Electricity

I purchased a used late 2012 HL Hybrid with 25, 000km. Basically as new from a dealer, full service history. Have done 5000km so far. Some pointers for buyers that a short low speed test drive won't necessarily show. 1. Poor Road Noise Insulation The tire roar above 70km/h is loud and above 100km/h on concrete surface highway's is deafening. Did a Sydney to The Entrance drive on the Pacific Motorway, couldn't hold a conversation with the back seat passengers sitting at 105km/h. Note; this is for the HL model that come with bigger 17" wheels and tires. I think the car was engineered for the 16" wheels and the 17" was bolted on after all the engineering was done. I test drove the lower spec H model after the The Entrance trip and the noise level was significantly reduced so I blame the tires on the HL, possibly very hard compound for long wear. My plan of attack is to replace all 4 tires to either Michelin Primacy 3 ST or the Yokohama DB. Also lot's of outside ambient noise such as trucks passing penetrate from the doors and roof. 2. Dead Steering Also, forget about any steering feedback, steer with one finger softness and hope the tires are pointing where you think they are. Falcon and Commodore driver's, we always complain about local cars being shoddy with lower quality build etc..but man....they handle 4.5 times better than front wheel drive cars. You perhaps wouldn't know what steering feel is until you drive a Camry, you will become an expert overnight in steering feel and accuracy. Absolutely dead feedback. 3. Torque Steer Be gentle on the acceleration when turning, the monster torque from the electric motor will rips the steering wheel out of your hands. Can't drive this like a rear wheel drive car. Have to adjust to this and have to adjust quick if coming from the Falcon / Commodore stablemate or else in the ditch you will go. Keep it gentle and calm. 4. Boot is small if picking up 4 people and their luggage from the airport. Positives. 1. Makes more sense as a 2nd hand buy at $23,000 - $27,000. (2012-2013) 2. Fuel usage is bloody amazing, Constantly can hit 5.0L without ever using Eco mode or nanny driving too much. Can hit 4.5L in Eco mode and severe Nanny driving but this get's dangerous on the roads and annoys other drivers. 3. Good looker in white with dark tints and genuine painted mudflaps $150 (the mudflaps makes the car look wider and lower somehow). 4. Interior Passenger Space very good. (Not boot space). 5. Scaring people at shopping car lots when they 'hear' the car too late because it's silent. 6. Star Trek wheeeeoooo whine when slowing to a stop at red lights freaks people out waiting at the lights. 7. Last but not least, the car has BALLS for a 4cyl econobox. Rolling acceleration foot to the floor will scare most sports cars and probably the driver too if the steering wheel doesn't rip out of your hands. Some mods I have done: 1. Dynamat sound deadening the boot, parcel shelf, under the rear seat and front doors. Probably will also do the rear doors. Doing the front doors made the JBL sound system cleaner with less distortion at higher volumes. 2. 4kg m2 Mass loaded vinyl under rear seat to the rear of front seats. Wanted to do all the way to the front but was too scared to remove front seats due to all the wiring and airbags. 3. Stainless steel LED illuminated door sills (installed myself, non genuine). One of the best 'bling' mod's you can do. Hope I help someone Googling for info on this model.

I managed to get the Australian version of the genuine illuminated sill instruction manual and I kid you not, it requires you to dismantle half of your dashboard for the wires, lol. I didn't follow that, I designed my own method. My method is cleaner and better plus all 4 sill lights up instead of just 2 front ones (genuine kit). Best of all I used the wiring harness supplied in the sill kit to distribute positive so no need to run positive wires to each sill. (The harness goes straight to the battery. Plug and play. Just had to slice each sill ground wire to plug into the door open tabs. Door open tabs access to the rear is by removing rear bench seat (no bolts required, just pull up) and side bolsters (1 bolt each). The front tabs are accessed by the middle black trim kit (pop open, no screws or bolts). Too easy. Ran the harness under the bench seats at the same time. $66 for sill plates $5 Scotchlocks. $5 trim remover plastic tools. Looks amazing.

Yea mate, the Sill Plate I got is super awesome. Solid, black plastic surrounds and OEM retention clips. See the first post for link. They look amazing and fitment is precise. No gaps, etc. Basically as close to OEM for less than $100 dollars. They are on eBay if you find it but they cost more. On Aliexpress, straight from the middleman, I managed to get it for $49US shipped. Regarding installation, I wish I had a spare $2000 for Sill Plate and Foot Well installation via Toyota, hehe (nervous laugh). I have a backup plan, if by the weekend I cannot find a wiring diagram for the model I will do the old fashioned way. Basically instead of finding an existing positive hot wire in the car (no Aussie Camry wiring diagrams I can find so can't risk using US Camry Wiring Diagrams)), I will just run a fused wire straight from the battery (In the back convenient location for the Hybrid models) and than use the door open switch tabs to use the ground. Each sill plate will light up individually depending on which door is opened. It's a better installation method than just tapping into the dome light wire but 5 times more work. Will update with photo's on the weekend with instructions for all future members and Googlers having the same issues with instructions.

I found some instructions online but it is based on the US Camry model. I thought that is awesome as I could just swap the left side for right side and follow the instructions that way but when I took the cowls out and sill trims off, the PDF instructions don't exactly correspond to the Aussie version (some plugs are different even when you 'rotate' the instructions from Left to Right. See link below for the official 2012 - 2015 US Camry Instructions. I think it is best for me to get the wiring diagram for the car, anyone have links to the wiring diagrams on the Aussie Camry 2012 and up? Will be much help. http://www.trdsparks.com/install/PT922-03121inst.pdf

Thanks mate. Funny thing is that this variant is pre wired for all 4 sills as you can see in the photo's. (plug and play) Just the 2 red and black exposed wires with a fuse. I am asuming if I tap into the interior dome light, all 4 sills will light up when ANY door is opened, I am actually fine with that but need the wiring diagram for the Aussie version of the Camry to find the dome wires for a suitable tap location. Anyone has access to the wiring diagrams? If anyone else has solved this issue, please chime in. Want to do it right the first time. I will keep digging. Sigh.

Hi guys, just wanted to give out some information on a great deal I managed to find on Camry / Camry Hybrid 2012 to early 2015 model illuminated stainless steel sill plates. The one below I purchased sells for around $90AU on eBay. Managed to find the same one on Aliexpress for $49US ($66AU) shipped. ($2 discount coupon applied) Its a much better one than most of the models on eBay as it uses OEM retention clips rather than just sticky tape. Solid and good quality stainless steel plates. Also has black surrounds for the finished look. I will update with some high resolution photo's once installed but need help with installation. ^_^ http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Fit-For-Toyota-Camry-2012-2013-Blue-LED-Door-Sill-Protector-Pedals-Scuff-Plate-Guards-Sills/32333520526.html It only has 2 exposed wires for connection to the car and the whole loom is plug and play with the 4 sill plates. (All 4 illuminate) See photo's below. If anyone has any experience fitting this type, I would appreciate some help as to what location is best to tap the open door signal from. I have removed the rear seats and rear carpet to do some MLV sound deadening (road noise) so I have everything ready to go, just need help with where to tap the open door light source from.

Hello, Never thought I would put 'woot woot' next to a Toyota, funny how the Camry Hybrid changes your way of thinking about motoring. A motor head with a past in owning only Aussie big sixes, it has been a pleasure. A bit about my beige mobile, purchased a Toyota Camry Hybrid HL 2012 a few months ago and have been quite impressed with it's performance. To be honest, I purchased it with the 'usual' skeptism and an 'accountant' think from the head reason, low cost of ownership, reliability, etc. Fully knowing the usual tags Camrys get, 'boring, beige, white goods'. I test drove Mazda 6, Honda Accord and (gasp) Peugeot 508's and all felt dull and boring and in Mazda's case, unrefined and loud. (Good looker in wagon form though) After owning it for 3 months, I really think it's a gem of a car. Everytime I hear any car start up and shudder in the parking lot, I have a giddy smile, everytime I hear diesel clatter in small hatchbacks....I smile. It may be beige, in my case diamond white, I still think most folks that bag Camry's (especially the Hybrid's) have little to no experience driving it daily. I really like the, sit and glide away motoring. Hope to learn a bit more about the car here. Thanks.