http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/03/28/...ion=cnn_latest

 

Me thinks the days of the HAH are numbered.....

 

Woo-Hoo! I like it!
Hey, wifey... take a look at

http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/futur...tml?url=button

 

I think it depends on what you're looking for. Toyota has a lot of options on the Camry Hybrid (new initials? CH? TCH?) -- leather, moonroof, heated seats, heated mirror, etc. that are all standard on the HAH. I think the pricing may turn out to be a lot closer when you compare apples-to-apples. Considering that Toyota hybrids usually sell a lot closer to MSRP than the HAH, I wonder if a similarly equipped TCH will end up costing more than the few hundred above invoice '06 HAH I purchased one week after release.

Of course, there are other comparisons besides sticker cost: you can get into the mpg to mpg comparison, at which point the HAH owners will have to fall back into the HP to HP comparison.

Here's one thing that always confuses me. Toyota always has Bluetooth available, but rarely satellite radio. Honda always has satellite radio, but rarely Bluetooth.

 

i'm going to put my estimate down in writing here: camry hybrid, fully loaded [all of the options, not counting deal fees, extra gingerbread, etc...] will be $31,000 plus or minus $1K. just my guess for today.

LOL... the Prius has bluetooth, but Sprint [my current choice for cell service] never has any of their one or two bluetooth phones in their kiosks for me to HOLD and LOOK AT in PERSON, so i ain't buying.... another marketing coup.

 

I wouldn't count the HAH for dead just yet. I've read that Honda makes big changes about every 4 years. I would not be surprised to see an i4 version of the HAH that uses IMA2 (what I call "three-quarters hybrid" because its more than "mild" but not quite "full".)

Such a configuration probably could be sold for $26k or so.

I have never gotten the impression that the 14-HP IMA in the v6 HAH gets a lot of use because the engine is so powerful that it almost never needs the extra help.

But an i4 HAH would be more "hybridy".

 

That is significantly cheaper than I expected it to be! That's it -- despite buying my 2006 HCH in November, I am most certainly trading it in for the Camry Hybrid as soon as I can. I took a 2007 Camry LE for a test-drive and liked it alot better than my current car; it was much smoother and more confident than the HCH.

Man, I was afraid it would be like $29k base.

 

Everyone's talking about the new TCH (I almost went with THC) killing the HAH. I think it's going to give the new HCH a run for its money too, since if you'd be comparing a medium-decked out HCH with a base TCH, you might find the base TCH worth it.

And even though I way value the mileage above all else, I don't drive an Insight, and if I were buying a new hybrid, I'd go with the TCH and sacrifice the mileage for the style and sound system of the TCH.

Toyota is really out competing Honda in the hybrid world -- and the funny thing is no one else is even close to the two of them.

 

Actually I've already mostly made up my mind that I will be trading in my 2006 HCH for a new TCH, since there are some things that displease me about the HCH, and I found a short test-drive of a 2007 Camry LE to be much smoother and pleasant.

Also, Road & Track published figures for the TCH and they measured a 7.3 second 0-60 time, somehow (Toyota says 8.9 seconds), and they got an average of 37 mpg (38-46 highway, 32 rush hour). Those are oddly optimistic figures though and I don't trust them that much. Still, for reference they got 40 mpg average in the 2006 HCH, but a 10.3 second 0-60 time, which is faster than what it actually does.

 

well, i downloaded about all the specs i could from the toyota preview site, printed them out and handed them to my wife. after she got out the reading glasses and magnifying glass, she suggested buying the TCH, and selling her '98 camry XLE to her son (unless we can get a great private sale price locally.... it's very low mileage and fine condition.) Yay! if she's serious, we probably ought to get in the queue pretty quickly.

i think toyota optioned the car well, though i would like the HID option to be there, but maybe they're saving that for '08...

from what you've said, maybe toyota's claiming more "real world" mileage, compared to the EPA science-fiction, so that they don't get beat up as much in the media. i know i'd do that if i were in their shoes! i'd expect 30mpg average, which is nicely above the 20 or so my wife gets now. and the car is pretty, and i envy the LED taillights, compared to my "old-fashioned" 04 prius!