2008 Toyota Camry SE V6

**SteveCallas** · **10-27-07, 06:40 PM**

After months of test drives and research, I went with a 2008 Camry SE V6 and picked it up today. As a tesament to Toyota's lean manufacturing, the custom order was built in a mere two weeks - I'm apparently the only person in the midwest who owns a 2008 Camry SE V6 with the charcoal SE cloth interior. This is one of the quietest and most well behaved automobiles I have ever been in - I was amazed to look down at my speedometer on the drive back and realize I was going 85mph when it seemed like no more than 45mph

My previous car was a 2000 Ford Taurus with the Duratec V6 engine and cheapo 4 speed automatic transmission, and on the drive up with that, when you get up to 70mph, you KNOW you're at 70....you have to turn the radio up, you have to keep your foot down pretty firm, and it's nowhere near as smooth. The Camry has a 6 speed automatic transmission, and the shifting between gears is entirely undetectale.

Pics to follow tomorrow.

Any other owners in here?

**Sonnie** · **10-28-07, 12:21 AM**

Former owner ... 2005 model. I really liked it and I have actually been looking at one of the new Camry Hybrids. They are hard to find and just no deals being made on them right now. I don't want to pay $30K for a car. I guess I'll just have to wait another year or two and see what happens with the hybrids.

My wife as the Hyundai Azera... awesome car!

**SteveCallas** · **10-28-07, 12:40 AM**

I got mine for only $500 over dealer invoice plus an extra $150 for tinted windows. I made it real easy for the guy, as I told him my mind was already made up about this car and whichever dealer gave me the best quote was the one I was going with. He didn't have to do any selling, didn't have to set up any appointment with me in his dealership, didn't have to lay it on thick, nothing. It was as simple as does he want to make an ultra easy $500 or not, and he did. We both benefitted.

The 2008 hybrid should be able to be had for well under $30k. With the UP and CQ packages (leather, heated seats, heated mirrors, alloy wheels, JBL audio system, 6 disc changer, bluetooth, and rearview mirrow with compass), you should be able to get it for $25-26k. You can actually strap on a LOT of features for the hybrid and come in cheaper than the V6 for the 2008 models.

**Sonnie** · **10-28-07, 10:19 AM**

I would have to go outside of Alabama to find one for less than about $29K. There just aren't that many around here and dealers are not cutting prices on them. Generally they get one or two in and they are gone quickly.

**javry** · **10-28-07, 12:29 PM**

I used to own a 94 V6 XLE. Dark Green with the gold package. What a ride! It was terribly expensive at the time and I was buying up from a Chevy Cavalier I bought in 89 that was already stressing under it's 'built-in obsolescence'. The first time I drove the Camry, it was like floating on a high speed cloud or something. It was so sturdy I just knew it would last if I took care of it. I just had to have it. I kept it through 2004 and then gave it to my son. He's still driving it today with a little under 200k miles on it. May you have many a great mile in yours.

**SteveCallas** · **10-28-07, 03:30 PM**

Thanks!

Here are some pictures - I'd love to get one of the white Optitron dash display at night too.

**Sonnie** · **10-28-07, 05:50 PM**

Nice lookin' car...

**Fincave** · **10-29-07, 04:26 AM**

Definitely a nice looking vehicle! We pay too much for cars here in Finland, the Camry is not available here but the Avensis with similar specs would be around 40 000 €, $50k in your money.

**SteveCallas** · **10-29-07, 02:12 PM**

$50k? Hmm, what is the Toyota saturation like in Europe? - they overtook GM globally at the start of 2007. And what does a "standard" automobile go for? I'd have to think a 6 cylinder is a no-no in a place like Finland.

**khellandros66** · **10-29-07, 02:43 PM**

Congrates!

I just got a new Mazda 3i Touring very happy so far.

PS: I wanted a Camry or the Mazda RX8 but they were a little out of my price bracket :-P

~Bobby

**SteveCallas** · **10-29-07, 03:17 PM**

I had a matarials engineering professor back in college who was a BIG fan of the Mazda RX series - he always tried to impress the girls talking about how fast of a car it was, and they always ignored him

Mid life crisis if you ask me.

**Fincave** · **10-29-07, 05:01 PM**

Quote:

SteveCallas wrote:

$50k? Hmm, what is the Toyota saturation like in Europe? - they overtook GM globally at the start of 2007. And what does a "standard" automobile go for? I'd have to think a 6 cylinder is a no-no in a place like Finland.

Toyota is the biggest selling car manufacturer in Finland, have been so for many years. Define 'standard' automobile, it can be a bit of a vague concept.

Here are a few prices for cars here, these are list prices meaning you can normally get the dealer to lower the price by 7 % at the most, all extras are normally charged at full price, the prices are in euros so you can add about 40 % or so to get to dollars:

Toyota Corolla 1.4 Terra 4ov 71 kW 21930 euro

Toyota Land Cruiser 4.0 V6 8h Exec. Shad. A 183 kW 83720 euro

Toyota Prius 1.5 HSD 5ov A 82 kW 37100 euro (the only hybrid listed)

BMW 3-sarja 318i 105 kW 38 200 euro (cheapest three series BMW)

BMW 3-sarja M3 Coupé 309 kW 101000 euro M3

BMW 5-sarja 520i 125 kW 49900 euro (cheapest five series)

Volkswagen Golf 1.4 Trendline 3ov 59 kW 59 kW 19330 euro (cheapest no frills Golf)

Volkswagen Golf 2.0 GTI Turbo FSI 5ov 147 kW 39730 euro GTI

Chevrolet Corvette 6.0 V8 Coupé 297 kW 97150 euro

Chrysler PT Cruiser 2.4 Touring A 105 kW 26990 euro (cheapest PT Cruiser)

Chrysler Voyager 2.4 SE 108 kW 35900 euro

Chrysler 300C 2.7 V6 142 kW 49900 euro

**khellandros66** · **10-29-07, 05:27 PM**

Quote:

SteveCallas wrote:

I had a matarials engineering professor back in college who was a BIG fan of the Mazda RX series - he always tried to impress the girls talking about how fast of a car it was, and they always ignored him

Mid life crisis if you ask me.

Don't be hating, thats what I plan on doing, but I at least am not in my mid-life crysis..

Wait this won't work, if he tried with a RX, and I only have the 3i Touring.. oohhh man...

FOILED AGAIN!

~Bobby

EDIT: Steve looks like he is gonna have more luck then me

**SteveCallas** · **10-29-07, 08:08 PM**

Quote:

Fincave wrote:

BMW 3-sarja 318i 105 kW 38 200 euro (cheapest three series BMW)

So a stripped down 3 series is cheaper than a souped up Camry? Interesting. The base 3 series is more expensive here, and BMW is very, very stingy with standard features. By the time you add a few commonplace features to the car, you've added several thousand dollars.

**Ilkka** · **10-29-07, 08:14 PM**

Quote:

SteveCallas wrote:

I'd have to think a 6 cylinder is a no-no in a place like Finland.

I have to ask: why?

**SteveCallas** · **10-29-07, 10:43 PM**

At my previous job, I had met with an employee from Switzerland a couple times, and the subject of cars came up as I was interested in what he thought of his rental car in the US at the time. He told me that it is very rare to see 6 cylinder cars in Switzerland - that even most minivans and vans are 4 cylinder - and that most plant employees ride bikes to work. Fuel economy is a much larger issue over there than it is here it seems.

Somewhat related, I'm on a business trip now myself, and the rental car I got was a Chrylser 300. I'm pretty disappointed. The interior is very uncomfortable, with hard, rigid plastics, even where one would rest their elbows. The leather seats are pretty hard too, not much give. The steering is much too loose for my tastes, but that's a personal thing. The inetrior looks/aesthetics don't suit my fancy either, but that's personal taste as well. I can't comment too much on performance after one day.

I don't know what they were thinking when designing this, and I can't figure out why this car is so popular. The external look is nice, but that's about it.

I want to try out the new Accord, it came out after I had already made up my mind. The previous Accord and the Hyndai Sonata were the Camry's nearest competition.

**Sonnie** · **10-29-07, 11:44 PM**

The Camry and Sonata are close for me. I had the 2005 Camry and now have the 2006 Sonata. It's not a complete apples to apples comparison because my Camry was a 4cyl and the Sonata is a 6cyl... and there is quite a difference between the Sonata 4cyl and 6cyl as far as ride and quietness. The Sonata is a tad more smoother riding and the 6cyl gets almost as good MPG as the 4cyl Camry... 25 vs 27... everyday driving.

But I'm still interested in eventually getting a Camry Hybrid and it's the only one I've seen that I like of all the Hybrids.

**SteveCallas** · **10-29-07, 11:56 PM**

The Altima is often matched up with the Camry and Accord too, but I preferred the Sonata to it. The Sonata doesn't do much wrong. It's a sad state of affairs with no American cars truly being competitive in this bread and butter category. Also, most of the American cars are now built oversees, taking away jobs, and the Japanese cars are built here in the US, providing jobs. I don't see any type of a powershift happening anytime soon either, I just don't think Detroit "get's it".

**Fincave** · **10-30-07, 03:52 AM**

Quote:

SteveCallas wrote:

So a stripped down 3 series is cheaper than a souped up Camry? Interesting. The base 3 series is more expensive here, and BMW is very, very stingy with standard features. By the time you add a few commonplace features to the car, you've added several thousand dollars.

The Camry is not available in Finland, I referred to a Toyota Avensis so not a very good comparison unfortunately. The Avensis would probably fall between the Corolla and the Camry. Had a look at BMW prices, the base model here costs 38 000€/ $55 000 and is the 318i version ( two litre engine), the base model in the US from what I gathered on BMW's site costs $33 175/ 23 000€, a fair bit cheaper, also the US base model seems to be the 328i (3 litre engine) which is not available here and so cannot look up a price.

I had a look at Hyundai's prices here, they have not been on the market for very long and their market share is not all that big, they do offer good warranty periods but servicing is very pricey. The cheapest Sonata is the 2.0 GL and costs 25 000€/$36 000, the Sonata 3.3 V6 costs 38 400€/$55 000.

We pay too much for cars as they are taxed very heavily, there has now been a lot of talk about changing the taxation which will lower the purchase price, maybe even as much as thirty percent, the government though will obviously not give up their source of revenue and so running costs will go up to compensate, current thought seems to be that we will pay according to emmisions.

As to driving a V6 here, quite a lot of people do drive bigger engined cars here, running them though is expensive as 95 octane petrol currently costs around 1,30€ a litre, or $7,20 a U.S gallon.

**SteveCallas** · **10-31-07, 02:38 PM**

More on that Chrysler 300 - it is the Touring edition. The actual ride quality is pretty smooth, and the handling is very good for a car this size (though the steering is too loose as mentioned before), but the acceleration plain stinks. Out here there are several intersections followed by open road with speed limits of 55-60mph, so coming off a red light with nobody in front of me, I've had a few opportunities in the past couple of days to see how well it can do when flooring it - and yes, I mean accelerator down to the floor of the car. It is painfully slow to 60mph

, feels much moe like a 4 cylinder than a 6.

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