New 08 TCH, but with 9/07 manufacture date
Thread Starter
|
Pretty Darn Active Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 281
From: Jacksonville, FL
New 08 TCH, but with 9/07 manufacture date
We picked up our Silver TCH on Monday, at a decent price. The thing that seems a little confusing/troubling/puzzling 
is that the car was manufactured in late September 07, and seemingly sat around the dealer lot a while (there was the bogus $xxx above Monroney sticker dealer add-on sticker found). The same dealer had a number of other '08 TCHs, while other dealers in town were selling only 09's. The equipment on ours was the 'basic' UPAT (Bose) package, with tint, mats and spats (mud guards). I specifically did NOT want the Toyota NAV (lock-out when the car's moving, even with a passenger to do the navigation is simply unacceptable), and wasn't particularly impressed with the leather Toyota puts in the TCH. A couple of local upholstery shops have SWEET leather packages for the Camry, for less $$$ than the factory wanted (and the standard cloth is pretty comfy).
The question for folks with recent '08 purchases - how much before your purchase was your car manufactured? Looking at some of the 'early adopter' threads where folks were paying substantially above sticker makes me glad we waited. However, given the car 'sat' for almost 6 mos, makes me wonder about when the initial oil should be changed (I believe Toyota recommends 6 month/5K mile intervals). FWIW, the car had ~40 miles when we took it out for our test drive; it runs fine, and so far the computer is saying 35 MPG with A/C blasting and short-trip use.
My 'old' car was/is a Honda Pilot that was doing good to get 18 in the same use. So my goal of halving fuel usage seems in reach.
Also, adding on to other Bridgestone/Michelin threads - we drove 2 TCH equipped identically; one with Touranzas, one with the Michelins. Although I can't be certain that the BS car didn't have tire balance issues, it felt decidedly rougher at highway speed; were that the only choice, I would have passed; something about the car didn't feel 'right'. Given the wear rating of 240 vs 460, it was an easy decision.
Anyway - so far (with less than 100 miles in the saddle), I'm loving it. Still trying to download my phone book to the infotainment system; did manage to get the phone to recognize the car.
Now to figure out how to keep the kids from knocking the crap out of the cars parked next to us with those big back doors.
is that the car was manufactured in late September 07, and seemingly sat around the dealer lot a while (there was the bogus $xxx above Monroney sticker dealer add-on sticker found). The same dealer had a number of other '08 TCHs, while other dealers in town were selling only 09's. The equipment on ours was the 'basic' UPAT (Bose) package, with tint, mats and spats (mud guards). I specifically did NOT want the Toyota NAV (lock-out when the car's moving, even with a passenger to do the navigation is simply unacceptable), and wasn't particularly impressed with the leather Toyota puts in the TCH. A couple of local upholstery shops have SWEET leather packages for the Camry, for less $$$ than the factory wanted (and the standard cloth is pretty comfy).The question for folks with recent '08 purchases - how much before your purchase was your car manufactured? Looking at some of the 'early adopter' threads where folks were paying substantially above sticker makes me glad we waited. However, given the car 'sat' for almost 6 mos, makes me wonder about when the initial oil should be changed (I believe Toyota recommends 6 month/5K mile intervals). FWIW, the car had ~40 miles when we took it out for our test drive; it runs fine, and so far the computer is saying 35 MPG with A/C blasting and short-trip use.
My 'old' car was/is a Honda Pilot that was doing good to get 18 in the same use. So my goal of halving fuel usage seems in reach.Also, adding on to other Bridgestone/Michelin threads - we drove 2 TCH equipped identically; one with Touranzas, one with the Michelins. Although I can't be certain that the BS car didn't have tire balance issues, it felt decidedly rougher at highway speed; were that the only choice, I would have passed; something about the car didn't feel 'right'. Given the wear rating of 240 vs 460, it was an easy decision.
Anyway - so far (with less than 100 miles in the saddle), I'm loving it. Still trying to download my phone book to the infotainment system; did manage to get the phone to recognize the car.
Now to figure out how to keep the kids from knocking the crap out of the cars parked next to us with those big back doors.
Active Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 118
Re: New 08 TCH, but with 9/07 manufacture date
I was finding a mix of 08 and 09 Camrys when we were looking. I would be curious about why your sat so long, as I would guess that it was one of he the first 08s built. But it certainly does not hurt the car to sit that long. You may want to ask the dealer and see if they can give you any input, just out of curiosity.
Active Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 128
Re: New 08 TCH, but with 9/07 manufacture date
We picked up our Silver TCH on Monday, at a decent price. The thing that seems a little confusing/troubling/puzzling is that the car was manufactured in late September 07, and seemingly sat around the dealer lot a while (there was the bogus $xxx above Monroney sticker dealer add-on sticker found). The same dealer had a number of other '08 TCHs, while other dealers in town were selling only 09's. The equipment on ours was the 'basic' UPAT (Bose) package, with tint, mats and spats (mud guards). I specifically did NOT want the Toyota NAV (lock-out when the car's moving, even with a passenger to do the navigation is simply unacceptable), and wasn't particularly impressed with the leather Toyota puts in the TCH. A couple of local upholstery shops have SWEET leather packages for the Camry, for less $$$ than the factory wanted (and the standard cloth is pretty comfy).
The question for folks with recent '08 purchases - how much before your purchase was your car manufactured? Looking at some of the 'early adopter' threads where folks were paying substantially above sticker makes me glad we waited. However, given the car 'sat' for almost 6 mos, makes me wonder about when the initial oil should be changed (I believe Toyota recommends 6 month/5K mile intervals). FWIW, the car had ~40 miles when we took it out for our test drive; it runs fine, and so far the computer is saying 35 MPG with A/C blasting and short-trip use. My 'old' car was/is a Honda Pilot that was doing good to get 18 in the same use. So my goal of halving fuel usage seems in reach.
Also, adding on to other Bridgestone/Michelin threads - we drove 2 TCH equipped identically; one with Touranzas, one with the Michelins. Although I can't be certain that the BS car didn't have tire balance issues, it felt decidedly rougher at highway speed; were that the only choice, I would have passed; something about the car didn't feel 'right'. Given the wear rating of 240 vs 460, it was an easy decision.
Anyway - so far (with less than 100 miles in the saddle), I'm loving it. Still trying to download my phone book to the infotainment system; did manage to get the phone to recognize the car.
Now to figure out how to keep the kids from knocking the crap out of the cars parked next to us with those big back doors.
is that the car was manufactured in late September 07, and seemingly sat around the dealer lot a while (there was the bogus $xxx above Monroney sticker dealer add-on sticker found). The same dealer had a number of other '08 TCHs, while other dealers in town were selling only 09's. The equipment on ours was the 'basic' UPAT (Bose) package, with tint, mats and spats (mud guards). I specifically did NOT want the Toyota NAV (lock-out when the car's moving, even with a passenger to do the navigation is simply unacceptable), and wasn't particularly impressed with the leather Toyota puts in the TCH. A couple of local upholstery shops have SWEET leather packages for the Camry, for less $$$ than the factory wanted (and the standard cloth is pretty comfy).The question for folks with recent '08 purchases - how much before your purchase was your car manufactured? Looking at some of the 'early adopter' threads where folks were paying substantially above sticker makes me glad we waited. However, given the car 'sat' for almost 6 mos, makes me wonder about when the initial oil should be changed (I believe Toyota recommends 6 month/5K mile intervals). FWIW, the car had ~40 miles when we took it out for our test drive; it runs fine, and so far the computer is saying 35 MPG with A/C blasting and short-trip use.
My 'old' car was/is a Honda Pilot that was doing good to get 18 in the same use. So my goal of halving fuel usage seems in reach.Also, adding on to other Bridgestone/Michelin threads - we drove 2 TCH equipped identically; one with Touranzas, one with the Michelins. Although I can't be certain that the BS car didn't have tire balance issues, it felt decidedly rougher at highway speed; were that the only choice, I would have passed; something about the car didn't feel 'right'. Given the wear rating of 240 vs 460, it was an easy decision.
Anyway - so far (with less than 100 miles in the saddle), I'm loving it. Still trying to download my phone book to the infotainment system; did manage to get the phone to recognize the car.
Now to figure out how to keep the kids from knocking the crap out of the cars parked next to us with those big back doors.
- How much did you pay for your TCH with that config?
- How did you know when it was made?
- Which TCH model year had which tires? 2009's seem to be Touranzas
- Re: the back door (and front for that matter), get door edge guards - they help limit the damage. (~$40)
Thread Starter
|
Pretty Darn Active Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 281
From: Jacksonville, FL
Re: New 08 TCH, but with 9/07 manufacture date
A few questions and a comment:
- How much did you pay for your TCH with that config?
- How did you know when it was made?
- Which TCH model year had which tires? 2009's seem to be Touranzas
- Re: the back door (and front for that matter), get door edge guards - they help limit the damage. (~$40)
- How much did you pay for your TCH with that config?
- How did you know when it was made?
- Which TCH model year had which tires? 2009's seem to be Touranzas
- Re: the back door (and front for that matter), get door edge guards - they help limit the damage. (~$40)
As to manufacture date - it's on the door tag. There were also shipper/distributor papers in the car stating date of delivery and date the window tint got applied. Also the VIN is 356xx, so it's pretty low. The one with BS had a VIN 381xx, so it was manufactured in the same time frame. Both were from the Kentucky plant.
Also, several of the 09's I looked at had Michelins (both base and tarted up); seems Toyota is using both, with no seeming pattern.
And yeah, the door edge guards are on my shopping list; I just don't really like the look.
Ridiculously Active Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,389
From: Mid Hudson Valley, New York
Re: New 08 TCH, but with 9/07 manufacture date
I suspect there are a few reasons why it might have sat around.
1. The dealer you purchased from does not do a lot of volume. You mentioned others were selling 2009s. Those dealerships either just got into hybrids or they do more volume.
2. The options package is not something most people would like. If someone wanted leather and did not want to mess with it they might want it factory installed.
3. The color is not popular with people in the area.
Over all, I would not worry about it much. You could always just change the oil if you want.
I also second the door edge guards. I had them on my last truck and they were great! They have color keyed guards for the TCH.
http://www.trdparts4u.com/MC-DBHE-FIE.aspx
Enjoy the car Dave!
Mike
1. The dealer you purchased from does not do a lot of volume. You mentioned others were selling 2009s. Those dealerships either just got into hybrids or they do more volume.
2. The options package is not something most people would like. If someone wanted leather and did not want to mess with it they might want it factory installed.
3. The color is not popular with people in the area.
Over all, I would not worry about it much. You could always just change the oil if you want.
I also second the door edge guards. I had them on my last truck and they were great! They have color keyed guards for the TCH.
http://www.trdparts4u.com/MC-DBHE-FIE.aspx
Enjoy the car Dave!
Mike
Thread
Topic Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Guss
GM Hybrid Trucks, Cadillac Escalade Hybrid, Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid & GMC Yukon Hybrid
13
Feb 27, 2010 03:30 PM
mabelle012
Toyota Camry Hybrid
7
Sep 6, 2006 05:21 PM
