Hey Scotty.
I am wondering if a new Toyota Camry Hybrid (XLE or XSE haven't decided which one yet) would be a good first new car for me to buy. I want a hybrid because I live in California where gas has always been expensive. The Corolla Hybrid seems a little too compact for my liking. I have a 1995 Camry with 143,000 miles now but I would like something more modern with new tech, so I don't have trouble waiting until the car market corrects. What are your thoughts?
Around here, the ones that aren't pre-sold, don't last very long on dealer lots. If you can get one, go for it. They are a good car.
If you plan to keep the vehicle past 150,000-200,000 miles I would avoid the hybrid as you would be spending lots of $$$ on replacing batteries and other parts associated with the hybrid system. Finding a competent mechanic to work on it will also be a challenge.
my coworker finally replaced his original Camry hybrid battery after 15 years.
$4,000
I would test drive it first before you make your decision. Camry Hybrids are decent vehicles for what you are looking for a car. It's understandable that you want to suffer reliability for gas mileage. I agree California gas prices is expensive. In my area, it costs almost $6 per gallon.
What @toyotagril said is apparently true. There are barely no vehicles in the dealership lot.
Camry or Corolla Hybrid are excellent choices. Todays Corolla may be almost the size of the 1995 Camry. Try them out, and see which you like.
