It's not sexy, it's not glamorous, but it's....incredibly practical. Rapper Kendrick Lamar gifted his sister Kayla Duckworth a new Toyota Camry as a high school graduation present, which she proudly posted on Twitter and Instagram, tagging and thanking her big brother.
But not all her online followers were as appreciative and impressed with the gift as she was.
Comments on the photos were split between praising and panning Lamar's gift choice. With estimated earnings of $18.5 million last year, many people felt that he should have given his kid sis something flashier as a reflection of his status and to share the wealth. But this $23,070 new car is nothing to scoff at. The Toyota Camry has been the best-selling car in America for the past 15 years for good reason, and here are five of them:
It's super safe: The 2017 Toyota Camry is an IIHS Top Safety Pick+, which means it earned the highest rating in each of the five crash tests, achieved an 'advanced' or 'superior' rating for front crash prevention, scored an 'acceptable' or 'good' headlight rating. But it also offers several advanced driver assistance systems, including forward-collision warning with automatic braking and pedestrian detection, lane-departure warning with lane-keeping assist, and adaptive cruise control--all very important safety features for a soon-to-be young mother of two.
It's cheap to insure: Since it's one of the best selling vehicles in the U.S., you can pretty much get a Toyota Camry repaired and serviced anywhere, which is not only convenient, but also means that car parts are plentiful and cheap, making it inexpensive to insure. Personal financial advice site NerdWallet estimates that it will cost $1,181 annually to insure a Toyota Camry. While that's a budget-friendly amount to cover for a recent grad, it's actually more than what you might spend to insure a Honda Accord or Nissan Altima. That's because the ubiquity of the Toyota Camry is also one of its drawbacks. With so many of them on the road, they're often on the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) list of the most stolen vehicles.
It's inexpensive to operate: With a combined fuel economy of 27 mpg (24 mpg in the city and 33 mpg on the highway) that 2017 Toyota Camry won't be expensive to fill. Using the current national average of $2.87 per gallon for regular fuel, the 2017 Toyota Camry is calculated to cost only $1,534 each year to drive 15,000 miles, according to Edmunds. Another benefit of buying a mainstream vehicle: It also takes regular rather than premium gasoline.
It's going to last: Duckworth won't have to worry about spending a lot of time at the service department or spending a lot to maintain the car after the 36-month bumper-to-bumper warranty ends--Consumer Reports grades the 2017 Toyota Camry a 5/5 for predicted reliability.
It retains a high resale value: When it comes time to trade in her Camry for something new, Duckworth will have pretty good bargaining power. The 2017 Toyota Camry is expected to retain 43.8 percent of its purchase price after 36 months, and still fetch 30.8 percent at 60 months, according to Kelly Blue Book. While that makes the Camry one of the better car investments, the Subaru Legacy and Honda Accord had higher residuals.
