Martinj

There is no such thing as a US Aurion. The Aurion that we get is essentially limited to SE Asia and the Middle East, with the different nose and tail to the normal Camry and V6-only, and was designed in Australia for the above markets. The US just got the Camry body-style but with both 4-cylinder and V6 engines. Hi Hiro, I meant the US Avalon. The current Aurion looks so much like the old Avalon I get them confused.

Tell me about it! No more Ferrari models available with three pedal manuals (okay, i guess, given their involvement in F1). It is good to see a manual comeback campaign in the US, with more of their BMW models available with manual than here in Australia. They even have some Cadillac and Lincoln (!!!!!!!!!!!) models available with manual.

Conversion cost the better part of $5k AUD. I did not have to worry about converting the Commobore stateside as I sold it to a Universal Studios who needed an Australian car for one of their sets.

Manual will offered for base Altise (I think) and Sportivo, but expect that to be phased out within first 12 months. Only 2% of Camry sales are manual, unfortunately.

My source tells me plans are underway to launch the new look Camry (smoother, less edgier but still basically the same, especially inside) in the Blue Mountains, NSW in mid-August 2011 with deliveries to start in early September. My reliable source also says the new Aurion is essentially the current US-model Aurion. It will be released in March 2012.

Heh! Man, you gotta play the system. I bought my Camry in the US and did a personal import into Australia. I saved $11k on a base model Altise. To make it better, I shipped over a Commodore SS V8 and sold that car in the US of A for $20k gain! Sweet as, bro!! Seriously, USA population 250 million (unofficially including illegals maybe 300 million) with a plethora of mid-size cars on sale versus Australia with a population of 20 million and, um, well Mazda 6, Accord, Passat and Camry... I recommend you also read up about economies of scale and how cost savings per unit can be achieved by increasing production (eg: as in a car factory based in the US of freakin' A). Oh, and Australia has bombastically high taxes on just about everything and everyone (unless you're on the dole...you better not be on the dole, fella!).

Hiro, you can choose to believe (or not believe) whatever you want. That's what makes Australia such an appealing place for people to come to live in. I choose to believe that the Toyota Aurion is not a boring, front wheel drive fridge on wheels.

How did you manage to swing a deal to get a 9 year old Camry for only 1/3rd the original list price?! Good effort!

According to US magazine "New Scientist" July 2010 edition: "Myth or fact? Cars go zoom after gas refills. Scientists at the Group of 3 consortium (including Chrysler, Ford and GM) have concluded that car performance increases by on average 2-3% on a full tank of gas compared to a quarter tank or less. The reported cause is increased fuel feed and reduced vacuum effect in gas tanks". As for the whooshing sound? I have no idea what you are talking about there.

Hopefully no-one gets affected by the current deluge in South East Qld & everyone's Toyota stays dry. The flooding is catastrophic.

Mate, no specs were discussed. I read a recent website article saying new Camry engine increases to 2.5 litres. I reckon Aurion specs would stay the same given most buyers are OAP and wouldn't notice, and also any larger capacity V6 would come too close to Lexus now.

I was talking to a new car salesman. The photos were on what appeared to be a draft brochure PDF file. At least the new Aurion should be more distinctive now, but never been a fan of US-styling (remember the first Avalon?!).

When visiting my Toyota dealer to check on TRD parts he showed me official pics of 2011/12 model Camry and Aurions. Having not seen these before, I had to look twice to check the Camry had even changed. The Aurion looks kind of worse, like the current US-model Avalon. The dealership didn't have pricing (at least that is what they told me).

What happened to the TRD sub-brand in Australia? I think it used to be like HSV or FPV. I would like to modify my Camry with TRD mods. What are re-sale values of TRD models now like if the brand is defunct? Where can I find information out about upcoming new Toyota models and dealers?