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vulcanraven · 10-18-2009, 08:32 AM

Hey all. I'm new here to the ToyotaNation forums, but I'm very familiar with Toyotas.

So my intro begins with my late gen 3 1996 Camry LE. Originally my grandfathers car, I inherited it when it only had about 70,000 miles on it and was already 9 years old. It was an awesome car, that served me well for years. Sure I had to replace the shocks, radiator, and both driver and passenger door handles, but that was all apart of the car's character. Heres one snapshot of the odo this past May.

Sadly a few weeks ago it was maimed by a bad driver who couldn't maintain traction on a slick road. I had stopped on the shoulder of an offramp to help another motorist who lost control and spun off the road. And while I was outside the car calling for assistance, it happened. Final mileage was 153K

Here is a couple pics of the scene.

No good deed goes unpunished.

Even though the car drove fine, the insurance said it was a total loss.

So I had to get another car, and of course I was looking at camrys. I found a great deal on a 2000 Camry CE with 67,000 miles on it. It is only a 4 cylinder like my last camry, but this one is a manual transmission

. I've only had it for about a week, and while its very nice and typical camry quality, I admit that I miss my old car. I haven't taken any pictures myself yet, but here are some from the advertisement.

I don't have any ambitious mods in mind. I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep it all stock, except maybe some led replacements and window tints. I'm not sure the grayish color of the car would work with typical dark tints. Does anybody have any suggestions for a more reflective tint?

abew330 · 10-18-2009, 12:32 PM

welcome

theres lots of info here be sure to check the stickys

poor camry. (the gen 3.5) you still have it?

how much you pick up the 00 for?

bigbird · 10-18-2009, 01:54 PM

sweeet...5 speed

.

vulcanraven · 10-18-2009, 08:46 PM

abew:
no the insurance company took it (gen 3.5) when they wrote me a check for it.

I got the new camry for about $7,200 out the door.

bigbird:
yeah I was searching high and low for a 5 speed v6, but no luck. this ones quick enough for me though.

***projektvertx*** · 10-18-2009, 08:51 PM

Welcome! Nice gen 4.5

Wow that sucks that your car was totaled, and you weren't even in it when it happened!! I'm not sure exactly how much damage is below the quarterpanel, but I know it would cost approximately 3,000$-3,500$ to fix, and that's assuming that the trunk lid frame is unaffected... When I saw the pictures of the car after the accident, I thought I was looking at my car a couple of months ago

Albeit mine got fixed...
My car is REBORN!!!!!!!

As for the tints, I personnaly like reflective tints, but I would check your local regulations and if they allow reflective tints. I was about to do silver reflective tints only to find out they are illegal in the state of Michigan...

vulcanraven · 10-18-2009, 09:16 PM

Thanks for the welcome!

projekt:

You are correct. The shop quoted $3400 to fix it, and they said the car was only worth about $3000. It definitely looks very similar to what happened to your car. That's awesome that they were able to fix it. I wish they would've done the same for me.

To be more accurate about how my damage occurred, the other driver was exiting, lost traction in the back wheels and began spinning clockwise (about 60 degree spin). He then tried to correct the spin and spun counter-clockwise, where his rear right corner hit my back left corner. See pic.

I'm not sure on the laws regarding reflective tints, but I was not thinking of one way mirror tint. I'd really like the greenish reflective tint like you see on Lexus RX300s. Because this gray color has greenish hues to it, I think dark (charcoal) tints would look weird.

the94camryman · 10-18-2009, 09:55 PM

That sucks that your car was totalled out. That's the bad thing about the gen3 and 3.5 camrys. Not worth enough for shops to fix major damage.
Nice find on your new car though. The 5speed makes a world of a difference in those cars.

***LynchburgCSI*** · 10-18-2009, 11:10 PM

congrats on the gen4.5 5-speed and

I have a gen 3.5 just like your old one...same color and everything...Classic Green Pearl (6P2)...except my car is modded now.

What color was the interior on the 3.5 by the way?

Toy_Dreamer · 10-18-2009, 11:36 PM

Welcome!

Clean car there; 5 speed FTW!!!!

vulcanraven · 10-19-2009, 08:49 PM

the interior of the 3.5 was grayish. actually the same color as the interior of my new 4.5

***LynchburgCSI*** · 10-19-2009, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vulcanraven

the interior of the 3.5 was grayish. actually the same color as the interior of my new 4.5

Wow. Good to find another 96 with the 6P2 color code with a gray interior. 1996 was the only year for the 6P2 color code on all Gen 3s. All Green 96's I see have the beige interior...and mine is gray.

Do you know if your gen3.5 was built in Japan? (VIN would have started with a J.) If yes, we literally had twin cars.

PortugalFocus · 10-20-2009, 01:31 PM

The new car looks very clean man. Do me a favor, replace that shifter with a short shifter. I always thought the Camry looked like it had a dildo sticking out of the console if you had a manual trans. I did installed a new short shifter, and it adds a much sportier feel to the car.

Nice car though.

vulcanraven · 10-20-2009, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LynchburgCSI

Do you know if your gen3.5 was built in Japan? (VIN would have started with a J

Thats interesting that you should ask that. After my grandfather bought the car from the dealer somewhere in NoVa, I distinctly remember hearing that the car was shipped from Japan. But when I checked, the VIN starts 4T1 (the US code). I am puzzled by this, because I don't know why someone would make up that story.

vulcanraven · 10-20-2009, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PortugalFocus

The new car looks very clean man. Do me a favor, replace that shifter with a short shifter. I always thought the Camry looked like it had a dildo sticking out of the console if you had a manual trans. I did installed a new short shifter, and it adds a much sportier feel to the car.

Before I bought the car, installing a short shifter was first on the my to-do list. I was looking at TWM's short shifter kit.

After driving it for about a week, the shifter's height actually feels comfortable and natural. It looks bad aesthetically, but I think it was engineered correctly.

What brand short shifter did you use? Do you have before and after pics? Is the lower height comfortable to use?

I may just have to get a short shifter and test it out to see how I like it.

***LynchburgCSI*** · 10-20-2009, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vulcanraven

Thats interesting that you should ask that. After my grandfather bought the car from the dealer somewhere in NoVa, I distinctly remember hearing that the car was shipped from Japan. But when I checked, the VIN starts 4T1 (the US code). I am puzzled by this, because I don't know why someone would make up that story.

I've heard some people think that when japanese hands put the car together, its a more quality build than if US workers put it together. I don't think thats true.

Looks like you had my US-built sister car then.