Toyota Camry Hybrid wins 2007 Green Car of the Year

Haha! Motortrend Car of the Year, Green Car of the Year, next up...North American Car of the Year!

You know for years I have been hearing a Toyota commercial from a local dealer here in OC, CA and the jingle is, "You won't get a lemon, from Toyota of Orange" and it's true car companies.

I believe if the Big 3 would surpass Toyota's reliability they would destroy Toyota on styling and reliability.

Toyota also has better engines under their belts.

I'd still rather have a Honda. And you're an Acura fan, so you probably agree. Honda has better engines, more interesting styling, equal reliability and a more satisfactory owner's experience. The only thing that Toyota is ahead in is hybrid technology, although Honda came out with it first.

But does anybody really need a hybrid version of a Civic, Camry or Accord, when all three are all frugal by themselves?

that's like asking, "Does anyone really need 350 hp when 320 is already powerful enuff?" not to mention, a lot of people are perfectly happy with just 220 or even 198 hp.

yes, it's great to get 30 mpg. BUT better yet, 40 to 45 - 50 mpg!

and MUCH more practical than having 100 - 300% more hp than you REALLY need, and rarely make use of.

one can appreciate "bestest" mileage EVERY day. indeed, on EVERY trip to town or just to the store.

Why am i not surprise again Toyota won another award ?
The big 3 WILL NEVER surpass Toyota in anything but trips to the repair shop !!! Besides i will predict the big 3 will be under water in a year or 2 .

Sure they will.

Haven't you heard about the big buy out for the Union workers?

Once they get rid of all those Union wokers and replace them with CNC machines and robots the quality will go way up!

Another victory for an overrated car? I don't see what's so special about the whole hybrid thingy. You only get good fuel economy in the city, the car wasn't designed to be taken from New York to San Francisco and impress with good fuel economy.

Hybrids are overrated, totally overrated.

I know I'll get slammed, but come on, get real, hybrids function in the city, that's it.

HMMMM Bill you continue to bash Toyota,but I guess your not reading the headline of the article,the key word "GREEN" meaning emissions!How many awards has Mercedes won for their 100+ year old technology "Diesel bluetech",and I'm not talking about in germany,I'm talking about the place that has the world's most strict emission laws around California!!!

I don't care what you say "bluetech" is not a new technology,all they did is make a new catalitic converter,but the engine is basicly the same 100+ year old technology,with the exception that it is smoother running!!

yeah, anyone can EASILY shoot such opinions out their ass. here's the REAL results from an actual owner. (1st comment on that blog):

"It's a great car, the Camry Hybrid that is. Around town it gets well above 40MPG if you aren't stupid with the gas pedal. At 72MPH I get a constant 39MPG - and if I'm moving along in a train of traffic (and drafting the person in front of me) it will get 42MPG at 75MPH. Plus when you need to punch it it's all there; R&T measured 0-60MPH in 7.3 seconds. Add leather, nav, sunroof and a set of aftermarket rims...and you have a near perfect car. Now if people would just stop buying the dang things! They are turning up everywhere LOL....

Posted at 1:22PM on Dec 1st 2006 by Chris Adams

Fun to drive and Camry in one sentence? Buddy, I have driven the new Camry and let me tell you, it's the most boring car in America - again. Seems to me that every year, the Camry gets even more boring. There's no excitement behind the wheel. If I was younger, I'd be doing my girlfriend in the backseat of a Camry. That's more exciting than driving the thing.

Get a grip.

I've driven a new Camry too, and I hated it. Tons of body roll, a crappy i4 engine that can't go much faster than 80mph, and a ugly and boring interior. Handled terrible.
Camry-not fun.

Best car in its class? Nice one, Will. I am not a Camry hater, but the Camry is nothing special, many people can tell you that. Of course, you being a Toyota worshipper can never admit that it isn't.

Give me the Hyundai Sonata anyday. That car looks a million times better than the boring Camry and it also drives better. It's also cheaper and the quality is just as good, perhaps even better. The Camry interior is cheap as hell by the way.

So what if the Camry is the most popular? Toyota has a good reputation, of course people will buy the Camry because it's made by Toyota. That, however, doesn't mean that the Camry is the best in class. To me, the Hyundai Sonata is essentially just as reliable and an equally high-quality product - except it is much better value and looks better. Sorry, the Camry is what it is: boring inside out.

The Lexus SC430 has a silky smooth ultra quiet V8. Because of this, is it the best in class? Hell no, that car is last place all the time.

No, Accord is best in class.

"The Lexus SC430 has a silky smooth ultra quiet V8. Because of this, is it the best in class? Hell no, that car is last place all the time."


sez who? ONLY would be boy-racer car rag writers. and people who gravitate toward boxers and 911s and such. (and don't mind the associated HIGH MAINTENANCE and repair costs)

the SC430 is rated BEST in TWO categories, by CR. it also has one of the highest owner satisfaction rates.

EL34 the big three not only don't have reliable product, but no style either. So for the big 3 sadly but true, it will be in their DREAMS only that they could event scratch Toyota and not destroy it, cause destroying it won't even be in their dreams. lol

FYI, everything in this segment, mainstream midsized cars, are pretty much boring. Doesn't matter who the manufacturer is. Thank you to all of those people who pointed out the obvious.

Oh, shut up about "quality"! It's all I hear! Blah, blah, blah! It is just SO vague!

Hybrid haters complain that hybrids dont have enough power. The Camry answers that with close to 200 hp. They complain about the jellybean shape of the Prius, well, the new Camry is sleek and attractive. And of course no one can debate the emissions advantage of a hybrid, so hybrid haters just usually choose to ignore that fact. The Camry Hybrid accomplishes everything that a hybrid can do-more power, better MPG, cleaner emissions, and does so at a very reasonable couple thousand dollars price premium over a standard Camry. The car is pretty near perfect. It's just too bad it doesnt come in a hatch, or it would be in my driveway right now (which is why the Prius is next for me when my Matrix lease is up)

Oink Oink says the 2007 Camry grille.

The '06 Camry was designed around the halogen bulbs up front.

I like the styling of the '05 Camry better.

IMHO.

did you mean the '07, 'stead of '06?

it was styled to suggest the nose of an F1 car. slightly.

what other family bus can claim kinship to a Formula One car?

I have a young nephew that thinks a Toyota Celica is a better looking car than any Ferrari and I keep telling him an engine in a Ferrari cost more than that entire car.

costs have little or NO relationship to looks. even less to performance.

your nephew's opinion makes more sense than your remark.

the toyota MR2 is also nice looking, often referred to as "the poor man's ferrari." a perfectly valid description.

the Lotus Elise, with THE SAME TOYOTA ENGINE, will actually OUT PERFORM most ferraris on a tight course. even a Viper could barely stay ahead, in a R&T comparison. but it has 2x the price and 4x the engine.

imho, the celica is ALSO better looking than the Elise, altho' it would be dusted on the race track.

and in a way, more exotic looking that the MR2 as well.

your nephew has good taste.

2JZSoarer

HMMMM Bill you continue to bash Toyota,but I guess your not reading the headline of the article,the key word "GREEN" meaning emissions!How many awards has Mercedes won for their 100+ year old technology "Diesel bluetech",and I'm not talking about in germany,I'm talking about the place that has the world's most strict emission laws around California!!!

I don't care what you say "bluetech" is not a new technology,all they did is make a new catalitic converter,but the engine is basicly the same 100+ year old technology,with the exception that it is smoother running!!

*******************************************************


Listen up, fanboy. I didn't bash the Camry, I said it was an overrated car, which it is. All you Toyota fanboys treat the Camry as if it were some kind of God, it's not. It's an ultra-boring car for boring people. Fact. So yeah, the hybrid Camry is clean, but as usual, it will be most effective in the urban environment, not cross-country tours. That limits its appeal.

Bluetec is a new invention, moron. Quite revolutionary. Seeing that you're a Toyota fanboy, you're probably jealous of the fact that Toyota diesels are inferior. If Toyota made diesels for the US market, you'd be the first fanboy to praise them and claim some bullshit that "Toyota diesels are cleaner than German diesels because Toyota makes them". Yeah, we've heard this shit all before from Toyota worshippers on this site. It's getting old and you guys are sounding more retarded everyday.

You claim that the the MB Bluetec engine is the same 100+ year old diesel technology. You know what, this just showed me how ignorant and stupid you are. If this engine were the "same 100+ year old diesel engine", then it would have pre-chamber combustion, 2-valves per cylinder, possibly 2-stroke, low horsepower output, be slow, wouldn't rev above 2,500 RPM, high in emissions etc. Read about Bluetec and then talk, fanboy.

California's emission laws are pro-gasoline, that's the simple truth. Go play with your hybrids, I know where I am going to invest my money.

AND neither america nor the state of california regulates IN ANY WAY carbon dioxide emissions, the main cause of golbal warming. in the europe they are very strictly regulated, and anyone can easily access the CO2 emissions of almost any car.
question: why does the v6 cadillac SRX have worse CO2 emissions and worse MPG than the V8? how could that happen? (we are just about the get the SRX in the UK).

Bill the true moron here is you for calling the Camry boring for people,as if you speak on behalf of everyone!Not everyone wants to drive an overrated,unreliable,old man's car like Mercedes!!!

I alaways said that Toyota should stick to developing the Fuel cell,and stay away from Diesels!!

Oh and try to relax old man Bill,before you get a heart attack,remember it's just friendly car conversation!

2JZSoarer,

A large number of Toyota's sold in Europe are diesel-powered. You claim that Toyota should stay away from diesels. Why?

If they do, then they'll loose a lot of market share in Europe.

they'll lose at least 50% of sales if they don't do diesel, porbably more.

Mistype:"Allways"

i know NO2 has an effect, but overall it is CO2 which is the biggest changer, and the US does not control, regulate or measure it in any way.
diesels emit less CO2 than petrol though, but more than some hybrids.
and i suppose its an older engine, but then why would they offer it here? its slower, more polluting and thirstier, i just don't see the point. when they stick in a 3.0+ diesel it will sell, that is if they sort out the interior (wiper button on the roof, why?)

"but then why would they offer it here? its slower, more polluting and thirstier, i just don't see the point."

initial price? taxes? are cars still taxed by displacement there?

i'm sure they're not....company car tax is worked out by CO2 in britain, which the v6 makes more of. and initial VAT is just 17.5% straight off for everything, and road tax is by CO2 too. (both are in the top band anyway, by a long shot. 3.5x more CO2 than the prius)
its probably cheaper to make or something, so they sell it for less.