Bye Bye Car, Hello Car...

Finally got hold of our car last week (Friday night to be precise). Concurrently, sold off my car that had served us well for 1 1/2 years. Remarkably good condition if I may say so. Barely 40k kms, just out of warranty. Sold it to a friend, so we'll still see it quite regularly. Did a detailed review of it in another post here.

As for the new car, was a bit intimidated by its size at first, but turns out I needn't have worried as it was a breeze to drive. Insulation and built was as expected, top notch. Engine (1AZ-FE making 108kW) wasn't bad either as I thought it'd be wheezy with all the weight to haul around. True, could do with more power and a tad more refinement, but overall more than acceptable, helped in large part by the dollops of low-end torque.

Update 1: Okay, I take back what I said about the refinement, after the service it was like a new engine! Must be due to the run-in and the changing out of the old mineral oil.

Update 2: On our first outstation trips, it proved to be comfortable, quiet and frugal (doing over 14km/L), with none of the wallowing feeling of its predecessor.

Update 3: I rented a Camry Altise (2.4l 2AZ-FE making 117kW) when I was in Australia in November. This is basically the American Camry body with the local Camry 2.4l engine. Surprisingly I didn't feel there was much difference to my car in terms of acceleration, except in the upper reaches of the speedometer. Makes me kinda glad I didn't shell out another 20 grand more...