The thing with Facebook is that it likes to suggest pages for us to 'Like'. Now somehow there are patterns and algorithms that try to detect on what my pet peeves, hobbies and likes are and all of these enable Facebook to suggest that I would like to click 'Like' and join the closed group called the CAMRY OWNERS CLUB MALAYSIA.
If Facebook were a real person and did not use any algorithms and whatnot they'd have actually leaped over to this blog and found out that I do not really like Toyota Camrys. I think the Toyota Camry is useful as a company car, rental car, airport taxi, hotel limousine and for people who generally prefer resale value over driving pleasure.
You've also got to take into account that this isn't any ordinary Camry. It is the Camry Hybrid Owners group. And you folks know that people who buy hybrids do not really car about saving the trees or the whales or the polar ice-caps. They buy hybrids because it is a way to save more fuel and that you actually get a larger, more powerful car at an affordable price because of the Energy Efficient Vehicle tax incentives here in Malaysia.
Facebook suggests that I join this group. Why? So why join a group taking about a car that is so new, still in warranty? Like joining the Toyota Avanza Owners Club I will surely be privy to questions like "How much petrol does your car consume?"..." How much does RM50 take you? A million kilometers per full tank?"....."How much does the battery cost? I think I voided the warranty."...and other not so amusing questions.
No one is going seriously talk about lapping Sepang under 2minutes 35 seconds in one (that will never, ever happen) or talk about how beautiful the Camry Hybrid looks compared to a Ferrari 458 Italia. No one is also going to say that it drives as if a chariot from heaven or that the hybrid battery allows it to accelerate to warp factor 9 and travel back into time so that it can stop Nissan from inventing the GT-R. Nooooo. Obviously not. You're going to get "how much does Toyota charge for servicing?" and the rest above.
But the best thing about Malaysians is that they love making single make car groups everywhere. Note that if you did a search on Facebook there is a larger, Camry Hybrid Club Malaysia and then there is a Toyota Camry Malaysia Club. There are so many clubs for one brand of car.
And again, it is a Toyota Camry. Three or more Camry clubs in Malaysia is too many clubs for the ultimate uncle car. There actually are a lot of uncles around Malaysia with Camrys. No. It's not that the Camry is something awful to drive. It isn't. It's just dull as hell to drive. Quiet and refined but a tad bit too dull. And the looks of the car. The current one isn't the nicest looking one of them all. The previous one is still the better looking one compared to this locomotive. If it were the Toyota AE86 Club I would consider. I mean THAT, is a cult Toyota.
So with that I have to say that Facebook should stop suggesting to me pages for me to join or like. Of course, the consequences of their suggestion has made me write this article which I should now end due to the fact that my flow of ideas has now veered over to the fact that I cannot wait for what the implications and the impact of the location based, augmented reality Pokemon Go game when it gets launched in Malaysia.
Are we going to see rare Pokemons popping up in the Sepang Circuit? At a Toyota Showroom? At Grabcar's? Headquarters? Would it cause Pokemon hunters who are driving or riding end up crashing into a tree? Would it cause people to stop beside a busy highway in order to search for a Pokemon? Damn. Pokemon Go may be dangerous!
What? Join the Camry Hybrid Group? Not a chance in hell. Play Pokemon Go? Maybe. The game could have more soul than a Camry you know. It has a cute yellow Pikachu. Of course it does.
5 comments:
I think the new camry hybrid is not that bad in terms of driving pleasure. Drove one last year and it is not bad at all. It still far from a Lotus elise/exige, golf GTI, M3 or those cars typically associated with driving pleasures, but it is not as bad as say Camry from yesteryear. Or that dugong city that almost put me to sleep once i drove my sister's car to Penang.
I have driven many Camry over the years. A lot of 2.5liter versions which have quite a bit of torque like the hybrid ones without the extra weight of batteries stored somewhere in the car. Even one for a whole week in Australia. Every Camry throughout the world is just the same....D segment transport with resale value and its quiet.
And oh...I also think almost everything feels better to drive than a dugong City. Except a Nissan Almera. That car is B segment transport, looks ugly, has little in terms of handling and takes a lifetime to reach 100kmh from a standstill. It's like Kim Kardashian...nothing useful except a big bottom.
Damn funny but is so true...I like to lurk in forums like ItaliaAuto..too bad is getting less active now.
if you like driving, skip the Camry, get the Mazda 6.
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