2009 Toyota Camry XLE

The Camry is a very refined vehicle, but it's not a sport sedan by any means. Very smooth powertrain. The six-speed automatic's manual shift function works pretty well; move the gearshift lever to the left, into the S for Sport gate, then upshift by pushing forward and downshift by pulling the lever back toward you. Your gear is indicated by a digital readout in the tachometer.

There is a lot of play in the steering and too much body roll, but a very comfortable ride. I'm always happy to use Toyota's superb navigation interface and to listen to the JBL stereo. The transparent light blue plastic surrounding the climate and stereo control panels in the center console debuted on this generation of Camry; I note that Subaru has copied it for the all-new 2010 Legacy sedan. One small surprise: the side-view mirrors are not break-away; I parked the Camry in a tight spot in my driveway and thought I would fold in the driver's-side mirror, but it is immovable. I wasn't expecting a power-fold function, mind you, but I thought I'd be able to fold them manually.

Joe DeMatio, Executive Editor