2025 Toyota Camry XSE AWD 

When I was elementary school, I had to carpool with my neighbor and his mom drove a 1988 Toyota Camry. It was white with a blue interior, which has velvet-feeling cloth seats and more plastic than a Power Wheels car. The interior was sparse and it even had a musty smell like most cars from the 80s. Fortunately, the 2025 Toyota Camry XSE that I had for a week didn’t have any of those qualities.

Instead, the all-new Camry has a comfortable interior filled with all kinds of tech-savvy goods, a nice set of wheels, and a super-efficient hybrid powertrain. While the sound of those features may not make your blood boil, one look at the Camry may actually change your mind. Driving it may actually make you like it and soon enough, you’ll realize that it’s not the same Camry that you, or I, grew up with.

Interior 

Unlike my friend’s mom’s Camry, the Camry XSE that I tested for a week had a red and black interior, and instead of a velvety material, they were covered in perforated leather. The seats were also very supportive with their power-adjustability and lumbar support. There was plenty of leg and headroom in both rows. However, the rear middle seat was a little cramped and lacked a flat floor, so I would recommend it for small adults or children, which works great for carpooling.

Otherwise, the visibility from the driver’s seat was good, and both front seats are heated and ventilated for comfort in all types of weather. There’s also plenty of room in the trunk area (15.1 cubic feet) for a couple sets of golf clubs, a few suitcases, or a lot of groceries.

Exterior

The Toyota Camry has grown over the past few decades, but its looks were always pretty subdued compared to its contemporaries. But now, it’s in its ninth generation and has been fully redesigned with a far more daring look. Its aggressive front end is flanked by two sleek LED headlights, and its imposing front grille is bold, but not overdone. The rear of the car has a familiar look with its protruding trunk deck and thin taillights.

Additionally, the dark gray 19-inch wheels fill the fenders and contrast nicely with the car’s “Heavy Metal” paint job. It looks especially nice in the sunlight. 

Powertrain and Driving Impressions

For 2025, Toyota imbued every Camry model with a hybrid powertrain that’s available in either a front-drive or all-wheel-drive configuration. For the front-drive setup, a 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine is mated to two electric motors that make a combined 225 horsepower. The all-wheel-drive setup adds a third motor that drives the rear axles and produces a combined power output of 232. A continuously variable transmission is standard for both setups.

When driving around town, the Camry XSE drove smoothly and took off from the line quickly, thanks to the assist from the electric motors. When cruising around, I didn’t detect too much road noise, despite the large wheels, but the cabin wasn’t whisper quiet either. I could hear some rattling from the headliner and there was some wind noise. 

Regardless, the Camry proved to be a great sedan for around-town sprints and highway cruising. In all honestly, I do miss the sound and torque from the old V6 engine, but the tradeoff for better fuel economy is worth it. I averaged 31.9 mpg during my week of driving on the highway and surface streets, which is much lower than the EPA’s average of 44 mpg combined. 

That’s not to say that the Camry is not fuel-efficient, I’m sure it can closer to the EPA average with a light-footed driver that leaves it in “eco” mode as opposed to “sport” mode like I did.

Technology

Since my Toyota Camry XSE tester is at the top of the trim level food chain, it has all the bells and whistles. Some of them include a nine-speaker JBL premium sound system, a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster, a 12.3-inch infotainment screen, wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, and few USB ports around the cabin.

I mostly used Apple CarPlay during the time I had the car, which is likely what most people will do. But I will say that Toyota’s infotainment system is by far one of the easiest to use and learn. There are only a few icons on the left side of the screen to mess with and the layout is easy to see and navigate.

Safety

The Toyota Camry is filled with all kinds of safety features, including a handful of airbags and Toyota’s Safety Sense 3.0. The Safety Sense suite of driver-assist features has a bunch of different sensors and radars to keep the car on the road and safely between the lines. Some of the features include adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning with pedestrian detection, lane-keep assist, and a blind-spot monitoring system with a rear cross-traffic alert.

There’s also a driver-attention warning that alerts you if you need a break from driving. There’s a sensor above the steering wheel that detects the driver’s awareness, which works well, but is easily blocked if your hand is on the center of steering wheels. Blocking the sensor makes the system alert you that it can’t read your eyes, which gets annoying because it beeps and flashes a warning on the screen. On top of that, I found out that when I wore sunglasses, the system told me to “sit up” because it couldn’t read my face. It’s a minor annoyance, but worth mentioning since new Camry owners are likely to notice it.

Summary

Ultimately, the 2025 Toyota Camry XSE is worth its $43,720 (as tested) price tag. Sure, that sounds steep for a non-luxury sedan, but considering everything it comes equipped with, including a separate Premium package that costs an extra $4,075, it’s not too bad. Additionally, the base Camry starts at $28,700 and the top-trim XSE starts at $34,900, which is on par with its competitors like the Honda Accord.

So, if you want something cheaper, go with the base or mid-trim model to save some money. But no matter which trim level you choose, one thing you can be sure of is that it won’t be like the Camry from the good ‘ol days.