Camry hybrid group Convoy

Dear CHOCoM members...

Today, I recced the Kuala Kubu Baru and Ulu Yam areas for the convoy trip to Genting Highlands.. The trunk and kampung roads are really nice and challenging to drive especially the winding and the sharp turn corners not far from Ulu Yam and Batang Kali.

While driving enthusiastically , a 5 series BMW was trying to overtake me but he was having difficulties in doing that at the winding road for about 20 kms. He seemed very agitated and frustrated and was making dangerous overtaking overtures but I finally relented when nearing Awana Cable car station...

I was driving with my precious cargos whom all are very plumb and the kilos of books in the trunk made my car heavier than usual... I would not have given the chance if I didn't have the extra weight. Michelin PS 4 was the main reason for the nice cornering and beating the BMW.. The other was my good driving skills.... Well ...the instant torque helped a lot too...

Please see the photos of my recce up to Genting Highlands... The traction battery was full to the brim when I came down from Genting.. Had nice bitter and reasonably priced Durians in Batang Kali. Please see the photos attached...

Our trip will be finalised after I discuss with Mr Anslem , the deputy President. ...I really hope that members will join the trip .I guarantee you that it will be really fun and enjoyable family trip..

Camry hybrid resale value Malaysia

Dear Bros

Dear Bros in CHOCom...

One of the things that I had to take into consideration when buying theToyota CH is the resale value. This is because the hybrid was new to the country....The fear of new technology is always there...
This fear struck me deep in my rationale thinking but the crazy side of me won the argument and I went ahead with the purchase. I have no regret whatsoever with the car but the resale value is pretty much decided by the consumers and their perceptions...
What better way to check on the resale value of the car than to refer to the widely used buy/sell application Mudah as the reference...
So today I checked the online website and noticed that the resale value of the CH is reasonably good... the cheapest used 2015 CH is listed at RM125,800 and the most expensive is at RM 138,800.. The resale value does not drop as much as a Hyundai or a VW..In fact, it performs admirably well in retaining its value...I'm not displeased..

The new 2018 Toyota Camry

Camry hybrid 2017 The kampung girl

Hi members...

I ve owned the TCH for more than than 1.5 years and generally very satisfied with my car.The mileage on my odometer is around 40,000 km. So far, it has not given me much problem except for some wind noise ruffling on the driver's side when speeding at around 120 to 130 km/h.

I believe we will only appreciate the Camry better when we drive other cars and come back to drive the Camry again. Only then we will realize how quiet the car is or how fast it can be when you step on the gas pedal.

If the Camry hybrid is your one and only car then you might not be able to appreciate the beauty or the attributes of the car. The beauty can only be seen when when you are separated momentarily.

The Camry is pretty much like marrying a kampung girl. She will do all the chores efficiently without any hesitation or complaint. Minimal maintenance but maximum satisfaction. That's the Camry hybrid.

Driving a hybrid car / Driving a Camry hybrid / Tips driving a hybrid car

Morning guys....

You all know that I have a heavy foot. I just don't allow cars like Kancil, Myvi, Vios, Bezza to overtake me be it at the traffic light or on the highway. For me , I just would like to have full satisfaction driving the car and enjoy to the fullest the quiet driving machine.Extending the mileage of the car is never my prime consideration. Nonetheless, I'm sharing my knowledge on how to get better mileage for your TCH.

Some tips to get better mileage in a hybrid car

1. Clear all the things in your car boot.We have lots of unnecessary things like shoes, files, books, golf sets , rackets, bottles of mineral water and sometimes old newspapers (Also get rid of shades, womens accessories that don't belong to your wife) . My wife -she likes to leave her 5 pair of shoes in my car. I don't know what her intention is. She also leaves the child's car safety seat in my car meant for my grandson . That thing weighs at least 20 kilos. All these things will make our car heavier and thus will affect the car mileage.

2. Check the tyre pressure and make sure that it is not underinflated. Under Inflated tyres will not only make your tyres wear out faster but also slow down your speed because of the heavy rolling resistance. The tyre pressure recommendation is shown at the edge of the door for you to follow.

3. Harvest energy by braking gently.Our TCH has a regenerative braking system that turns kinetic energy into electricity that is then stored in the traction battery. 10 % of the car power comes from this application. Sudden braking or braking at the last minute will not help in harvesting the kinetic energy.

4.Don't shift the gear into N or Neutral when you are at the traffic light stop or when idling . Your action will render the generator to disengage from generating electricity. At idle, the combustion engine is switched off and the battery power takes over. All these done seamlessly.Your air conditioning system at idle is run by electricity.

5. Plan your trip well and learn when and where you can actually harvest the energy through braking. Brake gently but take care of your safety first.

6. Use the Eco mode when you are in the city area. Using this mode will bring down the power use in the air cond system and lessens the throttle body. All these will save you fuel and extend your car mileage.

Having said all these, just depress the gas pedal when you feel like it. You know that the Camry has all the power almost like a V6 car to overtake a BMW 3 series or even the Mercedes clam shell 200.

All new 2017 / 2018 Toyota Camry

Camry hybrid performance

Hi members...

I've owned the TCH for more than than 1.5 years and generally very satisfied with my car.The mileage on my odometer is around 40,000 km. So far, it has not given me much problem except for some wind noise ruffling on the driver's side when speeding at around 120 to 130 km/h.

I believe we will only appreciate the Camry better when we drive other cars and come back to drive the Camry again. Only then we will realize how quiet the car is or how fast it can be when you step on the gas pedal.

If the Camry hybrid is your one and only car then you might not be able to appreciate the beauty or the attributes of the car. The beauty can only be seen when when you are separated momentarily.

The Camry is pretty much like marrying a " kampung" girl. She will do all the chores efficiently without any hesitation or complaint. Minimal maintenance but maximum satisfaction. That's the Camry hybrid.

Toyota Camry hybrid accesories

Hi guys 

Another important issue that we brought up with Toyota Malaysia  has got to do with accessories for Camry hybrid.

5. Accessories

With the warranty so tight what could we do? In fact, we could not do anything to the car.We told them we would die in silence listening to the mediocre speakers.We told them our eyes would bleed looking at the rims on the Camry . (The design although intended to be sportier could not attract younger buyers and ostracising the old like me & uncle KY Tham.) We told them our hearts would be hurt if the car gets stolen if safe safety gears were not sold . ( Nobody actually steals a Camry ). We told them we would be suffering for a long while if nothing is done to pacify and comfort the Camry hybrid owners and deprive them of the accessories.

We professionally argued with them that Toyota assemblers in other countries like Russia, Thailand and India were more creative and enterprising. Anslem did more research about the Camry specifications and even provided the people there of the glossy and colored brochures of accessories sold by those Toyota Companies. They were taken aback and impressed by how 'knowledgeable' we were about the specs in those countries.

The best part is that we managed to convince them to look into this matter seriously even though the bosses at Shah Alam were quite reluctant to go into retailing aggressively. (FYI, Anslem has lots of knowledge in tactical negotiations).They thought that the owners would not buy accessories sold by them. We however managed to convince them that there were ready buyers for the products.

The Toyota people even requested that they have the brochures so that they could try to convince the Lexus guy and the decision making committee members of the importance of providing options for the buyers who are tied to factory warranty. So far , they have viewed our suggestions very positively. They just requested that they were given more time to deliberate on the matter. We just pray that they would create a stronger retailing entity selling certain accessories for the Camry owners specifically and other Toyota cars in general.

Toyota Camry hybrid warranty / what makes warranty null and void?

Dear readers

Most owners do not know what makes a warranty null and void. This is Toyota Malaysia perspectives.

4. Warranty

What makes a warranty null and void? The feedback and the response that we got from Toyota Malaysia were clear ~Dont mess with the warranty of the car. They dont really like owners going beyond the stipulated original specifications designed for the car.

According to UMW Toyota, even the straight forward change of rims of the Camry hybrid might render your warranty null and void if they noticed that weight of the rims are not within the specifications when accidents happened or if your Camry hybrid turned turtle at a highway exit.

The simple act of adding a dashcam camera even though does not involve cutting of a wire can also cause the warranty to be null and void if it involves the disengagement of certain screws or parts of the car . They would be able to identify this by a computerized device that they have . They will know this if the device could not read the codes.

Even some simple alignments that we do outside Toyota service centers could also result in the warranty being null and void if they noticed that the underpinning of the car had been duly affected. Toyota has a machine that would be able to detect any chassis misalignment caused by unauthorized center.

In short, be careful about the warranty. Please make sure that the things that you do are within permissible acts of the warranty guidelines. I know this is too much but this is the impression that we got from the meeting. I believe they work like an insurance company. If they could find mistakes that we make, they will just wash their hands. They dont really try to find your fault but if they do you have to face the consequences.

Mirrorlink in Toyota Camry hybrid

Dear readers

Another important issue that we raised with Toyota Malaysia is the mirrorlink issue.

3. Mirrorlink

Mirrorlink is a slightly complex issue caused by an oversight or stupidity or recklessness on the part of product section and /or marketing dept. of UMW Toyota and and probably Toyota Japan.They got the mirrorlink without any in depth knowledge of the feature. They only realized the problem after they brought in the car based on the complaints they received from their customers.

For your information, the mirrorlink in the head unit in the infotainment system in TCH is brought straight by UMW Toyota from Japan. Even though the car is locally assembled most of the components come from Japan. For previous Camrys, they got the local agents to install the radio and infotaiment unit . In the hybrid , a lot of the components come directly from Japan.

The sad thing is that the version of the head unit that we have in the hybrid is the earliest version that could not support the latest android phones. Even if you bought the cable for RM 900 to 1000 plus you still could not use the mirrorlink because the software is not uptodate. If you use Samsung S3 you probably can use some outdated form of mirrorlink minus other latest features.

In short, the mirrorlink in the TCH could not be used at all. All the top bosses at UMW Toyota know this because they all drive the Camry hybrid and they know the real situation. Only the CEO of UMW Toyota drives a Lexus. Probably, he is not aware of the situation because the Lexus cuts out all the 'noise'.