We purchased a Silver 2008 Camry Hybrid the Friday before Memorial Day. Fully loaded with the Navigation system, moon roof, leather. The buying experience through CarsDirect and the dealer was very straight forward and I'd recommend using them. No surprises at all.
We took the car on a 2.5 hour trip and was very happy with the overall performance AND gas mileage. 34 or so MPG, and the car had some giddyup.....Trunk room was adequate, everything works as a Toyota should.

Besides the Nav system being locked out when moving, my biggest disappointment was that the electic motor is not used more. Only during very, very light acceleration, will the ICE not kick in. I was really looking forward to driving around on more electric power. Just nitpicking here, as everything else is as advertised. Great job toyota

 

How much did you pay for it. just wondering.

 

Give it more time. You'll learn to drive the car in a way that uses the electric motor more. It's amazing what it can do by itself. I'm amazed every time I drive my car...even after nearly 8 months of ownership.

 

There's definitely a learning curve, so don't be too disappointed until you really start getting a hang for it and still think it's not doing what you'd hoped. It may still be a little disappointing, if you wanted basically an electric car with a gas engine as backup. If you're running below 40 mph, you can definitely push it in electric mode for a significant percentage of any given stretch--I do it all the time. You should definitely make sure to keep the battery's state of charge visible if you start doing that as my view at least is when you run low and the ICE kicks in to recharge the battery, especially when it runs while you can't move, that's essentially wasting gas for 0 miles.

Also take a good look at the FAQ and spend time browsing through the threads for tips. The warmer temperature as summer kicks in will reduce warmup times, and things like (one of my big pushes) the so-called "full hybrid mode" can help you maximize the time you can drive in electric mode (basically the big advantage once you get into this mode is that whenever you take your foot off the gas under 40 it will instantly drop into electric mode, which otherwise it won't do until you come to a complete stop).

But remember you've had it for a couple of days--I had mine most of a year before I started figuring things out better! Give it a little time, you'll find more ways to improve things, I'm sure.

 

I would have to say that statement is key. I personally think I caught on pretty quickly but I was also lurking on here for months before I bought mine.

It takes time to figure out how to get the car to respond a certain way on certain conditions (uphill, downhill, into the wind, tailwinds).

 

lot of factors at work...mainly it's physics (which I forgot 30 years ago).
to move the vehicle you need a certain amount of power, the heavier the vehicle, the more power needed.
I'm sure a Prius driven by one person needs less power than a Camry with two passenger and they are all less than a Hylander with four passengers. The heavier the car, the more power needed.
If you wanted more electric and less gas, the Prius would provide that for you.

 

To make maximum use of EV mode requires diving a little more "ahead" of the vehicle. It is not enough to anticipate traffic lights, you need to anticipate the queue associated with them a bit more so you can stay in EV mode through the light instead of slowing or stopping and then requiring the ICE in order to get up to speed again. Increased trailing distances, while still flowing with the traffic basic speed is the key to higher EV utilization. Same for all other sources of non-mandatory stops like school buses, garbage trucks and left turns from two lane intersections.

Also, be aware of the battery SOC. Using EV mode, in itself, does not save you much becasue the charge has to be replaced. The largest efficiencies are realized when a way exists to replace the charge by regen or by reduced power ICE operation with intermittent electric assist like small hills followed by small valleys. If you plan where the charge will occur as you spend the charge in the battery, you can make selective use of EV in the most efficient manner.

You never want to start down a long down grade with a full SOC as the TCH just has to waste the kinetic enegy available for regen. Likewise, you never want to start up a long hill without sufficient charge to climb it with electric assist if at all feasible because the ICE will need to work harder without electric assist, and thus spend more fuel.

 

To respond to Cam's question
28600 without Tax or NJ 4 Year registration and title fees.
Nav, Leather, Roof, basically option F I think it was, with Floor Mats.
30977 after Tax, registration and title fees.

I guess I was thinking/hoping something more like the Chevy Volt. I know the TCH is a Parallel Hybrid, just thought (I never took one for a test drive), the electric motor would be relied on more.

Forgetting about trying to push the limit, the car without even thinking about it provides 35MPG (city). For a mid-size 4 door sedan thats great . Compared to the 4 cyl Camry I think it gets 21MPG (city) or my 95 Ford Explorer that gets probably 15mpg.

BTW, anyone want to buy a '95 Ford Explorer?

 

I have had my TCH for a year and a half, and I agree not having the EV only mode is a disappointment. The Toyota Highlander Hybrid has an EV only mode and that would work wonderfully for the Camry. Obviously if you punch the gas it would immediately override the EV mode, similar to the way cruise control works. But you woudn't have to use such a fine touch and feather the throttle just right, which can be a distraction from paying attention to what is going on around you.

 

Please be aware that your TCH is gas/electric hybrid vehicle, not an EV nor plug-in hybrid.
The all energy comes from gasoline, and heavy use of electric power worsen your fuel economy.
A famous Pulse&Glide technique is avoiding to use motor power.
Toyota Hybrid System(THS/THS-II/HSD) is a series/parallel hybrid.
http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/tech/envi...ths2/what.html

Ken@Japan