What's bad about the Camry Hybrid 2015?

Salam to my Camry Hybrid friends

Yesterday I sent my Camry Hybrid to Toyota Kajang for the third service. Normally, for servicing I would personally send the car but yesterday was a hectic day for me and I instructed my eldest son to help me out. The odometer on my Camry was closed to 10,000 kilometers after a few months of use. For the third service, I did not make any appointment with the service center and it was more like a walk in kind of servicing. As usual, the servicing was quite fast at the center but one funny thing happened when my sloppy and unintelligent looking son (He is actually a doctor by profession) was told that the car needed more than four liter of engine oil -4 plus an additional liter of synthetic oil. He was shocked and asked the person on duty but  was told that its already bin the system. When he argued that the last service required on 4 liters of synthetic oil the personnel finally relented and backtrack on the order.

So guys please be warned that your car requires only 4 liters of oils and I've checked on the internet that even Toyota recommends that the car uses 3.76 liter of oil even though the engine block can take in more than 4 liters of oil. That extra liter can cost you RM 60 not inclusive of GST.


 So far the car so far has not given me any problem but there are a few things that I don't like about the car itself.

1. When the battery is low the recharging of the main battery is quite a noisy affair. It is not very noisy but because the car is too quiet the noise that it makes amplifies in the car quiet ambiance. This can be very unsettling in a very refined car.


2. The second hing that I dislike about the car is the so called green  JBL audio system. The system comes with  10 speakers but the sound it makes is like a whimper. I don't really enjoy the sound unless I sit at the back of the car as a passenger. Actually, the factory fitted sound system in the Camry caters more to the back passengers than the driver although the face lift makes it look like a driver's car. In India, the car is used as a chauffeur driven car  not like in Malaysia where we all drive on our own. I believe Toyota needs to amend this and cater more to  the needs of its customers in Malaysia.

The exposed wires next to the Inverter (Photo taken from Low Yat forum)

3. Another thing that I don't like about the car is the uncovered wires that are not properly bound together. The uncovered wires make the car looks as if it is made in China (I think it is but I'm not very sure) and the finishing is so terrible. I hope Toyota Malaysia can be more professional and do something about it.


Overall, I m still a very happy customer of Toyota and I hope that I will continue to be happy with my car. I will keep on posting more long term reports of the  car.

Toyota Camry Hybrid long term review Malaysia

Grey color Hybrid

Dear Camry Friends.

It has already been months I've owned the new Camry Hybrid. The mileage of my car as of 14/of August  2015 is 8950 kms. Last week , I took my Camry to Kuantan to see my son taking the  Socrates oath as a doctor. I don't normally drive very fast but driving the Camry Hybrid is totally a different experience. I was prone to drive quite fast in the range of 140-160 kilometers per hour without even realizing it. Partly, because of the ambiance is too quiet. Another reason could be the ride is so smooth. I don't know whether the AES system along the Kuantan has managed to catch me exceeding the speed limit.

The best color of all

Up to now, the car has not given me any problem, Servicing the car so far is quite an inexpensive affair at least for now. I believe its in the range of 200-300 ringgit for the first two services. I'm due another service at 10,000 kms very soon. I would normally service my car at Toyota Kajang which I think is quite new in servicing hybrid cars. The people there are quite efficient and friendly. I have no complaints so far about the servicing  at the Toyota Center but I hope they can maintain or improve their services for the better.

The Camry Hybrid is better than the Accord

The Camry comes with Bridgestone tyres with the size of 215/55/17  which are tuned more for comfort compared to the Honda Accord with a slightly wider tyres of 225. I believe  partly because of the size of the tires that the handling in the. Honda Accord is definitely better and sharper than the Camry despite  improvements made to the handling in the latest version of the Camry. Once the tire thread  of the Bridgestone is thinning, I'm thinking of getting a Michelin. I find the Bridgestone tires a tad on the noisy side although the rubber is reasonably good in terms of handling. I've had good experience using the Michelin tires although they are a little  too expensive to buy.

The color of my car is pearl white. I thought of getting the grey color but because of the ugly rims I decided on the white in which I had to pay an extra RM 800 . White is pretty but the problem is that when you travel a long a stretch that is being resurfaced your car will  be bound to get dirty or tarred. And it's not easy to remove the tar unless you get the right chemical .