Okay, so the title alternative title isn't very creative but it conveys what I feel better than any other clever play on words that I could imagine. I hate my new Toyota Camry. But I'm trying to get my bitching over with and just live with it until I can trade it in for a proper German car.
So to be succinct (at least as much as I can be), I'm simply going to list my reasons (and a little commentary) for hating that hunk of junk:
1. It's wimpy and has zero power. I redlined it getting on the freeway on an onramp that's really short. It's an automatic!!!
2. It's an automatic!!! I use to have a connection with my cars; we worked together in a quiet synchronicity that only those with manual transmissions would understand. That's gone now...sigh.
3. The suspension is mushy and the handling is like trying to swim in pea soup. The last 5 miles of my commute are on a windy road through the Oakland hills and I LOVED driving it in my Passat. Now it’s a chore; I’d almost prefer sitting in the freeway traffic but that would prolong sitting in the piece of crap by about 15-20 minutes.
4. The brakes are scary and if you apply the slightest amount of pressure to them the seatbelt locks up. If you push the gas in too much too fast, the seatbelts lock up. The accelerating thing wouldn't be a problem except the windows are tinted and I have to turn my head a little more to merge but I can't lean forward because the seatbelt has locked up!
(And as a side note, I had to return it to the dealership after having it for a whole week because the steering column was shaking when you applied pressure to the brakes. I already knew the problem was the rotors but I didn’t tell them I knew that. They said they replaced the brakes and rotors even though they told me that they didn’t find anything wrong. Bullshit.)
4. The antenna is useless. Some of the San Francisco radio stations don’t come in very well WHEN I’M IN SAN FRANCISCO! Now don’t start with the whole it-depends-on-where-the-transmission-tower-is-thing (yeah, I saw that episode of WKRP in Cincinnati too!) because I don’t care. It was never a problem in my VWs so what’s the problem with this car?
5. The seats are uncomfortable and the headrest is tilted so far forward that I can’t wear a ponytail with a plastic clip; I can only wear a rubberband type ponytail holder otherwise I get a stiff neck. Yes, it’s adjustable, but I’ve adjusted it as far as it’ll go. I’ll bet you money that the group of Toyota designers didn’t include any women.
Yes, I could continue. But I’ll spare everyone the pain since most have heard me bitch since the day I picked up the car. So this post will be the last time I complain about it. Given that, did I mention that I hate this car? Allow me to repeat: I HATE MY NEW CAR!
I have to admit that I’m also a little tired of people asking “well then why did you buy it?” I bought it because I was tired of hearing the noises in the front-end of my Passat getting louder and louder. And while it may not be an issue for most, I was completely done worrying about breaking down and the realization that I don’t have that one person who I can call and know that they’ll drop everything to pick me up. I know that I could call either of my two brothers, or my Mom or a variety of friends, but I don’t know if they’re at work, in a meeting, at home or away on vacation or whatever. While yes I have people I can call, I don’t know if it’ll take one call or ten calls to various folks to see who is able to come and get me. And unfortunately, that’s a long way from the security of knowing exactly who to call and that they’re in their car at a moment’s notice.
There, I admitted it. Stop asking.
Bottomline is that I wish I could love this car, but the cons completely outweigh the pros. And the bummer is that I used to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to drive but now my Camry is just a vehicle that can get me from point A to point B.
I can’t wait to trade in this piece of crap…
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