Weekend Athlete: 2008 Toyota Camry XLE

Before you say it, yes, you could just put a bike rack on it — if you owned the car. I’m really just borrowing it, so that option is out. I don’t think scratches from racks make friends in the world of automotive journalism.

As you will see, though, the Camry comes with a large trunk, though it isn’t large enough for my smallest bike, given how high I need to have my saddle. Shorter folks who run their seat lower might be OK.

I’ve seen people remove both wheels from a bike then stand the frame up behind the rear seats. I wasn’t going to risk staining the interior of a car I’m borrowing to see if it works. But even taking this approach I think folks who ride larger frames will have issues.

Long story short, my bike stayed at home, and that’s a rarity. I’ve even taken a rented 2007 Ford Focus compact sedan for a weekend of camping and bike racing and been OK. Normally I’d say Weekend Athletes can live with a sedan even if they don’t want to use a rack, but not this time.

There is a ski pass-thru, though, and in a couple months I’d find that most handy. My cross-country skis are 1.9 meters long and I didn’t have too much intrusion into the passenger compartment. Obviously that’s because of the large trunk, and it’s nice that some of my toys fit easily in the Camry, even if others did not.

Now, unlike some other vehicles I’ve tested, I got to drive this one for a week and I took it for a weekend of camping and watching a bit of the Wisconsin Ironman. I can say that, despite the backseat silliness, it’s comfortable, nice on the inside and served me well on a simple camping trip.

The large trunk means you’re able to keep all the gear back there and not have to look at it. After a nice shower and good breakfast, I felt just as clean and spiffy as everybody else on the road. I didn’t have a passenger compartment that smelled of smoke from last night’s fire, nor did I have to look at my tent and sleeping bag. I could basically forget I’d been camping the night before if I wanted to. That is an advantage that sedans with large trunks have.

I think you could easily leave the bikes behind and take four people and their gear for a weekend of camping in the Camry XLE, and sometimes that’s all you need from a car.

When it gets right down to it, though, if you buy this car and a rack, you’d be OK. It’s not great, and it certainly doesn’t rank up with my favorite Weekend Athlete vehicles, but it is a nice car.   

The biggest downside I see is if I ended up flying to a race and had a friend who owned this car pick me up. There’s no way my bike case could fit in this car. Is that a trifling matter? Well, yeah, if I’m going to a bike race. That’s why a Weekend Athlete should always remember this simple credo: “Friends don’t let friends buy sedans.”