2005 or so with the 333 hp turbo 6.
@jtsanders , the average price of a new car in 2015 is $32k. The V6 Camry isn’t terribly expensive as far as new cars go. The V6 Accord starts at $30.5k, The 2.0L Ecoboost Fusion runs $30.4k, a Turbo Malibu starts at $31.3k. and Turbo Sonata runs $28.5k. So the price of the V6 Camry isn’t out of line with it’s primary competition. If one was in the market for a new mainstream family sedan with the more powerful engine choice, the amount of money you’re going to pay isn’t going to vary a whole lot no matter which one you go for. It turns out these ordinary family cars have an average price tags to.
Speaking of not exactly cheap, have you seen what GM is asking for the new Tahoe/Suburban’s? To get a 4WD Tahoe with the things you want (leather, power windows/locks/drivers seat, roof rack, trailer hitch, CD player, keyless entry, etc.) it’s going to set you back around $60k. A fully loaded Suburban stickers for over $81k. I have to think that the prices of these vehicles are inflated quite a bit as trucks and truck-based SUVs is where both GM and Ford make most of their money, there’s a lot of margin built into them. And I suspect that the Chevy dealer will happily knock of $10k-$15k off the price of these vehicles and still make a tidy profit. The customer will leave thinking he got a screaming deal.
Agreed
From what I understand, GM happily let the quality of their cars slip in the 1990s and early 2000s, because they were making money hand over fist on their trucks and SUVs . . . because the profit margin on those trucks and SUVs was gigantic, versus cars
To say the prices were “inflated quite a bit” is an understatement
The prices are inflated like nobody’s business
Our fleet has mostly domestic vehicles. I’ve been noticing more new Ford trucks, and less GM trucks, recently. I asked what was going on. Apparently, certain specs have to be met. And the comparable Ford truck was $7000 less. F250 SuperDuty 4x4 versus Sierra 2500HD 4x4. I’m assuming they were optioned out the same and had roughly similar drivetrains
Really DB,the dealers around here usually vary no more then $300 on similar speced domestic trucks,whats interesting is sometimes the actual better equipped(8 vs 6 cylinder is about the same or cheaper-value added for perceived fuel economy gain I suppose)
My Boss bragged the other year He never paid over 25K for a new Silverado 4wd,sounds suspect to me,must really do some digging(He usually buys 4wd-X-cabs(so you can cram more people behind the front seats)
The Expedition, Armada, and Sequoia can easily exceed $60,000. The Land Cruiser starts at $80,000. The price for the Tahoe/Yukon is in line with the competition, and customers seem to be very willing to pony up for them.
I was just differentiating the XSE Camry form the 4-cyl models from a price standpoint. The Camry LE can be bought new for a price similar to what the 26 year old GT-R costs. But they would not share the same customer base, and the owner of the GT-R wouldn’t use it as a commuter car. Actually, someone might own both a Camry LE for commuting and a GT-R for weekend fun.