THE CAM CAN (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 74

By 2019, the UK had missed a couple of generations of Toyota's Camry model line, but the brand felt it needed reviving, hence the return of this contender to our market in that year. In eighth generation form this was, as before, a big, comfortable saloon, but this time it championed self-charging full-Hybrid technology. This 'XV70'-series model only sold until 2021, so it'll be rare. But does it makes sense as a used buy?

Modelsword count: 4

4dr Saloon (2.5 petrol])

Historyword count: 380

Unless you're American or a student of automotive branding, it's quite likely that you've never heard of a Toyota Camry. Yet it's one of the world's best selling model lines and this, the eighth generation version, was introduced back into our market for a short period between 2019 and 2021. Over 19 million Camrys have been sold globally since the first generation version of this car arrived way back in 1982, most of them in the US where over 400,000 Camrys are sold each year. Today, this car is sold in more than 100 countries around the world and with such a global product, you'd expect a wide variance of packaging. Sure enough, over the years, there've been narrow and wide body models, saloons and estates, badge-engineered variants like the Daihatsu Altis and the Holden Apollo for certain countries and different branding for the Japanese market, where this car has also been marketed with 'Gracia' and 'Vista' badging. Europe though, never had much of a taste for this model line and the car was discontinued in the UK back in 2004 primarily because of Toyota's inability at that time to offer a diesel option. So it was a touch ironic that the demise of diesel led to its return in 2019 as a 'self charging' petrol/electric full-Hybrid that shared most of its engineering with the more image-conscious Lexus ES. That Lexus rolled down the same US Kentucky production line as this 'XV70'-series eighth generation Camry, though the ES is a rather different kind of car, designed for the premium full-sized Executive segment, where it competes against models like the BMW 5 Series, the Mercedes E-Class and the Audi A6. In contrast, this Camry, though similarly-sized, was price-pitched at the more mainstream medium range market, dominated by volume brands with cars like Mondeos, Passats and Insignias. People buying these sorts of cars often want to switch away from diesel and get something more in keeping with the current eco zeitgeist. If you're of that mindset and have taken a look around that medium sector at models from the 2019-2021 period, you might find yourself less than enamoured with a Mondeo Hybrid and reckon that something like a plug-in Passat is too pricey. In which case, a Camry might suit you perfectly.

What You Getword count: 497

Come on - be honest; you expected this Camry to look rather bland. Plenty of this eighth generation model's predecessors certainly did. We'll be frank - so did we. Instead, what we're served up here is reasonably distinctive. It won't have the neighbours peering over the hedge to see what you've bought, but there's certainly an appealingly low-set look, aided by short overhangs and a wide, purposeful stance. Suffice it to say that if this car was Lexus-badged, you wouldn't do a double-take. This 'XV70'-series eighth generation Camry is a fraction larger than the Mondeo segment norm - compared to that Ford, it's actually 14mm longer, with 12mm more width. Of course, as usual. what's more important is the stuff you can't see, primarily the stiff, lightweight GA-K platform introduced with this eighth generation model, which was 30% more rigid than anything Toyota had previously used on this size of car. There's nothing very memorable about the cabin design on offer here, but you certainly get plenty of space to spread out. Leather upholstery is a given, as are heated and power-adjustable seats (this was a car designed for the American market after all), plus the chairs themselves are probably the most supportive of any we've tried in this segment for a car of this period - and brilliant for longer journeys. All-round visibility is excellent and there's also little to fault about the driving position, thanks to vast amounts of seat and steering wheel adjustment. Not so good is the infotainment provision. The 7-inch centre-dash screen is rather small and its graphics rather dated, though the selectable hybrid system 'Energy Monitor' is informative and a reversing camera is standard-fit. Some of the cabin trimming is rather dull, though that doesn't apply to the bizarre bronze-hued 'Tiger Eye' inlays that feature on the top 'Excel' model. Perhaps that's an American thing. Storage provision is pretty good, with a big stowage area between the seats and a spacious glovebox. And the rear seat? Well inside, it's as roomy and spacious as those exterior dimensions suggest this car would be. The fact that the exterior part of the roof curves downwards towards the rear of the car makes a slight difference to headroom, but you'll only really notice that if you're a six-footer. Even if you are, you'll have no complaints about legroom. Because of the design of the rear suspension and the way that the hybrid system's battery has been placed out of the way beneath the rear seat, luggage space - there's 524-litres of it - doesn't seem to have been compromised in any significant way by this car's electrified remit. Quite simply, Toyota is better than its rivals in packaging a hybrid drivetrain so that it doesn't impinge on boot space. And you get catches at the top of the cargo area aperture that can be tugged upon to retract the 60:40-split rear seatback, should you find yourself unable to resist the allure of flat-pack furniture.

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