinder unit. It wasn't a neck-snapper, but it didn't need to be in the family car class. It performed perfectly satisfactorily and delivered acceptable fuel economy.The transmission choices were a five-speed manual and a five-speed auto, but most left the factory with the self-shifter under the bonnet.On the road the Camry was a rather benign device, it did everything that was called for without in any sense being sporty. The steering was light, but still accurate enough, and the lightness made it a comfortable drive around town.NOWDespite setbacks in recent times when it has had to recall some cars Toyota still has a reputation for building sound, reliable cars. It's well justified as the Camry has few faults, and nothing that are of a major concern.There has been only one recall in Australia involving the sixth generation Camry, and that was for a faulty electric window switch in 2012. The switch could feel sticky, and in the worst case could overheat and melt.Check the owner's manual on any car you're considering buying second-hand and make sure the recall repair has been carried out. While you're at it check the car's service record to make sure all servicing has been done according to the book.You might also like to check if your potential choice has been a renter or a fleet car in an earlier life. Camrys were a popular choice as company hacks and rental cars, and while that shouldn't exclude them from your consideration it's best to be wise when buying one of these cars. They sometimes have a hard life and can at times be driven by people who don't care about their welfare.SMITHY SAYSIt's hard to dislike the Camry, it does everything well enough to be your first choice family car.Toyota Camry 2006-2011Price new: $33,000 to $39,900Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder, 117 kW/218 NmTransmission: 5-speed manual, 5-speed auto, FWDEconomy: 8.9 - 9.9 L/100 kmBody: 4-door sedanVariants: Altise, Ateva, Sportivo, GrandeSafety: 4-star ANCAPCOMING UPDo you own a Mercedes-Benz C-Class? If so tell us what you think of it by sending your comments to Graham Smith at grah.smith@bigpond.com or Carsguide, PO Box 4245, Sydney, NSW, 2010. 

The Toyota’s Camry and Aurion are built in Melbourne and have many changes from the original Japanese design to suit them to our local driving conditions and Australian drivers’ tastes.

SILENCE, they say, is golden. But it can frighten the beejesus out of pedestrians.  I found that out after nearly skittling a jaywalker who simply didn't hear the battery-powered Corolla Hybrid heading her way. Scary stuff for the startled walker — and me.Of course this silence was planned by Toyota. The Camry switches from petrol to battery power when the car is being driven slowly — or switches off completely when stopped — as a clever way of saving fuel.  For someone bought up on a diet of thumping V8s and rumbling sixes, all this silence seems weird. But the hybrid Camry goes about its business of saving fuel — and the environment, thanks to lower exhaust emissions — without fuss.To go, push the accelerator, life is restored, and the car silently moves off until eventually the petrol motor cuts in.  Toyota already has the hybrid Prius, but the new hybrid Camry opens up a whole new market for the market leader.At first Prius was considered too radical — a car designed for those greener than green. But it slowly won the hearts of middle Australia, giving buyers who want to save running costs a real option.With the pioneering work largely done and dusted by the Prius, world-wide recalls aside, the market is now ready to accept a larger family-sized model.  That's why I reckon the Aussie-built hybrid Camry will work wonders for Toyota, as it aims to capture Falcon and Commodore buyers who are downsizing.StylingThe hybrid looks like a regular Camry and it isn't complicated to drive. It's just eerie when you push the start button nothing seems to happen — but the word "ready" on the computer display is the signal all is well to go.Pricing and variantsAnd pricing isn't too bad either. There are only two variants, both automatics. The base sells for $36,990 — that's in the same pricing territory of a base six-cylinder Falcon or Commodore but the Toyota uses about a third less fuel.However it is about $3000 more than the conventional Camry Sportivo with which it shares many features — so its going to take a few years for the savings in running costs to compensate the price premium.The luxury version, which I have been driving, is $39,990 plus on-road costs. That's the same price as the normally aspirated Camry Grande so the price penalty disappears.DrivetrainThe hybrid marries two engines — a 2.4-litre 4 cylinder petrol motor with a 650V electric motor/generator.  The nickel metal hydride battery pack is topped up by capturing energy normally lost under braking or deceleration and if you really want to impress your passengers there's a nifty display on the dashboard that shows where the power is coming from or going to.The petrol engine uses an Atkinson cycle design (longer power stroke than compression stroke) which promotes lower fuel consumption but at the cost of performance.  The petrol motor is good for 110kW while two power sources combined produce about 140kW. The petrol contributes 187Nm of torque; the electric motor is rated at about 270Nm but Toyota is reluctant to give a proper figure because of the complexities of quantifying the torque.Torque is important because the Camry needs lots of it to shift the hybrid's extra weight.  And as for the true fuel saving? Toyota makes some bold claims:over 20,000km a year you can save about $14 a week from the family fuel budget, compared to a larger car and based on petrol being $1.30 a litre.DrivingIn a week of city running I made no conscious effort to save fuel. I wanted the car to return an honest consumption.  I was more than surprised: using 7.8l/100km or less than $20 of fuel for the week. My motoring colleagues have got that figure down to 6.5l/10km without trying too hard.Toyota's own consumption figure is 6l/100km for a mix of urban and city driving.  And fuel consumption is very much to the forefront when you are behind the wheel — the hybrid has four separate gauges to tell you if you are being green friendly.The hybrid's downsides? The only negatives I could find was an initial lacklustre performance from the CVT auto (there's no manual sequential shifting with this transmission), poor brake feel, a much smaller boot than the average Camry and you can't tow, not even a box trailer.  I also found out the hard way that the floor of the boot, made from hardboard, is easily broken.I got my first flat tyre in more than 25 years and managed to accidentally break the floor panel trying to lift it (you have to remove a central securing bolt first). And yes, I should have read the handbook first.  Driving the hybrid is a better than expected experience, albeit the ride is on the softish side. When you start off there's a whirring sound, akin to an electric trolley bus. Eventually the petrol engine cuts in with a slight vibration.You need a decent push on the acceleration to get the car up and running and the braking feels overly soft but you quickly get used to it.  The ride is excellent thanks to the extra weight of the battery in the boot, which balances out the weight distribution, and while the new electric steering is effortless, it is also lifeless.There's a little bit lacking in outright performance and some hesitation between pushing the accelerator pedal and forward movement but nevertheless the car is very liveable and without any major vices.  For the money, the luxury version of the hybrid Camry lacks for little: it has all the necessary safety features including stability and traction control, you get much-needed park sensors and rear-view camera for backing into tight spaces.The hybrid also features luxuries like push-button starting, leather upholstery, a decent audio system, power adjustable front seats and dual air conditioning.  Has the hybrid come of age? In this Camry there's no question.  Would I buy one? Absolutely, if I didn't need to tow a trailer.

"Oh, this is the hybrid?," he asks. "Yes."  Silence. Because, in truth, that's all he really needs to know.It's a hybrid and it's made in Australia and it's a Toyota and at less than $37,000, it costs the equivalent of a base-model six-cylinder sedan from Ford or Holden and runs on only two-thirds of their fuel consumption.  Basically, what's stopping you?Hybrids have been around ever since Mendel split his time between prayer and propagating peas.  It's not a bit scary. It drives like any other Camry though its trick of turning off its petrol engine when coasting or at a stop sign is initially freaky.  Unlike the high-tech Prius on which the Camry is mechanically and electrically based, nothing is unusual.Appearance It looks like a normal sedan car - true, too much like a normal sedan car - and has a conventional dashboard and switches and dials.  The gearshifter looks like a normal automatic shifter, even though it's attached to an unconventional transmission.It seats five adults, the boot is large-ish - but space is crimped a bit by the battery pack - and aside from a tidy up on the outside that greatly improves the Camry donor, it's invisible in the parking lot.  You will look at the Camry Hybrid and consider buying it because it is relatively easy on petrol and is practical.There's no doubt it will accept the family in comfort and almost whisper-quiet operation, even with the engine on, and really the only downers are a slightly shorter boot with only a small through-hole for skinny cargo, and the more serious inability to take a tow bar.Fuel economyToyota claims 6 litres/100km which is 32 per cent more economical that the four-cylinder Camry petrol version and any housewife will find 32 per cent a seductive discount, no matter what the product.  And it is seductive until you figure that though it will save you about $500 a year in petrol bills (at 15,000km and $1.20 a litre), the Hybrid costs $3000 more than the mid-spec Sportivo with which it shares many features.Be warned: It will take you six years to make up the difference - if you still own the car by then.  But it's not about the money, is it? This is a clever piece of engineering and there's a piece of me that quietly puffs out my chest at my ability to allow the Federal Government to give Toyota $35 million to build the car in Australia.As a taxpayer, part of that money, you see, is mine - so I have an attachment.  You can also feel tinged with green while pulling away from the lights or reversing out of the underground carpark - the car in motion but no noise from under the bonnet.It's a bit creepy and its silent motion will shock pedestrians habitually operating on their ears to manoeuvre around the city. In fact, the US association for the sight and aural-impaired are quite worried about the potential injury to members as the trend to noiseless vehicles takes hold. Damn environmental concerns!DrivetrainYou will marvel at its ability, seemingly at random, to switch off its polluting engine and run on the electric motor.  The motor is charged by the petrol engine and, cleverly, by connecting the onboard generator every time the Camry brakes. It's called regenerative braking.The Camry Hybrid doesn't have a plug-in capability - and thank the heavens for that! Plug-in electric cars have a place but they require more expensive and usually bulkier batteries and have only enough juice for 100km or 150km. The Camry idea, where every thing is onboard, is neater.Toyota's greenest locally-built car comes in two versions - base at $36,990 and Luxury at $39,990. The latter gets leather, sat-nav, sunroof and an upmarket audio and is the affluent way to help the environment eke out a few more centuries.DrivingOn the road it drives like a conventional Camry and once you get used to the engine occasionally napping, only the dull lightness of the electric power steering clarify the difference.  Handling feels a bit better because the battery is on the boot and helps balance out the front-wheel drive car.The Hybrid is heavier but it's also more powerful. This translates into a faster time to 100km/h but because of the continuously-variable transmission's wishy-washy lag, it doesn't feel like it's going anywhere for the first few milliseconds.  Something weird happened while I was out there behind the wheel - I didn't enjoy punching it. I felt, I don't know, dirty.Here was a car designed to skimp on fuel to save its owner money while helping the planet limp forward on its intergalactic Zimmer frame and I'm trying to drag OPEC into ruin.  But, of course, it's quite difficult to make the Camry Hybrid guzzle fuel. Then again, I couldn't match Toyota's 6 litres/100km average, either.I returned 7 l/100km. That's fine. Not anywhere near as good as some Europeans - Volkswagen's petrol 118TSI Golf and diesel TDI models, for example - but better than equivalent petrol-fuelled sedans.  A mate got closer, finding an average at about 6.5 l/100km. The difference wasn't anything with our right feet. Rather, I used the freeway and he used a coastal road. I was locked in to 100km/h with the engine never pausing and he was against a string of traffic lights and lots of undulations where the engine could be switched off and electric power used.It's sufficient to make you consider where you live and how you get to work.  And if someone asks, tell them with a smug smile that yes, it's a hybrid.

The starting price for Australia's first green car is $36,990.  That's the showroom tag for the basic Toyota Camry hybrid, which finally hits the road today.  The hybrid is being pitched as the flagship in the Camry range, from the way it looks to a cabin that is claimed to set a new standard for quietness in a locally-made car.The basic details of the Camry hybrid have been public since the car was introduced in 2006 in the USA, but there has been a lot of work on 'Australianising' the car, both for production and driving.  "Right from day one we knew that the American version wasn't going to work," says Phil King, who headed local chassis tuning work.The result is a car which is claimed to be more responsive, as well as packing a full suite of safety gear. But it still misses a five-star ANCAP rating because it does not have a driver's knee airbag or an audible seatbelt warning.Engine and economyThe Camry hybrid picks up the vast majority of its mechanical package from the third-generation Prius, which went on sale last year, although it has a 2.4-litre engine (up from 1.8) and still has a drive belt for the water pump, unlike the Prius. In fact, the car is really just a family-ised Prius.The hybrid bottom line is fuel economy of 6 litres/100km, compared with 9.3 for the Holden Commodore V6 or 9.9 for Toyota's own Aurion, with performance that trims a full second from the petrol-powered Camry's 0-100km/h time. The CO2 number is 142 grams/kilometre, while Toyota claims a huge advantage in NOX and particulates over diesel powerplants with similar economy.Price and equipmentThe $36,990 pricetag compares to $29,990 for a basic Camry Altise, or $39,990 for a Prius hybrid.  But Toyota Australia says the real cost of the hybrid upgrade is just $2000. The extra fat in the hybrid pricetags is down to extra equipment, from TFT instruments to a special windscreen.Toyota Australia is trumpeting plenty of equipment in the hybrid, which it says lines up with the Altise-model Camry with six airbags, ESP stability control, active steering assistance and a special power cut-off. There is also a Luxury model at $39,990, with option packs for both models _ at $3000 for the base car and $4500 on the Luxury - including satnav and premium sound.But the Camry's boot has taken a hit to fit the onboard battery system.  "This hybrid can walk, and chew gum," says Peter Evans, technical chief for Toyota's imported cars.  Toyota made some very big claims for the Camry hybrid today, from a five-star green rating, to a four-star ANCAP, and the potential for 7000 kilometres of free motoring every year - compared to a Commodore.DrivingThe hybrid is still a Camry, but now with a twist.  Even the best efforts of the team at Toyota Style have done little to change the overall look of the car, apart from a slightly more aggressive nose with blue headlamps. Inside, the big change is the loss of the tacho, in favour of a green driving monitor, and a TFT screen with familiar Prius driving readouts.First up, the Camry hybrid has a silent start. And you move away under battery power, although the car will only go two kilometres before it needs a top-up.  It feels a little firmer in the suspension, particularly over broken bitumen, and there is a familiar whirring sound under brakes as the generator works to recover energy for the batteries.Overall, the car feels a lot quieter and a little tauter. But it's a matter of degrees, not a wholesale change. And the loss of boot space will be significant for families, even if Toyota says it will still carry four sets of golf clubs.

The remarkable thing about the Toyota Camry hybrid is how unremarkable it is. And that's not meant to sell the clean and green sedan short either.The efforts of Toyota Australia's local engineering boffins have delivered a car that is fun to drive and economical, yet has practical real-world space for a family and kids. Compared to the regular 2.4-litre petrol model, the hybrid feels more secure on the road, quieter, and more confident when pushed through corners.Toyota's operations manager, engineering, Phil King, says the company took the best from the Thai-built version of the car and engineered it for Australian conditions. The suspension settings are not quiet Sportivo but a cut above the entry Altese petrol model."We did discuss at the start of planning what a hybrid should be, in the sense of whether it should be a comfort car or sporty," King says. "We decided we were not going to do a Sportivo and the car will be highly specced, not a bare bones vehicle."King and Toyota chassis engineer Paul Diamandis were among the team who fine tuned the car, throwing some Australian dynamic know-how to the suspension, steering and handling. The move has transformed the car into what King describes as the best execution of the global Camry hybrid. "We've tried to get more control with the body, which makes it a more pleasant drive," King says.The new electric power steering, recalibrated suspension and better weight distribution all contribute to greater on-road poise. "It's certainly better than the American version," King says.The addition of the 50kg battery pack in the boot has added some weight but it now helps the car's balance. The hybrid is between 60kg and 70kg heavier than the standard petrol car, depending on the spec. With the battery pack in the boot Toyota has almost achieved the holy grail of vehicle dynamics - perfect weight distribution.The standard 2.4-litre four cylinder front wheel drive petrol version's weight split is 60/40, while the hybrid is closer to 55/45. This translates into a more secure turn-in into corners and the extra weight evens out the ride over rougher roads.In side-by-side standing starts the hybrid accelerates as quick, if not quicker than the petrol car, thanks to the seamless power delivery of the CVT gearbox. There's 30 per cent more torque on tap which translates into better zero to 100km/h acceleration. The bonus of a better ride and more dynamic feel through the steering and suspension does come at a cost though. The battery pack eats into boot space.You can still load through items but the opening is restricted. The petrol fuel tank has also slimmed down in size from 70 litres to 65 litres.King is clearly proud of Toyota's efforts with its version of the global green car. "It's a green car but still a family car," he said. "I suspect there are some large-car buyers who wouldn't be seen in a Camry but this will change their minds," King says.The fuel-miser sedan arrives in showrooms next February with pricing from around $33,000. It is tipped to be available in two models, an entry Altise-based model and a luxury version, similar to the Prius i-Tech.