Retro review: Toyota Camry V6 (2002)

This review was originally published in issue 100 of TopGear magazine (2002)

I’ve always thought that good-looking parents must feel under pressure to produce aesthetically pleasing offspring. Everyone is expecting a wunderkind, so imagine their reaction when a squinting troll springs forth instead.

Admittedly, Toyota is not the most beautiful parent in the world, but its current line up does include the cheeky Yaris, the sinewy Celica and the stocky Land Cruiser. And if I was Toyota’s boss, I’d be asking for a DNA test on the all-new Camry.

In its previous incarnation, five million Camrys were sold in America alone but it’s going to take a lot more than an Avensis-style grille to prevent it from getting its head flushed down the European market’s toilet.

Many cars in the local executive sector have a reserved sophistication about their appearance, but the Camry doesn’t – it looks like an excitable salaryman trying to carry off a hacking jacket and jodhpurs.

As the flagship model, this CDX 3.0-litre V6 throws its hat firmly into the big boys’ ring with a hefty £25,495 asking price. So what has it got to tempt somebody away from the cast-iron bet of an Audi A6 2.4 SE?

Well, you do get an incredibly lavish cabin and a wealth of extras. There is, of course, the leather, air-conditioning, CD auto-changer, electrically adjustable front seats and a power sunroof. It’s a roomy, well ordered place, its fixtures and fittings lifted from the Lexus shelf and screwed together with the same focus on solidity. There are also front, side and curtain airbags, ABS and EBD. It’s all luxury and refinement, albeit Japanese-style.

Once, this type of car didn’t have to be engaging to drive, but then BMW concentrated so hard on large-car dynamics that it set the standard for executive handling and performance. So now, to stand a fighting chance in this sector, rear-wheel drive is advisable.

It’s not clear why a Lexus rear-drive platform wasn’t used as the basis for the Camry, but it wasn’t and the car suffers as a result. There’s plenty of grip, but absolutely no dynamic ambitions beyond forward movement.

It’s not totally wayward, but the Camry leans too much into bends and the steering and brakes don’t have the same conviction as its quality European rivals’. It does, however, ride in comfort. In America, the executive class likes to be transported without being shaken or stirred – and the Camry will do precisely that. There’s minimal road noise, little wind buffeting and the gritty business of the engine is kept well damped from those inside.

However, the occasional uncivilised scrabbling for purchase from the front wheels when you are trying to put the power down out of a corner, combined with its general unwillingness to tuck into the next one, reveals a somewhat two-dimensional character.

The 3.0-litre V6 engine produces, for such a lump of a car, a below-average 184bhp. Still, it’s a typically smooth operator from the Toyota stable. With right foot firmly planted, it will get you from 0-62mph in a shade over nine seconds and on to a momentum-assisted 140mph maximum.

So its performance isn’t anything to get too excited about, especially as you can’t comfortably carry its straight-line pace very far down a winding road. The four-speed gearbox is as refined as the engine, but at cruising speeds it could do with taller gearing. Like the handling, the driving experience is a step behind those of its rivals’.

The biggest question mark over the new Camry is the identity of its intended buyer. The price dips a toe into BMW 520i SE territory, and while the German doesn’t come with all that kit, it is a much more involving car with the same performance and far better residuals. Anybody trying to offload a Camry a couple of years down the line is going to have their fingers burnt up to the second knuckle, but if residuals aren’t your problem you’d still do better to buy the top-of-the-range Vauxhall Omega. The GM V6 models join the Camry in residual freefall, but from a more realistic starting point.

The Camry falls between the stools of Toyota and Lexus. It’s too rich for the former and far too unwieldy for the latter. Even its parents, it seems, are unsure of what to do with it. 

Rivals: BMW 520 SE, Audi A6 2.4 SE, Volvo S80 2.4 SE

Verdict: Expensive, hampered by shocking residuals, but reliable and well built. 

3.0-litre V6 24v
184bhp 
4spd auto, FWD
0-62mph in 9.0sec, 130mph
£25,495

Words: Adrian Simpson
Images: Paul Debois