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Toyota’s champion revealed its new look before the world and those in attendance at the 2014 New York Auto Show. Beneath the new Camry’s updated, more aggressive appearance, Toyota added spot welds throughout the chassis for added stiffness as well as a revised suspension, all of which is aimed at improving handling and ride quality.
The SE trim will continue going into the 2015 model year, paired alongside the premium XSE, while the hybrid will receive some of the SE’s performance goodies when all three enter showrooms later this year. The engine options will remain the same, however: 2.5-liter four-pot, 3.5-liter V6, and 2.5-liter Atkinson cycle hybrid motor.
152 Comments on “New York 2014: 2015 Toyota Camry Revealed...”
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My panties are moist with anticipation.
Well if they’re getting moist, they’ll wrinkle and bunch easier.
Therefore, we’ll tread lightly with you.
I’d have the dealer Scotchgard the interior if I were you.
It comes with the TruKote package.
2010 model looked better than the current model and this model.
All those aggressive skirt kits and rims FOR NOTHING. Just to disguise a pathetic econobox as anything more than a mediocre driving experience.
Not that you’d ever condescend to Camry territory anyway, but I’d advise that you wait until you’ve driven it to make a conclusion about the driving experience. The mechanical changes (a lot of which weren’t mentioned here) sound pretty comprehensive and they might have made a big difference.
When I was helping my dad comparison shop, we checked out a tricked-up ’12 V6 SE and thought it had too much give. The post-apocalyptic state of Ohio’s roads after this winter has me re-thinking my stance on softer suspension tuning, is all I have to say about that.
You’ll pat yourself on the back everyday if you swap out your front shocks/struts on a 5yo/50K car in these conditions.
Kyree, don’t waste your breath. If it isn’t Benz, HEMI or SRT then it is no good with bigtruck.
Sounds like a good set of criteria to me.
If it isn’t RWD with a sh!tload of power!!!
@JMO,
Go stick some tissue papers down there.
Definetly getting away from the grandma look of the past camry’s. But, not breaking any ground on engine development. But, the average camry driver probably dose not give a rats arse about technology. But, it actually is a nice looking sedan. The new Hyundai Sonata will still be a better value and be way ahead in engineering.
Its not bad looking, neither was the predecessor. But I am just not feeling it from a design perspective. Put a few more drastically creased edges on it, a gawdy grill and say it has attitude. It is still generic looking. I feel the same about the new Sonata. Nice, but….meh.
So is this still the same 2007 platform with tweaks or is it different?
It’s a thorough exterior revamp of the current model, along with some changes to the interior, from what I’ve read. It’s not riding on an all-new platform.
Thx. Personally I like the dated platform, dated drivetrain combo as it typically makes a better long term ownership experience. However it was OEMs like Toyota who replaced platforms every five years or so and whose buyers mocked GM/Ford/Chrysler for running much older stuff. I find it interesting now Toyota is milking its old platforms to the extent it is doing so. Makes me think not all is rosy in the land of Toyota.
This platform is only three years old. They just gave it an extensive mid-cycle refresh in order to battle the Accord and Fusion.
That suggests they are investing more to fix their problems now, which is something GM wouldn’t do. With their cash reserves, I wouldn’t worry about Toyota.
Yup, I wouldn’t worry about Toyota. The 2015 Camry will continue as the sales champ and best-selling midsize sedan in America. But the Accord and Altima are getting closer.
Does anyone know if the 2015 Camry switched to a CVT? The Accord already has, and the Altima has had one forever.
No the ‘platform’ dates back to the XV30, introduced as a 2002 MY car in the US, just take a look at the rear pillar/roofline of a 2002-2006 Camry and compare it to a 2014, or even this 2015. For 2015 they tacked on a faux-window (jalopnik is losing their heads over this one) to try to change the look of the roofline, without actually changing any hard points.
Not a fan of the gaping maw, but I find the rear end to be pretty pleasant/inoffensive.
No, the platform is different than the 5th Gen. Sorry.
No. The platform does NOT date to the 2002 model. It is heavily modified from the 2007 model. And green house glass looking the same means nothing.
28,
True that the domestics used to catch a lot of crap for hanging on to platforms past their expiration date, but keep in mind that those platforms were generally well past expiration the day they launched. I see no issue with makers hanging on to a platform that is functional and competitive.
I think it’s one of the ugliest cars I’ve ever seen. Apparently this time Toyota has chosen “polarizing” over “bland”.
I’ve been seeing that a lot lately. The Cherokee, the new Murano, now this. It’s good, I think. At least polarizing has the potential to elicit a reaction stronger than “Eh.”
It looks a little like they put the refreshed tC in a stone polisher.
It’s following the lead of the Germans and trucks. Everyone wants that rearview mirror intimidation thing, so Toyota’s following the crowd.
Also, they’re tying it into the “spindle”-grille of the Lexus-line by the looks of things. Perhaps a long-term move towards killing a brand off.
I would not go that far. It’s actually a great looking car for a toyoda.
For years Toyotae were the masters at combining Bland and Ugly into a single unappealing package.
It’s 1/2 Corolla, 1/2 Lexus, and completely awful looking. I doubt the stylists had much input. This design looks like it was handed down by an MBA in the marketing department.
Dam, Camry… is that you?
Like the nerdy girl from high school who is suddenly now smokin’ hot.
Lookin’ good, honey.
She still doesn’t shave, you know.
I like that Mediterranean look in a woman.
Tell me that’s not a fake c pillar window…
Just some black plastic attempting to make the C-pillar look lighter.
Sajeev’s going to have a lot of fun with this one.
Man he is going to have a field day with this one. The details grow more and more at odds with the proportions
It’s not really a DLO FAIL since there actually is a window…I wonder what he’ll call it?
In any case, good riddance to those beyond-hideous apostrophe taillamps.
Unfortunately they more than made up for it with that Lexus-esque grill. It makes the Acura beak look tame.
I was wondering the same thing. Hard to tell from these photos. Overall, the back looks better, eliminated the weird tailights of the current model, but I’m not liking that new front much at all.
Ugh. It really is a BIG piece of black plastic (just looked at pics from another site). AWFUL!
Yeah…where does the front license plate go? About two-thirds of the states still require one….
Just wait till that gloss black plastic gets it’s first bumper tap in a parking lot. It’ll look real bad real fast with all that scuffing.
And that’s assuming the black gloss doesn’t fade over time. I’m thinking Honda Element / Chevy Cavalier / Any Mitsubishi type plastic fading/stressing. Could get nasty.
It’s not like Toyota hasn’t done this before. The 2nd gen Lexus GS had the same extra black plastic behind the rear doors
That piece of black plastic was the Corolla’s only design flourish from about 1984 until, what– 2002?
Dude, you nailed it. I used to wonder what the hell that extra plastic on those Corolla’s was for. Now it’s back!
THANK YOU! ’88 Corolla all the way. I was on Toyota’s website. The rear-three quarter angle looks like they have refined and enlarged an 88-92 Corolla sedan. The 2014 is bland but at least it had its own thing going on style wise. It was bland but not offensive. Im really trying to like this one but I can’t. Ive liked all of the Camry redesigns of past, even if they were grandma-ish. They just always seemed good at a decent design. Maybe not so much anymore. That front end is a real barker on the ’15.
si
Is it just me or does anyone else see a bit of a Dodge 600 LE in the C pillar?
http://www.allpar.com/photos/dodge/1987/600ES.jpg
Looks to me like a Prius mated with a Lexus. Toyota is going to lose Lexus owners when they start to realize that their luxury cars look like a Camry in low light.
I doubt Lexus will sweat it since their two big sellers (ES330+/RX330+) were Camry derivatives until recently.
You speak the truth.
They basically still are. Both the RX and the ES ride on Toyota’s “MC” platform, which encompasses every Toyota FWD product from the Corolla and tC up. The ES merely adopted the Avalon’s longer-wheelbase version of the platform.
You mean the Avalon and the ES are related?
I’ll be damned. No resemblances there, at all…..
Who would have thought…?
No doubt, the lexus is the buick of the camry and should lose some sales. This new camry does not look that bad. Hopefully there is better quality control with this new model.
I see your logic but Lexus is the “buick of the Camry” but I say Lexus is on par with if not surpassed Cadillac by a wide margin.
Na, the ES 350 is more in the Lacrosse territory. The new XTS, ATS,and CTS are pretty amazing cars. I know, still a GM product. But, go test drive a new CTS. Not in GS level, yet a super nice ride.
I’m referring more to the brand as a whole. Since XTS and Lacrosse are the same car and motor, I find it interesting one is on par with ES350 and another is “amazing”. I drove an ATS AWD and yes it felt very nice but for even money I’m still buying the Lexus. Discounted or used might entice me to the CTS/ATS.
I really like the ATS. It’s too small for my daily life though. The CTS is also nice, but any version I like is $60K+. Its not much, if any, of a discount over Audi or BMW.
Test drive a Genesis. You’ll be quit surprised.
I like the Genesis. I’m holding out for a Ford/Lincoln 4-door stretched Mustang. I have time since the two cars in our garage are the two best cars, besides my Oldsmobile Achieva (just kidding), we’ve owned.
I kinda want an Achieva, I’d be willing to spend up to $55 dollars for one, maybe scrap value for a clean example.
“The CTS is also nice, but any version I like is $60K+. Its not much, if any, of a discount over Audi or BMW.”
Unless MY14 is going to act differently, these things have vapid depreciation, Lexus not so much. High 20s / Low 30s valuation in 12-16mos. BMWs do a bit better in terms of resale but “owning” is more of a risk than the Cadillac.
Here is Cadillac MY13 CTS Sedan AWD (Sigma) “Luxury” trim:
03/07/14 PA Lease $25,800 9,569 Avg BLACK 6G A Yes
03/27/14 DETROIT $27,100 9,931 Avg BLUE 6G A Yes
03/27/14 DETROIT $25,100 13,649 Below GOLD 6G A Yes
03/20/14 OMAHA Regular $27,700 14,191 Above SILVER 6G A Yes
04/01/14 PHOENIX Regular $26,800 23,580 Avg NONE NON N Yes
04/02/14 PITTSBGH Regular $26,000 25,508 Avg BLACK 6G A Yes
MY13 BMW 535xi GT
03/25/14 OHIO Factory $46,000 9,443 Avg BLACK SA 6GT A Yes
04/01/14 ATLANTA Factory $48,000 9,739 Above ALPINE W 6GT A Yes
03/25/14 OHIO Factory $44,000 10,312 Below DARK GRA 6GT A Yes
03/18/14 ATLANTA Factory $46,000 10,468 Avg NEPTUNE 6GT A Yes
03/18/14 ATLANTA Factory $45,000 10,506 Below BLACK SA 6GT A Yes
ugh ford focus front end on a midsize toyota!!? I look at it and want to scream DON’T EAT ME!!!!
THe rear has those taillights that hyundai started with the 2011 sonata and everyone has copied, mazda6 check, chevy impala check, now the camry.
Add another member to the “chrome-strip-across-the-trunk” crowd.
Al this XSE nonsense and the manual transmission remains dead in this generation. Gotta go with the Accord Sport
It is better looking that the current model, especially at the rear which now has a full set of lights rather than the truncated set they currently have.
Nice color and with SE wheels will look OK. So what is XSE a more premium SE with the suspension changes? I assume LE and XLE stay?
The Accord Sport is gorgeous and drives well, and even the standard Accord comes with tons of equipment. But I do wish that Honda had a nicer version of the Sport to go alongside the EX/EX-L, for those of us who want those sportier styling cues and suspension bits on nicely-optioned cars. I, for example, like leather (at least partially) and navigation, so I’d have to go with an EX-L or a Touring. Toyota’s XSE (which is indeed a premium SE model) addresses people with my kind of taste.
@ the truncated (taillights) set they currently have.
Better known as dual fish hooks, feckless as they are….
A manual transmission won’t correct the other deep “driver’s car” flaws of this segment. For this I’d rather the 6AT with the V6 than a 6MT with Toyota’s boring 4 banger. Accord Sport is more fun but it’s still a ~3300lb FWD sedan making about 190 HP. It will always be a huge compromise. The Civic Si makes way more sense if you want to seat 5 and enjoy your drive for ~22-25K.
Eh, I dunno. Unless you load up the car for the interstate fairly often, I’ve found big FWD cars with a V6 just have too much weight on the drive wheels, like pushing a wheelbarrow of gravel around, and they tend to gobble up brakes. An I4 is less capable but a little more sprightly around town.
Anything new on the interior?
Just reading more and on autoblog it states :
“Toyota has made a lot of changes to the Camry’s interior, both seen and unseen. Visible changes include a redesigned gauge cluster with a new 4.2-inch TFT display, richer materials, a redesigned center stack and a console tray with available wireless charging. Hidden alterations include 30-percent more sound insulation to help deliver a serene ride.”
Thanks mike978, Looks pretty good, gauge cluster looks like VAG (2 dials and a center info display) Nice steering wheel and the seats look good. Nice center stack too. If they made a wagon version I might regret my TSX SW choice.
30% more sound insulation is nice to hear (or not hear). I think Baruth thought this was a reasonably quiet car to start with too.
More and more manufacturers are paying attention to NVH, which I think is a wonderful trend.
Anybody as startled as I am by the implied confession in that little item about “more body welds”?
If there’s one thing you’d expect from Toyota, it’s that they’d be thorough about solidity. The process of reducing the number and quality of fastening points in the Camry began way back in 1997 (as another reader noted here recently, see Mary Walton’s terrific book Car for details). But boy, it sounds like they’ve really gotten carried away with it.
This is basically the first time since ’97 that Toyota has made any significant effort to add cost and quality back into the Camry. In 2012, Michael Karesh wrote a review of the then-new Camry that boldly called out the lack of overall quality. I responded in the accompanying thread by adding this:
“It sounds to me like Toyota has really hurt themselves here, to a depth that will take years to become fully obvious.
“There were two goals in front of Toyota if they were to protect the Camry supremacy. Make it better to drive, and if you didn’t do that, at least invest to make it seem like a bank vault again. Two missions unaccomplished.
“Toyota knows perfectly well how to… hit any increment of quality they choose. This slightly improved (model) shows that they simply didn’t feel like taking slightly reduced margins on this car in order to make the investment. They’ll reap what they’ve sown.”
Now Toyota’s done what Honda did when they hastily fixed the current-edition Civic: admit their cheapout mistake and start to fix it. Good for them. They only did it because the market forced them to, but it’s good news for buyers and it’s long overdue.
They needed to do something, because the current model is just terrible. Toilet-plunger-in-pudding driving dynamics, garbage-can plastics grade interior. The structure was just terrible in offset-center crashes, as well, so hopefully they improved that.
I wonder if that three-spoke steering wheel is now going to be standard across all trims. (I really like three-spoke steering wheels).
I think the three-spoke steering wheel is standard across all trims. The XLE has it, so I assume the LE will as well.
Hopefully they changed that awful creaking plastic on the lower dash, as well as fixing the dash rattles that seem to crop up on these (my gf’s has had a rattle since the ‘polar vortex’). Some nicer plastic on the door cards would be welcome as well, and softer seat fabric inserts for the SE. The current ‘sporty’ fabric is really plasticky and nasty feeling, give me some old school velour ala W-body Impala!
Are those plastic C-pillar infills or are you just happy to see me?
No front bumper, I see, that’s gonna go really well with the shopping cart crowd.
FAIL
No car has had bumpers since the Crown Vic. it’s all crumple zones now.
This looks good. I can’t believe I just said that about a Camry. Not too aggressive, but definitely different than the rest of the herd. Well done.
Agreed.
Wish I could say the same about the Highlander. I get the “do away with boring” marketing scheme, but the styling of it has yet to grow on me, and it likely won’t.
The Optima and current Hyundai look better, but this is getting close.
Frankly nothing in the popular classes look bad. It’s all mostly conservative with a few stylized brand touches.
“The Optima and current Hyundai look better…”
Agreed.
Different? Not to me, it looks like the departed Evo X, Nissan GTR, and pre-face lift last gen Focus’s.
Yeah, an improvement I think, but I’d say instead of looking good, it looks good enough. I can see why some people would love the front, but I don’t like it. The back is very conservative. Nice, but doesn’t seem to mesh well with the front. The profile is probably the best look, though I’d shorten the hood a bit.
All in all, a positive for Toyota. It will probably even get some none Toyota buyers interested. So from a business point of view, well done for Toyota.
3M, I was in the same boat before this refresh. And save for the “finisher” they plastered on the C-pillar, this thing looks good.
The current Corolla sedan is also a looker.
It’s better than I expected, I guess.
The front looks like it’s spotting a mouth guard or worse (dental dam).
The front looks like it’s sporting a mouth guard or worse (dental dam).
It looks much improved over the current model, but the design is also a lot more homogenous with other sedans in this segment. Not that it’ll matter all that much for Camry buyers, but it’s a little bonus to have a decent looking appliance.
Needs to be more than just a re-skin. I just bought an Accord LX 4 cyl. manual (planning to give it to my son one day, he needs to learn to drive a standard IMHO), and test drove the following: Civic manual, Accord hybrid/Sport manual/LX CVT, Camry hybrid/LE auto, and the Avalon. Quite frankly, the 2014 Camry is on par with the Civic. No, really. In fact, I’d rather have the Civic than the Camry. And the Accord, if you load it up, is close enough to be an alternative to the Avalon although I don’t think anyone looking for one would shop the other except myself; yea, I’m weird like that. From a value perspective it’s just not there on the Avalon. Yes, I realize the average buyer of the Avalon isn’t in it for value.
I was very disappointed in the Camry and extremely impressed with the Honda products. I am more impressed every time I drive the Accord, Honda just knocked it out of the park. Meanwhile, Toyota just mailed it in with the 2014 Camry – they’re going to have to do some serious catching up if they want to beat the Civic much less the Accord.
Just my $.02 for a first post.
Honda has had generally superior engines and fit/finish to Toyota since the late 1990’s. At least Honda still tries to build a product that will be a class leader in quality and performance, a concept Toyota abandoned to ever-greater production numbers some fifteen years ago.
I like the looks…except for that giant piece of trim at the C-pillar, which looks as much of an afterthought as it actually is.
>giant piece of trim at the C-pillar, which looks as much of an afterthought as it actually is
It’s used to make the pillar look thinner. Something similar is sometimes found near the bottom of the A pillar.
I understand. The problem is that the plastic piece doesn’t really work with this kind of window arrangement. The Camry’s rear door has a drastic slope that begins well before the union between the fixed glass and the moving glass, where normally the start of the slope would be much closer to the union of the glass (Chrysler 300, Mercedes-Benz W212 E-Class, Chevy Malibu, etc), so that really the slope would only be on the fixed glass and not the larger moving glass. This was probably done in an effort to add a bit of flair to the design. The problem is that when you then join another piece of glass–or something that looks like glass–to that kind of union, it looks really bad. The 2nd-gen CTS had the same problem. The arrangement worked fine until Cadillac decided to add a wagon variant to the lineup without changing the rear doors, and the result was less than harmonious.
The other (and perhaps more prominent) reason for the piece of trim was probably to give the Camry that same C-pillar kink (wherein the side windowsill kicks up toward the back of the car) that the Avalon and Corolla now have, as well as the detached, tall, fixed-on-the-C-pillar glass that is gaining popularity among the mid-sizers (Sonata, Fusion, Altima, Passat, new 200), which the Avalon also has. And that, to me, is what makes the feature look like an afterthought.
> And that, to me, is what makes the feature look like an afterthought.
IMO you’re overthinking it; it’s just a mid-cycle refresh. Consider the two choice of a thick C vs. this. This looks better from a passing glance @ 10 yards.
Designers’ Curse, I’m afraid.
“Mid-cycle refresh”: Design it, release it, then come back and think up a way to make it look different without fundamentally retooling it.
Pretty much literally defines the word “afterthought,” doesn’t it?
Well, the idea is to at least make the facelift look cohesive. And there are some new features on many of the panels (including the recesses that would be necessary for those plastic C-pillar pieces), so they would have had to retool most of the stampings anyway.
tonycd: “Mid-cycle refresh”: Design it, release it, then come back and think up a way to make it look different without fundamentally retooling it.
During the 1950s and 1960s, that was pretty much the standard operating procedure for Detroit. People expected that there would be a noticeable exterior styling change – particularly with full-size cars – every year.
> Pretty much literally defines the word “afterthought,” doesn’t it?
Afterthought for the car as a whole maybe, but not the styling dept. As Kyree mentions they’re trying to balance the whole design, and a chiseled front clashes with budonkadonk.
DLO fail, per the worlds of our Mr. Mehta.
Here we go with the Camry haters! ” You mean the 2015 Camry didn’t cure cancer, damn that Toyota”.
Lol
Exactly.
Guess I am more of a Camry tolerator… since car is not marketed to me. Camry’s design ‘magic’ consists of bringing many cues familiar from other cars, so that almost anyone can recognize almost anything. I’ll wait to pounce until I see this thing in the flesh/ metal. What another poster said about details not matching up with proportions is absolutely true. Mostly pleasing, non-offensive upgrades.
Just from photos and video though, I see a melange: Lexus’s huge ‘I’m going to eat the road’ Spindle/ Hourglass grille (bottom half filled=’time is running out?’ and joining look of Corolla/ Furia concept. Is this new, giant air intake going to result in functional respiration improvement?
Bit of Mercedes look from front quarter profile. Bit of Jetta in narrow slot of grille/ headlamp ‘squeeze’. Bit of an old Seville STS in rear 3/4 view of taillights…
Different details catch my eye… such as LED slash in front fascia. Will see how it looks in person…
“Is this new, giant air intake going to result in functional respiration improvement?”
Probably not. There’s just a small portion of it that’s not actually blocked off.
ANGRY CAMRY WILL EAT YOUR CHILDREN!!!
lmao
Probably not a selling point for a family car, unless you really dislike your family.
You could use it to “scare em straight”.
Be good…or we feed you to CAMRY!
If someone in my family threatened to buy me a Camry, I would be terrified. I could never, ever, ever, ever drive the equivalent of a toaster.
This new Camry will either look decent, or bad, in person. Given Toyota’s track record with weird proportions at certain angles (Sienna, anyone?), I’m leaning towards the latter.
I may look OK with these XSE wheels and body cladding…but what will it look like in 4-cyl., SE Granny-car form?
No doubt that the front end will be expensive to repair. The cosmetic surgery on the C-pillar is clumsy, in my opinion.
LE/XLE is granny-car form, SE is “grounded to the ground” :P
Thanks for the clarification. My ignorance of the Camry is significant, I am happy to say.
Pretty much as expected. The black C-pillar looks silly. The side view looks as boring, plain and generic as ever (a Camry hallmark)and the front rips off the current Corolla and Lexus with the silly predator grille. LOL at the carry over engines which are falling behind in both power and mileage. I wonder if they fixed some of the interior issues such as the flimsy front dash vents, the horrible fake cloth seat material which was akin to sand paper, lack of interior color options on certain models and total lack of features on upper trim levels like the SE?
My thoughts exactly on the styling. They even managed to make the predator grille theme *worse*! Honestly, what the hell is going on with that glossy black piece?
This looks like a good effort at fixing what irked potential biuers most about the current Camry: The interior quality and the exterior styling. I have only seen a couple of interior shots but it looks like a significant improvement over the existing model. The exterior is also an improvement and probably as much as excitement as its target audience wants.
A note to Camry haters: What didn’t need fixing was the driving experience which continues to be what Camry customers want it to be.
Looks a bit like Dodge Dart…
… disclaimer… opinions are like rear-ends, everyone has one.
Am I the only one here who thinks the last good looking Camry was the third generation? They have just gotten uglier and uglier and uglier.
Same deal with 4Runner… IMO the late 90’s had the best looking 4Runner ever.
Honda had been on this trajectory and have finally started to find there creative prowess again. Maybe Toyota can do the same sometime soon.
I thought the XV30 (2002-2006) was the best-looking Camry, especially in “Salsa Red Pearl”.
I’d give it a tie. The XV30 had started the trend towards a odd proportioned rear quarter panel and bloat… but I do love that front end.
Looked at some shots on other sites, the base model grille looks better, much cleaner. The XSE red model grille shown on TTAC with the weird black insert is simply hideous. Way too many angles and slashes. Adding that fake black C-pillar trim was not a good idea either. The back is probably the best looking part of the car.
In the first photo, one can see how little of that grille is needed for cooling.
I have to respect the current Golf styling. It manages to look good without an enormous fake grille.
It feels, to me, like they’ve just been adding new trim to the 2002’s bodyshell for about forever now. This thing is dripping in excess.
It’s fat Elvis.
Like it or not, Toyota has another winner here. I just don’t quite get what appears to be a long black plastic slash behind the back door glass area. Must be the new edition of the hated black plastic triangle!
… I just don’t quite get what appears to be a long black plastic slash behind the back door glass area…
DLO fail (search for it on TTAC)
But the point is that Toyota only has another winner because people who know/care nothing about cars are buying the Toyota and Camry NAMES, not the car. If they could see the car through their blind devotion to that “new 1980’s Japanese quality” that died a long time ago, the Camry would no longer be a winner because it is an offensively ugly, low tech, cheaply built little car that is pretty much the automotive equivalent of a fanny pack.
After the ’12 refresh, this is definitely a step in a better direction.
The ’12 was disappointing because the car became slab-sided (as in B-24 Liberator of WW2 fame) and it looked like they just poked wheel openings in the side of the body without giving thought to how these integrated with the rest of the body.
Worse, there were sharp corners at the bottom of the wheel cutouts that made it seem as if you’d catch your pants if you walked too close to it.
Now, as in the Avalon, there seems to be a de-bloating of the body, and tucking the lower body contours back toward the rockers, tightening up the overall look.
The grille may not look as bad as the pictures show. The camera placement for these shots looks to be a foot off the floor. From a normal viewing perspective the excessive blackout chicken wire treatment might not look so bad. But more body color (even desert sand metallic) across a smaller grille would look better.
As for the C-pillar, why can’t they just revert to the way they did the Gen2 Avalon? clean, thin, simple, much like Audi.
Overall, definitely an improvement. Now if they could get the greenhouse a little taller—-
I actually think it looks pretty nice. The avalon makeover has done it some favors.
I still don’t like DRIVING Camrys and will never own one but at least these will be nicer to look at going 6 under in the left lane on the highway.
Something must be wrong with me, I like the current version, I still think the 1988 Lebaron coupe/conv looks good, maybe I just like wedge shaped cars better, or maybe I’m just really boring.
People will continue to sell nearly a half a million yearly.
I can only assume that Toyotas saving a few dollars by eliminating the most important section of their front bumper.
Call me crazy, but I preferred the Camry as a bland beige barge, yea it was no looker but its just a family cruiser, whats wrong with that?
Now its clear that Toyota wants some Lexus looks in its cars, with the Camry looking like every recent Lexus, Lexus itself simply stealing from the Evo X and angularing it a bit.
Honestly this is why I have little respect for Toyotas, occasionally they will make something original, but otherwise every single car they’ve made was a copy of something that was already out.
For some reason I thought Toyota axed the V6 variant, or was that just the manual?
Also, are Honda and Toyota the only two makers still offering a 6 cylinder variant in mainstream mid-size cars? A friend recently got a ’14 Malibu with the 4 cylinder and I could have sworn there was a 6 cylinder offered, but the little research I did showed none to be found.
Just the manual. Pity.
I believe you haven’t been able to buy a row your own Camry with any engine combo in quite some time now.
Actually… you could buy a 2011 Camry with a 6spd manual! Rare as hen’s teeth, and from what I understand the throttle hang made it an unpleasant affair. It’s almost as weird as being able to buy a Kia Sorento in 2011 (the new fwd unibody one) with a stick shift in base fwd trim.
The new Chrysler 200 will have the Chrysler Pentastar corporate V6 available. I believe the Passat will also offer a V6.
Add an oscillating red LED array in the hood, cover it in chrome, and the 2015 Camry could be programmed to say, “by your command” in a 1980’s grade robot voice when you start it up.
What is your standing orders on humans?
Extermination.
Well then, carry out your orders!
With the Battlestar Galactica reference aside, the side slabs look the same basically as the last two generations – I like the rear clip a lot.
I’m just not a fan of any of the current front clip design language from anyone right now. Damn you pedestrian safety laws, damn you to Hell!!!
It looks like they took a Lexus and tried to fit it over a Camry. It actually didn’t turn out too bad, much more attractive than the last few attempts. The fake window in back seems intended to create more of the fastback shape so popular in current cars while compromising rear headroom less. Hopefully it actually works out that way, but it’s kind of a fugly trait. Not a big fan of the taillights, they look straight off of the previous generation. Still, looks like a net positive for Toyota that has been really shoveling out the incentives in this segment recently.
So both Camry and Accord have done wildly uncharacteristic restyles since the Fusion appeared. It’s almost like the Fusion changed the game or something…
The mesh grill material looks like it came from the hardware store. A lot of other manufactures have the same problem.
This redesign could not have come sooner since the current Chrysler 200 is better than today’s Camry.
You speak the truth. Too bad there are so many anti-American buying people out today. The new 200 blows this toyoda crapray away, in styling and engineering.
“Engineering”
Let’s not be too hasty with claims. Yes the 200 had many high tech components, but the question on most consumers’ minds is: will it last? Will the car still be worth anything in 5-10 years? Most people could care less if the car has 6 or 9 forward gears, they care that the transmission will shift reliably for the duration of their ownership.
I’d rather sit in a dead 200 than roll in this turd.
I’ll test drive it the next time I rent a car.
Look at the stache on this guy… Definitely an improvement, but what’s going on with the rear windows and c-pillar? Not a fan at all. The rear end is better, but it looks like an old Mazda 6 to me. Nonetheless, I appreciate that it looks less like an appliance now. Lets see what’s going on inside. Many areas needed to be improved there.
I like what Toyota did with the cowl and A-pillar area. No longer is the cusp of the front windows (where the beltline meets the A-pillar) *higher* than the lowest point on the beltline. But the C-pillar introduces a new problem. One step forward, one step back.
Sheesh. I like everything about it, but it’s UGLY. Guess I’ll have to start an aftermarket grill business. I could probably sell 400,000 a year for the Camry alone. I was worried about the 2015 having the ugly black grill, stiffer suspension (like the one that ruined the Avalon), and lack of V6. Two of my three nightmares came true.
Now if Toy would get over it “you buy what we build” and no we do not want to build that even if it is advertized. Worst attitude of any car company I have dealt with. And then there are the dealers…….
if they use know to use to high gloss black plastic to mimic glass on the c-pillar, how come they don’t use similar plastic on the b-pillars? And the door frames, for that matter. I hate DLO fail as much as anyone, but using the right materials makes the difference from unfortunate styling compromise to downright cheap looking (compare Chevy Cruze vs Mazda6 to see what I mean). The Camry’s greenhouse is now a cheap looking mess at anything other than a fleeting glance.
The Chrysler 200 illustrates that there are no longer any bad cars in this segment. Anyone of these cars would be the best in their category just five years ago. The Malibu may now be the bottom feeder of the group, but it is still a very good car. Even the hapless 2010 Sebring would be the best in its class a decade earlier.
It looks like a tarted up, lairy ’14 Corolla. That model makes me itch. Odd, I like the ’14 Camry. Especially since someone set the trunk badges right.