Price of Toyota Camry Safety Tech Closes in on BMW 3 Territory

Safety over styling—this is the imperative when building cars. Which is why it’s no surprise car manufacturers make safety systems a priority.

But while ensuring driver and passenger safety is a given for automakers, introducing advanced systems is a different matter. It’s not a requirement but it certainly serves as advantage, especially for models that get Top Safety recognition from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

One example is the Toyota Camry XLE Hybrid, which was awarded the Top Safety Pick+ by the agency. This trim of the Camry has a starting price of $33,715 for the base model and goes up to $39,185 when equipped with features that received a nod from IIHS such as its adaptive headlights. 

Including taxes, destination charge, and handling fees, the overall unit price of a Camry XLE Hybrid is over $40,000. It may not be much to some, but it’s within the league of the BMW 3 Series, which starts at $40,750. This goes to show how much customers are willing to pay for advanced safety systems in their vehicles.

For car buyers looking for a cheaper option, there are two other vehicles available: the Honda Insight and Genesis G90. Both have received a TSP+ rating from IIHS.

But here’s better news: more automakers are getting into the practice of offering top safety features even to entry-level models.

“Manufacturers are dropping the headlights that are sub-par performers in our nighttime track tests,” a spokesperson for the IIHS said.

If this trend continues, it won’t be long until the less-expensive vehicles get high-level safety feature issues as standard equipment. Until then, interested buyers will have to spend BMW money on a Toyota car.