I Drove the 2025 Toyota Camry XLE. Here's My Brutally Honest Review

IsaiahSci/Tech2025-07-069490

I Drove the 2025 Toyota Camry XLE. Here's My Brutally Honest Review originally appeared on Autoblog.

Is Vanilla Still Good?

For decades, the Camry has been the automotive equivalent of vanilla ice cream: dependable, universally liked, and maybe a little too predictable. It’s the car your sensible friend buys and drives for 200,000 miles without a single complaint. For 2025, Toyota has something new in store. The ninth-generation Camry is now exclusively a hybrid. That’s right, every single one, from the base LE model to the top trim XSE, every model has a battery pack. It’s a move that signals exactly where Toyota thinks the future of the family sedan is headed. So, is this new, electrified Camry still the undisputed champion of the sensible?

The Heart of the Matter: Engineering and Driving Dynamics

Under the hood of every 2025 Camry is Toyota’s fifth-generation hybrid system, pairing a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine with electric motors. If you choose front-wheel drive, you get a combined 225 horsepower. Opt for the all-wheel-drive version (a first for the hybrid Camry and a huge plus for those of us in the snow belt), a third electric motor on the rear axle bumps that figure to an adequate 232 horsepower and 232 lb-ft of torque.

Toyota

All power is routed through an electronically controlled Continuously Variable Transmission (eCVT). CVTs are not ideal from a driving experience perspective and often receive a bad rap from enthusiasts, for good reason. They can drone on and create that dreaded "rubber-band" effect where the engine revs seem disconnected from your actual speed. But Toyota has been doing this hybrid-eCVT dance for a long, long time, and it shows.

In normal city driving, the power delivery is smooth and seamless. The electric motors provide instant torque from a standstill, making the Camry feel brisk off the line. Once you hit 35 MPH, that power dies off, but the initial boost is nice to have, especially in the city, and we all know half of NYC's Uber drivers will have one at some point.

When you ask for more power to merge onto the highway, the gas engine kicks in without a fuss. It’s not going to thrill you, but it’s competent enough. The car is built on the TNGA-K platform, which is just a fancy way of saying it has a solid foundation that gives it a lower center of gravity. This isn't a sports car, but it feels planted and secure, not floaty like some of its predecessors. However, the steering is somewhat vague, lacks feel, and is particularly numb, even more than you'd expect from a family car.

Toyota

Exterior Design: The Camry Gets Streamlined

Toyota updated the Camry with a modern face, dominated by slim, hammerhead-style LED headlights and a large lower grille. Now, the XLE trim I was in is the "business casual" version. It swaps the sporty honeycomb grille of the SE/XSE models for a classier dark line design and adds just enough chrome around the windows to make it look like it has its life together. It’s less "look at me" and more "I have a respectable 401k." It all comes together to make a decently good-looking car that doesn't scream for attention but earns a second glance.

Toyota

Step Inside: An Office You Can Live With

Jump inside the Camry XLE, and the first impression is one of space and comfort. It’s a pleasant place to be for the price. The seats are spacious, supportive, and heated. After a couple of hours behind the wheel, I had zero complaints. Toyota clearly focused on the touchpoints; the steering wheel feels good in your hands, and the places you rest your arms are covered in a soft material. If you go looking for it, you’ll find harder plastics on the lower door panels and center console, a gentle reminder that this is still a value-focused vehicle at its core.

Toyota

The dashboard design is… interesting. A 12.3-inch touchscreen and a matching 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster on the XLE dominate it. The layout is clean and functional, but there’s a unique, almost amusing curvature to the passenger-side dash. It’s an inoffensive and slightly quirky design choice in an otherwise very straightforward cabin. Overall, the interior is spacious, comfortable, and easy to get along with every day. There's nothing revolutionary here, but in a daily driver, sometimes "nothing wrong" is exactly what you want.

Toyota

Pricing and Fuel Economy: The Sensible Part

Okay, let’s get down to the numbers, because this is where the Camry has always made its case. The XLE FWD starts at $33,700, and the AWD version will cost you an additional $1,525. That’s a pretty compelling price for a well-equipped midsize sedan with AWD.

But the real headline is the fuel economy. The FWD model is projected to get an impressive 47 MPG combined. The AWD version only takes a tiny hit, clocking in at 46 MPG combined. These are fantastic numbers for a car of this size and comfort level. This is the payoff for going all-in on the hybrid powertrain. It’s a car that will be genuinely cheap to run, and in today's world, that’s a massive selling point.

Tech and Safety: Your Digital Co-Pilot

Thankfully, Toyota has gone wireless with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, with the 12.3-inch center screen projecting all the info. More importantly, every single Camry comes with Toyota Safety Sense 3.0, which includes a pre-collision system that can detect pedestrians, a lane departure alert with steering assist, and a proactive driving assist feature that can subtly brake into curves or help maintain a safe distance from the car ahead. Personally, I found the proactive driving assist to be somewhat annoying, but for the right driver, it could be helpful, and it's easily deactivated.

Toyota

What's Uniquely Camry?

Axing the gas-only four-cylinder and the beloved V6 is a gutsy move, but one that makes sense for the Camry buyer, offering extreme efficiency with an affordable price point. Another interesting tidbit is the name itself, as "Camry" is derived from the Japanese word "kanmuri," meaning "crown," which connects it to Toyota’s legacy of royal-themed sedan names, such as the Crown and Corona.

Toyota

Final Thoughts

So, what’s the verdict on the all-hybrid 2025 Toyota Camry? It’s a competent, comfortable, and efficient car. It’s an easy car to drive and an even easier car to live with every day. The move to a hybrid-only lineup makes perfect sense for the vast majority of buyers in this segment. It delivers a decent ride, quick off-the-line power around town, and, most importantly, phenomenal fuel economy.

But I’ll be honest, I’ll miss the V6. The previous-generation Camry TRD with that 301-horsepower V6 was a fun-to-drive sedan. It had a personality that this new hybrid just can’t replicate. That said, the Camry knows its mission. It’s here to be the best possible daily driver for the most people. And by that measure, the 2025 Camry XLE is an undeniable success. It’s still the king of the sensible, but now it’s a king with a very efficient, electrified crown.

Related: I Drove the 2025 Hyundai Tucson XRT. Here’s My Brutally Honest Review

I Drove the 2025 Toyota Camry XLE. Here's My Brutally Honest Review first appeared on Autoblog on Jul 1, 2025

This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Jul 1, 2025, where it first appeared.

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