These Are The Cars You Hate To Love

The Story

This, more than maybe any other question I can recall asking you beautiful people, was absolutely full of Toyotas.

Toyota We’ve all got our own tastes in cars, and that taste probably doesn’t include every single car out there. Maybe you’re really into ’90s JDM sports cars, or ’60s American trucks. But once in a while, you’ll run into something that meets absolutely none of your criteria — maybe a car from a segment you actively loathe — that you just can’t help but love. Earlier this week, I asked you for those cars you hate to love, and today we’re looking through your answers.

This, more than maybe any other question I can recall asking you beautiful people, was absolutely full of Toyotas. Having grown up around Toyotas and Honda as the default cars, this is fascinating to me — they’re just good, reliable daily drivers. Why the hate?. I know you have your reasons, but they’re just so foreign to my being that I can barely understand them. I’m glad there are some that y’all still like.

I am loathe to love a FWD Hybrid Sedan with an eCVT, but the Camry is truly exceptional. My parents have owned five Camrys since the mid 80’s. Rock solid reliable with low running costs and above average resale. When you’re middle class, two kids, a big mortgage, and family 300+ miles away you visit 3-4x a year, a Camry was, and still is, a smart decision.

Toyota Camry Hybrid for me. I’ve been anti-Toyota for a while now because most of what they offer is bland, soulless, and driven by people who are old enough to be Boer War veterans – all driving well below the speed limit and running red lights because they are legally blind. But over the past couple of months I’ve had a Camry Hybrid as a rental twice, and well, I really, really liked it. I was going up a highway entrance ramp after picking the car up and I’m used to vehicles with CVTs being able to turn gasoline into noise, and that’s about it. I was shocked at the highway acceleration. Even around town, I found it to be rather sprightly. This was my first experience with an e-CVT and I think manufacturers aren’t doing themselves any favours by distancing the new transmissions from the old belt/chain CVTs.

Why It Matters

I’ve been anti-Toyota for a while now because most of what they offer is bland, soulless, and driven by people who are old enough to be Boer War veterans – all driving well below the speed limit and running red lights because they are legally blind.

CarMotion Daily’s Take

Industry watchers will be following the follow-through, not just the headline.