11th Apr 2008, 13:21

To anyone owning a Ford, you have my sympathy. Thank you for stimulating the economy. I know a lot of my money left my wallet back when I used to drive them. I'd take a Camry with 3 wheels before I'd degrade myself in a Ford again.

I love listening to the Fusion owners rant and rave about how good it is when it's new. Wait till it starts to fall apart just like all Ford cars do prematurely.

12th Apr 2008, 12:16

I did a check of used Camrys in our area, and found 45 Camrys from 2004 through 2007. SEVEN of those were at ONE Ford dealership, and I'm virtually certain every one of them was traded in one a Fusion.

With Toyota having massive recalls, major safety issues (brakes, suspension, air bags, steering, to name just a hand full) I think it is Camry owners who deserve the sympathy, at least until they can upgrade to a Fusion or Chevy Malibu (2008 Car of the Year).

24th Apr 2008, 10:23

To the person who traded his Camry for a Fusion:

Good for you, I had an 04 as well, total crap. Everything on the damn thing rattled. EVERYTHING! I sold mine, paid of my CC card debt and got a 99 Civc for now, which has been decent for the money I paid for it. I may go for a fusion next as well.

25th Apr 2008, 08:53

My friend's Camry rattled so bad you couldn't hear conversation inside the car. Very poor build quality. None of our domestics has ever had a rattle.

3rd Dec 2008, 21:04

I'm the original poster. I still have the '07 Camry. The problem turned out to be an exhaust valve choking one of the cylinders. It cost almost $1,500.00, under warranty, to repair one valve. I told the salesman, "you sold me a piece of crap", in front of a whole host of potential buyers on one day because of the issue. It got resolved, and now I get 33mpgs (supposedly) on the highway, when I'm on long trips, with 93 octane. The car finally behaves properly, and I haven't had issues since.

However, when I got rid of my '04 Mustang V6, instead of the IS350 I was wanting, I bought a used Mercedes CLK500. I think that was the best car purchase I ever made. Do yourself a favor, and buy a used German car.

24th Feb 2009, 19:30

"None of our domestics has ever had a rattle."

Hey I like domestics too but they haven't been perfect. All of these unlikely comments like... I've had domestics for the last 80 years and nary a one has ever even misfired... or... Domestics have always been better than anything else, made anywhere, anytime... Blah, blah, blah WHO CARES!! Everyone who reads this blog and has owned a few vehicles knows that cars, whatever the source, aren't perfect.

25th Feb 2009, 17:49

A couple of my friends who went from domestics to Japanese also said they had inadequate air conditioners. That was one of the big reasons they switched back to domestics later.

My wife and I are still laughing about what we read in our Volvo V40 owners manual a few years ago. It said it was dangerous to run the air conditioner for more than a few minutes because the windshield could cloud up with condensation and we wouldn't be able to see out to drive. No chance of that where we are living in the desert. But it does show how the car designers in other lands just have completely different ideas about what it needed in a car.

26th Feb 2009, 11:18

If the original reviewer is now advocating buying used German cars, his problems have only just begun. You do realize that used German cars have some of the worst reliability ratings, with the greatest repair expenses? Honestly, you'd be better off buying a used Mercury instead of a used BMW or Mercedes if you just want something to drive, even if it's not as flashy.

15th Dec 2009, 14:21

2007 Camry XLE... new brakes at 40,000KM's; everything rattles, replaced front shocks at 55,000Km's (then I had to pay extra to have the wheels aligned) ; had the dealership put in the dash-rattle fix kit supplied by Toyota... still rattling after 2 repair attempts...

Like many others in this review, I too was fooled by all the media hype about Toyota quality. This is my second Camry, the first is a 1998 which I gave to my son... over 200,000km's and still rides better, smoother than the 2007. Have never had to replace shocks with brakes done only once...

Same thing happened to Honda... rated number 1 when built in Japan, as soon as they started building in North America, immediate drop to #4...

The same fate for Toyota because they are now building crap in North America, using inferior parts and labor that doesn't give a s--t... BUYER BEWARE.

3rd Mar 2010, 19:47

I was the poster in December 2009...guess I was right... Toyota is now exposed to the world... Now I have had the gas pedal replaced and nothing but problems... spongy feel and now the car hard shifts, takes forever to go off fast idle, changes gears without warning and guess what, the Toyota dealership cannot find anything wrong... go figure...They are the Tiger Woods of the Auto industry... led us all down the garden path.

4th Mar 2010, 16:27

I too noticed a big quality drop in Honda when they began building in the states. If I were shopping for a new car right now, I'd still go with Honda, but I'd make sure it wasn't built here. We clearly don't have the work ethic or quality control.

31st May 2010, 16:02

"As far as domestic vehicles, none of them will last past 100k miles without issues."

People shouldn't make such statements based on one or two isolated instances. In over 35 years my family has never had a single mechanical problem with ANY domestic before 100,000 miles. That includes a Pontiac that currently has 258,000 miles, a Ford that was traded at 325,000 miles, a Dodge that was sold at 240,000 miles and a Buick LaSabre that was sold in 2008 with 277,000 miles and still running strong with zero problems. We have put well over 100,000 miles on several other domestics with no problems. There seems to be an urban myth about domestics being unreliable. Actually, all our three WORST cars in reliability were two Japanese imports (both built in Japan) and one German car (built in Germany). NONE of those made 100,000 miles.

2nd Sep 2010, 13:47

All cars have problems. If there was a car that didn't, then nobody would have anything to gripe about. The plastic manifolds and little rubber seals, bushings and really weak rubber hoses they are using in every car these days, are all crap, even in high dollar cars. Land Rover, VW, AUDI, PORSCHE, BMW, and all GM and Ford cars have these little issues.

Any of these cars, especially Audi and VW are only good for 4 years; after that the ETHENAL gas has broken down the rubber hoses and lines, causing codes and other problems.

The big problem with Toyota now is over engineering simple cars.