Should I sell or should I keep

[Loganwiththe'93]

Hey folks.
I've been looking at Craigslist and other local used car places for a while now to see if I can find something better than my 1993 Camry, but honestly, it's not easy.
I bought my Camry from my Aunt for $1900 and since put $1400 worth of new parts and repairs into it. It's never had a problem, never broke down except for when the distributor shorted out, never been in an accident, etc. In fact, it's in better cosmetic shape than most of the cars on Craigslist in my price range ($2700). I just don't know if it's worth keeping and maintaining or if I should sell it now while I can still recover some of the cost and get something new. It's at 135xxx miles now. Gas mileage is fairly poor, I have maybe two or three gallons left in my tank right now and I've only got like 250 miles on it (though I do have a heavy foot).

What do ya'll think? Keep it, or keep hunting?

[wilsonman02]

Well right off the bat i would say keep it, its paid for, its cheap to insure and maintain. What you could do is look into getting a weekend car, either something fast or something just newer and drive the camry as a daily driver, thats what i do with mine.

[ycartf]

You should sell it, definitely sell it now ... as a matter of fact, sell it to me!

It is hard to find a well-taken-care-of Gen3 Camry (what your 1993 would be). If it's in the good shape you're talking about, I'm just over the state line in Alabama and would be interested in it.

As far as the mileage goes, a lighter foot does wonders. I have even heard the guy at AutoZone tell someone (who was looking for a "magic additive" to improve their gas mileage) that the best thing they could do is put a brick under their accelerator pedal. If your 4 cylinder is not getting good mileage (with reasonable driving), then something is wrong. A tuneup or new O2 sensor may be needed. There may be a hanging brake component (which would overheat and give itself away). But a well-maintained 4 cylinder (with good compression numbers) that only has 135,000 (barely broken in) should be getting I would say about 25/35 (driven conservatively).

Tracy

[bigbird]

well if you dont sell it to...um...^her^...?... then id suggest keeping it. if it has low miles liek that and its running well then no reason to replace it for soemthing in the sub 3K range. youll end up with a car with god only knows what problems. I can understand teh urge to get something new and different but for now, id stick with that car till it dies. might want to work on that mileage though.

[Loganwiththe'93]

I have a feeling the O2 sensor needs to be replaced. A tune-up wouldn't hurt. And I need to have one or more rotors re-machined and a new fuse for the ABS. Other than that, there's a tad bit of oil in one of the spark plug tubes but I'm not concerned since it doesn't cause any misfires. My mechanic replaced a ton of seals, I don't remember them all and I'm too lazy to hunt through all my records. There's also a part under the dash that needs to be replaced or something because sometimes the windshield will fog up a bit on the bottom because there's air coming out of the defrost vent, but again I never bothered because it's not a big deal for me.

I have records from the first owner in 1992 from CarFax and most of the work that's been done. Can't find the recent work that was done though, it's hiding somewhere in my dad's room.

Looks like the last tune-up was in 2005. Lol. Interestingly enough, my aunt took the car to Clarence, my current mechanic, back in 2005. I'm kinda surprised he didn't recognize it when I brought it to him all those times in 2008 and 2009. Lol.
Interesting what you can learn from records.

Tracy-
I might take you up on that one day, but I don't think I'll be able to find a good replacement.

[Chris Crash]

Dude keep it. It's paid for, you know every problem with it (if any). It's soooo much cheaper to maintain it than buy a different car, and fix all the problems the previous owner "forgot" to tell you about...

[iovaykind]

Keep. Unless there's something major, these cars are keepers.. they take little to maintain and last forever.

/end

[peshwa]

I thought tracy is a boy since he replaced his passenger side axle :-) I would say keep your camry, its still "young" to serve you :-)

[ycartf]

Originally Posted by bigbird

well if you dont sell it to...um...^her^...?... then id suggest keeping it.

HIM! him ... him ... him ... LOL

Honestly, everyone here is guiding you right. If you have a Camry with a decent drivetrain and take care of it, you will get more than your money's worth out of it over many years. People balk about shelling out a couple hundred dollars for a repair or part, but that is less than ANY car payment out there. Or at least that's how I look at it.

Tracy (very MALE Tracy lol)

[ycartf]

Originally Posted by peshwa

I thought tracy is a boy since he replaced his passenger side axle :-) I would say keep your camry, its still "young" to serve you :-)

Thanks Peshwa, for the male vote of confidence!

While working on my son-in-law's 1993 I4 wagon this past Saturday (fuel filter / valve cover gasket / front brakes) I saw that his right CV axle has a torn boot. I told him I know I have the right "tool for the job" and can easily do it after doing the one on my wife's 1997 I4 that was all corroded. He and my daughter said, "Ok, can we bring it for that next Saturday?" You just can't beat having a relative who offers free labor with BYOP (bring your own parts) now can you?

Tracy

[LynchburgCSI]

Keep. It.

/end

[Loganwiththe'93]

I guess I'll keep it then. Haha.

[jtex2717]

/end