2021 Toyota Camry Hybrid XSE Video Review: MotorTrend Buyer's Guide

MotorTrend

The Prius people have applied their fuel sipping technology to their best selling sedan. But

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 This is the 2021 Toyota Camry XSE Hybrid.

00:07 That's right, the Prius people have applied

00:11 their fuel-sipping technology

00:13 to their best-selling midsize family sedan.

00:16 But is a hybrid Camry any good?

00:20 Let's find out.

00:21 The Toyota Camry is an institution.

00:28 It has been on sale for longer

00:30 than many of you have been alive.

00:32 This is the fourth best-selling vehicle in America.

00:35 However, it's the number one selling car

00:38 and it has been for quite some time.

00:41 The Camry competes in one of the most mature

00:43 and cutthroat segments there is, midsize family sedans.

00:47 And it goes up against some real heavyweights,

00:50 the Honda Accord, the Nissan Altima,

00:52 the Kia K5, Hyundai Sonata, Subaru Legacy,

00:55 and yet it outsells each and every one of them.

00:59 The hybrid version is of course,

01:00 gonna give you great fuel economy,

01:03 but without all the baggage that comes

01:04 with something like a Prius.

01:06 Plus, you know, it looks like a sedan.

01:08 It has a big backseat, it has a trunk,

01:11 and the XSE trim level is here to spruce things up a bit.

01:14 It's gonna be a little bit sportier,

01:16 it's gonna have a nicer interior,

01:17 and supposed to look nicer on the outside.

01:20 There's no friendly way to say this,

01:24 but that face is a mess.

01:26 I mean, look how aggressive this is,

01:28 and for what reason?

01:29 So much going on, it never ends,

01:32 and then there's just some weird things,

01:34 like you know, the camera there,

01:35 it just looks like a zit right here.

01:38 These are fake, why are they here at all?

01:40 I just don't get it.

01:41 Then there's this line, which starts in the middle

01:44 of the gas cap, and then goes forward

01:47 and dies right under the word hybrid.

01:49 Like, why not carry a strong character line

01:52 all the way to the headlight?

01:53 It's just a lot going on,

01:54 and I don't think for very good reasons.

01:56 The wheels, which are part of the XSE package,

01:59 they do look quite premium and upscale, and that's good.

02:03 Coming out back, definitely the best angle of the Camry.

02:06 Has a little diffuser, it's got double tailpipes

02:08 on one side, looks kind of sporty.

02:10 Toyota is obsessed with this like, dripping mascara thing.

02:13 You see it on Lexus's too.

02:15 They stuck it right here, it's not needed.

02:17 But again, you know, rear notwithstanding,

02:20 there's a lot going on design-wise,

02:22 and I'm really not sure why.

02:24 The friendly way to say it, perhaps, is challenging.

02:27 I'm inside the Camry XSE, and you know,

02:32 just like the outside of the car,

02:33 there are some random lines over the inside.

02:36 Yet, for whatever reason, these work.

02:39 I think it's because there's a more organic quality to them,

02:42 but it really is interesting.

02:43 Like, just different, neat, I like it.

02:45 I wish there was other colors besides six or seven shades

02:50 of gray and then black, like a little bit of color

02:53 would just make the interior pop.

02:55 There are some cheaper materials in here,

02:57 like listen to this.

02:58 That's a pretty hard piece of plastic,

03:01 but it's not abnormal for the segment

03:03 or for the price point.

03:05 This, you know, it's supposed to be leather

03:06 'cause you get the XSE, I don't think

03:08 that's actually leather.

03:10 But you know, again, overall, it's a pretty nice design.

03:13 If there's one thing that really bothers me design-wise,

03:15 it's this, the screen.

03:17 It just looks like you took an iPad

03:19 and just kind of glued it right above the vents here.

03:22 It's a touchscreen, yet it has redundant buttons.

03:25 So I guess that's good for functionality,

03:27 but it's also kind of like, you know, pick one.

03:29 Everything's a touchscreen because of the iPad.

03:32 You know, it has one button.

03:33 This has 10.

03:34 It also has two knobs, I like that.

03:36 It has a volume knob and a separate tuning knob,

03:39 which is great.

03:40 Functionality-wise, it's the same old Toyota story, right?

03:43 It's dated, it would be very difficult

03:45 to like input an address, but they like it

03:47 because it never breaks.

03:48 As far as seating position goes, you know,

03:50 this is a large car, sure.

03:52 It's a mid-size family sedan,

03:54 but those are all huge at this point.

03:56 Seats are okay.

03:57 There's some bolstering for your lower back, which is good.

03:59 Not a lot of thigh support, but you know, not horrible.

04:02 The back seat is pretty good size on the Camry,

04:05 and it's the same story for the trunk.

04:07 It's big, but it's not bigger than anything else

04:09 or smaller than anything else in the segment.

04:12 Performance is not the reason you purchase

04:17 a hybrid Toyota Camry.

04:19 However, there is some good news,

04:21 which I'll get to as soon as I get through

04:22 the less than good news.

04:24 The powertrain is a 2.5 liter naturally aspirated

04:28 inline four cylinder engine,

04:30 coupled with an electric motor.

04:32 Together, they power only the front wheels,

04:34 and they do that through a CVT,

04:37 a continuously variable transmission,

04:39 which is typically seen as the enemy of driving performance.

04:43 The combined output is 208 horsepower.

04:47 Here's the good news.

04:48 Zero to 60 happens in 7.4 seconds.

04:52 And you might be saying to yourself,

04:54 that actually isn't that quick, to which I'll say, ah,

04:56 but a regular Camry takes 7.6 seconds.

04:59 So the hybrid is 0.2 seconds quicker.

05:02 Why are you buying the hybrid?

05:03 You're buying it for the fuel economy, and it's good.

05:06 44 miles per gallon around town,

05:08 47 miles per gallon on the highway.

05:11 That said, this is the XSE,

05:13 and because of these larger, heavier wheels

05:15 and different tires, the fuel economy is not as good

05:18 as a regular hybrid Camry.

05:20 The Toyota Camry is one of the safest cars you can buy.

05:26 Five star crash rating, and for 2021,

05:29 it is a top safety pick plus,

05:31 and it comes standard with so many automatic safety features,

05:34 such as adaptive cruise control and automatic high beams.

05:39 This particular Camry is highly optioned,

05:41 and it comes with something called

05:43 rear cross traffic braking.

05:45 What's that?

05:46 All right, you're backing up,

05:47 something's coming at you from over here.

05:49 The car will actually hit the brakes

05:51 and stop you from hitting this object.

05:53 How much?

05:56 All right, a hybrid Camry is a bit more than $2,000

06:00 over the price of a standard Camry.

06:02 So it's not a very expensive option.

06:04 The XSE hybrid starts at $33,715,

06:09 and I'm being so specific because that means it's $170 less

06:14 than the similarly equipped Honda Accord hybrid.

06:18 This particular one sitting next to me

06:19 has about every option box ticked,

06:22 and it costs a bit over $37,000.

06:25 So in terms of value,

06:27 a hybrid Camry is a pretty square deal.

06:30 If there's one thing I want you to know

06:34 about the 2021 Toyota Camry XSE hybrid,

06:38 it's that it is the sweet spot of the Camry range.

06:42 Even though it's a hybrid,

06:43 it doesn't look radically different than the regular car.

06:45 We know it's a little bit quicker.

06:47 We know the gas mileage is hugely improved,

06:50 and the price is pretty good.

06:52 That said, for another 170 bucks,

06:55 wouldn't you rather have the better looking,

06:58 better driving, bigger backseat,

07:00 just as efficient Honda Accord hybrid?

07:03 I would.

07:04 To see vehicle rankings and a complete buyer's guide,

07:08 please visit motortrend.com/cars.

07:12 (upbeat music)

07:14 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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