this is the 2021 Toyota Camry the number one selling car
for Toyota and there's a reason for that there's a lot of improvements for 2021
and if you've owned a Camry in the past you'll be pretty happy to see some of these changes
welcome back to the channel I'm Lauren Fix if this is your first time to the channel we
do a lot more than car reviews we give you first looks of new vehicles and we give you car smarts
because we believe knowledge is power make sure to subscribe and click that little bell
so you don't miss anything this is the 2021 Toyota Camry hybrid now the camry itself is the number
one selling sedan but this hybrid has become very popular and this is the xse edition there
are four different trim levels and we're going to look at the top trim of the sportier trim level
that looks a little different you might notice the black top the black mirror caps and the
black wheels that's the sportier edition there's also the xle which is the moral luxury there's a
little changes on each but this vehicle is a great example of what is available so you can make a
decision when you go to the dealer the dealer is going to try and sell you on this vehicle
because that's their job we're going to give you information so you purchase the right vehicle
we're going to give you information on performance handling safety visibility seating technology
features design quality we'll give you cargo space of value and in the end we'll give you a
car coach reports total which you want to stay for this will also give you some pros and cons
and who the competition is because you want to test drive all those and on the bottom we'll list
them all in the description and links to those reviews so that you can make decisions that make
sense for you we want you to test drive these vehicles don't just buy them on anyone's reviews
it's really important to take it for a drive let's do that this camry is front-wheel drive
and powered by a 2.5 liter inline four-cylinder engine with 118 horsepower add that electric
motor which is the hybrid portion and you're at 208 horsepower it also has a cvt transmission
Although this vehicle is sporty it is not a sports car or a race car 0 to 60. here we go
in the fastest mode the sport mode yeah it's about eight seconds does it need to be faster than that
no it doesn't actually for me i was just driving it in the normal mode that makes the most sense
for everyone now if you're thinking i really don't want to spend the money at the gas pump
because gas prices are getting higher we can put it into the eco mode and still get the performance
that we need 44 miles to the gallon of the city 47 on the highway this is a very comfortable vehicle
to drive every day in the eco mode i think it's a bit underpowered but you're not driving fast
this is you're driving around town for me the normal mode seems great remember that the ev
mode which a lot of people like to use after 30 miles an hour it'll then transition to the gas
mode so it's a combination and you need to keep that in mind that it's not a replacement for one
or the other now if you're driving around town you're doing low speeds the ev mode is perfectly
fine and you may never use a drop of gasoline it's a great way to save a few bucks other things to
know when it comes to this vehicle it has really good performance compared to the other vehicles
in this category the sonata the mazda 6 the civic are the main competitors for this vehicle
and that's something to keep in mind when you drive them all there's a list of even more of
those vehicles down below and you can check them all out but for this vehicle when you're talking
about performance which is not about performance even though it is sporty earns an eight when it
comes to handling this is something that's really important it's not just about how it drives around
corners it's about the comfort of the ride which i have to say is very comfortable even over the
rough roads here in new york state i purposely take this on daily drives i drive it for a week
so i get a good feel for what it's like and i was really impressed with the comfortable
drive of this vehicle it's also important to know there are four drive modes you have your ev mode
you have your eco mode you've got your normal mode and your sport mode like sport mode forget
about it you're never going to really use it but that's part of the handling the ride is excellent
the steering is also really comparable to other cars in this class you're not going to get in
this car and say oh i can't stand it you're going to get in this car and say this is an impressive
comfortable ride that you could drive every day there is one thing you do need to know
that at highway speeds if you're going 65 miles an hour or higher depending on what state you live in
you might notice a little bit of floating and that's partly because this is such a heavy
vehicle but it's something to keep in mind so if you're going to test drive the other vehicles test
that out as well it's very important but handling overall was very impressive in this vehicle and
it earns an eight the first one that you see is lane departure warning you can turn that on or off
the next one is the distance you want between you and the vehicle in front of you again you can
adjust that there's your standard cruise control that's your blind spot monitoring which is on
and our cta is your rear cross traffic alert that's important this is your sign notification
which is what's on your navigation system and then that's all your additional settings you can
customize it the way you would like to have it there's a lot of safety on this vehicle and for
safety it earns a nine when you're talking about visibility you have to remember it's a part of
safety which is why it comes right after safety because eighty percent of your driving decisions
are based on visibility and when you're looking at the camera it is a huge front piece of glass
and that's excellent so you have great forward visibility and low sills which i really appreciate
you can put your arm up here and it's not up so high like you see on some vehicles they've
done a nice job so all the passengers can see very easily out the windows especially the children in
the back in car seats they want to be able to look out the window as well and this is also very easy
to look out the window however you can see right there these headrests are in the way and you would
want them there in case somebody sits back there note that it does limit the visibility as well as
a sedan looking vehicle although it looks sporty it does limit some of the visibility when you're
looking at visibility for this vehicle there is a backup camera when you put your foot on the brake
you put it into reverse you have a regular backup camera not an around view camera and when you're
looking at visibility as a whole it earns an eight when you're thinking about seating you always
think about right here where you sit but i always tell people there's one thing to think about and
that's this adjustable height seat belt we're all built differently and you don't want that seat
belt cutting your neck so every vehicle should have that most do but don't find yourself buying
a vehicle and then you're uncomfortable with the fact that it's cutting you across the neck
when you're looking at seats we're all built completely different these are sportier seats
this seat has power lumbar and power seats the passenger side has no lumbar which is kind of
disappointing because when you're driving a vehicle like this you want both people to be
comfortable especially if you're going on a family road trip and you switch drivers why
should the passenger be uncomfortable i've been complaining about this for years to manufacturers
many of them are starting to catch on not all of them toyota still hasn't done it here in the camry
it's just something that's a personal thing to me i do not have a back problem let's take a look at
the second row and we'll give it a rating going into the back seat there is a ton of room i'm 5
8 and i'm all legs i set the seat this way for me there's tons of room if you're taller than
me and you're all legs you'll have no problem whatsoever when it comes to headroom it could
be a little limiting if you're taller than i am so it's important that you sit in the back seat
and see what works for you when you're looking at the vehicle itself as far as other things
that are back here there's two pockets very nice and on the doors there is a little cup holder when
you pull down the center armrest there are two cup holders and that's it no pass through and
no charging ports here behind the center console i'm kind of disappointed because you would think
back here kids are always going to want to be charging their devices and there's no place
to do that you'll have to run a cord to the front when you're looking at seating overall this camry
earns a 7. when you're looking at the technology of this vehicle it is not what's right in front
of you it is this brand new center screen now the standard center screen is a seven inch but this
is the optional nine inch screen now what you're getting is something that's a lot bigger than the
previous generation but what's great is standard apple carplay android auto and amazon alexa that's
really important information for people also the built-in navigation is offered on the higher trims
when you look at the navigation it is kind of dated but we typically use the apple car player
the android auto that we have when you press this home button it goes back to the center screen
you then have the option of your music or the engine and the battery and what's included this is
kind of neat this is part of the technology you've got engine your engine motor and then of course
the battery here which is underneath the vehicle your trip information which will give you a lot of
great information how long it's been running what kind of usage you have this is all great and also
the energy which is what we're talking about right now going back to that home screen again there's
not a lot of options you've got your map your audio which is jbl audio really good quality your
ability to seek and scan your phone and your app so this is something that's part of the original
toyota entune system uh and so that's up to you what you choose to put there but right now there's
no apps in this car because that's how they deliver it to us for us to be able to play around
some of the technology is pretty basic on this car but you really need to know that even when
you go into reverse and you're expecting a good quality camera it's an okay camera it's not great
it gives you the ability to change the view which is nice but no around view camera and it allows
you to pick the line so if you're not good at backing up this helps you know that left is right
and right is left when you're going in reverse overall when you're looking at technology for this
vehicle i know it's a hybrid has some pretty cool technology it earns an eight when you're looking
at the features in this vehicle there's nothing to really go crazy about over last year's version
here you've got your safety features which we talked about in safety and of course your
ability to set your cruise control and your audio system on this side you can change these buttons
and what you're getting is you can see between the gauges it'll move and you can pick what you
want do you want the different fuel economy information when it's on battery and so forth
and if you press the up button you then have other things this is the safety we talked about
and then of course your ability what the status is what you have and what you're using i think
that's really important information your audio system great for keeping your hands on the wheel
and you can see that little to the left of the dial over here it lists everything that you would
need pretty simple to use nothing really fancy you've got your regular gauges here which i really
prefer because we don't know what's going to be down the road if you're buying this vehicle used
the impact of all this digital is it going to be expensive to repair in addition you'll see
this is the eco and power and the charge mode as well as your temperature you shouldn't have any
problems with that there is also a paddle shift which i kind of chuckle at because i don't know
who's going to be using the plus or the minus buttons your normal stocks are here for your
lighting your turn signals and your wipers are here on the left side you've got your gas door
the trunk the traction control and your automatic headlights there is a push button start which most
vehicles have especially the higher trim levels we talked about the technology that's normal and
as you go down you've got this nice ventilation system you've got your normal controls easy to use
nothing unusual and of course your sync when you go further down here
you've got your wireless charging that is pretty neat but underneath this wireless charging
is more secret storage i think it's great when i put your wallet some money whatever it might be
great idea so i've never seen that before there's storage underneath so that's well done in addition
you've got a 12 volt and 120 outlet extra usb charging so there's three different charge types
but they're only here in the front they're not in the back also to note there are two cup holders
nothing unusual but this is part of the drive modes we talked about you're looking at
eco normal and sport there really is no sport to this vehicle that's your auto hold at a traffic
light so if you take your foot off the brake the vehicle won't roll forward in your ev mode which
is really good if you're sitting in traffic or waiting for your kids to come out of something
whatever it might be going through a drive-through great idea when it comes to the heating there's
three-stage heating on both sides of the front there's also optional ventilated it's not on our
car that we're test driving but good to note some really nice details by the way on the
interior we talk about that in quality as well i think they did a nice job jbl audio which is also
excellent that is an 800 watt jbl audio system and when you go into this glove box there are two more
charging ports which is great for the back seat so you can drag a cord to the back for your kids
nice storage here you also have storage in the door not a lot but just enough when
you're looking at features overall including the standard sunroof in this camry it earns an eight
when you're looking at the design of the new camry you can see that they've changed the front end but
they've made a few changes on this xse remember it's a little sportier the silver all the way
across the front the matte black on the lower you can see we have a little bit of salt from the snow
it's been really snowy here in the buffalo area but what you're seeing is what happens when you
own this car shiny up top flat at the bottom it doesn't stand out as much even on the splitter
which is a flatter color this is all designed to make your car always look nice and they did a
nice job with that you'll also note there are new daytime running lights that are here just a unique
mark each company likes to kind of stand out in the crowd so you can see their vehicles this is
a useless grill it's part of the look it has no functional there's no ventilation but it does
give a sportier look the xse has standard black 19-inch wheels i think they look really good and
fit in nicely with the black roof and the black caps which makes this vehicle look a lot sportier
we do have bridgestone blizzaks on these are great winter tires highly recommended if you live in the
upper half of the country if you live in the lower half all seasons should be okay unless you see
winter at least three to four times a year it's worth the investment and the traction is improved
not great for the summer but really great in the snowy conditions working your way back you get
your hybrid logo you've got your black caps and of course your black roof as you work your way
around to the back with the led tail lights and this black spoiler again part of that sporty look
this isn't a sports car but if you're going to own an xse you want that sporty look and this
sort of puts it all together and makes it a nice package across the back you've got your of course
you've got your spoilers i'm not really a fan of this black vend it's part of the design it
is not functional and then you've got a splitter in back again this is not a sports car i think i'm
trying to kind of make it look sportier you also have your camry logo here which is unfortunately
covered in snow it's gotten really bad here uh actually we're expecting another storm xsen your
hybrid i'm not too worried this vehicle handles really well through the snow as we discussed when
it comes to handling when you're looking at the design overall it deserves an eight quality is an
important factor when you purchase a car and the toyota camry definitely has that it's been around
for a long time it's a very reliable car and has great resale value and that will actually help
in your leasing numbers which we'll talk about when it comes to value really important thing to
consider three or 36 thousand mile warranty but this hybrid has a 10-year 150 000 mile warranty
on the battery now that's impressive because to replace these batteries is very expensive there's
also rust through protection when you're looking at the quality the inside build the materials and
what they use the quality exterior materials the build quality the gaps everything combined
for quality this camry earned a 10. coming around to the back we have 15.1 cubic feet of storage in
this trunk this is not the largest in the segment the accord has around 16 so if you need that
extra cubic foot you might want to look at the honda accord which is a direct competitor to
this vehicle and we have reviewed it down below also the hyundai sonata is a competitor as well
as the mazda6 we reviewed all of those again that link is down below we have a carpeted mat here 60
40 split seats if you need to put the seats down giving you that extra storage that you might need
when you're talking about the value of the camry the hybrid camry starts at 33 000 very reasonable
price for a mid size sedan i think they give you a lot for your money and when you're looking at
the competitors they're also in that category giving you a lot for your money this vehicle
came in around 37 000 it has the amazing red interior which i really think is really cool and
it has a sporty look you don't have to buy the xse there are lower trim levels if you want the hybrid
what you're getting in a package all combined and we'll talk about that in a second in the total
really gives it an excellent value when you're looking at the value score of the camry compared
to its competitors it earns a nine when you take all 10 categories and you put them together you
can see that toyota has done a great job upgrading this vehicle not that much more than the 2020 but
when you're looking what you're getting for this especially the apple carplay the android auto the
amazon the upgraded interior the bigger screen that's what consumers want they want to have
something that makes them feel more comfortable intuitive to what they use on a daily basis and
the camry has really made some great improvements although there aren't in some areas such as
performance and fuel economy you are getting some big improvements overall the looks are great as
well again pick your trim level that works for you taking all 10 categories into account the 2021
camry hybrid this is the xse earns an 83. now also check out all the competitors and before you make
a decision you're like i like this one versus that one check with your insurance agent that's
really a big deal there's two factors to consider if you're leasing this vehicle you have to look at
what the vehicle is worth afterwards it's called residual value that will affect your payments but
also part of your payments is your insurance and people don't necessarily consider that
these are factors you need to have in your head before you make your final decision once you've
got that information you can have car smarts and make a great decision there's more information on
our website car coach reports there's a link down below and also on our channel about documentation
fees what to pay what not to pay how to save money on insurance and a lot of the great tips we just
want you to have a car that you love and if you did buy a camry or you owned a camry we want you
to put it in the comments down below i love it i hate it why did you buy something else why did
you buy this vehicle did you take it for a test drive what did you think this is how we open the
community start the conversations we also discuss this on all forms of social media my channel is at
laurenfix don't forget to check out our podcast total car score it's on all platforms we discuss
not just the cars we give you some updated information some neat things that are coming
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down below and i will get you an answer thank you so much for watching and we'll see you next time