Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (“Toyota”) provided me with compensation and use of a vehicle for a short period of time. The opinions I have shared about this vehicle are my own.
Its not that often these days that my husband and I get the opportunity to take a road trip alone without our toddler, Bennett. In fact, we have only been away on one trip without him since he has been born. I was so excited to get the chance?to go on a mini getaway trip with my husband?and not only get some alone time, but also get the opportunity to travel in a brand new 2017 Toyota Camry! I have heard so many wonderful things about Toyota in general, so I was really excited that I was going to get to take one of their cars for a spin. We were given the chance?to take the new Toyota Camry on a road trip to the destination of our choice, so we decided to drive to Asheville, North Carolina. Tom has never been to Asheville before and its only three hours from Atlanta. ?I thought it would be a great place to travel to in our Toyota Camry and I was also excited to see the Biltmore Estate at Christmas time!
Last Saturday morning, we picked up our 2017 Ford Camry from my local Toyota dealer? and got? a rundown of all the cool features that the car has to offer.? We started with the exterior portion of the car and looked under the hood. After that, we checked out the interior. I was really impressed with the amount of trunk space the car had, the moonroof and super nice leather interior all throughout the car. ?After leaving the dealership,we decided we needed some road fuel ourselves and stopped to get coffee and donuts for our three hour journey ahead!
The first two safety mechanisms that I used and noticed while driving the car, were the Blind Spot Monitor (BSM) and the Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC). Anytime someone was in my blind spot, an indicator on the sideview mirrors would light up letting me know there was a car there (I hopped in the passenger seat while we were parked and waited for a car to come by to snap a pic so you all could see the light!)? This was such a great feature to have. ?I never rely on my mirrors alone when I change lanes and always turn my head to check my blind spot while driving. This was nice to have as a backup to let me know that there was actually a car in my blind spot.
The drive to Asheville was only three hours long, but it was nice to also have Cruise Control. The special part about the DRCC was that it automatically adjusts the speed of the car to help maintain a preset following distance between you and the vehicle directly in front of you.? This made me feel very safe in the Camry and would be so helpful if a car pulled out in front of me or an animal happened to dash out into the road. I felt good knowing that the car would automatically slow down for situations like this.
Our first stop once we got to Asheville was to Farm Burger. We enjoyed a delicious lunch there and I had their chicken burger (seen here) that was topped with smoked gouda, sherry-date barbecue sauce, kale coleslaw and crispy onions. It even came with Pimento Cheese Fries…need I say more?!!
Top, Leggings, Cardigan, Boots (old)
After lunch we drove to the Biltmore Estate.? On our way over, we called home to check on Bennett. Another feature that I really loved having was the hands-free and voice-activated features. I know a lot of people probably have this in their car, but I have never had it before, so it was great to use every time we made or received a phone call. ?Along with the hands-free feature, the car would also alert you of any incoming text messages and would read the text message out loud to you! I am always having to remind myself about not texting and driving, so I thought this feature was pretty darn cool. Also, the Toyota Camry has a wireless (yes I said wireless!) charger. The wireless charging system lets you place your compatible phone on a non-slip surface and charges your phone wirelessly!
After calling home, we decided to tour the Biltmore Estate and it was magnificent. I had taken the tour before, but it is easy to forget how huge and incredible that place really is. They had the inside completely decked out in Christmas decor that made it even more spectacular to see!
After the tour, we headed over to the Antler Hill Village that is located on the property to do a little shopping. For dinner that evening, ?we headed to downtown Asheville and had dinner at a quaint and delicious restaurant called Limones. After dinner we went to a place called the French Broad Chocolate Lounge and enjoyed some dessert.
We had such an amazing time on our road trip to Asheville! Driving the Toyota Camry made our trip so much more enjoyable and made our six hour trip just fly by! I was actually really sad to turn our car back into the dealership. I told my husband I really wanted a Camry for my next car! Some other features that I really enjoyed in the Camry were:
?1) The gas. We only used ?half a tank of gas to get to Asheville and it only cost us aboout $25 to fill it up! This car gets an estimated 30 highway MPG!
2) The Smart Key System with Push Button Start. We were able to unlock the front doors and trunk and start the car with just the push of a button-all without even removing the key fob from my purse!
?3) The Navigation, XM radio and backup camera all located on the Center Stack
4) The heated seats of course!
5)The Pre-Collision System that works with the DRCC that I was telling you about. The Pre-Collision System anticipates if a frontal collision is about to happen. Under certain conditions, the system automatically applies the brakes. How cool is that?!
I just want to thank Toyota for giving me the opportunity to drive the new Camry! ?I really enjoyed it and seriously want one for my next car! Thank you so much for lending us such an awesome car and for making our trip to Asheville not only fun, but safe as well!
Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (?Toyota?) provided me with compensation and use of a VEHICLE for a short period of time. The opinions I have shared about this vehicle are my own.
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