FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2018 TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID

So… How big is the boot of the Toyota Camry Hybrid?

When it is empty I could fit 16 shopping bags in the boot.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

The Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller fitted with five shopping bags beside it.

The Britax Flexx tandem stroller fitted with seven shopping bags beside it.

The Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle single stroller fitted with eight shopping bags beside it.

The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller fitted with 13 bags beside it.

The parcel shelf is fixed in the Camry so you can't carry dogs in the boot. The boot floor has a soft carpet covering so I could do an emergency nappy change! The opening of the boot is not as simple to pass large strollers through as a big SUV boot opening and you do have to bend to put things in and out.

Storage in the cabin was pretty good too, apart from the door bins in the front and back that would not hold large refillable water bottles; only baby bottles or 600ml bottles would fit.

There are two cup holders in the central console, they held a reusable and disposable coffee cup and a large refillable water bottle fitted in them too.

In front of them was a rubber wireless phone charging tray with USB, AUX and 12V sockets.

You can slide the phone charging tray across and hidden underneath it is a little storage compartment which is great for anything you want to keep out of sight when you park the car.

The central console storage box is a really good size and the lid doubles as an armrest.

The glove box is a really good size too. It would hold my wallet and iPad, but with the manual in there too and there was plenty of space for more.

In the back of the Camry, there are map pockets in the back of both front seats that will hold an iPad but not totally conceal them.

In a fold-down armrest in the central seatback are two good sized cup holders. They would hold a re-usable or disposable coffee cup and a large refillable water bottle.

So… How noisy is the Toyota Camry Hybrid?

The Hybrid is silent when it starts apart from a very slight whining sound from the motor as you pull away! It's quite unnerving and takes a bit to get used to. The transition between the electric motor and petrol engine was smooth and the petrol engine wasn't loud or disturbing either. I found this great for driving my daughter around our suburb to get her to sleep and even better when I parked up to work while she slept because there wasn't a noisy engine running! I did find on the motorway the road surface noise was quite loud though.

The reversing camera in the Camry has a lovely clear and crisp image and has front and rear sensors.

These can be muted by pressing the OK button on the left of the steering wheel.

The cruise control buttons are on the right side on the steering wheel. They are simple to use but I did find the Camry's cruise control was very accurate on motorways but not at 60km/h on undulating roads.

There is lane departure warning (LDW) and lane keep assist (LKA) in the Camry; the button to turn this on the steering wheel on the right. This beeps to alert you when you drift out of lane which can disturb your sleeping passengers.

The media system is not easy to navigate, it does have more modern graphics than most Toyotas but the system still feels basic and it doesn't have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. I found I could not get my phone to connect with the Bluetooth which was frustrating!

The Sat-Nav voice can be easily muted on the left-hand-side of the map screen and the directions are shown in your head-up display which I found very helpful while driving.

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

You can lock the doors and windows from the control panel on the driver's door.

The windows and doors are lovely and quiet when you open and close them. I found you can come to a stop with the engine still running and get out of the car without sounding any alarms. The indicators are lovely and quiet in the Camry too.

Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!
SO this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)

There is a seatbelt removal alarm for the front and rear passengers, an alarm sounds and a light alerts you on the dashboard too.

So… How many child seats fit on the Toyota Camry Hybrid?

There are three top tether points, within plastic guides, across the parcel shelf behind each of the three rear headrests. I found them difficult to connect to and even harder to disconnect because there is very little space to work in especially when the child seats are in place.

The two outer rear seats have ISOFix points in them that are within plastic guides. They are nice and easy to connect to when installing the child seats.

I could only put two child seats into the Camry because the rear seats are quite sculpted. In the two outer seats, I put the Britax Graphene and the Platinum Pro.

Posting bub into their child seat from inside and outside the car is really nice and easy in the Camry. I thought the lower roofline would make it difficult but actually it wasn't too low and we had no bumped heads!  The ceiling is high, making it easy from inside and there are lovely big open doorways that give you plenty of room for posting bub in from outside.

Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!

There is room to feed bub in the back if you only have one child seat installed. The seats are upholstered with black leather. The central panels are perforated in all the seats which would make cleaning them harder and removing child crumbs, spills and detritus.

So… How comfortable is the Toyota Camry Hybrid? And how good is the Toyota Camry Hybrid to drive?

In the front of the Camry, the seats are nice and comfortable and they are cooled which I love! This does mean they are perforated though and this can make keeping them clean really difficult with all the child crumbs, spills and detritus. I found I could not have a ponytail when sitting in the front seat as the headrest angle was not adjustable!

I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!

For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the seats are comfortable and I had good headroom and I'm 162cm.

The central seat is slightly raised and there is a hump in the footwell in the middle but it was not too bad to rest your feet on or to straddle. The seats are comfortable but you can feel the hard central backrest because of the fold-down armrest with cup holders.

For the first year of Tulsi’s life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Tulsi so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!

The steering wheel was fully adjustable in/out and up/down with electronic adjustment on the left.

There are four air-conditioning vents across the front dashboard; two central ones above the media screen and one at either end of the dashboard. The Camry does have a pleasant airflow that is not too blowy or loud when it's on the lowest setting.

The controls on the dashboard are easy to reach while driving and are nice and simple to use and it does have dual climate control.

There are also two rear air vents in the back of the central console box that are reachable from the front while driving and two USB charging points for rear passengers underneath them.

Visibility in the Camry is good for a sedan, the windows are nice and big and tinted but it was still bright inside.

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the Camry was simple to park as the visibility and cameras were so good!

There are lit vanity mirrors in both visors in the front but the visors are not extendable but there is no glasses case in the ceiling.

The interior lights in the rear are in the ceiling right at the back so I could not reach them from the driver's seat while driving!

I have found Tulsi does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.

Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a five-minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!

It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.

There are handles above both rear doors which are well positioned to hold a baby toy for rear-facing passengers but not forward facing, they are too far back.

There are carpet floor mats in the model I tested.

The general aesthetics of the Camry are it is very nice, it has a modern feel and the blue and silver piping on the dash give it a high-tech feel. The surfaces are all wipe-cleanable leather, rubber or plastic. The central console is quite big, separating you from the other front passenger, which I like as you don't tend to get much personal space once you have children!!

So… How safe is the Toyota Camry Hybrid?

The Toyota Camry Hybrid was given a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2017.

The Toyota Camry has seven airbags as standard; there is a driver’s knee airbag as well as dual frontal airbags and front side chest airbags and side head-protecting curtain airbags for the front and the rear side passengers.

All models of the Toyota Camry come with Toyota Safety Sense which includes; lane departure warning (LDW), pre-collision safety system, automatic high beam and all-speed active cruise control (ACC). As well as seatbelt reminders for both front and rear passengers, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control (ACC), anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic stability control (ESC), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), emergency brake assist (EBA), attention assist (fatigue detection), lane keep assist (LKA), daytime running lights (DRL), vehicle stability control and traction control, hill launch assist and brake hold, reversing collision avoidance. The SL models all come with blind spot monitoring (BSM) as well.

Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!