Cost Effecitve Upgrades to Make 1999 Camry Look Better

[pb1216]

I have a 1999 Green Toyota Camry and need to do some simple, cost effective upgrades to make it look better.

Exterior
- Need to get it repainted...worth the money?
- Rear bumper is cracked, need a new bumper
- Tint is bubbling, need to get the tint repaired

What other exterior things would make the car look better? Rims, lowering, white front side lights, white tail lights?

Interior
- It has fabric inside with burn marks on the front seat. A shop offered $250 to fix it, but they have a leather kit and would install it for $500 (seems like a good deal, but I'd like to focus on the exterior first)

Basically, I just need a starting point, but don't want to put too much $$$ into the car > $2000. It has 156,000 miles and is in excellent running condition and would probably keep it for another 4-5 years.

What do you think? Any thoughts?

[abew330]

you do what looks good to your taste.

first, fix what ever cosmetic / major problems for exterior
if it needs it i would repaint

not sure about changeing out the whole fabic to swap in leather.
my leather burns my a$$ after my car has been sitting in the sun

maybe seat covers would be cheaper option

IMO i would make sure it runs good and does not need any major repairs before fixing up/ changing anything.
but if it does need parts changed out i.e. struts wouldn't hurt to upgrade

[pb1216]

Thanks for your reply.

Not sure if it's ready for a paint job....maybe oxidation and clay treatment would be fine.

I guess the first thing would be to replace the bumper and have that repainted.

Do you know of any good seat covers for the Toyota Camry?

[Fruitbat]

If you're going to drive it to the grave, then go crazy and do whatever you want. If you're trying to maintain resale value, don't go too crazy with permanent mods - they tend to suck the value out of a car.

[JCamry94]

Originally Posted by pb1216

Thanks for your reply.

Not sure if it's ready for a paint job....maybe oxidation and clay treatment would be fine.

I guess the first thing would be to replace the bumper and have that repainted.

Do you know of any good seat covers for the Toyota Camry?

Toyota dealers can have them made for your model specifically usually. Also ebay and auto parts stores.

[toyotaholic]

how bad is the crack? if it looks like it's in two pieces i would replace it. first mods imo would be to get rims and/or lower it, depending on what you're going for (looks? performance?) and i would get the tint fixed too. btw to TN

['_']

Yeah if you don't plan on keeping it, I'd probably just fix everything up so that it looks clean and stock. Depending on how bad the interior is, I'd most likely leave it as is too. If you still want to put more money into it, I'd start out with basic suspension mods first. Good luck!

[pb1216]

I plan on running it to the grave so I want it to look fairly nice.

Bumper:
The bumper color is fading on the top and it has a 12" crack in the middle. The bumper is still on strong, but would have to replace it and get it painted.

Paint Job:
After looking at the paint job, I think it's pretty good and doesn't need a new one. There are a few scratches, but overall it's in good shape.

[pb1216]

I guess this is kind of what my Camry looks like now:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37948843@N02/3490023841/

This would be an improvement:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3794884...7617450311323/

What do I have to do to get my Camry like this with keeping the same Green color:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3794884...7617450311323/

[ONE_to_HATE]

trd kit! just wait it out- they pop up like pimples once in a while!

[pb1216]

So what do I search for:

TRD 1999 Toyota Camry kit?

['_']

Just keep an eye out in the For Sale section. It was made to fit the 4th gen Camrys (97-99). It's a 7 piece lip kit (2 front, 2 side skirts, 2 rears, and 1 spoiler). People sometimes refer to them as "TRD body kits" when in fact they're technically lip kits since you're not replacing the bumpers. However, TRD did make TRD front bumpers for the Camrys but these are extremely rare in the US.

[PhatRoyale]

stickers man, lots of stickers.

[8ac1v1c]

First things first - take an honest look-over on your car.
Best way to do so is to take your car to a Toyota dealership for an oil-change and ask the service advisor to find anything possible that might fail in the next few months. Make up some story like your girl is gonna use the car, or something. These guys are wicked at pretending..I mean finding something wrong


Find absolutely anything that is, could be, or is about to go wrong mechanically, then fix and upgrade those things first.

if your suspension is iffy - new dampers and lowering springs
Brakes are squeeking - new pads & brembo slotted rotors (and painted calipers while your there)
Burnt headlight - HID upgrade
if your tires are wearing low - throw down some new rollers
hole/leak in the exhaust - new cat-back muffler


After that - then start working on the rest of the upgrades.

the last thing you want is to drop $2G's on a lip kit and new paint job - only to have your shocks blow out a month later

[JCamry94]

^ +1

ALWAYS take care of your normal maintainence first.

And for your squeeky brakes get some brembo blanks and akebono (or other) ceramic pads!

And be sure to bed them in properly or the squeel will haunt you forever