Hi Folks!

Well, I bought my 2007 Blue TCH back in early February, almost on impulse.

I had a 2004 GM product, back then it seemed "the right thing to do", support American business and all of that. Never in my life could I have anticipated just what a tightly-coiled, steaming pile of monkey dung that car would be. It was a nightmare in every sense of the word.

I had been researching hybrids for a long time and obviously the parallel hybrid system in the Prius was the way to go, except I just could not bring myself to ride around in an egg-shaped pod. Also, where I live the Prius owners are pretty well known as the the kind of folks who dummy-up the back of the car with all manner of political statements on bumper stickers. And I just...... couldn't be part of that scene.

But then I heard that Toyota was going to migrate the Prius drive train into a Camry and THAT caught my attention!

So I was out on a service call one day for work, waiting at a large DC for a truck that never showed up and I was growing increasingly irritated at the sweet stench of burning coolant dripping into the combustion chambers on my 18mpg GM wonder of the world.

Finally I left and on the way home the throttle cut-outs while accelerating into freeway traffic nearly got me killed. I'd HAD IT!

I jumped off I-15 at "John Elway's Crown Toyota" and I pulled into the lot. A young kid salesman was just arriving for work and struggling with his tie. I told him to forget about the tie for a moment. I told him what I wanted, how much I was going to pay, what my trade value was worth and what my credit score was going to be. I then told him if he could wrap up the deal in 90 minutes or less, that he would sell a car today.

He looked a bit befuddled, so I reminded him that time was wasting. Within minutes I was dancing the tango with the TO Man (closer). Then on to F and I. Then home with my new car and a huge upside-down loan.

Oh well... I'm happy with my car now and that is really important.

Anyway, sorry for the long-winded intro.

I am a Technical Service professional and I've always done all my own repair work including engine and transmission overhauls and I intend to keep up with that on the Camry. I bought the Service Manual for it too... all 2,000 pages. Back in the late 90's I was a very active contributor to another car enthusiast site. It was kinda fun and I look forward to participating here and getting to know you good folks.

Cordially,

Tom in California

 

Welcome. As a former service tech, I'm sure you'll be able to give the rest of us a lot of useful information about helping us maintain our beloved TCH's!

 

Love the story Tom! Welcome to the forum.

 

Good story...welcome aboard Tom.

 

You will find that there a lot of us here. It is nice to be excited about a car again, and without being "outside" of the mainstream. I beleive that the market success of hybrid technology will eventually be measured by acceptance of cars like the TCH and NAH where the technology is simply part of the complete vehicle and not worn like a badge out front.

It needs to happen. Not everybody is a technology or car nut, nor should we expect them to be. (Its their loss!)