Pros: A great car with many amenities. The Camry rides and handles like a luxury car.
Cons: Front seat cushions a little short, and the door/steering wheel controls are not illuminated.
The Bottom Line: This is one really nice Camry that gives you your money's worth with all the standard equipment. Even with options, it is still a great value.
The last Camry I had was a 98 LE which I was very satisfied with. That car rode nicely, handled adequately, and got good gas mileage. I leased this 04 XLE (4 cylinder)in early December and am very pleased with the overall driving experience.
Since this is the XLE trim level, it had quite a few additional amenities than the LE version. The additional items include: fog lamps, anti-lock brakes, heated outside mirrors, foot pedal parking brake, auto dimming electrochromic rearview mirror with compass, dual illuminated vanity mirrors with dimming controls, Homelink universal transmitter, chrome trimmed body side molding, trunk mounted cargo net, driver's auto up/down power window, defroster linked automatic climate control with air filter and rear seat vents, JBL premium sound system with in-dash 6 disc cd changer with 8 speakers, Multi-information display computer, manually retractable sun shade, and an anti-theft system with engine immobilizer and alarm.
Optional equipment included: driver and front passenger side and curtain airbags, leather seats, heated driver and front passenger seats, P205/60R16 all-season tires on 16 inch aluminum wheels, power tilt/slide moonroof, and carpet/cargo mat set.
Obviously, this car comes with a lot of standard equipment and we (my wife and I) decided to include the options if the dealer met my price for leasing, which they did. The car has more interior room than the 98 Camry and looks a lot better, too! It also has a better ride (more supple) which does not affect the competent handling. Driving this car on the highway is a pleasure as the ride is very smooth and solid, and the car tracks dead-on with no drift. Very little wind noise enters the cabin. On relatively rough city streets, the Camry holds its composure very well, with a nice smooth ride. The 4 cylinder engine produces adequate acceleration with a 0-60 time (from published reviews) of 10.3 seconds. I would have preferred a bit faster acceleration but I was not ready to step-up to the 6 cylinder, which would have been considerably more expensive, including the use of premium fuel. You definitely will not burn rubber with the 4 cylinder engine. But at least your tires should not require replacement prematurely.
The sound system is first rate and sounds great, especially when you are playing a cd and crank up the volume; great bass that you can feel as well as hear. The cd changer works well except for a bit of a time lag when loading or removing discs. I really do not know, but maybe all changers have to work this way. The FM radio also sounds terrific. Our home has a garage with an automatic garage door opener. With the Homelink system, you program it to work your garage door opener. Pretty nifty since now we do not need the separate remote control.
With a really cold winter so far, it appears the best option was the heated seats. They warm up very quickly and feel great while you are driving and waiting for the engine to warm up for regular heat. We also like the auto dimming rearview mirror which took a while to adjust to. But once we did, we never switch it to manual. It seems to know exactly when it is time to start dimming! The multi-information display gives you good information with a click of the steering wheel controls; you get average and instantaneous MPG, range in miles based on the amount of fuel in the tank, average speed and elapsed time, and outside temperature. The car has about 2,000 miles and the average MPG reads about 28 for mixed city and highway driving. Pretty good in my book for a car of this size!
Other negatives would have to include the lack of thigh support for the front seats. They appear to be a little too short compared to other cars in this class but they are, never the less, quite comfortable. The switches for the power windows and locks on the doors, and the switches on the steering wheel are not illuminated, making it a little harder to know exactly where they are when driving at night.
Overall, this is quite a luxurious car in every way. It appears to be very similar to the Lexus ES300, but for considerably less money. The sticker price for the car was $26,489 but the lease was based on an agreed upon price of $22,160. We went with a 3 year lease with 36,000 miles for $1,500 down and $325 a month.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 22,160
Condition: New Model Year: 2004 Model and Options: XLE, leather heated seats, side and curtain airbags, power moonroof
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