![]() |
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
Now moving into its second model year after its extensive mid-cycle update, it still looks fresh and unique. The new Camry’s deep front grille is almost aggressive in its visual assertiveness, my tester’s finished in an attractive glossy dark grey metallic other than the chromed Toyota trademark strikethrough at its top edge. The
![]() |
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
It
![]() |
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
Then
![]() |
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
These buttons and toggles are all nicely fitted and well damped, the way we expect it in a Toyota, the controls on the steering wheel spokes especially well done. Ditto for the centre stack, which gets nice large dials for audio on/volume and tune/scroll functions, plus the dual-zone auto HVAC system’s left and right side
![]() |
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
There are no such seat heaters in back, however, strangely not available despite this being such a trendy feature from compacts to top-tier luxury cars industry-wide, although the back seats themselves are extremely comfortable with very good lower support. There was about three inches of open space above my medium-build five-foot-eight frame, another three next to my outside shoulder
![]() |
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
The large 436-litre (15.4 cubic-foot) trunk benefits from 60/40 split-folding rear seatbacks, although the pass-through is a bit smaller than some others in this class, while Toyota has added a ribbed plastic backing that is designed to protect the seatbacks and no doubt would do so from a sharp object, but I like carpeting better as whatever you’re placing on top doesn’t slide around as much, while it also doesn’t scratch as easily from ski edges, poles and the like.
As you might have expected the drive is mostly about comfort, the Camry gliding down the road with an effortless ease, my loaner’s four-cylinder engine making hardly
![]() |
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
That car was a wonderful vehicle to drive for its time, none of us realizing how incredibly successful it would become, nor the models that followed, and the rest of
![]() |
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
How much everything has changed, but before I turn this review into a trip down memory lane for those of us with such memories (or the lack thereof) the $24,100 base Camry’s standard list continues with
![]() |
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
![]() |
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
XLE trim, which begins four trim levels the base LE, passing SE and XSE with a starting price of $31,040 when equipped with my tester’s four-cylinder or $34,800 with the 268 horsepower 3.5-litre V6, gets standard LED daytime running lights, unique 17-inch alloy wheels, proximity-sensing passive access, pushbutton ignition, an auto-dimming rearview mirror with a digital compass, an integrated garage door opener, dual-zone automatic climate control, a larger seven-inch infotainment system with navigation, satellite radio, a wireless charging pad located within the lidded storage bin at the base of the centre stack, an eight-way powered driver’s seat and four-way powered passenger seat, both of which are heatable
![]() |
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
By the way, don’t look to Toyota’s website in an attempt to figure out what’s standard and what’s not, at least when it comes to this model and its auto-dimming rearview mirror/compass, garage door monitor, moonroof or active safety, because the car tested was a four-cylinder powered XLE and there certainly was an electrochromic mirror, garage door opener and moonroof overhead, while the side mirrors lit up with blind spot warnings when needed, but Toyota’s retail website was very clear in stating that this model with these features doesn’t exist. I beg to differ, as does a local dealer that I’ve grown to trust about such issues, and to that end I’m glad it’s not true or I’d have to ream the
![]() |
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
Then again they actually do deserve a little knuckle rap because the upgraded colour multi-information system with lane departure alert and pre-collision system can’t be had with the XLE 2.5, nor can safer, clearer LED headlamps, dynamic radar cruise control, and the 10-speaker JBL audio system, but all come standard with the XLE V6. I’d like to see Toyota offer these top-tier features in a package or as standalone features so that those who wanted the many benefits of a four-cylinder engine would still be able to access optimal safety, visibility, road trip convenience and sound quality.
I should mention here that the trims I passed by quickly earlier include the SE, that’s also impressively featured with a focus on sportier styling and even including a very unique new Special Edition that I’ll be reviewing soon, while the XSE comes kitted out very similarly to this XLE albeit with a focus on performance as
![]() |
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
Yes, I know I’m talking about enjoying the drive experience in a Camry, and while there are haters out there who love to dis anything successful, Toyota’s mid-sizer didn’t get as popular as it is by lulling its owners to sleep. Certainly its suspension is biased towards comfort and its ride borders on sublime, but even get this XLE into a fast-paced set of curves and it’ll hold its own unless pushed beyond reason. I’m not going to try and pretend it’s the sportiest in its segment, buyers in this class
![]() |
Photo: Karen Tuggay, Canadian Auto Press |
Truly, the Camry does most everything well. It might just be the ideal all-rounder, scoring high in pretty well every category, even crash tests where the IIHS has already given this 2016 version Top Safety Pick + status with the optional active safety equipment just noted, whereas the NHTSA grants all Camrys their best five-star rating. As for reliability, Toyota is legendary for getting its owners where they’re going more often than not, the brand scoring third out of 31 auto brands in the latest J.D. Power and Associates 2015 Vehicle Dependability Study, that placement actually the highest for non-luxury brands (as long as you consider Buick luxury).
Needless to say it’s near impossible to go wrong with a Camry, this impressively equipped XLE model merely making the experience all the more rewarding.
©(Copyright Canadian Auto Press)