What a car!

After reaching over 133,000 miles on my 1998 Ford Escort, I started to look around for something newer and with fewer miles. I had ruled out pretty much all the domestic cars in my price range, and had essentially narrowed my search to either a Nissan Maxima or Toyota Camry. I was lucky enough to find a 2001 Camry V6 with only about 44,000 miles on it which was in excellent shape only about 25 miles from home. Loaded with options (power everything, sliding power sunroof, JBL premium sound system, automatic, ABS, A/C, 2-tone paint, alloy wheels, essentially everything but leather.) After a little haggling, I ended up with a price of $13,200 and drove it home.

In a little less than 6 months since purchase I've put about 9,000 miles on the car and can honestly say i've enjoyed every one of them.

The car rides like a dream. It's smooth, comfortable, and quiet. So smooth and quiet, in fact, that it's very easy for your speed to get away from you. Way away from you. If there's no other cars on the road, you start to take notice that you might be moving a little fast at around 85MPH.

The 3.0 litre V6 engine runs very smooth and quiet and has very adaquate power. Especially with overdrive off, the acceleration is great. The transmission seems excelent. It never searches for the right gear and it shifts so smoothly you almost don't know it. The car starts very easily and on the first try every time. The fuel economy leaves a little to be desired, but it's not really bad by any means. I'm averaging around 20-23MPG, but someone with a little lighter foot could probably get closer to 24-25 out of it.

The A/C and heat in the car are top-notch, and have a very stong fan. Airflow in the car is great with the windows down and the sunroof open, and in the front seats it's not very noisy at all even at highway speeds, however, the back seat develops a very loud roar with the windows open at higher speeds.

The JBL premium stereo sounds very good and has lots of volume. Highway speeds with the windows and sunroof open and the stereo will still get plenty loud with NO distortion at all. The bass is the best i've heard from a stock stereo with no sub. Highs are very clear thanks to A-Piller mounted tweeters in the front. The radio is easy to use and seems to have a good tuner. Anyone that doesn't wish to have MP3 playback will be plenty happy leaving the JBL stereo in place.

Every little detail is very well executed and the fit and finish is incredible. All the seams and gaps are aligned perfectly. There's no annoying rattles or buzzes and all the materials feel like they're of very high quality.

The steering is the only point of the car that some people might not like. It's very power assisted, so road feel through the wheel is somewhat limited. It's still very acceptable, but if you're considering purchasing the car, be sure to do plenty or cornering and curves to get an idea if it will be an issue for you. It annoyed me pretty badly at first, but i've gotten used to it now. There's also a fair amount of body roll if you have to manuver quickly, but it's not to the point that the handling of the car suffers. It's an acceptable trade for the smooth ride, in my opinion.

The ABS brakes are VERY powerful and can stop you pretty quickly if nescessary. A truck ran a stop sign right in front of me within two days of buying the car while I was traveling 30-35 MPH and I was able to stop immediately. I have also felt the ABS kick in once on wet pavement, it seems to work well.

The styling of the car is just hit or miss for most people. Some like it, some don't. To me, it looks more like an older person's car, but it's really just a personal preference. With the gallery edition trim package, it somewhat resembles a Lexus from the side. The alloy wheels look really nice and the spoiler is visible but tasteful.
The paint seems fairly decent, but it does appear to be getting rock chips a little easy, so that's something to watch out for.

As a whole, I love the car. While I pretty much knew my previous car was just temporary until I could get something nicer, this one I really intend to put some miles on. There's lots of people driving Camrys that have over 200,000 miles on them, and i'm sure i'll probably be one of them soon enough.

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UPDATE - MAY 2007

Up to about 66,000 miles total now. Car is still running great. I've had absolutely no problems, there's no new rattles or noises, and I'm still extremely satisfied with the purchase. Highly reccomended car!