Bought a new 2026 Camry SE

[ChrisMU]

Very nice! Should be 20 years of near trouble-free ownership. Those black overlays are expensive so you might find a buyer for them. Did you cross shop the Accord?

So far I’ve removed the rear “HEV,” “SE,” and Toyota logo overlays. I think the black “CAMRY” lettering on the trunk lid might not be an overlay, so I may wait until I buy the lettering in chrome. I’ll probably leave the black exhaust tips on the car. I tried removing the overlays as delicately as possible, but they all cracked.

For new cars, I was initially interested in the non-hybrid versions of the Civic hatchback, Mazda 3 hatchback, Toyota Corolla hatchback, and the Hyundai Sonata, as well as the Camry. The non-hybrid version of the Accord is a DI-only turbo if I’m not mistaken, so that gives me pause, even though I like the styling. I was hesitant about hybrids in general, but if I was going to get one, it would be a Toyota. I can’t ignore how many Priuses (Prii?) I see with 300K+ and/or used as Taxis. A lot of hatchbacks were on my list because I grew up with an ‘83 Mercury Lynx wagon and ‘91 Mercury Tracer wagon as the main family cars. There’s a lot of utility for the money in a wagon/hatch. If Toyota still made something like the Matrix for the US market, it would have been considered.

After the first deal went south due to price, my wife was trying to convince me to try a Corolla sedan, but it’s hard to go from an Avalon to a Corolla. She’s also convinced that Toyota can do no wrong, so the Civic and Mazda 3 were out. I already had reservations about the Sonata since I’m not sure how much Theta II DNA is in that engine.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

After the first deal went south due to price, my wife was trying to convince me to try a Corolla sedan, but it’s hard to go from an Avalon to a Corolla. She’s also convinced that Toyota can do no wrong, so the Civic and Mazda 3 were out. I already had reservations about the Sonata since I’m not sure how much Theta II DNA is in that engine.

I can say that my daughters boyfriend has a '21 Sonata with 2.5L and that has GDI with MPI. I can also say that it sits very low like further to fall into and harder to climb out of than my '17 Accord. It's low. He scrapes going in and out of my driveway with the overhang in front of the wheels. More than 1 person and it just scrapes in middle of the car.

The upper trim Camry's look very nice. Great color. Congratulations. Now if they just made it in a manual transmission again...............

 

[Delta]

So far I’ve removed the rear “HEV,” “SE,” and Toyota logo overlays. I think the black “CAMRY” lettering on the trunk lid might not be an overlay, so I may wait until I buy the lettering in chrome. I’ll probably leave the black exhaust tips on the car. I tried removing the overlays as delicately as possible, but they all cracked.

For new cars, I was initially interested in the non-hybrid versions of the Civic hatchback, Mazda 3 hatchback, Toyota Corolla hatchback, and the Hyundai Sonata, as well as the Camry. The non-hybrid version of the Accord is a DI-only turbo if I’m not mistaken, so that gives me pause, even though I like the styling. I was hesitant about hybrids in general, but if I was going to get one, it would be a Toyota. I can’t ignore how many Priuses (Prii?) I see with 300K+ and/or used as Taxis. A lot of hatchbacks were on my list because I grew up with an ‘83 Mercury Lynx wagon and ‘91 Mercury Tracer wagon as the main family cars. There’s a lot of utility for the money in a wagon/hatch. If Toyota still made something like the Matrix for the US market, it would have been considered.

After the first deal went south due to price, my wife was trying to convince me to try a Corolla sedan, but it’s hard to go from an Avalon to a Corolla. She’s also convinced that Toyota can do no wrong, so the Civic and Mazda 3 were out. I already had reservations about the Sonata since I’m not sure how much Theta II DNA is in that engine.

I test drove a Corolla the same time as the '26 Camry. I definitely did not like it one bit. Cramped interior and with the CVT it was really buzzy.

 

[Hohn]

I guess the first guy has never heard the phrase, "do you want part of something or all of nothing?"

I love that saying.

I use a variant of it when people complain about high prices and such. "Expensive and available beats cheap and unobtainable every time."

 

[97K15004WD]

Does it need to identify you when you get in the car, like the new Subie's do?

And what about the other safety features?

 

[Leo99]

I test drove a Corolla the same time as the '26 Camry. I definitely did not like it one bit. Cramped interior and with the CVT it was really buzzy.

Yes, just sold my in-laws Corolla after they aged out of driving. My old Camry is much nicer than a newer Corolla. I think my 05 Corolla was a nicer car than a 2012 Corolla.