hi all.....its been informative reading from the first page till this page....i am not yet an owner but about to decide whether to get this car

i have previously driven the XV40....wonderful and nice to drive until i got hijacked

so after 5 yrs of driving an older car and getting back my NCB to 55%....its time for me to get another new Camry....

so here's a few question that I never got a proper answer from sales ppl

1. The hybrid battery pack cost around 9k to replace. While i understand batteries are considered a wear & tear item, what does the 8 yr warranty cover then?

2. similar to the warranty component, UMW now offers 5 years unlimited mileage warranty. After reading through their caveats, seems the only coverage cover main engine block, and metal components (provided no accident) and some of the main electronics like ECU. It also sounds as if the extended warranty has alot of things that is required to pay. Any thoughts on this?

3. the tinting that comes standard with the hybrid, any reviews? Anyone knows what film and what kind of specification? Any option of not having the tinting during the ordering time?

i just ordered the hybrid via forummer Vince TRD
nice chap....friendly and easy approach.....

hopefully by end of the next week can get the ride...

loan approved today...but roughly end of next week only can get car...haiii

btw....just wanna ask....has anyone tested the USB port with 32gb or 64gb thumb drives?
like listening multi formats like mp3 or wav or flac??
there seems to be limited info about it

what about the GPS?? is it hard to update maps?

have to pay to update the map?? wah liao.....sien lor like that

Its like having a real GPS...Guna Pun Sesat
Hahahahahaha like that might as well dont give gps...
I wished IOT is here faster....

Too bad a maxsux stunt cant work on UMW.
It also depends what discount rate you got last round.
Nevertheless...UMW should have transitioned this nicely.
For me on d other hand...this was d best deal in town...

Btw...after reading their t&c, their extended warranty also alot of exemption and non coverage. Kinda lppl....

Wow...no discount....i feel u bro....just to sad to hear this

if i read it correctly, the extended warranty covers more on the electronics
on the mechanical engine side, alot of things not covered especially things like seals, chain, water pump.....there's a whole long list
and there's 1 clause that states it is at UMW/Toyota discretion for part replacement.
Kinda at their mercy to accept....and you know some SC may be difficult to deal with

Thats why they saay the first 3 years is covered by Toyota and the 4th and 5th year is by UMW.
So you are right 3+2.
Always a caveat somewhere

finally got my car this evening....fooyoohhh kan cheong coz dunno what time the loader will come

thanks to vinceTRD superb service...kept me updated all the time
great discount...I have gone to several Toyota showroom, none had the same offer....he personally checked the car for me....insisted I got a new one while there was another in the showroom (yah ppl have gone in and out of the car)
gave me 2 free Toyota umbrella; i think golf size...why I want such umbrella?? coz I am running out of umbrella....call me cheap skate...but hey who doesn't want a free one...overall....nice to deal with...had all my stuffs done accordingly...
highly recommended sales guy you should visit...
Disclaimer: I don't get commission from him. I am just another customer....

OK....about the car....engine wise it is smooth ride.....power on the tap....quite butter smooth engine I would say....pretty well balance power band....vs my previous in-line 6 D.Vanos....this is one comparable ride
What I dislike about the engine is the start-stop during traffic jam or traffic lights, minor jerk....felt kinda funny coz this is my first ride with start-stop feature...and my first hybrid

Handling....it absorbs the road harshness nicely....maybe because its new and my previous ride had custom struts....haven't tried any hard cornering....driving back from Balakong during after office hours is not recommended...
The steering feedback is too soft probably due to the EPS...steering quality and holding feel is nice....way better than the tiny XV40...at least it feels more solid

Comfort: Honestly....up one notch for me....nice seats....ample leg room even for the rear....felt like it has more leg room compared to XV40

Audio...for the first time....factory fitted is something i can accept...of coz its not any audiophile or hifi system...but it is pretty decent and meets general demand...
first time using the radio took me sometime to figure out how to set the preset channels.....stupid me for not reading the manual...but it was kinda thick

night driving with the LED headlights....superb....but would need some minor height adjustments
autolights...not something I am used to....but also a fuss to on and off the light due to additional turn on the knob

misc stuffs....i think the auto up and down on all windows is a plus....
ambient foot lights adds up though not important

what could have been better:
1. additional side compartment to the right side of the driver for small things like house keys, parking cards or whatever handy
2. sunglass holder
3. consider removing the rubber cover for USB and cigerette lighter/12v charger port...have the compartment further sunken so that the flip cover can hide the USB...
4. the rear overall looks could have been better.....
5. central lock and unlock could have a button in the middle like the rest for the EV, Rear Blind and ECO....it would save the passenger having to stretch across to the driver side to lock/unlock the door should the driver go down....

noted...so far didn't detect any rattling noise...will continue to monitor

hhhmmm sound like fitting issue?
what did the SC do?

so far my housing area is quite bumpy....havent got any sound yet....will try again and again...

This post has been edited by hushymushy: May 17 2016, 04:12 PM

guys...ask you all....how long did it take ur new hybrid brakes to bed in?

this might be a dumb question

for first service...you all use back the mineral oil or opt for semi-syn?

quite true

so far here are the rattling sound detected and solved...DIY though.....SC couldn't solve my problem fully

knee airbag on driver side rattles on semi rough roads at around 20kmh to 30kmh speed. quite annoying and appears almost all the time

found root cause:
1. the knee airbag front plastic cover is not a perfect fit with some loose gaps.
2. some of the metal frame esp with nuts and bolts are not tighten up (though it is not loose)
3. vibration from the thin metal frame

what SC did: tighten up all the nuts, rechecked the cables and used some cable tie to secure the cables....reduced some rattling but not entirely

what I did: had some left overs of Dynamat sound proofing material (the ones with bitumen and aluminium sheet for vibration grounding).
sticked some sound proofing material on the thin metal bars below the steering, the back knee airbag frame (wont effect the airbag).
added a 8mm insuflex on the thin metal to absorb any further vibration

done...perfectly no rattling sound..tested few days on few roads near my house where the road is not even and quite rough surface. various speeds tested...so far ok

2 more minor defects detected

rear bumper left side just below the tail lamp, the clip doesn't clip properly resulting in minor bumper alignment.

driver seat lumbar support can feel the lumbar mechanism protruding

trying to find time to get to SC to have both defects fixed

other than that, no seat rattling issue and other stuffs for now

just done first tank and now on second tank....did 770km on 52liters...that's 14.8km/liter....which is quite good...no particular driving pattern...just start car and drive per normal with occasional variable speeds
had couple of times traffic jam in between

the warning light start to pop up when i still have 15 liters of petrol....its like when i finished first 3 quarters of the tank, the low fuel light came out....

GPS interface not very good and troublesome....i still prefer waze....also because of traffic updates and smart routes

the absorbers are too soft for me....full load passengers, middle section car scratch some bumps.....

after first service....so far so good....SC did alignment and balancing for me though i was sceptical in the first place...but it turned out fine...they did a 32PSI pressure for 4 tyres....felt it was abit too soft....had pump it back to 36 psi front and 34psi rear

This post has been edited by hushymushy: May 30 2016, 02:23 PM

1) How is the performance of this car given that it is 205 hp? How is the pick up? 0-100?
Didn't really do a 0-100 timing. but occasional revving, the power is there and pickup is ok....i'm comparing against my E39 530....so i'd say power is good. Quite on the tap, however pls do not expect it to equate a bimmer or any powerful large sedans

2) Heard a lot of noise from this car posted in here... so do you guys still recommend this car to buy?
every car has its lucky and unlucky buyer....while i was driving my bimmer....i've seen various owners complaining about different defects...but yet some other owners did not face it....guess it's pure luck

3) I haven't test drive yet, but I check online that this car does not have power mode compared to prius hybrid, so is the
power ok ?. Prefer refer number 1 above.

4) If full load of passenger, will this car underpower if the battery hybrd is low and using ful petrol only? The car will manage itself on the whether battery or full petrol. I have ferried full adult passengers...no draggy or power issue...if the stiffen up the absorbers and give it a different spring rate, power would have delivered more but at the expense of comfort

5) Heard the boot space is very limited due to the hybrid battery, is it true?. Yes the boot is smaller, but still manageable. best to view car physically and decide for yourself. For me....i only put small bags in the boot so i don't hv such issue

6) How is the sound system of this car? Is there any woofer built-in given it says 10 speakers.
The sound system by all means better than all the rest of the stock standard local Toyotas, not withstanding the fact it is not audiophile quality, but it is pretty decent and meets most general expectations.
But if you are used to having Mcintosh, Dynaudio and other hifi equipment in the car, this is not enough.

7) do you think any facelift will be coming up or new model of this car? hard to say.....given the fact this facelift from the previous is quite substantial....don't think they might launch a new one this year or next.

so far never had any braking sound....

technically there is no impact to the car if you upsize correctly and maintain the right offset of the rim

if you are planning on taiwan replica....don't.....unless you are going for good rims like OZ, Volks, Works, Rays, Enkei or any of the reputable rims....
also remember Camry's use M-nuts which means ur bolting hole is slightly larger where the nut skirting sits in to provide better rim holding onto the hub

from a warranty perspective, i have had many argues with various service center over this
SC will see it as an issue for the absorbers, shafts and so on.....to me it is not related

but again....the original rim quality is quite good despite the design matter which i agree they could have given a more simple design and provide a anodized silver or gunmetal colour range to suit the range of body colours

Here's what i do regardless of any car:

Exterior
1. park the car at outdoor where the sun shines brightly. this is to view the entire car body for scratches and paint defects....yes paint defects...no kidding
2. check all body panels thoroughly for any damages...u wont want a car with damaged body panels
3. check rims for scratches....back in 2009, i had 1 experience when my wife bought Honda Civic and one of the rims was scratched. Then wanted to spray the rims but I said no, I want a new rim and I won't sign off acceptance.
4. check all exterior light covers for scratches...some only visible under hot sunlight....
5. open up the bonnet and make sure all lubricants are properly filled. unusual for this to happen as the sales center will have a PDI team. if this happen, immediately request them to rectify via service center. If they don't...screw the sales guy
6. check rear boot for spare tyre, tools and etc

Interior
1. check everything for scratches and defects, ie; leather blemishes, scratches on dashboard
2. everything in tact
3. check for tinting defects like scratch or bubbles. for scratches, it is good to write down and get the sales guy to counter sign b4 u fully accept. this might be an argument later because scratches can be declared as negligence by user.

Functional test:
1. needless to say, every function should work. but you may not have time for every single detail; therefore check the crucial like lighting, all major electronics.

Generally, any scratch, defects must be at least written down and counter signed by sales guy to avoid unnecessary argument when it comes to warranty claims.

specific to Camry Hybrid, check the rear left bumper near the tail lights. I notice couple of same hybrids in my office having the pop out issue. it can be fixed by the service center.

as to the tinting....its is obviously not the top of ranges like 3M Crytaline or HuperOptik....but its not the worse either
do remember that the rear windscreen demister might be damaged when removing the existing tint and hence warranty void

another way of doing it is to add a slightly darker tint on top of the factory fitted....but do note that since the thickness has increased, it may pose a problem for the power window later

i am still on stock tinting.....i'm still having dilemma over this, but nevertheless, until i am confident with my car being trouble free....i'll stick to the original tinting..no harm in changing though....but do you really need to?

alternative you can get Groovy sunshades which helps reduce visibility from the outside, reduced tremendous glare...and by the way, your rear screen and rear windows already have sunshades....

This post has been edited by hushymushy: Jun 7 2016, 05:06 PM