Last week I had the pleasure of being invited to a Toyota press event to get an early sneak peak and test drive of some new Toyota mid run updates on the Camry, Sienna and Yaris. At this event flight, accommodations, and activities were provided. Toyota called their Family Reunion.
We were able to see, inspect, and test drive all the different versions of the previously mentioned vehicles. Of course you don’t have a family reunion in just any old place.
Toyota was hosting the preview at the beautiful Ponte Vedra Inn & Club just outside Jacksonville, Florida. The 80 degree weather was an instant change from “sunny” Cleveland, Ohio, but the weather wasn’t the only thing that had all the attendees excited.
The main remodel that Toyota wants to share with everyone is their changes to America’s most popular car, the Camry. Did you know Camry has been America’s most popular car for 12 years running. The Camry is built in the USA, with 75% of the materials coming from North America. While selling over 400,000 Camry’s per year and adding a new Camry to 50 new families every hour, Toyota still considers the one in your driveway to be THE most important.
So why mess with such success? Toyota wants to stay completive and keep their Camry customer, consisting of primarily families, happy and up to date. This means the new Camry is not only the boldest, but also the quietest and safest Camry yet. An entire redesign from the front grille to the rear tail lights, allows the 2015 Camry to stay on the one way highway to your driveway.
The redesign consists of more style, more tech and more safety, all coming in at approximately the same prices as last year’s models. The Camry is a great mid-size sedan for the family. No matter how old the kids are, from teens to infants, there is plenty of room in back for them and the safety setup for car seats is excellent as well, including 10 air bags, blind spot monitoring, lane departure alerts, STAR Safety and more.
When choosing a Camry, you have to decide between gas and a hybrid. From there you choose LE, SE, XLE or XSE for the gas, and LE, SE, or XLE for the hybrid. With tons of options you are sure to find one that will fit your family perfectly.
Driving all of the models was a pleasure, the vehicle was very responsive and just felt like a nice solid, comfortable ride. While the Camry is not a race car, I didn’t feel any model was lacking in pickup, I was especially impressed with the Camry Hybrid, the driving experience was awesome, and the pickup felt like it was a regular gas car all while getting a combined 41 mpg, which is probably the biggest compliment you can give a hybrid.
The new Camry is also very teched up as well, all models come with a standard rear view camera and thanks to Qi technology (depending on model) you can also charge compatible phones (or cases) wirelessly by just placing them in a spot on your console. Just imagining driving in a car with no charging cords makes me smile and makes the car look so much cleaner, it’s hard enough to keep a clean car when you have kids in it, so this is a huge bonus for me.
Toyota redesigned the Camry for their customers, go test drive why Camry has a huge loyal customer base and you will come away impressed with the new changes to all the Camrys.
My Toyota trip covered more than the Camry, in the next couple posts I will also talk about revisiting one of our favorites – I call It the Ultimate Dad-Mobile and Toyota calls it the Original Swagger Wagon – the new Sienna, as well as the Yaris. I will also get a few words in describing the resort we stayed in because it is a must visit next time you are looking for a place to stay in Jacksonville, the Ponte Vedre Inn & Club was amazing in many ways.
The Camry is on pace to join over 415,000 new families this year, will you be next?
We have a 1997 and 2010 Camry and I’d LOVE to upgrade either to the 2015. It’s so sharp looking and it’s not often that Toyota changes their body styles. Thanks for sharing!