Toyota Camry hybrid not designed for traffic logged countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia./ Camry Hybrid not meant for Malaysia

I have owned Toyota Camry Hybrid for almost one year  and I have managed to drive and recently serviced my car at the 30 , 000 km  interval which costs approximately Rm 459 or around US 110. What I want to share today in this blog is how unrefined the Camry Hybrid is in the Malaysian context .

The issue that I want to highlight is whether the Camry Hybrid is really suitable or appropriately designed for road conditions in Malaysia and in Southeast Asia in general? I really believe that the Camry Hybrid that is sold in this country is designed more for the US  and  Australian markets . I think it's also not misplaced in countries such as  UK where there is no bumper to bumper crawl at speed around 3 km an hour. The presence of  roundabouts in UK is a blessing. I have traveled extensively in Uk and  I've spent 7 years studying in the United States. So I know the road conditions in those countries and  I am certain that the Camry when it was designed it's  meant for European and American countries and not for Malaysia, Thailand or Indonesia.

This is because the car  does not really measure up to the Malaysian road conditions . In countries in South east Asia we have to face heavy  traffic jams and we will get stuck sometimes for hours just to travel just for a few kilometers I think the Camry Hybrid will perform extremely  well in countries like the UK or US where the traffic jam is not heavy and that  traffic keeps on moving. The traffic in those countries will keep on moving albeit slowly and  very seldom it's stuck for more more than 10 minutes. The main  battery in the Camry would  be able a to sustain a s slow but moving traffic .

 The Camry is not specifically designed for SEA markets.The engine in the Camry would be recharging constantly and this affects the quiet ambience of the car and makes driving the car a constant irritation in heavy traffic. The battery in the Camry does not have enough power to sustain more than one hour of traffic jam. I would say that the plug in hybrids would be of great help, Jam logged countries like Malaysia would be better with  PHEV like the Chevrolet Volt and Probably Hyundai Ioniq. But Toyota Malaysia is always slow in introducing innovations in countries like Malaysia, The people  in Toyota Malaysia are run by bureaucrats who are more interested in maintaining status quo and optimising profits.

My advice to people who want to buy EV car is just to wait for PHEV like volt or other Chinese brands like BYD. If you live in  the suburb in areas where there's no heavy traffic the Camry is almost flawless, It;'s really comfortable and reliable car.

Toyota Camry Hybrid sales 2016 Malaysia

The sale of new cars is Malaysia is early 2016 has gone down a little. Similar scenario also happens in Thailand but it is worst over the other side of the fence.The new year has also seen a decrease in the sale of Toyota  Camry Hybrid in  Malaysia . Last year they managed to sell quite a lot of Camrys ( I think more than 7,000 units have been sold) but this year the sale is a bit slow. I know this by the number of aggressive advertisements put up by Toyota Malaysia in the newspapers like the Star. I think Toyota Malaysia also gives RM 2000 discount for any new buyer. The price of the car has been maintained as in the previous year because of the generous tax incentives given to hybrid cars assembled in the country. I also believe this is the last year of the tax free status given to Camry. Next year it will be a different story. I believe Toyota Malaysia will definitely jack up the price of car to at least RM 220,000. Potential buyers please don't wait till the end of the year as you may loose out in the end.

The car itself is a good car and there 's nothing much that can be reported here. So far I've not heard of battery problem that affect the cars sold in Malaysia. Nobody of the car forum that I managed complained of the battery problem I believe the NIMH battery is an excellent product and suits the Malaysian weather condition. The hot weather in Malaysia does not affect much the big battery or the auxiliary battery. I think the biggest gripe has got to do we mirror link feature that was hyped up during the car introduction  but later it was found that it actually does not work in Malaysia. Somebody in Toyota Malaysia has not done his homework and we the buyers of Camry Hybrid suffer. What Toyota Malaysia could do is to provide the buyers with remedy to the problem. I really cannot imagine a big company like Toyota would condone such act by its super dealer.

RON 100 for Camry Hybrid / RON 97 or RON 100 / Which fuel for Camry hybrid?

Hi guys

Petron Malaysia has introduced Petron Blaze 100 which goes for RM 2.60 (US 70 cent) per liter . It's available in lots of petrol stations in Klang valley, Malaysia. It's a premium of a Ringgit ( a quarter) over RON 95, the price which decided by the Malaysian government.

The issue is should we use the fuel , RON 100, for our Camry Hybrid? Does it give more power or make the engine more refined? The answer is NO. Fueling your car with RON 100 will not save you fuel nor will it give you more power. What the higher number tells you is that the fuel will be able to resist engine knocking better . New cars like Camry hybrid are equipped with knocking sensors that will to retard the engine when it needs to. So there' is no necessity to use fuel with higher RON.

What you need to is to find out is the minimum number of RON the engine requires to have a optimum system. I think it RON 89 for Camry Hybrid . In my case, I've been using Petronas RON 95 since day one and I'm very happy with its performance. The money that you haved saved using RON 95 could be spent on other more beneficial things like having a nice dinner with your loved ones in a nice diner in Putrajaya or KL

Toyota Camry Hybrid vs Hyundai Sonata Hybrid 2016

Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Vs Toyota Camry Hybrid

Camry hybrid 2016

HSH has yet to be sold in Malaysia. I doubt it will be sold here considering that tax incentive on CBU has been shelved. Looking at the pretty numbers ,the Sonata hybrid has quite a lot to offer. For one, the main battery which is placed underneath the trunk is given a lifetime warranty compared to '8 year- assurance' by Toyota Malaysia.

Camry hybrid 2016

Hyundai claims that the combined mileage for HSH is 42 mpg which is slightly better than TCH at 40 mpg. The combo engine- internal combustion and electric- is paired to a 6-speed auto transmission but only e-CVT in the Camry hybrid.The combined power output is 193hp for the Sonata hybrid and around 200 hp in the Camry.

Hyundai Sonata Interior

Hyundai however gives 8 year bumper to bumper warranty but only 3 years and 100,000 Km for Toyota. Performance is a tie between TCH and HSH but the Toyota is better at transmitting power to the wheel. According to Autotrader ,TCH is quieter and has better handling compared to HSH.

Camry hybrid interior