Family Car Review: 2025 Toyota Camry Hybrid Sedan

How much does the 2025 Toyota Camry Hybrid cost and what are the options?

Prices for the 2022 Toyota Camry starts at $39,990 (excluding on-road costs) for the entry-level Ascent model, the mid-spec Ascent Sport costs $42,990 and  ranges up to $53,990 for the top-spec SL variant. All Australian models come with Toyota's 2.5-litre hybrid engine.

How big is the boot of the Toyota Camry Hybrid?

The boot of the Toyota Camry Hybrid opens really nice and easily with just the touch of a button. It operates quietly which is great for when you have sleeping babies in the back. While the boot mouth does have a relatively narrow opening, the space inside is wide and cavernous.

The boot of the Toyota Camry Hybrid sedan will hold 15 shopping bags, which disappointingly is the same as several smaller sedans from the next size down. The Hyundai i30 Sedan and Toyota Corolla Hybrid Sedan and Kia Cerato Sedan all hold fifteen shopping bags in their boot and the Honda Civic Sedan holds fourteen.

The Thule Sleek, future-proof, multi-configuration pram with a single seat…

…will fit in the boot of the Camry Hybrid sedan with six shopping bags.

The Thule Sleek, future-proof, multi-configuration pram with two sibling seats…

…will fit in the boot of the Camry Hybrid sedan with six shopping bags.

The Thule Sleek, future-proof, multi-configuration pram with a single seat and the bassinet…

…will fit in the boot of the Camry Hybrid sedan side by side, but with no shopping bags.

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 my daughter'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 measurable 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 Thule Urban Glide 3, ultimate All Terrain stroller with the back wheels on…

…fits easily in the boot with four shopping bags.

The Thule Urban Glide 3, double ultimate All Terrain stroller with the back wheels on…

…fits easily in the boot of the Camry Hybrid sedan, but with no shopping bags.

The Thule Spring, lightweight and one-handed folding stroller…

…fits in the boot of the Toyota Camry Hybrid with eight shopping bags.

The boot of the Toyota Camry Hybrid can also accommodate a 90-litre, a 70-litre, and two 40-litre Thule Chasm duffel bags.

You can't put a dog in the boot of the Camry Hybrid, as there's a fixed parcel shelf that separates the boot from the cabin.

How good is the storage in the 2025 Toyota Camry Hybrid for families?

The interior of the front of the Camry Hybrid I tested is a little bit basic feeling, Toyota has modernised it but the same synthetic fabric used on the seats is also on the dash and doors, and all feel a bit cheap. You'll have to pay extra for a more upmarket spec if you don't like it!

When it comes to storage, the front of the Camry Hybrid has two cup holders in the central console that will hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup.

In front of them is a large storage well, perfect for storing sunglasses, and beside them is a phone charging pad.

The glove box is a good size and can easily hold a wallet and iPad along with the manual.

The central console box is nicely sized too and includes a 12V socket inside. There are USB-C sockets positioned near the phone charging pad for charging your passenger's devices.

The front door bins are a good size and will hold a refillable water bottle as well as an iPad. There are also storage wells in the door handles.

In the ceiling there's a glasses case and lit vanity mirrors in the front visors.

Storage in the back of the Camry Hybrid is pretty good too. There is a fold-down armrest in the central seat back with two cupholders that will hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup, and kids' drink cups fit nicely in them too.

There are map pockets on the back of both front seats that will hold and conceal an iPad.

The rear door bins will hold a refillable water bottle and feature the same storage handle wells as the front doors.

On the back of the central console box are sockets so rear passengers can charge their devices while travelling.

How many child seats will fit in the new Toyota Camry Hybrid?

When it comes to installing child seats in the back of the Toyota Camry Hybrid, there are ISOFix points in the two outer rear seats. They are within plastic guides and are nice and easy to connect to.

There are top tether anchorages in the parcel shelf behind the headrests for all three rear seats, and they're actually quite easy to access.

I was able to fit three child seats across the rear bench, which is fantastic news for families! I installed two forward-facing seats and one rear-facing seat, but three forward-facing seats would fit as well.

Legroom is limited with rear-facing child seats installed. I'm only 163cm tall, and I can sit in the driver's seat with a rear-facing child seat installed behind, but taller parents would find it tight or impossiblr.

However, with forward-facing child seats, we could fit a 186-centimetre driver in front comfortably.

How comfortable is the Toyota Camry Hybrid for families?

The Toyota Camry Hybrid features air vents in the back of the central console box, so you can keep little passengers at the right temperature while driving.

There are also USB-C sockets down there so rear passengers can charge their devices.

The media system in the Toyota Camry is really nice and easy to use. I like how you can quickly navigate it with a row of touch controls on the right-hand side of the screen. There's built-in satellite navigation…

… and you also get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which is great for accessing your phone's navigation, music, podcast and messaging apps while driving.

You can adjust various settings, including sound settings, which is particularly useful for families with children who have sensitive hearing.

When you put the Camry in reverse, the camera image is large and fills the whole screen, providing excellent visibility.

There are also physical controls along the dash for turning the air conditioning on and off and adjusting the climate control. Well done Toyota for not including those in a fiddly touch screen!

I found that the air conditioning can be quite loud, which might be a problem when you have children sleeping in the back. The engine can also be quite annoyingly noisy when the petrol motor kicks in, which could be a sensory overload for some kids, especially on hills.

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! This is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a car's BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!!

Being a hybrid, you can sit in the Toyota Camry with the aircon running and engine off for a little while if you get stuck in the car when children fall asleep, and you're not wasting fuel. This is also useful for those school pickup waits or when you need to stay in the car with sleeping children.

How safe is the 2025 Toyota Camry Hybrid for families?

The new Toyota Camry Hybrid has a five-star ANCAP safety rating, scoring 87% for child occupancy and an impressive 95% for adult occupancy. It also scored 84% for vulnerable road user protection and 81% for safety assist.

The Camry features eight airbags as standard, including:

dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting airbags that extend to the rear seats, as well as a driver knee airbag and centre airbag which provides added protection to front seat occupants in side impact crashes.

ANCAP  said of the testing;

In the frontal offset test, protection of the neck and chest of the 10-year dummy was ADEQUATE, while protection offered to all other critical body regions of both the 6-year and 10-year dummies was GOOD.

In the side impact test, protection of both dummies was GOOD and maximum points were awarded.

An indirect child presence detection (CPD) system, which provides an alert when a child may have been left in the
vehicle, is fitted to all passenger seats as standard.

Installation of typical child restraints available in Australia and New Zealand showed most child restraints could be
accommodated in most rear seating positions, however the Type A capsule could not be correctly installed using the
seatbelt in the rear outboard seating positions and one of the selected booster seats could not be correctly installed
in the centre rear seating position.

The 2025 Toyota Camry Hybrid comes with Toyota Safety Sense active safety technologies as standard across all grades, including autonomous emergency braking (AEB) – Car-to-Car, Vulnerable Road User, and Junction Assist, adaptive cruise control (ACC), lane support system with lane keep assist (LKA), lane departure warning (LDW) and emergency lane keeping (ELK), and an advanced speed assistance system (SAS) with speed sign recognition.

The driver-assist safety features also include forward collision warning (FCW), blind spot monitoring (BSM) with safe exit assist, rear cross-traffic alert (RCTA), anti-lock braking system (ABS), and electronic stability control (ESC).

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 Bub's asleep!

What is the 2025 Toyota Camry Hybrid like to drive?

The Toyota Camry Hybrid sedan is quite a nice car to drive, with some really good points and a few downsides.

Being a hybrid, you can sit with the aircon running but the engine off for a short time while your children sleep or you're waiting at school pick-up, and you're not using fuel. It's also VERY good on fuel whether you are driving round town or longer journeys.

Visibility is excellent in the Camry Hybrid. Even with three child seats installed across the back, I can still see clearly out of the rear windscreen, which is quite rare. Visibility all around is excellent, making it easy to manoeuvre safely with kids in the car.

The turning circle is fantastic, so combined with the good visibility and light steering, parking and manoeuvring in school and supermarket car parks is very easy.

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 Bub 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.

However, as I mentioned earlier, the engine can be quite loud when it kicks in, and the air conditioning system is also fairly noisy. When you've got kids in the back, these can create a bit of sensory overload.

BabyDrive Verdict on the 2025 Toyota Camry Hybrid

To sum up, the Toyota Camry Hybrid sedan does make a good BabyDrive for families who prefer a sedan over an SUV and you can fit three child seats across the back.

The boot space is good, though shaped differently than what you might be used to with SUVs. You can easily fit most Thule prams in the boot with room for shopping bags as well.

The driving experience is pleasant, with excellent visibility and a tight turning circle making it easy to manoeuvre. Being a hybrid, you save a lot of money on fuel, which is a plus for the household budget!

The media system and cameras are good too, with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto making it easy to use.

Key Pros:

• Fits three child seats across the rear seats
• Excellent fuel efficiency
• Great visibility all around, even with child seats installed
• Generous boot space that fits large prams with shopping
• Easy to park with good turning circle
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Five-star ANCAP safety rating with 87% child occupant protection
• Can sit with the engine off while children sleep without wasting fuel

Key Cons:

• Engine noise can be loud when it kicks in
• Air conditioning system is quite noisy
• Narrow boot opening and not as big as expected
• Not much legroom with rear-facing child seats fitted
• Interior feels a bit basic in cheaper versions
• No dog-friendly boot space due to fixed parcel shelf