Used Toyota Camry and Corolla: where the reputation holds and where it does not

The Camry and the Corolla are the cars people buy when they do not want to think about the car, and for most model years in this dataset the record justifies that. The Camry averages under 300 complaints a year across its quiet years and the Corolla under 200. But averages hide three episodes, and a shopper who treats every Camry as a 2014 Camry will sometimes buy a 2018.

2011 to 2012: the last of the old engines

The 2007 to 2011 Camry and the 2009 to 2011 Corolla used the 2AZ-FE and the 2ZR-FE four-cylinder engines. The 2AZ-FE in the Camry consumed oil — a piston-ring design that Toyota addressed with a warranty enhancement rather than a recall — and the Camry of those years also carried the melting-dashboard complaints (a sticky, reflective dash surface in hot climates, subject to a warranty extension) and the unintended-acceleration recalls of 2009 and 2010 that covered floor mats and accelerator pedals. The 2011 Camry scores 58 and the 2012 car 53; the 2011 Corolla scores 48. These are not dangerous cars, but they are the years in which a Camry is merely average.

2013 to 2017: the years the reputation is built on

The seventh-generation Camry (2012 to 2017) and the eleventh-generation Corolla (2014 to 2019) are the cars that earn Toyota its standing. The 2014 Camry scores 93 on only 14 complaints; the 2015 to 2017 cars score between 81 and 87; the 2014 to 2018 Corolla scores between 83 and 86. Their complaints are the ordinary kind — a Bluetooth pairing that drops, a trunk latch, brake squeal — and there is no component that appears on every page. A 2015 to 2017 Camry or a 2015 to 2018 Corolla is close to the safest used purchase in this dataset.

2018 to 2019: the eighth-generation Camry launch

The 2018 Camry was a new platform, a new 2.5-litre direct-injection engine and a new eight-speed automatic, and its first year has 734 complaints and a score of 27 — the lowest of any modern Camry. The complaints are mostly the transmission's hesitation and lurching at low speed and in stop-and-go traffic, plus the Entune infotainment system. Toyota issued transmission software updates through 2019 and 2020. The 2019 car scores 36, the 2020 car 56, and the 2021 to 2024 cars between 74 and 89. The Camry Hybrid, which uses a continuously variable transmission of Toyota's own design, has a separate and quieter record throughout this generation.

2020: the twelfth-generation Corolla

The 2020 Corolla carried a new platform, a new CVT with a physical launch gear, and a new infotainment system, and its complaint count doubled to 306 with a score of 45. It is a smaller version of the Camry's 2018 pattern, and it follows the same curve: the 2021 car scores 69 and the 2022 car 85.

What to check

On a 2011 to 2012 Camry: the oil level and consumption history, and the dashboard surface in sunlight. On a 2018 to 2019 Camry or a 2020 Corolla: drive it in traffic for the low-speed hesitation and ask for the transmission software history. On any Toyota of any year: nothing in particular, which is the point.

Summary

Buy: Camry 2013 to 2017 and 2021 onward, Camry Hybrid any year, Corolla 2013 to 2019 and 2022 onward. Acceptable: Camry 2020, Corolla 2021. Avoid, or price accordingly: Camry 2011, 2012, 2018 and 2019; Corolla 2011 and 2020.