21st Aug 2008, 22:29

I've driven both the V-6 Camry and V-6 Fusion. The new Camry V-6 is just a tiny fraction faster than the Fusion from 0-60, provided you can find one that will keep running long enough to reach 60. Reliable these things are NOT. They aren't even recommended by Consumer Reports any more because of all their mechanical issues.

23rd Aug 2008, 07:53

Why does some Ford guy have to interject something about the Ford Fusion into a Camry review?

Ford finally managed to make a car the Consumer Reports HASN'T said to stay away from unless you have a death wish basically, and these Ford owners are all proud of it. Guess what? It will inevitably turn into a rolling nightmare just like every other Ford car I can think of after the design and safety flaws start showing up, which shouldn't take long, because it's a Ford.

Think Taurus (or '500', or whatever they renamed it after nobody bought it), CONTOUR - that was a gem right there, just to name a couple.

23rd Aug 2008, 10:58

"Ford finally managed to make a car the Consumer Reports HASN'T said to stay away from..."

You are right; Consumer Reports is too busy advising people to stay away from the Camry and Tundra.

I still take nothing Consumer Reports says seriously. Yet biased as they are, even they could not cover for the the horrific quality problems Toyota has been having any longer, and had to start being truthful about those issues to save whatever credibility they have left.

Don't believe me about the Toyota quality problems? Take a look at what customers are saying about them to consumer affairs:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/toyota_engine.html

23rd Aug 2008, 22:47

The current crop of ALL domestic vehicles is leaving all imports behind in quality, reliability and sales. The sales of the Ford Focus increased last quarter by more than Civic and Corolla COMBINED. GM dealers can't stock enough of their 4-cylinder cars to meet demand. Corvette sales have increased THREE HUNDRED PERCENT in EUROPE since 2000.

Toyota suffered a GREATER drop in sales than GM did when the economy hit bottom recently and gas hit $4 a gallon.

The Ford F-150 is STILL (after 31 YEARS) the best selling truck on the planet. The Chevy Silverado holds its value better than Tundra, and the large SUV with the HIGHEST resale value is the Chevy Suburban. The WORST is Nissan's awful Armada, which is just slightly worse than Toyota's pathetic Sequoia.

Motor Trend's Car of the Year is the Cadillac CTS, the American Car of the Year is the Chevy Malibu, and 3 of the "World's 10 Best" are from GM.

The highest rated car ever tested by Consumer Reports in their history is a Ford (the fusion) and the longest-lasting vehicle they have reported on is a Ford Ranger with 488,000+ trouble-free miles (Oct. 2007 issue).

J.D. Powers best car rating in 2007 was a TIE between Buick and Lexus. In 2008 the number two slot is Mercury. J.D. powers rated the 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix tops in a field including the Toyota Avalon, and the Mustang tops a field that includes the Toyota Solara.

In 2006 Toyota recalled more cars than they sold, and the Tundra and Camry V-6 lost their CR "recommended" status due to poor reliability.

You ask why people post comments about Fords on a Camry site. It is because us loyal Americans who choose to help save the jobs of the THIRTEEN MILLION people who work in the American auto industry by driving domestics are fed up with seeing comments from people who have never owned, driven, or even SAT in a domestic car call it "crap".

We've issued challenge after challenge after countless challenge for some (ANY) PROOF of these statements about domestic unreliability and we are STILL waiting. All we have gotten is "imports are better because we say so." NO data (such as that set forth above), NO frequency of repair records, nothing but opinion and myth taken from ad hype. That is why we comment on your site.

If you have never owned or driven a domestic, you have absolutely NO BASIS for attacking them. I've put over 300,000 miles on Fords, and a quarter million on Chrysler and GM with nothing AT ALL in engine or transmission repairs. None of our imports ever made 100,000 miles without MAJOR issues. I've owned BOTH, I KNOW which ones have been reliable and which have not. The only car that ever left us stranded on the road was a nearly new Toyota.

7th Nov 2010, 04:05

Used car dealers have exploded their lots with used Camrys, many late models 2007-2009, and are going cheap $9K-$13K.

In my experience, when you see a flood of used models for sale, then those are the cars nobody wants, and you should stay away from buying them.

It's the cars that everybody loves that you don't see for sale in used car lots.

7th Nov 2010, 10:44

This isn't true in my area. Most used cars go for premium here, even the Camry. I also haven't seen the mythical proportions of used Camry's over everything else out there. Used cars pretty much equal out to brand and model. People aren't going to suddenly dump their year or two old Camry just because they rate lower. That makes no sense. If they really lost as much as you are claiming in value, the people trading them would lose their shirts.

In reality, Toyotas are still on par with any domestic for resale. Consumer Reports also just ran a fresh story putting Toyota ahead of the domestic brands for reliability. And yes they said "in spite of the recalls". So a recalled Toyota is still a better bet than any domestic.

The Fusion is suddenly becoming the new car for tranny failures, as there is a flood of them on here and all over the Internet. The initial quality ratings are long gone now, as the car is 6 years into its production.

All cars have their issues. In a short time Toyota will get past the recalls, and they will once again be a top seller. Consumers always have short term memory when it comes to issues of products. Look at how many people line up for the iPhone every time they release the new one, and then they once again go through the problems and upgrades etc, etc. The same is true for the car industry.

7th Nov 2010, 21:43

Buying a cheap phone is far different than the second biggest purchase a consumer typically purchases. That is a vehicle, the first being a home My focus is on my last lemon and import trans issues, and I subsequently switched. The thousands it cost are never going to be a distant memory.

8th Nov 2010, 05:13

Maybe in your part of the Happy Toyota country, Fusions are six year old, but I've got a got a hunch that you won't find any older than four in the rest of North America.

8th Nov 2010, 08:08

"My focus is on my last lemon and import trans issues, and I subsequently switched. The thousands it cost are never going to be a distant memory."

True, this is why I consistently buy imports. I've had such terrible luck with domestics.

Toyota still has a loyal following, and they will be back on top. There have been many major recalls for the domestic companies too. Can you remember any of them and what the problem was? Yeah, me either.