1998 Toyota Camry XLE

Exciting, spectacular, riveting, phenomenal. These are words neither MT staffers nor any of our survey respondents chose to use even once in describing the '98 Toyota Camry. Dependable, reliable, comfortable, well built? Now, that fawning foursome tripped from the lips and pens of our combined panel of judges on a near-daily basis. With few exceptions, Toyota's best-selling U.S. model earned the respect and admiration of consumers from coast to coast. So what if it was scorned by legions of enthusiasts as seriously devoid of style and perceptible sporting personality? Over 429,000 people still found its pragmatically deft blend of utility and goodness enticing enough to extend the highest compliment possible-by affixing their signatures to a purchase contract.

As you might expect, our long-term Camry was always meant to serve in a number of different capacities, from in-town grocery-getter to medium-distance interstate cruiser to light-executive transport. We felt that a nicely outfitted XLE V-6 would best meet those diverse needs. In addition to its bounteous roster of standards, headed by such nice touches as air conditioning, dual power seats, cruise control, power windows/locks/miorrors, keyless remote entry with anti-theft, four-wheel power disc brakes with antilock, and 205/65HR15 all-season tires on cast alloy wheels, we fitted this top-line Camry model with power moonroof, premium-grade AM/FM/CD stereo, and traction control. Those upgrades elevated its sticker from $24,868 to $26,979. About the only big-ticket item that we passed on was leather upholstery, which would have added another $1005 to the car's already stoutish bottom line.

Once again, our owner group proved a somewhat more frugal lot. Their collective fleet averaged $24,255. The priciest of the group commanded a fairly astronomical $30,587-for what we can only hope was a fully loaded XLE replete with the gold package, undercoating, special paint sealant, and every other possible dealer-installed gewgaw.

Despite a median age of 51.9 years-well beyond that of the typical MT driver-in many ways, the Camry owner's acquisition rationale and real-world experiences closely paralleled our own. Although looks/style appeared among their top five purchase considerations, it ranked behind quality, performance, value, and previous Toyota ownership in the overall hierarchy. We jaded magazine types dinged it for unabashed blandness, but with a spirited V-6 engine-0-60 mph in a sprightly 7.8 seconds-roomy, well-finished interior, and comfortable ride, its logbook equally brimmed with positive observations on its excellence as a real-world transport module.

Perhaps more telling, respondents applied the term "reliable" to their Camrys in uncanny numbers. As one 69-year-old owner from Boca Raton, Florida, colorfully opined: "It will last until I croak."

A bit less florid but equally sincere adulation came from a 60-year-old aerospace engineer in New York, who noted that, "It's reliable, it's safe, and, with the proper maintenance, it could go 250,000 miles."

Another plaudit with a similar twist was offered by a 35-year-old accountant from Cape Gerardeau, Missouri, who stated, simply, "I was looking for a very dependable car, and this is clearly it."