2001 Camry LE, 4 cyl. - What to watch out for ? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Brad1 · 08-31-2009, 11:33 AM

Going to look at an '01 Camry LE after work. This car has the 4 cyl engine. It only has 37k miles on it.

What are the most common mechanical problems that occur with this year / motor Camry?

Thanks in advance.

BamZipPow · 09-06-2009, 02:43 AM

Not sure if you could tell if the engine is starting to sludge up or not.

Check the motor mounts fer wear and tear. They shouldn't be bad with only 37,000 miles on them but you never know and it only takes a few seconds to check.

Check fer the common things like oil leaks/drips. See if the fluids have been changed lately. I'm gonna guess the PS, brake, coolant, and trans fluids haven't ever been changed on it.

Check that radiator over carefully fer microcracks...the plastic tanks will eventually fail.

werkit217 · 09-06-2009, 11:36 AM

37K miles...honestly the only thing you need to watch for is another car crashing into you

DxElite · 09-06-2009, 12:12 PM

The only major problem with buying a used 2001 Camry (5sfe I4 engine) is engine sludge. If they have records of regular oil changes then it's safe to assume there is no sludge build up. With low mileage as that, it's even less likely there will be sludge build up.

Aside from that and being a low mileage car, it'll be a long time before any major maintenance needs to be done.

Kingdom934 · 09-06-2009, 03:32 PM

Thats pretty low mileage.

Again...sludge. A lot of 5SFE suffered from this fate. Give a quick check under the oil cap. Do you see metal or some blacken like charcoal stuff? It's not a 100% indicator, but it gives an ideal how well the oil been change.

Otherwise then that besides the valve cover leaking oil issue, that's pretty much it. My mom has a 2001 I4 LE camry with about 85K already and she's had no issues with it so far. Just took care of typical maintance (i.e. belts, water pump, spark plugs, etc, etc)

GaviN · 09-06-2009, 08:32 PM

My aunt has a 2000 or 2001 Camry with 173k miles. The only problems she has had out of it since owning it brand new has been an electrical issue with the brake lights and a sensor which tripped the check engine light, both issues happened within the past 6 months, thats about it. Excellent car. She actually just sold it to my aunt for $1500 and she picked up a 2010 LE-V6 Camry this past Thursday. Car drives smooth as butter!