Baby Toyota Comes Home: Camry (2016) Ownership Review: SOLD


Thread Starter #1
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Hello Team,

Its been a while I posted on TAI. Hope to keep this thread updated with my latest acquisition 2016 Toyota Camry SE (Bought used- 7 month old)

The posts in this thread are going to be short chapters of how i acquired my this little fella. A journey with no twists or turns [lol].


CHAPTER 1

I parted ways with my Alto in 2013 when I moved to United States for Masters. Fast forward 1 yr, I got an internship which is when the search for a used car began. The dream of finally owning a car was finally close. The cars shortlisted were Mazda 3, Honda Civic and Ford Focus. However, when i had almost finalized the deal on a year old Mazda 3, I got a call from a financial firm in NYC offering me a full time position. Any body who is familiar with the NYC traffic would find it not very hard to guess why i called my dealer to call off the deal.

2 months later, back to NJ (rite across the NYC though [lol]), I was back to commuting by the (in) famous PATH (Subway train). The most popular means of transportation for people working in Manhattan. I became a Zipcar member (a car sharing service) and was zipping around those not so clean (read: properly dirty) cars whenever i needed to go around for groceries or any other daily errand. For longer trips, Enterprise car rental membership (free) always came handy.

Fast forward 2016, my parents visited me for my graduation ceremony. And began the string of car rentals. My dad suggested I get a car instead of running around to pick up and drop off cars. But with my apartment parking at $275/month (That's for covered parking because I never considered parking my car in open sun, call me little too loving), I was adamant to stick to rentals.

Fast forward 2017, my fiancé came to US. The rentals increased and then came a point when I found the renting was happening way too much to make any financial sense.

CHAPTER 2 coming soon....

Introducing Camry (also known as Immigrants car [;)])

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Little mods have begun. Auto heads with eagle eyes might be able to spot the first one!
 

bhvm

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Congrats on the camry.
And its no way a baby! Its a Big, Bad, Full size sedan!

BTW did you actually like the fish-mouth type face of new toyotas? Or you just live with it?
 

Akash1886

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Dear Akash, Congrats on the Camry. The White color suits the car and I guess you Blacked out the front grill area because as far as I know, Camry gets a chrome one. Also, to me this car looks more of "expat" car than immigrant one[:)]. Do tell us more about the future mods and performance in due course as 7 month old car is just as good as new. All the best bud!

Regards

Akash
 
Thread Starter #6
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Congratulations Sir . Have a safe & happy ownership. Waiting for the rest of the review .
Many thanks. And please sir, no sir!

I will post updates today.

Congrats on the camry.
And its no way a baby! Its a Big, Bad, Full size sedan!

BTW did you actually like the fish-mouth type face of new toyotas? Or you just live with it?
Hahah. Derived that Baby from my Baby Alto that I had in India.

As for the grill, I wasn't a fan of the grill when the car was launched in 2015, however, those looks grew over me and that's the reason i chose it over Accord. More details in the second chapter!

Dear Akash, Congrats on the Camry. The White color suits the car and I guess you Blacked out the front grill area because as far as I know, Camry gets a chrome one. Also, to me this car looks more of "expat" car than immigrant one[:)]. Do tell us more about the future mods and performance in due course as 7 month old car is just as good as new. All the best bud!

Regards

Akash
Thanks Akash from Akash[:D].

The black mesh grill is standard on the SE version. The only mod as of now on this car is blacked out roof.
 
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That is a very beautiful Camry! My parents will be visiting the States for graduation too and I am planning to rent a car from Enterprise too. Hopefully the full size car should be a Camry.
 
Thread Starter #8
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The next set of slight mods are on the way. I am expecting delivery of my new set of tail lights with LED tubes. I somehow feel, Toyota should have provided them in the first place, but then again, its a Toyota[lol].

That is a very beautiful Camry! My parents will be visiting the States for graduation too and I am planning to rent a car from Enterprise too. Hopefully the full size car should be a Camry.
Thanks mate.

Congrats on your graduation! What college, if you don't mind me asking? Just trying to see if i am around any TAI'ns here in the tri state area.
 
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Hi Akash, I am in Virginia Tech. Particularly Blacksburg, VA till May. I am currently looking for jobs so lets see where the future takes me. [:)]
 
Thread Starter #10
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Hi Akash, I am in Virginia Tech. Particularly Blacksburg, VA till May. I am currently looking for jobs so lets see where the future takes me. [:)]
Good to know that and congratulations in advance for your graduation.

I graduated just 2yrs back and i know the job search process can be overwhelming. So try to keep calm!
 
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Congratulations Akash, the car looks really nice & with those mods of Led lights the car would look really cool. Wishing you many more miles in this lovely car.
 
Thread Starter #12
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The tail light replacement job went all fine. Here are some pics.

The tail light look great even when they are not turned on. The turn indicator lens has been smoked as well
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With parking lights on
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Aerial view
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Thread Starter #13
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11 months ownership update:

I haven't had any issues whatsoever. Completed ~7000miles. Since the car was bought certified used, the services are covered by Toyota for a year. Service experience was good but nothing too exceptional.

Accessory update:

Added Led lights for low beams. 4300K white, much better light throw than the stock. Since my driving is limited to well lit highways and street roads, no plans to upgrade the high beams.

Some pics i took last week.

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Last edited:
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Wow. it looks like Toyota is reliable. I have moved to New Jersey for a job and am in the market for a new car. Currently have a 2004 Kia Optima which I bought to get by for a couple of months. But that car has been with me through some good and bad times and I do not feel like parting with it. It has also been with me from Blacksburg, VA to Niagara Falls and back, to Atlanta and even as west as Chicago through Detroit before I settled in New Jersey. Any reliable dealers in New Jersey which I can visit for buying a used Honda/Toyota?
 

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Thread Starter #15
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Wow. it looks like Toyota is reliable. I have moved to New Jersey for a job and am in the market for a new car. Currently have a 2004 Kia Optima which I bought to get by for a couple of months. But that car has been with me through some good and bad times and I do not feel like parting with it. It has also been with me from Blacksburg, VA to Niagara Falls and back, to Atlanta and even as west as Chicago through Detroit before I settled in New Jersey. Any reliable dealers in New Jersey which I can visit for buying a used Honda/Toyota?
I traded my Camry for a New Mazda 6 last December. What part of NJ are you in? I have dealt with Hudson Toyota and East Coast Toyota and found those guys pretty reliable. As long as you have your foot down on how much you are willing to spend and ready to walk off if deal isnt in your favor, any dealership should be fine!
 

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