- Doors and Seats
4 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
2.5i/105kW Hybrid, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
256kW (comb), 270Nm
- Fuel
Hybrid (91) 5.2L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Auto (CVT)
- Warranty
3 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
5/5 star (2011)
Toyota Camry – Used car review
So it’s official: The new Toyota Camry Hybrid is Drive’s car of the year for 2018.
A combination of technology and keen pricing got it over the line, but what if the budget won’t stretch to the brand-new version?
Well, there’s still hope, because the Toyota Camry has been available in Australia with a petrol-electric hybrid driveline since 2010, so there are plenty of usedies about.
- Novel driveline doesn't affect reliability or durability.
- Excellent fuel economy in its element.
- All the Camry's interior practicality.
- Lots of car for the money.
- Some were fleets cars first up.
- Batteries do compromise boot space.
- Not the most entertaining drive.
- Part of a dying market sector.
For our money, we’d be concentrating on the models from 2012 to 2017. The upgrade of 2012 brought a better looking car as well as a bigger petrol engine for plenty of performance. And by 2015, the hybrid driveline was available across the whole Camry range, so that’s another story in itself which saw prices of used versions drop even further
So, for those 2012 to 2015 examples, you’re looking at two trim levels, the H and better equipped HL.
Either way, the buying proposition is that hybrid driveline, so what is it exactly? It starts with a 2.5-litre petrol four-cylinder engine good for 135kW of power. There’s nothing remarkable about the engine per se, other than to say that it will, like most Toyota engines, run forever without major hassles.
The tricky bit of any hybrid, of course, is the electric assistance motor which can join in the fun when the driver dials up maximum acceleration to boost output to 155kW.
That’s actually more than the non-hybrid Camry, but there’s an almost-200kg weight penalty to pay for the electric motor and its batteries, so performance is similar, and still more than adequate.
The major re-education process that needs to take place for drivers is the CVT transmission which can feel very alien on first encounters. It honestly feels as though the transmission is slipping when you accelerate hard, but this is just the way the unit works.
In normal running, you may not even notice the CVT at all, but get out on a freeway and start using the throttle for overtaking and it will make its presence felt with a feeling not unlike a manual car with a slipping clutch.
As far as fuel economy goes, the Camry hybrid gains the biggest advantage over its petrol-only counterpart in the cut and thrust of urban traffic.
On highway runs where the petrol motor of the hybrid will be running pretty much non-stop, there won’t be a lot in it. But in a stop-start scenario, the energy recuperation abilities and electric assist-motor of the hybrid will really start to pay dividends.
In fact, the difference in urban and country running in the hybrid will be minimal, and we’ve seen urban consumption figures for this car in the low-sixes which is pretty phenomenal for a full-sized, five-seat sedan.
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Despite the extra mechanical complexity of the hybrid drivelines, the Camry is, after all, a Toyota and that bodes well for its long-term prospects.
The CVT transmission seems to be pretty trouble free (unlike similar transmissions in other brands) and the way Camrys are driven masks the biggest driveability issue; that the transmission 'flares' under hard acceleration.
The large-capacity Toyota four-cylinder engine is under-stressed and has proven itself time after time to be able to go the distance without fuss.
Which really only leaves the electric motors and battery-packs that make up the hybrid part of things as the wild-cards. Fact is, the electric motor has more or less one moving part and is based on well-understood principles.
And the prospect of the battery-pack failing just a few years into the car’s life just doesn’t seem to be trending as any sort of reality. We’re not seeing battery-packs dying young at all and they’re still hitting wrecking yards (as a result of crashes) faster than they’re wearing out in-service, meaning there’s a decent supply of second-hand ones if it comes to the crunch.
You might also find that the Camry hybrid, thanks to its ability to regenerate power from braking, is even easier on brake pads than a standard Camry.
The only recall that shows up for these cars was a single batch of cars built between October 2011 and July 2012 (regardless of when they were sold). That was to check for a kinked fuel line that may have been damaged during manufacture and could potentially lead to a fuel leak.
But beyond that, the Camry Hybrid has a very clean bill of health…which is exactly what you’d expect.
There was a kerfuffle in the marketplace when the Camry first arrived in 2010 over the vehicle’s crash-safety rating of four stars when its major competitors were scoring five. According to Toyota at the time, the Camry lost points for not having a padded steering column and for the lack of a seat-belt reminder alarm for the front seats. You can make up your own mind about that, but it’s why we’d always try for a 2012 or later model when the car finally achieved five safety stars.
But that does bring us to the other thing to watch out for, and that’s a Camry Hybrid that has spent the first part of its life on a fleet. Governments were pretty keen on this car, so you’d want to find out its history and whether the car was executive-driven or a pool car for everybody from the office intern to the CEO.
The service records should reveal some important information, also, so make sure the car you’re looking at has a full maintenance history.
Check out all the Camry Hybrid models you can buy now on Drive
Toyota Camry Hybrid 2012-2017 Nuts and bolts
Engine/s: 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol/two electric motors
Transmissions: CVT automatic, FWD
Fuel economy (combined): 5.2 litres per 100km
Safety rating (courtesy of www.howsafeisyourcar.com.au): 5 stars
Our rating: 3.5 stars
Likes:
- Novel driveline doesn’t affect reliability or durability.
- Excellent fuel economy in its element.
- All the Camry’s interior practicality.
- Lots of car for the money.
Dislikes:
- Some were fleets cars first up.
- Batteries do compromise boot space.
- Not the most entertaining drive.
- Part of a dying market sector.
Competitors
- Ford Falcon Ecoboost – One of the better Falcons ever made, the FG Ecoboost used a turbocharged two-litre four-cylinder rather than the usual huge-capacity six or V8. Massively – and unfairly - overlooked by the market. 3.5 stars
- Holden Commodore LPG – A fully-integrated LPG-dedicated fuel system for the VE Commodore was enough to give it a real running-cost edge in the real world. You’d never pick it as a non-petrol car (until you went to fill up). 3 stars
- Toyota Camry – The non-hybrid version of the same Camry is still a great second-hand buy thanks to rock-solid engineering and build quality. There are lots out there to choose from, and many have been pampered. 3 stars
What to pay (courtesy of Glass’s Guide):
Model | Year | New | Now |
Camry Hybrid H | 2012 | $34,990 | $9,300 |
Camry Hybrid HL | 2012 | $41,490 | $13,300 |
Camry Hybrid H | 2013 | $34,990 | $11,100 |
Camry Hybrid HL | 2013 | $41,490 | $15,800 |
Camry Hybrid H | 2014 | $34,990 | $13,100 |
Camry Hybrid HL | 2014 | $41,490 | $17,800 |
Altise | 2015 | $30,490 | $14,400 |
Atara S | 2015 | $32,490 | $15,300 |
Atara SL | 2015 | $40,440 | $19,300 |
Altise | 2016 | $30,490 | $16,400 |
Atara S | 2016 | $32,490 | $17,500 |
Atara SL | 2016 | $40,440 | $22,400 |
Altise | 2017 | $30,490 | $18,600 |
Atara S | 2017 | $33,190 | $20,800 |
Atara SL | 2017 | $40,440 | $26,000 |