2002 Toyota Camry SE Price, Review, Specs & Road Test

Any time a manufacturer attempts to build a successor to a benchmark, it faces a dilemma: Stick with what it's got--that which people buy in droves--or risk stretching the appeal even further in an attempt to gain more market share. When Toyota redesigned its undeniably successful Camry for '02, the company decided to add a bit of flair and performance to the otherwise Plain Jane midsize sedan. The goal? Simple: Upgrade a dowdy image, stay ahead of Honda, and stem any possible attack from the bigger, faster, and edgier new Altima.

Most of our staff warmed to the Camry's more aggressive styling, and we wanted to spend a year checking out the latest version of one of America's best-sellers. While few Camry owners get out-and-out excited when they tell their friends and co-workers what they drive, they feel strongly about the car's many virtues: safety, comfort, reliability, and value, both at purchase time and in terms of residual retention at trade-in time. That's how you sell 400,000-plus units per year.

Our Salsa Red Pearl SE--the sportiest of Camry variants--carried a base price of $23,700 and was optioned with two of Toyota's upgrade packages. Package #2 ($875) included keyless entry, a power driver's seat, and a premium JBL stereo; package #7 ($1150) added vehicle skid control and side-curtain airbags. Floormats ($179), a cargo net ($48), and a D&D charge ($485) rounded out the bottom line at $26,437.

Shortly after taking delivery, we drove our Camry from Los Angeles to Florida for a tour of duty with Online Editorial Director Jeff Bartlett. The trip to the Sunshine State demonstrated the Camry's impressive fuel range; one leg between Arizona and Texas returned a distance of 462 miles between fill-ups. It proved a good long-distance hauler: The seats are comfortable, the HVAC controls are simple and intuitive, the stereo produces a rich sound and is easy to operate, and rear-seat room is abundant. The 192-horsepower V-6, while not class-leading in terms of power output, served up adequate thrust for passing and merging and was always Lexus-level smooth. The engine is significantly less powerful than what's offered in the Altima (245 horsepower) and Accord (240), although both of those cars suffer from torque steer at wide-open throttle, while our Camry did not.

When it came time to return the SE to Los Angeles, Editor Bartlett had only a few gripes about his 3000-mile drive back. He found himself wishing the car had an additional dash-mounted power point, steering-wheel-mounted radio controls, and in-dash CD changer with optional satellite-enabled radio (for Texas, if nothing else). Bart also mentioned an annoying vibration/rattle that appeared to come from the driver-side B-pillar. Other editors heard it, too, yet it came and went and never would buzz when the car was near the dealer service writer.