The Best Year for the Toyota Camry

Published March 22, 2021
in Year Model Comparison

We took a deep dive into the last five years (2017 – 2021) of Toyota Camrys to crown our best year for the car We looked at a variety of factors, from safety to features to drivability and reliability.

Toyota Camrys are vehicles you can depend on, so selecting one year as the best is no easy climb. However, this is where our training comes in handy. All five years are strong, with each offering something the others do not, though a common thread of excellence weaves throughout.

Regardless of what these five years share, only one can be named king of the mountain. Shall we see who made the drive to the top?

2019 Toyota Camry

By choosing the 2019 Toyota Camry as your next vehicle, you’re on the receiving end of topnotch safety, reliability, longevity, and the drivability and feel of a 2020 or 2021 model without the price hike.

Toyota fully redesigned the Camry in 2018, with few updates since then. For us, what separates the 2018 model from the 2019 deals with a few ratings from widely trusted sources. More on that later. For now, let’s take a look at price.

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Price

The average listing on a 2019 Camry is around $20,200. A 2021 Camry starts at about $25,000. And your average Camry with regularly scheduled maintenance can run between 200,000 – 300,000 miles.

A driver in America clocks around 13,500 miles or so per year. So, if your Camry runs for 300,000 miles, that’s 22.2 years of use. If an entry-level 2021 Camry costs $25,000 and lasts 22.2 years, we see the cost per year is $1,126 assuming a yearly mileage of 13,500.

If you go with the 2019 Camry, you’re getting more or less the same ride as the 2021 model for $2,748 less. Congrats! You just hit the savings jackpot, and we weighted your savings heavily in declaring 2019 the best year for the Toyota Camry.

Reliability and Resale

We discussed the fantastic longevity enjoyed by Toyota Camry owners. Well, the mpg is also quite impressive. The 2018 model saw an uptick in mpg with up to 29 mpg in the city and up to 41 on the highway. That is up 5 mpg (city) and 8 mpg (highway) from 2017. These increased numbers would hold steady through 2020 and experience a 1 – 2 mpg drop in 2021.

“But that’s only a few miles per gallon,” you might be thinking.

True, but those miles add up, and so do the savings.

The Toyota Camry is known for its reliability and low cost of ownership. In fact, Camry owners pay on average $138 less per year on repairs and maintenance than other mid-size vehicles.

J.D. Power rated the 2019 Camry as “Great” in the quality and reliability category (the 2018 model only scored an average rating there), as well as the category for resale. This comes as no surprise for a Camry. Reliability and resale played a significant role when we rated 2019 as the best year for the Toyota Camry.

Safety Ratings

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) awarded the 2019 Camry an overall safety rating of 5 stars. In addition to this rating, the NHTSA rated the 2019 model 5 stars in the “Overall Front Star Rating” category, which combines the driver and passenger star ratings during a simulated crash between two similar vehicles moving at 35 mph. Other categories where the 2019 model scored 5 stars were “Overall Side Star Rating” and “Rollover Star Rating.”

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) chose the 2019 Camry as a 2019 Top Safety Pick+. They also gave this year their top rating of “Good” in the following categories:

Side
Head restraints and seats
Small overlap front: driver-side
Small overlap front: passenger-side
Moderate overlap front
Roof strength

Other impressive ratings from the IIHS: “Superior” for “front crash prevention: vehicle-to-pedestrian” and “front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle” and “Good+” for “child seat anchors - LATCH ease of use.”

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Safety Features

So now we know the 2019 Camry received stellar ratings from some of the most trusted sources in the game. But what safety features does the 2019 model have to offer? Let’s take a look.

In 2019, in addition to an impressive suite of air bags, each version of the Camry came ready to drive with Toyota Safety Sense™ (TSS). TSS does things like use a forward-facing camera and radar system to alert you of a protentional oncoming collision or pedestrian you may not see.

The system also alerts you when you drift from your lane unknowingly. When this occurs, the system may apply small corrections to your steering.

Also included in TSS is a cruise control radar system that can match the pace, braking, and other factors of the vehicle in front of you.

This isn’t all the TSS has to offer, though, and until 2018 it was not part of the standard package. TSS is a fantastic added value to the 2019 model and a solid reason we chose it as the best year for the Toyota Camry.

Higher levels of trim enjoy systems that monitor and alert you to objects in your blind spots and oncoming vehicles when backing up.

Features

The 2019 Camry comes standard with an infotainment system made up of a six-speaker sound system, a 7-inch touch screen, and Apple CarPlay to connect your iPhone to the screen. Other standard features include a Wi-Fi hotspot and automatic high-beam headlights.

In addition to Toyota Safety Sense™ being standard on all trim levels, depending on the level of trim, you could be driving away with a moonroof, power adjustable driver’s seat, synthetic or real leather, heated front seats, wireless phone charging capability, a panoramic glass roof, higher grade sound systems, HD Radio, or a V6.

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Drivability

Owners of the 2019 Camry describe it as an easy-going, comfortable driving experience with fine handling. We don’t often equate drivability to comfort, but with seats as comfortable as these, it’s more than worth mentioning.

Another plus to seating as comfortable as this is it could shave hours off the sibling rivalry in the back seat as they fall asleep during long road trips.

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