ponchoman49

Car and Driver even went as far to call the 07 Camry the "anti-sport sedan that can't be persuaded to play" which amazed me in the extreme!

It's sad but when I see a Hyundai Sonata or Azera coming down the road it is a pretty sharp looking vehicle but there interiors are lacking. When I see the new Avalon I hardly even notice it or when I see the 07 Camry on the dealer lots(none on the road yet) I pass right by it thinking I just looked at an Avalon or Mazda product. When I see the Fusion and sit in one I am so much more impressed than with the other cars. For my money the Accord, Fusion and Sonota are all superior values to the way over rated and hyped fat dopey looking dull Camry which costs a staggering 6k more fully equipped than the Sonota and Fusion navigation or no!

Quote:Just look at the new Camry......in one shot, they've totally eclipsed GM and Ford in the midsize sedan segment. Is the new Camry more exciting than the Fusion? NO. However, they've taken their conservative Camry "formula" and improved upon it in every area. Well they improved it in every catagory except for trunk space, a smaller interior, more panal gaps than I ever remember a Camry having, a pig like snout of a front end and a melted chocolate bar looking droopy tail, a 4 cylinder that is rated at 158 hp and must carry around more weight than last years model, no bodyside door protection strip for when this car will spend much of it's life in the grocery store parking lots and higher reaching prices that put the top end versions into a whole different catagory. Other than the fact that it will melt the tires in a fit of torque steer with the new more powerfull V6 and it has 6 speeds in it's not always smooth shifting tranny I see little else that is really improved, that is unless you get off to things like bluetooth and 50 airbags!

BLS- bland little sedan. How utterly corny could they get with this name.

Wow, I didn't know Jeep was in bed with Nissan. It looks like an Exterra and a Liberty got it on and produced an ugly red headed step child!

Most reports put the Lucerne at a 0-60 time of less than 7 seconds. I got 6.8 seconds out of a V8, using a G-force, CXL that I drove and that was with only 100 miles on the odo. I also used the seat heaters. While they were a tad warm, I never even came close to getting burned by them. What a bunch of sissy cry babies. They bitch about Buick using old fashioned trunk hinges when Toyota does the same thing on there 2 volume sellers, the Crapalon and blandry. At least the Buick has a bigger trunk and more legroom, better exterior styling and a nicer interior. I like Hyundai better than the Toyota Avalon in fact because it just looks more impressive, has more exterior trim and flash and a far superior interior with the leather seating of course. Consumers on there own bloodly website rate the Lucerne higher overall than the Avalon as do several other journalists. And newsflash, the Avalon has 268 hp which is less than the Buick! After my drive of the Lucerne CXL the trip computer was reading 22.3 which was a mix of city, highway and 0-60 runs. Apparently Edmunds had there foot buried in the throttle the whole time they were driving it to make it look worse than it's competitors. I do agree that GM needs to get off there asses and usher in that new 6 speed automatic like RIGHT NOW! And why oh why is that damn 3800 still being used when so many other better more powerfull engines exist to use? Fix these 2 issues and Buck will have a winner.

Why compare this to a Pontiac G6. Totally different catagory. The HHR looks to have a lot more space behind the rear seat hence the term useless! These cute utes are trying so hard to replace the normal sedans but in order to do that really need something in the utility department. This Nissan with it's I rammed my tail into a brick wall look doesn't seem to have very much cargo carrying ability, unless the 2nd row seat is pushed way up forward which would effectively reduce legroom. Anything is better looking than a boat load of Camrys surely.

The rear spoiler is a bit garish, the side of the car looks kinda plain and the grille a bit buck tooth like. The interior adds some color to an otherwise black lung interior.

Exactly

Another unnessary vehicle. Looks like it has about 2 inches of cargo room in the back with the rear seat in place which defeats tyhe whole purpose of this corny looking cute ute!

1) An available blue interior 2) Ditch the base 3800 3) Get that new 6 speed in quick 4) Make the housings behind the mirrors body color instead of black 5) Use the non intrusive trunk hinges from the smaller LaCrosse 6) Upgrade the 275 hp engine to the 292 hp version 7) Make lighted visor mirrors, power drivers seat recliner and leather steering wheel standard on base CX model Lose a couple hundred pounds of weight to increase gas mileage to 31 highway 9) Make the dash plastic soft touch like the Deville but with finer grain 10) And please please please make the 3.6 DOHC engine std so all the Toyota lovers can't break this cars chops

I second that

I doubt we will ever see a base priced version on dealers lots. Most hybrids I see have options and will no doubt be marked up by dealers like the Prius was so 27-30K seems more likely for actual on the lot stickers and transaction. I would rather buy a 4 cylinder Malibu LT and keep the 10 grand to put into a nice classic muscle car with some style.

It's amazing what a better grille and a bodyside molding can do to the looks of a car. It still is hardly anything to write home about but it looks cleaner and less dull that our POS! I will be amazed if that blight of a car they sell in NA sells as well as the previous generation.

The cloth material used in the Liberty is that fake synthetic garbage that many are going over to today in place of the much higher quality normal cloth that was used previously. It is like the stuff used in the Malibu/G6/Equinox etc, utterly terrible material that attracts lint like crazy and is harsh feeling to the touch. This engine problem is true with not only the larger Jeeps but Dodge trucks too. You have to get the largest engine to get good performance. The base 3.7 V6 is a slug in all except the Liberty where it is acceptable. The Caravan is like this too. It takes the largest engine to get anything even resembling performance in the 3.8 motor. The main problem here is too much weight! Cars and trucks are getting bigger and bigger heavier and heavier with all the gadgets and airbags etc making the last gen engines and transmissions inadequate for the task of lugging these beasts around. This is the main reason fuel economy never seems to really get anywhere and we need cylinder deactivation, vvt and hybrids to counteract this plus transmissions with several more speeds that also adds weight. example: all these cars use the 60 degree chevy V6 and 4 speed auto trans 1) 1984 Chevy Celebrity 4 door sedan 6 passenger V6 curbweight: 2786 2) 1990 Chevy Lumina 4 door sedan 6 passenger V6 curbweight: 3140 3) 1995 Chevy Lumina 4 door sedan 6 passenger V6 curbweight: 3330 4) 2000 Chevy Impala 4 door sedan 6 passenger V6 curbweight: 3412 5 2006 Chevy Impala 4 door sedan 6 passenger V6 curbweight: 3550 And I can make a prediction that the 2009 or whatever rear drive Impala will be close to 4000 lbs

I think Pontiac needs to refine this car a bit before it will really take off. It was like this with the 2000 Impala. As time went on it really took off in sales, especially when Chevy changed the leather seats, added more std equipment and improved quality. The G6 needs some polish added to the interior, nicer cloth seat material and better dash plastics, a lower priced 2.4 coupe with 6 speed manual, available options on the $16990 value series sedan, eliminate the base 4 cylinder sedan and V6 sedan and instead have the GT with 3500 VVT and GTP with 3.6 DOHC and 6 speed auto or manual at lower prices and please Pontiac get rid of those horrid cheap looking plastic wheel covers on the base models.

Exact opposite in Upstate, NY. Haven't seen one 07 Camry on the road yet. Tons of them sitting in dealer lots though!

Maybe people need to spend more time actually driving then playing around with all there technology gadgets. No wonder insurance and everything else is so damned expensive!

Lets not forget less interior space than last years model, Mazda mating with a pig front end styling and decontented bodyside door moldings that will render these cars door jammed piles after they sit in grocery store parking lots for more than a week! I mean most every Camry I see is being driven by a little old lady to the grocery store.

The $16990 value edition sedans are flying off dealer lots in my area. The coupes are slow sellers. Most of the 10 or so on the dealer lots are the same ones they had last year but moved in different spots to make everyone think they are different. I see base and Gt sedans all the time. The G6 would no doubt sell better if it wasn't for the fact that the Grand Am had a lot of teething problems from 1999 onwards and the media always blasted it for the side cladding and mickey mouse dash board ears. I have yet to talk to anyone with one of those cars that hasn't been through 20 sets of brakes, several intake manifold gaskets or even blown engines or cracked heads on the old 2.4 knock off of the Quad 4. My best friend bought a 1999 SE3 sedan with every option and litterally hated the car after one year of ownership and vowed never to buy a Pontiac again due to all the problems he had with it! It's this sort of thing that has damaged Pontiac and GM/Ford in general and what they need so desperatly to work on and change peoples minds that there current products are a lot better than before. I have got my buddy reluctantly to admit that the current Pontiacs are pretty good but it's going to be a while before he ever sets foot in one again, something that I correlate to the public in general.

I almost was considering the purchase of a 1994 Ciera wagon with the 3100 and 4T60 trans. It was from PA and in pretty good shape and would have made a good hauler. What changed my mind straight away was when I pulled the dipstick and saw that the oil was way overfull and milky white. Yikes another intake gasket failure. It was funny because the engine didn't knock and seemed to be running ok. But seeing the shape of the sides of that intake pouring out oil and the antifreeze in the oil this engine was on it's last legs and the people selling it knew this. The car had 122K miles on it. My friend who sells PA cars says eveytime he gets a 3100 or 3400 in with higher miles he automatically puts a new intake gasket on it because he is sick of getting stung with angry customers bringing cars back. I sure hope GM fixed this problem on the 04 and up 3500 and 3900 engines.

The 3.5 Shortstar has had a number of issues, especially the 99-00 versions. My folks 99 Intrigue 3.5 suffered 2 bad pistons at 35K miles that made the engine knock like a bastard when cold. It all started as a tick then went over to a cold knock and then a knock even when warm. The engine had to be partially rebuilt. The dealership informed my parents that these engines suffered a lot of teething problems in there introductory years with excessive oil consumption, piston slap, intake manifold leaks and bad bearings in the balancing shafts that cause the engine to make a ticking noise when revved up. My money would go on an 04 and up 3800 series III from what I now know about the 3.5 and 3800 series II. The 3.5 also ate crankshaft positioning sensors and had alternators that were defective from day one that caused headlight and instrument panal flickering in certian years. If I were to buy an Olds with the 3.5 I would look that engine over very carefully and demand a service history if one is available.

Olds 260 V8 behind THM 350 trans in my 1981 Cutlass. The engine made so little power as so never hurt it'self or the trans. The 260 is esentially an Olds rocket 350 with smaller bores and uses all the same hd internals. I got rid of that Cutlass with close to 300K without ever having the motor or trans out. Another very bullet proof combo is the Buick 3300 V6 tied to the THM 125 3 speed automatic. I can't even remember all the people that used to get well over 200K out of those without ever even removing a valve cover gasket. Of course good service was key to these long living combos.