Yep, I haven't met anyone who uses keyless daily that wanted to go back to using a physical key. Then again, I'm sure there is someone out there who prefers manual roll-up windows vs powered windows.

 

My only concern with keyless fobs is the battery. I assume its the same as the old keyless entry fobs from the 90's/00's, crack it open and replace that watch battery that you can buy at the drug store and you are good to go.

Honestly physical keys for cars don't bother me too much if they are a good design. The one for my Tacoma, its solid steel, thick, no plastic, feels like it was forged by Thor's hammer. Its double sided, good sized head so its easy to grab/turn, works the door and ignition, slides in all the locks/ignition like butter, works like its brand new, just has a certain quality feel when you turn it in the door lock or ignition. The key/locks on that truck is one of those little details Toyota does so well, it feels like the locks on an old $80,000 1988 560 SEC Mercedes, maybe even better.

I've owned several older GM products, the keys drove me nuts with those cars. Two keys, one for ignition, one for doors/trunk. They are not double sided, so you have to insert them teeth down. All of them were rather thin and not made of the best metal(even the gold plated Cadillac keys, I bent one of them slamming my desk drawer shut at work, then was able to bend it back and it worked fine lol). So annoying IMO that they didn't bother to key the doors and ignition with the same key, or even bother to make them double sided, this is decades after such stuff had been standard in other cars.

I know I'm comparing different era's here, but we are talking top of the line 80's/90's GM, damn Cadillacs here, vs a 2004 stripper Tacoma that cost $12,000. Both use metal keys, same technology. Its just insane how much better Toyota does a metal key on a base *** truck vs GM on their top of the line Cadillac.

Despite all that, the keyless fob thing is pretty cool. Its nice being able to just walk up to your car and tug on the locked handle and have it automatically unlock for you. Or push that button the trunk and have it automatically pop open. Only real downside is when you forget to give the valet guy the fob.

Sorry if I took us off subject here, but getting back to the 2018 Camry, you need to sacrifice some features to get the product price competitive. I'm thinking most Camrys will have the keyless feature, only the most base cars will use the physical key. Which IMO the physical key is fine now days, since they intergrated the lock/unlock/trunk thing into it. And its no longer a flimsy piece of **** like 1990's Lexus keys with the lock/unlock/trunk thing intergrated into one key.

 

Will add a few more things on a second look today. The quality and attention to things has really been increased. Toyota is certainly listening.

The extended pull out sun visors are present. Both driver and passenger power seats feature and auto up option. Also, a lever pump handle for passenger height is also present on low end models. (Compared to Tacoma that has no height adjustment). Very impressive. Also, can't remember if the glowing Circle around the key ring was deleted on the past model. It's offered on keyed models.

 

As far back as 2000 I can remember having a battery powered key fob to unlock the doors. Not once have I EVER, in the past 17 years had a key fob run out of juice. I once went swimming in the ocean with my key fob and rendered it useless, and just used the manual key to unlock the door. Most, if not all, keyfobs today still come with a good old fashioned key for this purpose. There is a component of the fob that does NOT need battery power to have it interact with the car. You simply hold up the key to a marked section of the steering column and press the start button. It will start up, even if the key fob is completely dead.

 

I'd like to meet one who likes to crank windows in a sedan. I'll buy him a beer for being so stubborn.

 

On keyless entry? There are indeed some electronic features I'm not a fan of....I'll admit that. But I've always liked push-button starting....nothing about that has changed. What I DON'T care for are features that can fail at inopportune times....like unreliable sunroofs and/or power-windows that fail just as a big rainstorm is approaching. That's why I deliberately ordered a Lacrosse without a sunroof.

 

I used knock-off 2032 coin cells from amazon (some of the so called retail packaged do in fact arrive being knock offs, even when not 3rd party sellers), and my LS430 fob died. I had to use the physical switchblade key to get the driver door unlocked, which btw is partially broken because I bought the car used and don't want to buy a new fob, it was a pita because the key does not stay extended. But this is an isolated case, my 2007 BMW has comfort access and never any issues, and BMW knows how to design the fob so it doesn't break. I also tested it with no battery, the car still starts when you insert the fob into the dash. Same with the LS430, this was the only time I had to put the fob into the dash. But that was a dumb design where you still have to twist to start.

 

See post below yours.

 

Wait for the 7 sentence response that essentially says "I don't drink"

 

Anyone feel it'll be harder to justify the increased costs of an ES given the nice redesign and appointments on the higher end 2018 Camry's?

 

The Toyota and Lexus divisions have always done a good job of maintaining separation between the Camry, Avalon and ES. I'd imagine they've accounted for this with updated versions of the Avalon and ES.

 

I’ve seen some of them on the road now, look good!

 

Agreed, I recently saw a silver XSE with red interior it was a very beautiful car. I liked everything about it even the quad exhaust tips lol.

 

Ditto. Seen a few now in person and they look even better than in pictures. Very nice job overall. Toyota will continue to make a lot of money on the Camry.

 

well hope so, and I know "Sport" means something diffferent in the Camry, but really loving/wanting the red seats - not sure how ES can compete with those that want something as sporty, maybe a deep brown orange or rust color seats like the Tundra?