I felt it was a little larger than I wanted in a car to kick around in so when I went for a test drive I didn't have high hopes since it was newer and more expensive than the price range I was shooting for and also it was red, not my favorite color. I sold almost all of the remaining shares from my Walmart Stock bonus paid out from 5 or more years ago so it's basically free with the price appreciation since I received those shares. The sales taxes owed will come out of pension money I get monthly from a job I worked nearly 20 years ago. For 2026, I'm expecting pension payments from 3 prior jobs, but they only total about $600 per month. Not huge money, but better than zero, for sure.
In less than 5 mins of driving, the car had me sold. It was smooth, powerful, comfortable and quiet, ticking every single requirement including ones I didn't know I had.
After a week of driving the car across the country, the idea that Toyota can build a base vehicle that can be sold as a Lexus with extra features, sound proofing and structural rigidity makes plenty of sense and the likely reason why this car has been so popular over the last 2 decades.
The SE, XSE and TRD Trims appear to be very popular on the road, but in my mind make the least sense. Why buy a Camry as a sport sedan where the firm suspension gives it an uncomfortable ride? Compromises in car purchase decisions are driven by costs. Most people can't afford more than 1 car so they try to make it satisfy multiple desires such as family hauler or back roads sporty hoon mobile. It's why Jeep sells more 4 door wranglers and also why limited use short bed pickups with 4 doors are all over the place.
I've seen some owners complain about the XSE suspension being "shitty" but I suspect the firm suspension just makes for an unsatisfactory and uncompliant ride. I've owned a lowered Audi 200 Quattro, a 2013 Miata Club and an 88 Acura Integra where rattling your teeth over a bad road is just the normal trade-off for better handling. Yes, an XLE Camry is still a compromise from a fully optioned Lexus but there is less trade-offs happening since it's more a subset on the road to the same goal of luxury.
Camry has a long reputation for being crazy reliable, but I question if that's possible for my car since it has so many complexities that there's no way this car can be working 100% in 10+ years with only my DIY maintenance skills, but the lane centering assist and adaptive cruise control is something I had no idea I would become a fan about. I'm not too worried about the hybrid drive-train since Toyota has plenty of experience doing it in the Prius.
It's not a perfect car, the GUI of the dashboard screens are kinda horrible, we got caught in a Chicago snow storm with 7" of snow and discovered it's terrible in the snow with the 235/45 R18 all season tires and some of the desirable options are separated out into various option packages.
Sure, I'm nitpicking. I still love this car, I even like the color these days but the original purchaser of this car chose not to get the premium audio or the sunroof which are both fine with me, but I think one of the safety features that I would have wanted is combined into one of those packages. It's not a huge deal. I'm enjoying it more than I expected.
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