Camry

Make
Toyota
Segment
Sedan

For years, the Toyota Camry was plain vanilla, at best. It did its job as a mid-size family sedan superbly and Americans responded in droves. The Camry has been one of America's best-selling vehicles for years and the latest generation model aims to continue that tradition. But the 2020 Toyota Camry is no longer vanilla, but rather, in TRD trim, a hot chocolate sundae with a cherry on top. It has attitude and sales appeal. A lot of it. Cars Direct has learned that demand for the 2020 Camry TRD is so strong right now that finding one at a dealership can be very difficult, depending on the region.

In fact, some customers are even turning to third party shopping websites instead. Some of those websites are even showing there are currently less than 200 Camry TRDs available for sale nationally at the moment.

That's quite impressive for a family sedan that carries a starting price of $32,125 - $5,000 more than the SE trim it's based on, and yet the Camry TRD is still the most affordable Camry that can be had with a V6. But Toyota didn't just stop with the V6; it also added a number of other performance-focused components. These include a lowered suspension for a sportier ride and a TRD-tuned exhaust. It's an overall very attractive package that combines the best of everything the Camry represents, such as reliability and value, only now with some real personality.

A Toyota spokesperson acknowledged the Camry TRD's success and said they have been selling "at least twice as fast as other Camry grades." Dealers simply haven't been able to keep them in stock. "On average, each dealer will only get about five Camry TRDs a year and at this point, they can't keep them on the lot."

Now, this all begs the question: What about dealership markups? Are they happening? It doesn't appear so (yet), but those who can't get their hands on a Camry TRD but still want the V6 are in a bit of a conundrum. The V6-powered Camry XSE is the next best thing but its MSRP is $36,085, a $4,000 increase over the TRD. However, it doesn't offer the TRD's cool styling and other performance features.