I'm truly afraid to say this here...

[§carlet §wordfish]

My aunt & uncle recently have had problems with their brand new Prius. It seem that it quit on them several times while driving. While it's being looked at, the Toyota dealership gave them a new Camry LE as a loaner.

Now I have something to admit...

I don't think it's a bad looking car.

In fact, I think the Camry is a great looking car. Don't get me wrong, I'd never think of buying one or driving one even if I were paid to, but if I were a complete jerk who didn't care about supporting domestics I would not be embarassed to be seen in it.

So while you all are flaming me for my apparently dissident (dis)tastes in aesthetics, to make this topic slightly more worthwhile, what is a car that everyone seems to hate but you don't think is that bad (or at least not that bad looking)?

[Camino LS6]

Well, I don't want to jump on your case, so I'll just say that I think the Camry is one ugly porker of a sedan.

As for something I like ( lookswise) that some others don't , I'd have to say the GTO.

[pow]

You know what, I rode in a friend's Camry LE two days ago, and I too was pleasantly surprised. I think it's a lot better than what we give it credit for. For normal people who just want a comfortable, soothing way to get from A-to-B, it's an excellent car. The seats were great, the interior had a very soft and pleasing look (perfect antidote for stress), the engine was dead silent, the ride quality was just-right, and the electroluminescent gauges were sharp. It's a very refined (white rice?) experience in contrast to more whole-grain (brown rice?) cars like the current Accord or AURA.

[Oracle of Delphi]

What's this Bizzaro World, make jokes about the W bodies, but the Camry gets a pass?

[Intrepidation]

Honestly, it's not that bad looking overall, but the bulging light lenses front and back are disgusting and make it look like it's about to burst. The droopy head ligh shapes don't help either. The Aurion looks a lot better.

I wouldn't buy the car simply because I hate how it's marketed with complete arrogance and that it the greatest gift to the world ever, and there are other cars I find more attractive.

Question: Why do you own a Prius?

[Camino LS6]

What's this Bizzaro World, make jokes about the W bodies, but the Camry gets a pass?

You won't catch me giving either one of them a pass. :AH-HA_wink:

[Robert Hall]

If I was limited in choice to only a Camry or a W-body, I'd rather drive the Camry..Ws are just too depressing.

[Oracle of Delphi]

If I was limited in choice to only a Camry or a W-body, I'd rather drive the Camry..Ws are just too depressing.

Mental note to self, before flying off to Europe, I need to book my flight through Denver, so I can dog nap moltar's little Toto and hold it hostage in Europe! :AH-HA_wink:

[Robert Hall]

Mental note to self, before flying off to Europe, I need to book my flight through Denver, so I can dog nap moltar's little Toto and hold it hostage in Europe! :AH-HA_wink:

Ah, she'd take your arm off..those little Aussies are tough dogs..10 pounds of terror..and they like Holdens..

[Oracle of Delphi]

Ah, she'd take your arm off..those little Aussies are tough dogs..10 pounds of terror..and they like Holdens..

Nothing a little duct tape can't handle, just wrap some around her snout and wisk her off.

[K.C.]

I'm sure little Toto may not look like much, but she's probably wiry.

[vonVeezelsnider]

If I was limited in choice to only a Camry or a W-body, I'd rather drive the Camry..Ws are just too depressing.

From someone who's gonna be shopping for a W-Body soon (me), I've gotta ask...

Are PCS and I the only ones that like and are gonna miss these cars?!

Edited September 7, 2007 by vonVeezelsnider

[Flybrian]

From someone who's gonna be shopping for a W-Body soon (me), I've gotta ask...

Are PCS and I the only ones that like and are gonna miss these cars?!

I'm going to miss them, too. In the late-90s, the Intrigue, Regal GS, and GP GTP were simply the best midsizers on the market. Period.

[Camino LS6]

I see the Ws as devilspawn just slightly less than I see Toyotas that way.

Sorry.

[Flybrian]

I see the Ws as devilspawn just slightly less than I see Toyotas that way.

Sorry.

So, if I made a Luminamino...

[Camino LS6]

I'd have to hurt you. :AH-HA_wink:

[Cory Wolfe]

I'm going to miss them, too. In the late-90s, the Intrigue, Regal GS, and GP GTP were simply the best midsizers on the market. Period.

Ermm... They had their virtues in styling and power, but best overall? That's reeeeeaaaaaaally pushing it.

[Flybrian]

Ermm... They had their virtues in styling and power, but best overall? That's reeeeeaaaaaaally pushing it.

Name a great midsizer from 1997-2000.

$25,000 bought you a sizable sedan from Buick with 240hp, 24-26mpg combined, large trunk, room for five, an incredible sound system, extremely composed and quiet ride, and supreme reliability. For $25k at that time you got what, a 190hp Maxima? A tepid 626? A snoring Camry? A better-get-it-towed Passat? A AAMCO-special Cloud Car? This testament to quality and ergonomics...?

[plane]

Whew.

This thread was mighty depressing.

I was even starting to reach for the metamucil.

Until the talk about the W-bodies showed up.

You know, ever since that write up on the paid Toyota bloggers made sunlight,

there have been an awfully high number of new posters on the net quite willing

to glorify vanilla pudding melted soap bar parrot beak lemmingmobiles.

Coincidence?

[Cory Wolfe]

Name a great midsizer from 1997-2000.

$25,000 bought you a sizable sedan from Buick with 240hp, 24-26mpg combined, large trunk, room for five, an incredible sound system, extremely composed and quiet ride, and supreme reliability. For $25k at that time you got what, a 190hp Maxima? A tepid 626? A snoring Camry? A better-get-it-towed Passat? A AAMCO-special Cloud Car? This testament to quality and ergonomics...?

I'd easily rank the Chrysler LH cars and Honda Accord above them. That's not to say they were bad cars at the time, they were good values with power and styling, but better than anything else they could possibly compete with? Perhaps in your own personal ideals. Edited September 7, 2007 by blackviper8891

[Flybrian]

Personally, I'd rank the Chrysler LH cars and Honda Accord above them. That's not to say they were bad cars at the time, they were good values, but better than anything else they could possibly compete with? Perhaps in your own personal ideals.

I'd put the LH cars in a class above them, comparable to the H/G bodies of the time. And vis a vis the Accord? Personal ideals aside, compare pricing, feature content, performance, size, economy, even reliability (proven and documented). I just don't see how anything came close for those years.

[Cory Wolfe]

I'd put the LH cars in a class above them, comparable to the H/G bodies of the time.

The Intrepid was pretty competitive in price, power, efficiency and size to a W-body.

[Camino LS6]

Whew.

This thread was mighty depressing.

I was even starting to reach for the metamucil.

Until the talk about the W-bodies showed up.

You know, ever since that write up on the paid Toyota bloggers made sunlight,

there have been an awfully high number of new posters on the net quite willing

to glorify vanilla pudding melted soap bar parrot beak lemmingmobiles.

Coincidence?

Details on this?

or a link?

Very interesting.

[plane]

Details on this?

or a link?

Very interesting.

http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/spotlight...t_id=1003634254

Studies show that up to 90% of consumers believe these word-of-mouth forums for purchase decisions, and more people are researching products and services online before buying or using them. For these and other reasons, Ertmann spends his day digesting and disseminating the opinions consumers/critics have about Toyota. Ertmann also oversees and contributes to (along with others at the company) Toyota's first blog site, http://blogs.toyota.com, which launched in June.

BW: What sites do you monitor?

BE: Autoblog, jalopnik, auto extremist, some of the enthusiast sites, the Prius chat stuff. Most of our popular models have at least one enthusiast site. I check our own site, too. There are Toyota groups on MySpace, which I wasn't aware of until recently. We don't spend much time watching those. And I generally don't worry much about the sites that are press only. I'm mostly concerned with consumers.

BW: How do consumers know that people posting to your blog site aren't employees?

BE: We created a policy here, designed to help our associates when they participate in other blogs to avoid doing what the Whole Foods guy did....

You'll notice that Mr. ToyotaBorg never comes out and actually discloses what that policy is.

The full court press is on.

[Camino LS6]

Thanks for posting this.

[Intrepidation]

I'd easily rank the Chrysler LH cars and Honda Accord above them. That's not to say they were bad cars at the time, they were good values with power and styling, but better than anything else they could possibly compete with? Perhaps in your own personal ideals.

I'd put the LH cars in a class above them, comparable to the H/G bodies of the time. And vis a vis the Accord? Personal ideals aside, compare pricing, feature content, performance, size, economy, even reliability (proven and documented). I just don't see how anything came close for those years.

The Intrepid was pretty competitive in price, power, efficiency and size to a W-body.

While the LH cars are a size class above the W-bodies of the time, as BV points out, they were comparable in price and power.

Reliability is an area where I would give the W-bodies a nod due to the LH's 2.7 issues, but as I've learned, they tend to require more care than your average engine, but, as I can attest to thus far, they can go the distance.

In terms of recalls, the LH models have 9 VS 8 for the GP and only 3 for the Intrigue...but then it was only on the market a short time.

In terms of known troubles the Intrigue has the least listed (7) followed by the Intrepid with 9 and 14 with the GP.

(This is off of auto.consumerguide)

In terms of driving dynamics, I've never driven the Olds so I can't personally say, but the LHs were known for their sporty handling.

[K.C.]

http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/spotlight...t_id=1003634254

You'll notice that Mr. ToyotaBorg never comes out and actually discloses what that policy is.

The full court press is on.

Very INTERESTING! Thanks for the read.

[§carlet §wordfish]

Dodgefan: the Prius is my aunt & uncle's. I had no say in it's purchase.

I don't mind W-bods excepting the last GP. It looked like it had a botched botox job.

[tmp]

My aunt & uncle recently have had problems with their brand new Prius. It seem that it quit on them several times while driving. While it's being looked at, the Toyota dealership gave them a new Camry LE as a loaner.

Interesting, the same thing happened to my friends older Prius. Toyota did the same thing, calling it a "system failure".

Wonder if it's a trend..