1st & 2nd Generation (1983–1986 & 1987-1991)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1983-1986 & 1987-1991.
Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving America's favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.
I just got a 91 Camry. Its in real good condition. My question is, in a crash (side and frontal) would this car protect my family and me much? Just by looking at it the doors look very thin and Im just wondering if this car is strong at all or if in a side crash will my car get pancaked out?
They are not very safe by modern standards. No ABS (though it was a rare option on the '91 model year), no airbags, no traction control or stability control, older body structure that meets older crash standards...
It is not a particularly unsafe car though, either.
You are asking a pretty loaded question, and I don't think you will find a satisfactory answer here.
That said, I was in a 60ish mile an hour side impact and rollover crash in my first '90 Camry, and I walked away with fairly minor injuries (was out of the hospital in a few hours). I probably would have died had I crashed on the driver's side instead of the passenger side though... I still feel safe enough in the body style to have bought two more and drive them 15-20k miles a year.
-Charlie
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1989 Camry Alltrac LE 3S-GTE 5spd - SV25/ST205 hybrid
1990 Camry 3S-GTE 5spd - parted out / junked
1990 Camry DX 3S-FE 5spd - The original white90dx; gone but not forgotten
They are not very safe by modern standards. No ABS (though it was a rare option on the '91 model year), no airbags, no traction control or stability control, older body structure that meets older crash standards...
It is not a particularly unsafe car though, either.
You are asking a pretty loaded question, and I don't think you will find a satisfactory answer here.
That said, I was in a 60ish mile an hour side impact and rollover crash in my first '90 Camry, and I walked away with fairly minor injuries (was out of the hospital in a few hours). I probably would have died had I crashed on the driver's side instead of the passenger side though... I still feel safe enough in the body style to have bought two more and drive them 15-20k miles a year.
-Charlie
Yep.
For the time when the camry came out, it was a safe car. Now days cars are bigger, wider, and have larger thick doors. Safety standards has changed. Not saying the Camry is poor in protection/safety, but keep in mind that then the Gen2 camry came out (or any car back in the day), they didn't have to run side by side by huge SUVs like today.
I know this is an older post but wanted to add a crash experience to this. I've got an 89 Camry, a couple years ago I slid off the road at about 45mph and hit a tree dead center in the front of my car. Besides my back being a tad sore I was just dandy, and I drove the car home after someone pulled me out, it drove perfectly lol. When I tore it apart to fix the damage, the worst that happened was the front end shifted to the passenger side a couple inches, I tried pulling it back towards the drivers side with some success. However the orientation of the engine/tranny got tweaked enough that the whole car vibrates from idle to high RPM, I still have not been able to figure this out.
Now as far as safety, the car is pretty solid I think. The front bumper took out most of the impact, and the hood has a catch at each corner up by the windshield that helps keep it from going through the windshield.
They are not very safe by modern standards. No ABS (though it was a rare option on the '91 model year), no airbags, no traction control or stability control, older body structure that meets older crash standards...
It is not a particularly unsafe car though, either.
You are asking a pretty loaded question, and I don't think you will find a satisfactory answer here.
That said, I was in a 60ish mile an hour side impact and rollover crash in my first '90 Camry, and I walked away with fairly minor injuries (was out of the hospital in a few hours). I probably would have died had I crashed on the driver's side instead of the passenger side though... I still feel safe enough in the body style to have bought two more and drive them 15-20k miles a year.
-Charlie
You do know with the advent of all these airbags, the metal/material to make these vehicles today, can be thinner.
I just got a 91 Camry. Its in real good condition. My question is, in a crash (side and frontal) would this car protect my family and me much? Just by looking at it the doors look very thin and Im just wondering if this car is strong at all or if in a side crash will my car get pancaked out?
I had an accident in November where a farm truck pulled out directly in front of me crossing over two lanes, giving me no place to go. I was traveling around the 65MPH speed limit with about 15 feet of hard braking when my 1988 Camry LE Wagon hit the back of the truck. The driver of the car behind me reported that the back of my car lifted about 6 feet off the road at impact. Sadly the car is totaled, however I'm happy to report that the car did it's job and protected me from serious harm.
The driver of the truck got several citations for inattentive driving, crossing multiple lanes of traffic, & failure to yield. So even though I rear-ended him he was ruled 100% responsible for the accident.
His insurance company tried to give me $500 for the car, claiming that because the car had 250,000 miles it wasn't worth anything. They tried to prove it by sending me copies of ads for DX Sedans that were rust buckets. I ended up getting them to pay me $1700 for the car and I kept it for parts.
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I had an accident in November where a farm truck pulled out directly in front of me crossing over two lanes, giving me no place to go. I was traveling around the 65MPH speed limit with about 15 feet of hard braking when my 1988 Camry LE Wagon hit the back of the truck. The driver of the car behind me reported that the back of my car lifted about 6 feet off the road at impact. Sadly the car is totaled, however I'm happy to report that the car did it's job and protected me from serious harm.
The driver of the truck got several citations for inattentive driving, crossing multiple lanes of traffic, & failure to yield. So even though I rear-ended him he was ruled 100% responsible for the accident.
His insurance company tried to give me $500 for the car, claiming that because the car had 250,000 miles it wasn't worth anything. They tried to prove it by sending me copies of ads for DX Sedans that were rust buckets. I ended up getting them to pay me $1700 for the car and I kept it for parts.
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