Requesting Recommendations for Necessary Service

[Corsulian]

So I have a 112,000 mile 1994 I4 Auto Camry. It's not in great shape. I plan on getting a 2008 Scion tC later this year. I don't want to put any money into a 13 yr old car that I have no intention of keeping for too much longer. The Toyota dealership just let me know I have the following issues with my car and recommended the 120k service now. I'll list everything with prices. Given your professional opinions (if you have one other than 'man, there are too many variables to give an opinion on this"), what would be absolutely life-or-death necessary to take care of before, say, October.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
120000MILES SERVICE NEXT VISIT $480,
TIMING BELT $340+
WATER PUMP $375+
DRIVE BELT$50+
FRONT ENGINE SEALS$213,
SPARKPLUGS $165,
REARENGINEMOUNTBROKEN$468,
ENGINEROD BROKEN$148,
VALVECOVERGASKETLEAKING$196,
DISTR-O-RINGLEAKING$120,
ENGINEOILPANLEAKING$355,
TRANSOILPANLEAKING$190,
LTCVBOOTS$382

The total is around $3500, which is definitely more than the value of the car even if it actually was in great shape.

[rmmagow]

Originally Posted by Corsulian

So I have a 112,000 mile 1994 I4 Auto Camry. It's not in great shape. I have -$26,000 (student loans mostly). I have a good job, and planned on getting a 2008 Scion tC later this year. I don't want to put any money into a 13 yr old car that I have no intention of keeping for too much longer. The Toyota dealership just let me know I have the following issues with my car and recommended the 120k service now. I'll list everything with prices. Given your professional opinions (if you have one other than 'man, there are too many variables to give an opinion on this"), what would be absolutely life-or-death necessary to take care of before, say, October.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
120000MILES SERVICE NEXT VISIT $480,
TIMING BELT $340+
WATER PUMP $375+
DRIVE BELT$50+
FRONT ENGINE SEALS$213,
SPARKPLUGS $165,
REARENGINEMOUNTBROKEN$468,
ENGINEROD BROKEN$148,
VALVECOVERGASKETLEAKING$196,
DISTR-O-RINGLEAKING$120,
ENGINEOILPANLEAKING$355,
TRANSOILPANLEAKING$190,
LTCVBOOTS$382

The total is around $3500, which is definitely more than the value of the car even if it actually was in great shape.

Something I read here seems your timing belt breaking won't destroy the engine. Umm, I see something here about engine rod broken??? Are they talking about some kind of engine mount thing or an actual rod in the motor. Rod in the motor I'd just dump the car. OTOH, bring it to an independent mechanic. The dealer isn't the best place for this level of work. If you really want to dump it in October, change the oil, drive it easy and dump it. None of these issues are car stopping problems. Keep an eye on fluids and I bet you could run this car for quite a while.
PS: Most of this is easy DIY and CHEAP.

[Luckynumber5]

I would go ahead and trade it in for a TC

Don't worry about what the dealership says you need, they are looking to make a buck. Most of that may need to be done soon however, if your timing belt was not changed at the 60k interval it may break and that will put the car down until it is replaced.

[ghettosled]

if you arent leaving puddles on the ground and everything seems to be running okay, i wouldnt do anything more than just routine oil changes. youll never get your money back if you spend it on the car - especially if you trade it in at a dealership.

[Mike Gerber]

Originally Posted by ghettosled

if you arent leaving puddles on the ground and everything seems to be running okay, i wouldnt do anything more than just routine oil changes. youll never get your money back if you spend it on the car - especially if you trade it in at a dealership.

I agree. If you are really planning on getting rid of the car in a few months, I would just change the oil and keep driving the car. The rod they are talking about is the "engine moving control rod", sometimes called the dogbone mount. It attaches the engine to the passenger side of the car. Many Camrys on the road could have this changed. The engine will not fall out, but it may rock a bit. This could eventually break the flex pipe, (part of the exhaust system) but I would chance it for a few months. If the timing belt breaks, the engine will just die. There will be no permanent engine damage. This 2.2 liter 5SFE engine is a non-interference engine. You will just need a tow to a place that will change the timing belt. If the timing belt has been changed, I would just chance this too.

If you really are planning on trading in the car in a few months, I would just skip all of this. You will get little of this money back on a trade-in IMHO.

Mike

[Corsulian]

Thanks rmmagow, Luckynumber5, ghettosled, & Mike Gerber

FYI-

It does leave puddles--but not giant ones. They've been the same size for the past year.

I got my timing belt changed at 76000 miles--I'm not sure why it would be worn extra early, if it even is worn.

I'm just hoping it lasts till later in the year when hopefully I have some money saved up for a downpayment on the tC. DC traffic is pretty bad, and so is our weather.

[Mike Gerber]

"I got my timing belt changed at 76000 miles--I'm not sure why it would be worn extra early, if it even is worn."

The recommendation for generation 3 Camrys was 60,000 miles, so you should be OK. There's really no way they can easily check a timing belt for wear, so to me it makes all their other recommendations also suspect.

Mike

[camryvibe]

Agreed that the timing belt recommendation seems really suspect if it was changed less than 40000 miles ago. Looks like the other things could also be deferred. Unless the water pump is leaking badly or otherwise giving problems there's no need to replace it now - they probably just included it along with the timing belt since much of the labor is common for both repairs. The various leaks are costly to repair and if you keep an eye on fluid levels you should get enough warning if they start to get worse.
We've had leaking CV joint boots for the last couple years on our Camry. When I called places it was going to be almost as expensive to replace the boots as to wait until the joint went bad and replace the whole unit. So I've been waiting for bearing problems to develop and haven't heard any yet. If you aren't hearing any bearing noises while turning you can probably go for quite a while yet.
That leaves the engine mount (and mounting rod) and the drive belt. Does the engine rock back and forth much more than usual? If not it's likely deferrable. The drive belt is easy enough to check visually and by feel. Unless it looks like it might break any day you can probably leave that until later as well.

[eyeball96]

Sounds like the dealer is grabbing ya by the hip bones, and puttin it where the sun don't shine..

Keep driving it, and do what it needs to keep it running until you get the TC....sell it privately, don't give it to them on a trade in!!

[Corsulian]

Thanks camryvibe & eyeball96-

Yeah, the belts look fine--not worn or anything. They were changed at 76000k as well.

My oil warning light has come on now and then for nearly 2 years whenever I go around sharp turns. The car does lose oil--not sure how much is lost to leaking vs. being burned off.

I mean, my Camry vibrates at idle a good bit (no rocking)--but not more than hundreds of others have described on this board.

When I ran my car's stats through their online trade-in deal, it told me they wouldn't accept it. But it also has very vague questions like "has your frame ever been damaged" or "are there any spots of rust on the vehicle." My "frame extenders" are supposedly damaged, but I didn't really care and from the description they're just brackets that seem to be doing fine (minor accident 3 yrs ago). And I have one tiny spot of rust on the top of the trunk that was there when I got it and hasn't really gotten any bigger.

So yeah, in the meantime, anyone in the DC searching for a less-than-perfect Camry to play with--I'd let it go pretty cheap. Run a search on these boards and you'll find every issue I've ever had with it.

[ASG14]

If those prices are real, you need to never go to that mechanic again. $165 for spark plugs? THE FUCK are they smoking? NAPA, $6 Each, Tools, $20, Time for your 1st ever spark plud change, 2 hours like a snail.

Valve cover gasket for $196? Good God.....My Toyota DEALER in town is not that much. $23 for the gastek, and billed as a 1 hour job, $115???

I'm not even touching the other prices.......

[Corsulian]

Originally Posted by ASG14

Valve cover gasket for $196? Good God.....My Toyota DEALER in town is not that much. $23 for the gastek, and billed as a 1 hour job, $115???
I'm not even touching the other prices.......

These prices are from the local Toyota dealer near my work in Tyson's Corner (Vienna/McLean, Va). It's a very expensive area. I use them for oil changes purely because it's convenient. Local shops (not that we have "local shops", just Merchants and Good Year and etc) often don't have shuttles, and they can take forever to do anything whereas Toyota will guarantee completion in like an hour.

[ASG14]

About 1/3 of the stuff you listed is n EASY DIY job. Let me know if you want to do a lot of it yourself, and I'll be more then happy to talk you through it and tell you how to do it, with pics even. Hell, best way for you to learn. I'd likely have you buy like $150 in tools, and you'd still be way ahead.

for the rest of the stuff, you should ask on TN a mechanic that is recommended around you. the Waterpump is changed with the timing belt. I think when I asked the local dealer how much more it was to change the water pump with the timing belt, it as like $200 more. For the ENTIRE water pump, timing belt, and accessory belts, and proper pieces to replace when changing them, it should be around $500.


I also wanna know, for the oil pan. It is the gasket on the pan leaking, or is the pan itself destroyed somehow? My mechanic gave me a price of somewhere around $100 to fix it.And dealer should not be much more.

[toyomoho]

If you are going to sell the car soon, just drive it. You will never recover your money invested because the dealer labor and parts prices are high. Example, if the rod is the upper engine mount dogbone, the dealer part price is about $40 leaving $108 for labor on a 30 minute max job.

Sell the car to someone who is looking for a fixer upper and can to do all their own work. Their investment in parts (non-Toyota) will be a LOT less.

[ASG14]

^ Or be like me and get a discount at the dealer on parts. And for the dogbone mount, I'd say more like 10 minutes at the dealer if they were slow, ahha.