After 9,700 Miles, a 2025 Camry Hybrid XSE Owner Says a Simple $220 Gloss-Black Grille Swap Was the Mod the Car “Should’ve Had From the Factory”

The modern Toyota Camry Hybrid has reached a curious point in its long, pragmatic life. It is no longer merely transportation, no longer just the sensible answer to a sensible question. In XSE trim, especially for the 2025 and 2026 model years, it has begun to invite something previously unthinkable for a Camry owner: personalization. Not loud, not reckless, but deliberate and aesthetic. It is a sign of how far the Camry has evolved that owners now debate grille finishes and auxiliary lighting with the same seriousness once reserved for wheels and suspension.

Joe Bruns is one such owner. After three and a half months and more than 9,700 miles behind the wheel of his Ocean Gem–colored Camry Hybrid XSE, his verdict on the car itself is clear. It has been great. The drivetrain delivers the quiet efficiency Toyota has perfected, the chassis feels composed, and the XSE’s visual edge finally gives the Camry some presence. Yet one detail nagged at him from day one: the color-matched front grille. It looked intentional, modern, and factory-correct, but it did not match his vision for the car.

“We have been finding the ocean gem XSE for 3 1/2 months now and have put over 9700 miles on it. 

It’s been great, but one of the things I didn’t care for right off the bat was the color-matched grill. I had planned on changing it to the gloss black, but time slipped by. 

Finally, last week I ordered it, and today I got it put in, along with some Baja Designs SAE Squadrons Fogs.

The pictures are not great; it’s a crappy, windy, rainy day in the Northwest, but you get the idea. I ran out of time getting the lights completely wired up, so I will report back on that.  If they don’t cut it, I’m gonna put some LP4s down in there as well. 

There are plenty of videos showing how to get the bumper assembly off, but I did take a couple of pictures showing how the insert is clipped in. There are a few screws at the top that you need to take out and loosen to get the grill out of the bumper. Otherwise, there are no actual Fasteners holding it in; it’s just clips. A small flat tip, screwdriver, or two help get it unattached. You do need to unattach the wiring harness and reattach it to the new grill.

Expect to pay 160 to 220 for the grill; there are no other parts needed.”

That vision eventually won out. Bruns ordered a gloss black grille insert and paired it with Baja Designs SAE Squadron fog lights, a functional addition that nods more toward rally pragmatism than parking-lot posing. Installation came on a suitably Northwest day, windy and rainy, with photos that were less than flattering but honest. The work itself was straightforward. 

A handful of screws at the top of the bumper, a series of clips holding the insert in place, and a wiring harness that needed to be carefully transferred. No exotic fasteners, no surprise complications. The kind of job that rewards patience rather than bravado.

Toyota Camry: Ultimate Mid-Size Sedan

• The Camry continues to emphasize balance, offering a composed ride that prioritizes comfort and predictability over sharp handling theatrics.
• Powertrain tuning focuses on smooth, linear response, making the sedan easy to drive in both urban traffic and extended highway cruising.
• Interior layout favors clarity and ease of use, with controls positioned for quick access rather than visual drama.
• The Camry’s appeal lies in consistency, delivering a familiar driving experience that aligns with long-term ownership expectations.

Cost, refreshingly, stayed grounded. Bruns notes that the grille itself typically runs between $160 and $220, with no additional parts required. That matters because the Camry’s appeal has always been tied to value. Modifications that feel proportional to the car help preserve that ethos. Even the lighting upgrade was approached with restraint. The fog lights were not fully wired at the time of posting, and Bruns was candid about the possibility of stepping up to LP4s if the Squadrons did not deliver the output he wanted. This was not a build thread chasing extremes, but an owner refining his daily driver.

The community response tells its own story. Grant Geschwentner admitted that the more time he spent with his own color-matched Camry XSE grille, the more he appreciated it, even preferring it to the gloss black in Bruns’ photos. Bruns agreed, to a point. Ocean Gem, he conceded, wears the color-matched grille better than most. Still, he stuck with his original instinct and expressed no regrets. Taste, after all, is not something that can be crowdsourced, even in the age of comment sections.

Inevitably, the conversation turned to warranty concerns. Caitlin Christine asked the question every modern owner asks before turning a screwdriver. Does modifying the vehicle jeopardize coverage? Bruns’ answer was measured and correct. Cosmetic changes that do not affect function do not void a warranty. Problems arise only when a modification directly causes a failure. Block airflow and cause overheating, expect a denied claim. Damage a wiring harness during installation and bring it to the dealer, expect to pay. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act exists precisely to prevent manufacturers from using unrelated modifications as blanket excuses to deny coverage.

What makes this exchange interesting is not the grille itself, but what it says about the Camry Hybrid’s place in the market. Owners are no longer apologizing for caring about how their Camry looks. They are engaging with it, improving it, and discussing it with a level of enthusiasm once reserved for sportier nameplates. The car’s competence has freed its owners to focus on details, on style, on making a ubiquitous sedan feel personal.

Bruns’ Camry remains exactly what Toyota intended it to be: efficient, reliable, and easy to live with. The gloss black grille and auxiliary lights do not change its mission, but they do change its tone. They signal that the Camry Hybrid is no longer just the responsible choice. It is a platform confident enough to accept a little individuality without losing its identity. That may be the most telling evolution of all.

Image Sources: Toyota Media Center

Noah Washington is an automotive journalist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoys covering the latest news in the automotive industry and conducting reviews on the latest cars. He has been in the automotive industry since 15 years old and has been featured in prominent automotive news sites. You can reach him on X and LinkedIn for tips and to follow his automotive coverage.