Mid-size sedans have long been a prominent fixture of American streets and none more than the Toyota Camry. Toyota just released an all-new version of the Camry for 2025, which is a big deal, and even though the segment has shrunk significantly over the last few years, there are still strong rivals. Rivals such as the Hyundai Sonata, which was also updated this year so significantly that it almost looks like a full redesign. So, who wins in a 2025 Toyota Camry vs. 2024 Hyundai Sonata battle? Well, that’s what we’re about to find out!
Pricing and Equipment
Alright, so as always, let’s start by quickly mentioning the pricing and equipment.
Today we will be using the loaded models of both, so for the Sonata that is the Limited trim. There are no significant options to add after that point, so after destination it rings in at value-packed total of $38,560.
Starting: $27,500 | Limited: $37,200 | Options: $210 | Destination: $1,150 | Total: $38,560
Now for the all-new Camry, Toyota demands a price premium when you load it up. The top trim XSE starts out quite a bit less expensive but after you add the equivalent equipment, the fully loaded price is a little under $40,000.
Starting: $28,400 | XSE: $34,600 | Options: $4,075 | Destination: $1,095 | Total: $39,810
By the way, if you want to get the best price from local dealerships and access to invoice pricing info for these two models or any vehicle, we have a tool on our website to do just that. Click here for more information!
Exterior Design
Starting out with the exteriors, you will notice bold designs on both. The Sonata received a heavy refresh which completely changed its front end, making its hood more rounded and sleek than before. The all-new Camry, on the other hand, has a sportier design, especially on the XSE. It has a wider and more aggressive grille that is finished in body-color.
But lighting is a big component of both designs and indeed they will get premium LED lighting. They both have projector LED setups with LED turn signals and neither have fog lamps this year.
Now heading to the side, the Camry remains almost the same as the previous generation and both come in at nearly identical lengths. We’ll see which of these two have the more spacious interior later, but for now, let’s discuss the wheels. The Camry has 19-inch wheels for the top trim, while the Hyundai goes for smaller 17-inch wheels instead.
We’ll also see how that translates to ride quality later in the test drive, but I do want to point out it’s only the Camry that has the option of a two tone paint scheme for extra style.
Length: 193.5-in (Camry) | 193.3-in (Sonata)
Moving on to the rears, both have aggressive designs for midsize sedans. They feature spoilers and LED taillights, but it’s only the Camry with the LED reverse lights.
Additional Features
The Camry also has sporty exposed exhaust outlets, and heading on to other features, both models have heated mirrors with blind spot monitoring. As expected, they do have other safety features past BSM, and as a matter of fact, both include their entire safety suites as standard equipment, including even adaptive cruise control.
For warranties, the Hyundai, per usual, includes an extremely long one besting the Toyota in powertrain by double the years, as well as with the bumper-to-bumper coverage and complimentary service period.
Warranties (Sonata): Basic: 5yr/60k mi | PT: 10yr/100k mi | Comp. Maintenance: 3yrs
Warranties (Camry): Basic: 3yr/36k mi | PT: 5yr/60k mi | Comp. Maintenance: 2yrs
Alright, so that’s it for the exteriors, which means it’s now time to check out the very important cabins before we compare them out on the road!
Interior Design
So, first walking up to the cars, both cars include Smart Entry systems but only the Sonata has remote start on the fob included free for life.
It’s also the Sonata that includes Smart Park which allows the car to move into and out of tight parking spots unmanned.
Once we reach the interiors, you’ll see inviting cabins that have impressive tech and luxury for their prices. Starting with the seats, both have real leather finished in black and gray respectively, and they have 10 ways of power adjustment. Only the Sonata has memory seating, but both heated and ventilated seats at this price.
Once inside, we can talk about the cabin materials. In this regard, both are good with a mixture of soft-touch plastics and leatherette in the commonly touched areas. However, overall, the Sonata’s interior feels more solid and premium than the Camry, after you spend more time with them.
After starting up the vehicles, you’ll now find full digital 12.3-inch gauge clusters on both sedans for 2025. Additionally, both have head-up displays so you don’t have to take your eyes off the road.
Coming back to the steering wheels, both have each brand’s newest design with leather-wrapping, heating and manual adjustment.
Oddly enough, it’s only the Sonata with rain sensing wipers since only the Camry XLE can get that feature.
Storage and Technology
Okay, so the next thing to talk about is interior storage. These two sedans will shock you in this regard since they have giant center consoles and plenty of storage up front. At Car Confections, we measure the console volume with stuffed donuts and the Camry does pull ahead with a maximum of 15 donuts instead of 10 in the Sonata. Because of that, it’ll earn the storage point. Both have wireless charging pads.
Surprisingly, the Camry can still offer more storage despite keeping a traditional shifter, compared to the Sonata’s electronic style. Regardless, when in reverse, both are offering advanced 360-degree camera systems, although only the Sonata has the 3D spin mode.
The next stop are the climate controls, where both sedans have dual-zone automatic setups, and then the audio systems. Let’s hear a sample. The Camry’s JBL is fine but the Bose system on the Hyundai has the more detailed sound and bass from its additional 3 speakers.
Camry: 9-speaker JBL sound system
Sonata: 12-speaker Bose sound system
And now that brings us to the displays and infotainment. Both brands are bringing their A-game with technology this year with the latest and greatest screens and software to power it. Both the new Camry and Sonata feature a 12.3-inch, high resolution main infotainment display. They run the latest software which allows for both wireless CarPlay and Android Auto in addition to having built-in navigation systems.
And wrapping up the front of the cabin, both have HomeLink garage remotes on the auto-dimming mirror and have panoramic sunroofs as equipped. Those are both features that some rivals don’t offer.
Rear Seats and Cargo
Now moving to the rear seats, both are very spacious, and neither of them grew for 2025. Legroom is very similar, although there is a pretty big advantage for the Camry in headroom.
Camry: Legroom: 38.0-inches | Headroom: 37.6-inches
Sonata: Legroom: 37.4-inches | Headroom: 34.8-inches
Once in the back, there are some features to keep everyone comfortable, more so in the Hyundai. Both have rear vents, fold-down armrests, and USB ports for charging. Interestingly, neither of them has heated rear seats, although the Sonata has the super uncommon feature of window sunshades.
Unlike the rear seats, the Hyundai has the upper hand in the trunks. It has 16.0 cu.ft vs. 15.1 cu.ft and both models seats can fold down.
Camry: 15.1-cu.ft
Sonata: 16.0-cubic feet
The Sonata also has a boujee and class-excusive feature of a power rear trunk.
Alrighty, that’s it for the interiors, but now let’s see if one of them has a big advantage out on the road!
Powertrains
Now when we look under the hoods, both two sedans are taking bold powertrain strategies. On the Sonata, the Limited trim is exclusively hybrid, and on this 2025 Camry, EVERY trim is a hybrid now. That is obviously going to impact the drive experiences, and we would say in mostly positive ways. Power figures are higher than the previous gas-only versions, at 191 hp and 225 hp for Sonata and Camry, respectively. As you would expect, this does give the Camry a very noticeable acceleration advantage.
Camry: 2.5L I-4 + electric: 232 hp
Sonata: 2.0L I-4 + electric: 191 hp
The interesting thing about these two is that even though they’re both hybrids, the systems are very different from each other engineering-wise and in real-world feel. Toyota uses an eCVT as its transmission and Hyundai has a conventional 6-speed automatic. While most of the time we would prefer the traditional feel of a regular automatic, the 6-speed is slow to change gears and is often a little confused as to how it should be responding to the gas or electric power. The Camry feels more seamless all around.
Test Drive and Fuel Economy
We also want to take a second to point out that the Camry offers AWD on all trims, while Sonata can only add it to one gas specific gas trim. And speaking of, if you don’t want to be forced into a hybrid car, the Sonata does still have regular and high-performance 4-cylinder engines offered on other trims besides the Limited.
As far as the experience driving these two, the 2025 Camry makes big improvements in this new generation. The new Camry holds it own on a canyon backroad, with a buttoned-down feel when cornering and steering that is nicely weighted and fast responding. The Sonata put much less emphasis on dynamics and because of that it exhibits more body-roll and comfort-oriented dynamics.
On the flip side, the more comfort-oriented suspension helps the Hyundai deliver greater ride quality than the Camry. Both are extremely comfortable but it’s hard to beat a soft suspension and tiny 17-inch alloy wheels.
One thing we always like to do here at Car Confections is collect sound level readings so that you can see what models offer the most serene environments. While we collected both these readings on the same strip of road in Kentucky, the Sonata came out on top, although both those readings are fantastic for mainstream cars. Anything greater than a 1 dB difference is considered discernible to the average adult.
Camry: 54.6 dB
Sonata: 53.3 dB
Finally, as far as fuel economy, both are excellent, rated at 47 MPG combined by the EPA. However, that doesn’t tell the entire story because in mixed driving over hundreds of miles in each of them, the Camry averages a little over 3 MPG better. Obviously, your mileage may vary but we always tend to get lower mileage from Hyundai-Kia hybrid systems that Toyota systems. The LE Camry can achieve up to 51 MPG.
Camry Hybrid: 48/47/47 MPG | Real-World: 43.5 MPG
Sonata Hybrid: 44/51/47 MPG | Real-World: 40.2 MPG
Resale and Reliability
In our reviews and comparisons, we are also adding in reliability and resale information to give you a better picture of the overall value beyond just the original MSRP.
Beginning with reliability, we developed the Combined Reliability Index, which takes into account several studies from trustworthy sources, and combines them in a way that gives a more realistic picture. Toyota is our highest-rated brand, being 16 slots ABOVE the industry average. Hyundai is slightly below the industry average by 3 slots.
We also put Mason’s economics degree to work to develop a detailed Predicted Resale Value tool. After 5 years and 60,000 miles, again we have a notable discrepancy. Toyota is the 2nd-highest rated brand with a predicted 64.5% of the original price after 5 years. Hyundai is still in the upper part of the list but its estimated 55.35% is about 9% lower than Toyota.
Resale is obviously important because it determines how much money you get back, but we can’t forget about the price difference at the original purchase. The Camry costs $1,250 more than the Sonata.
I want to emphasize that if money, reliability or resale value matter less to you personally, feel free to disregard these points. And if you’d like to check out all our data about reliability and resale values, as well as learn about our methodology, make sure to head to www.carconfections.com/resale and www.carconfections.com/reliability. Buying a car is a big decision, and this is a great place to compare all the makes you might be cross-shopping.
2025 Toyota Camry vs. 2024 Hyundai Sonata winner!
So, there you have it; another big battle between two very compelling mid-size sedans!
Sonata:
- If you want the option of a straight gas model (low trims only)
- More features/tech for less money (value)
- Lower price
Camry:
- Hybrid powertrain experience (smoother, more powerful and better observed fuel economy)
- AWD offered on all trims
- Reliability and resale value
Now we want to know your opinions, so make sure to head to the comment section and let us know which one you would pick!
Thanks for joining us for another Car Confections Comparison! We’ll catch you next time as we sample the latest automotive delicacies!
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