Faults:

Nothing, the car was a rental.

General Comments:

This was my very first Toyota that I had ever driven. Wow was I impressed.

Things I liked about the car. I liked how big the interior was, lots of room that separated you from the front seat passenger.

I also liked the seats, very comfortable.

I liked the length of the car, not too long and not too short, just right. This made it very easy to park.

I liked how the car turned. This car turned very well, which helped make it easy to park.

I liked the 4 cylinder engine. This engine was very fast for a 4 and I got around 25 mpg combined city and highway.

I liked the radio, the gauges (mph.etc..), and the heat/ A/C controls. Very easy to figure out and you could reach them easy.

I had radio controls on the steering wheel. First time I ever had those and I liked them, I could change the station in rush hour traffic without taking my hand off the wheel.

Also the car was very quiet inside, I couldn't hear much road noise. Just for this fact alone I would buy the car. When I would go to start up the car, at first I would question that it was on because it was so quiet.

I liked the trunk. First of all, it shut very easy. Second it was big, but not too big. Plenty of room for lots of groceries and things to store.

Some things I didn't like.

I didn't like the exterior looks of the car too much. I think Toyota tried too hard to make it look cool.

I didn't like the hard steering wheel. I need some padding for my hands.

I didn't like the shifter being in the middle by the radio, it took up too much space. I also didn't like the actually shifter. You had to move it a little bit to the side to put it into gear. The shifter should be straight. I prefer the shifter by the wheel.

A summary. I drove this car as a rental for 7 days. I was impressed by Toyota. I really enjoyed the quiet, smooth, and comfortable ride with plenty of standard features. I will buy one as my next car when it comes time, and I will get a blue one.

Faults:

Nothing of course. It's a new car.

General Comments:

I just upgraded from a 1999 Corolla LE, and that is my only frame of reference.

When I was shopping around, I narrowed down my choices to 2009 Honda Accord and 2010 Camry. Although I liked the Accord’s exterior better, I chose the Camry just based on the interior quality. The Accord has cheap fabrics, haphazard arrangement of buttons on the cockpit, and even interior colors don’t match. On the other hand Camry has a professional looking interior, is tidy, has minimal number of controls in the sight and instrument panel design is eye-pleasing.

Even though mine is a basic model, I am impressed with all the little features that I did not notice in the show room and I uncover every day such as: four (not two) windows one-click up/down, run-flat Michelin tires, door-mounted welcome lights, cargo net, adjustable height for driver’s seat and several almost-hidden storage spaces.

Ride is truly comfortable and quiet. You feel that inside is vacuum sealed from the outside.

The new engine is powerful enough even at high speeds. The 6-speed transmission has one mission statement and that is to up-shift fast to bring the RPM down without any compromise. However, the transmission will not down-shift too quickly if you floor the gas pedal and I understand the reason: The demographic of Camry drivers do not wish to accelerate hard, nor to feel any jerk while driving. Before I bought the car I was worried that this car might have the same problem as the infamous Camry’s 5-speed transmission, but it seems that Toyota has fixed the problem.

Comparing it to my old Corolla, I can see that Toyota is cutting the corners to save material. Almost any plastic part that you are able to verify the thickness is thinner and flimsier than old Corolla: floor mats, cargo liner, glove box, wheel covers, you can even squeeze the inside door handles to see they are hollow. I just cross my fingers for the mechanical parts and hope the whole thing last as long as my Corolla.