Well my TCH was made in Japan, but my moms XLE was made in Kentucky. I can tell you that there seams to be no real difference. The paint on mine sucks. I have too had to repair paint chips on mine. She has not had hers long enough to know. My 01 Highlander has the same exact issue. The paint is super thin. I am used to Hondas and their paint is just fine.

I will tell you that the palstic inside her car meets up better. One of my BIGGEST issues with seams not meeting up is at the top corners of the airvents when it meets the dash. Mine do not align, but my moms do, on both sides. Also my dash speakers do not quite align up and my moms do.

Here is a pic of the vent.
http://www.exportauto.biz/camry05007...s/IMG_021.html

 

Too much, it's the same car, being assembled in the same way. The paint may be different due to different EPA standards in the various country but I doubt that the case in Japan. I have owned other cars from Japan and their paint wasn't that durable. Toyota and Honda take pride that their cars meet the standard across the board regardless of where they are assembled. To the point that these cars are often exported out of this country to their country.

 

Wow this is a tough croud! After seeing FLO7s' picture I inspected my Japanese Camry and noted the same gap. I conside myself a bit of a car enthusist but never saw this or was/am bothered by this. My Audi A4 is put together with care but I consider this Camry to be the best car I've ever owned. It's balance of luxury and economy is unbeatable at this time.
I think were going to see some upscale vehicles using diesel pretty soon but with the cost of diesel (higher than prem. in my area) and its scarcity I don't see it eclipsing hybrids for a long time.
Bob

 

how do i know if my car is made in Japan or Kentucky ?

 

By the VIN#.
Japanese made Camry's have a VIN# starting with the letter J.
US made cars start with a number.

 

Thanks TKCamry

mine starts with JTN so it means that its from japan. Purchased in November (1 day Before Thanksgiving)

 

Mine has that same ill-fitting panel on both sides. It has annoyed me from day one, and I keep telling myself that it must be better built than a GM. Lets just hope that is the only ill fitting panels, and I hope sombody figures out how to easily fix it.

 

I learned today that there is an easy way to tell the Japan or US made Camrys.
Cars made in Japan have a square plug in the front bumper. This plug covers a place to connect a harness during overseas shipping.
I just purchased my TCH (VIN starting w/J ) but it had holes in the bumper for a license plate. I didn't neeed a front plate and I did not want the hole messing up my bumper. The dealer found a similar car on the lot w/o holes and swapped the bumper out. Both bumpers had the plug and both came from a J car. The US cars did not have the plug.

 

Mine was manufactured in 02/07 in Japan and let me tell you, the build quality is above par to the 'merica built. I had a non-hybrid LE for a week and most of the interior trim had large gaps and wasn't lined up, but my hybrid is flawless!

 

Cool. My Kentucky build '07 XLE-V6 is every bit as well built as my Japanese '07 TCH. So that sort of cancels out your theory doesn't it?