Compare the2023 Toyota CamryVS 2023 Lexus IS

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Camry are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The IS doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Camry has standard Whiplash Injury Lessening Seats (WIL), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WIL system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The IS doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

Both the Camry and the IS have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, around view monitors and rear cross-path warning.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Toyota Camry is safer than the Lexus IS:

	Camry	IS
OVERALL STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	140	220
Neck Injury Risk	20%	35%
Neck Stress	262 lbs.	429 lbs.
Neck Compression	13 lbs.	60 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	432/527 lbs.	599/675 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	21%	41%
Neck Stress	136 lbs.	152 lbs.
Neck Compression	45 lbs.	81 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	266/310 lbs.	399/459 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Toyota Camry is safer than the Lexus IS:

	Camry	IS
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	134	142
Chest Movement	.7 inches	1 inches
Abdominal Force	136 lbs.	203 lbs.
Hip Force	296 lbs.	406 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	14 inches	15 inches
HIC	164	293
Hip Force	622 lbs.	650 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Camry its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 29 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The IS has not been fully tested, yet.

Warranty

Toyota pays for scheduled maintenance on the Camry for 1 year and 15000 miles longer than Lexus pays for maintenance for the IS (2/25000 vs. 1/10,000).

There are over 5 times as many Toyota dealers as there are Lexus dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Camry’s warranty.

Reliability

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the Camry’s engine. A rubber cam drive belt that needs periodic replacement drives the IS’ camshafts. If the IS’ belt breaks, the engine could be severely damaged when the pistons hit the opened valves.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Lexus vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Toyota above average in long-term dependability. With 34 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Lexus is rated lower.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Lexus vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Toyota first in overall reliability. Lexus is ranked second.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Camry gets better mileage than the IS:

			MPG
Camry
	FWD	LE/SE 2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	28 city/39 hwy
		Camry XLE 3.5 DOHC V6	22 city/33 hwy
		Camry XSE 3.5 DOHC V6	22 city/32 hwy
		XLE 2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	27 city/38 hwy
		TRD 3.5 DOHC V6	22 city/31 hwy
	AWD	2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	25 city/34 hwy
IS
	RWD	5.0 V8	17 city/25 hwy
		2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	21 city/31 hwy
		3.5 DOHC V6	20 city/28 hwy
	AWD	350 F Sport 3.5 DOHC V6	19 city/26 hwy
		300 AWD 3.5 DOHC V6	19 city/26 hwy

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Toyota Camry uses regular unleaded gasoline. The IS requires premium, which can cost 20 to 55 cents more per gallon.

Brakes and Stopping

The Camry stops shorter than the IS:

	Camry	IS
70 to 0 MPH	156 feet	159 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	126 feet	129 feet	Consumer Reports
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	133 feet	141 feet	Consumer Reports

Suspension and Handling

The Camry TRD handles at .94 G’s, while the IS 500 Performance pulls only .89 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

Chassis

The Toyota Camry may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 300 to 400 pounds less than the Lexus IS.

Passenger Space

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the Camry a Mid-size car, while the IS is rated a Compact.

The Camry has 10.2 cubic feet more passenger volume than the IS (100.4 vs. 90.2).

The Camry has .1 inches more front headroom, 1.1 inches more front hip room, 1.8 inches more front shoulder room, 1.1 inches more rear headroom, 5.8 inches more rear legroom, .7 inches more rear hip room and 2.3 inches more rear shoulder room than the IS.

Cargo Capacity

The Camry has a much larger trunk than the IS (15.1 vs. 10.8 cubic feet).

Ergonomics

The Camry XLE/XSE offers an optional heads-up display that projects speed, tachometer and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The IS doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The power windows standard on both the Camry and the IS have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Camry is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The IS prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Camry’s power window, power lock, power mirror and cruise control switches are lit from behind, making them plainly visible and easier to operate at night. The IS’ cruise control switches are unlit, making them difficult to find at night and operate safely.

The Camry’s speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The IS’ standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

To shield the driver and front passenger’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side windows, the Camry has standard extendable sun visors. The IS doesn’t offer extendable visors.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Toyota Camry (except Nightshade/TRD) offers an optional wireless phone charging system (Qi) for the front seat. The IS doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

Economic Advantages

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Camry is less expensive to operate than the IS because typical repairs cost much less on the Camry than the IS, including $94 less for a water pump, $59 less for a muffler, $444 less for a starter, $199 less for fuel injection, $28 less for front struts and $396 less for a power steering pump.

Recommendations

The Toyota Camry has won recognition from these important consumer publications:

	Camry	IS
Consumer Reports® Recommends	TRUE	TRUE
Car Book “Best Bet”	TRUE	FALSE

The Toyota Camry outsold the Lexus IS by almost 14 to one during 2022.