Advice - to buy or not buy Camry Hybrid
 

Hello,

I own a Prius and love the reliability and gas mileage. I am looking at trading my wife's gas guzzler for a Camry Hybrid 2015-2017. What is the typical mpg owners are getting for mixed driving city/hwy? Are there particular issues or qwerks that I should be on the lookout for? Anyone regret purchasing the Camry Hybrid?

Thanks in advance for all advice,

---ehawk01

If no response here, try Toyotanation.com Camry hybrid forum.

Camry 7th Gen - Hybrid (2012-2017) - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

If you look closely at fuel mileage statistics, I can't see the added cost and complexity of a Hybrid paying off. Especially if you are going to keep the car for any length of time past the warranty. It could easily turn into a very expensive money pit. And for what, just a few MPG more? And it also depends on your driving. Unless you spend a lot of time in stop and go traffic, you won't see any savings with a Hybrid.

My wife and I are both retired, and we schedule our appointments either before or after rush hour, so we don't have to spend time on the road getting frustrated in traffic. For us a Hybrid would be totally useless. When we bought our new Camry last week. On the drive home from the dealer we averaged 41.3 MPG. This with a brand new vehicle with 3 miles on it, right off the lot. I just can't see a Hybrid giving any more mileage than that. Especially when you factor in the added cost and complexity of the vehicle.

There are hundreds of Hybrid Camry taxis here in Melbourne many have seen years of use, a sure sign that they are economical to run in the long term. I've never heard of any problems with them.

Taxi cabs do more starting and stopping in city driving conditions than most any other type of vehicle. For them that type of constant city driving in heavy stop and go traffic might make a Hybrid pay off. But for someone who lives and operates their vehicle on mostly open roads, or out in the country, a Hybrid is a waste of money and complexity.

Sooner or later the main battery is going to fail, then what? The Camry hybrid can't be driven with a dead main battery.

Recently several members have been told they need a new battery now just out of warranty. Toyota dealer repair quotes were about the same as the cars value with a good battery (dropped to approx $3500 after the car owners objected at the first quote).

It's possible to go a third party repair route which is cheaper or even DIY and save more money. However a car owner needs to know this.

Keep this in mind when owning a hybrid.

A state may mandate a longer warranty period on the main battery then the auto maker. Ditto for certain emissions systems.

I put all of the "savings" involved in owning a Hybrid in the same class as people who install solar energy systems on their house to "save money" on their electric bill. They are spending a lot, and hoping to get a return on energy costs. Most don't. These systems are complex and expensive.... Just like Hybrids. And the actual "savings" they offer up, many times are simply not there. A lot of people pay tens of thousands of dollars to have a state of the art solar system installed in their home. And many are saving next to nothing. Especially when you factor in the cost of the system, along with keeping it repaired.

Hybrids are no different. You will at some point have to replace the battery. If the vehicle is out of warranty when you do, it will more than likely be equal to, or else exceed the value of the vehicle itself. And let's be honest. $3,500.00 buys a lot of gasoline. Especially when you're getting 35+ MPG. At $2.80 @ gallon that translates to approximately 1,250 gallons of fuel. At 35 miles per gallon that equals 43,750 miles of driving. Is owning a Hybrid for the life of the battery going to give you that much better mileage? Very doubtful.

I OWN a 2015 Camry Hybrid, I have owned other Camry gens before and I can tell you this - Nothing drives sweeter than the Hybrid. Hybrid is a technology Coming not going. You can't oppose of resist it forever. Its like how some folks had reservations with button start vehicles, but now.........
Its not only about the fuel consumption but the synergy performance. When the Motor and the Engine kicks in same time its amazing. The battery in the back somehow stabilized the vehicle making cornering much easier and smoother at high speed One of my friend has a 2007 Camry Hybrid and had no battery problem (both traction and 12v AGM). I discovered that most people who bash Hybrids are persons who never owned one and mechanics who have no plans to upgrade their trade Lol. Go and test drive one you will be amaze.

No one is "bashing" Hybrids. What most are saying is they are not going to produce the fuel savings over the added cost of the vehicle. Especially when so many are experiencing battery failure just south of the warranty period. And fuel savings over time is the reason most people purchase them in the first place. They may drive exceptionally well. I don't doubt that. But as far as fuel savings, it's a law of diminishing returns...... If in fact there are ANY returns after the added costs are subtracted. This is especially true if you have to amortize a new battery into the cost vs. "savings" equation.

And as far as the technology. It's continued existence is not a given. Just like these silly devices that shut off engines at stoplights, that many manufacturers are now incorporating into their newer models. The supposed fuel "savings" these contraptions are producing are minimal to non existent. People who have these things hate them. They are selling modules that will override the Start / Stop devices in many of these vehicles. BMW is being sued over their Start / Stop models because many are being blamed for causing unnecessary accidents. Some of these new technologies are good. Others not so good. Some work well, and produce an actual measurable fuel savings worth buying into, while others do not.

The jury is still out on many of these Hybrids. Especially in the larger, more expensive models. The purchasers of these more expensive Hybrid models don't really care about economy anyway. They just want the latest and the greatest...... For the next 15 minutes. And once someone finds out their 6 or 8 year old, out of warranty Hybrid is basically worthless, as it sits with a dead battery. That will pretty much guarantee it will be the last Hybrid that consumer ever purchases. This type of technology has to produce if it is going to last. So far Hybrids have not. At least not to the degree required to be overwhelmingly successful. When I purchased my new Camry, the lot was packed full of new gas models of every conceivable type and trim package. Hybrids?...... Only a very few. And you best believe if that dealer could sell them, they would have them.

Interesting thread.

From experience, many energy savings or energy production devices may look good at first. However, when the numbers are run, they are found not to be economically viable.

The numbers showing there was no real pay off despite having rebates, tax credits/wavers, etc. (some very generous).

The kicker typically being the initial investment cost is too high. Ironically in some cases made high due to government/industry requirements (perhaps motivated by those opposed to the idea).

A government website stated the recapture time for the additional cost of a 2018 Camry LE hybrid over the conventional LE was something like 7.6 yrs.

If the hybrid battery OEM warranty is 8 yrs/100K miles, the owner is on their own for replacement shortly after this price difference is recaptured. A replacement battery will reset the time period needed to recapture this cost.

It appears (could be wrong) that a new Toyota OEM battery warranty is only 3yrs/36k miles (perhaps someone can check this). The result is the car owner is liable if this battery fails, sooner rather then later as with the factory battery.

If the Camry main battery does fail, the car is no longer drivable. It's one thing to be a DIYer and be able to replace or fix the battery at a reasonable cost. It's another to be at the mercy of the dealer.

Perhaps states like California which are mandating high mileage standards (meaning going to electric cars) will foster third party businesses that can provide battery repair/replacement at a reasonable cost.

Ford states they are pretty much getting out of passenger car business. The reason being Americans are buying SUV's and trucks, which just happen to be most profitable vehicles they sell.

Most car makers build hybrids to balance their fleets EPA MPG requirements, not to make profits.

Car makers will do pretty much anything to gain a few fractions of a MPG. Those engine start/stop devices are a result.

My opinion is unless a vehicle is a business tool (tax write off) or used in business to be able to deduct a federal standard mileage cost, they are really poor investments. More so if needing a dealer to fix them.

Most people I know having electric cars or hybrids use their car in a business, where sifting some of the cost to the taxpayer makes the vehicle viable.

That stated one might pick up a used mid 2000 HV, now made worthless by a dead main battery, for next to nothing. Then DIY repair or install a lower cost battery to have a HV on the cheap.

Here the return on investment would occur much sooner as the car would be depreciated, perhaps now worth more then repair costs (the cars cost being next to zero).