Some questions plus leather seats

[camryto]

I am hoping to get some advice.

While looking for cars, I don't quite have enough for the 'ideal' Camry I want.

I'm looking at '98 to '01 models which are around $3K and up and I should be there or close by end of Dec. So, should I just wait until then and hope the 'ideal' car is available then? There was a '98 that was XLE V6, leather seats, 210K km and $3200 so I might expect to knock off $400 or so, right? However, I'd have to use a deposit and payment plan to pay the rest. I guess dealers and lots are particularly interested in profit and will charge extra compared to a private seller, right? The private seller just wants to get rid of the car but get the best return ('reason some of them always want so much?!? Camrys have high re-sale values but c'mon, people!). But, at least, they are not always trying to profit (except unsavory sellers) and sometimes they just need the money. That's why I'm inclined to try and find a private seller. The 'dealer' car might be in better condition.

Anyway, one problem is I am still short the money I need for the cars I am wanting. These are also 'acceptable' mileage, around 190,000 to 230,000kms, and no rust/dents/accidents etc. The '98 I mentioned previously is not in the ads anymore so it was either taken down or sold. I really would like a 2000, though, XLE w/ leather seats and 200,000-ish kms but probably not going to happen. Too expensive! So, what should I do now?

There's a '95 that's never been winter driven and looks spotless but the seller wants THREE grand. So, not much better than the other cars although the '98 to '01 Camrys are usually around $4K and I doubt I can get it down to $3.2K-ish. IS there any way to get one of these cars?

Lastly, I would like leather seats so I've been really watching for 'fully loaded XLE cars.' But, if I got cloth seats and a fully loaded XLE, there's a way to swap in leather seats later since the seats will be powered, right?

Oh yeah, I've mostly looked at V6 cars. Is the 4cyl varieties okay and is it possible to swap a V6 in later? I probably wouldn't bother and Toyotas go to 300,000+kms but if I found a Camry in mint shape on the outside (plus rust proofed) and mechanically sound, it could be an idea down the road. The 4cyl. might be a bit better on gas, too. I do like the power the V6 would have, though, so that's why all my searching has been for the V6.

Maybe Ishould give up and be resigned to the fact there's not many Camrys for sale for my budget in my area and go looking for Accords or Maximas!

[Mister_Perkins]

thats a rip off for a 95, just sayin.

Even though it doesn't have rust, with that mileage its still not worth it.


You can definitely swap leather seats into a car. no problem.. you just have to wire them

I wouldn't pay more than $1500.00 for a nice 92-96 camry. Just saying. The only one I might would be that one that went for 10k on ebay. But it only had 6,000 miles on it. lol

[camryto]

Originally Posted by Mister_Perkins

thats a rip off for a 95, just sayin.

Even though it doesn't have rust, with that mileage its still not worth it.


You can definitely swap leather seats into a car. no problem.. you just have to wire them

I wouldn't pay more than $1500.00 for a nice 92-96 camry. Just saying. The only one I might would be that one that went for 10k on ebay. But it only had 6,000 miles on it. lol

Ha, that's not much!

Yeah, it's a rip-off and I won't bother because I bet the seller won't budge much.

Is the 2000 Camry much different than the '98? I guess, I mean, are the changes significant? I find more '98s in my price range, but I was hoping for at least 2000. Oh well.

'Sounds like I should put down the importance of the leather seats. I was just hoping to find something that had it all! lol! But, low mileage and XLE trim plus no dents/rust/accidents and mechanically sound should be the priority, right?

[ajkalian]

Originally Posted by camryto

Ha, that's not much!

Yeah, it's a rip-off and I won't bother because I bet the seller won't budge much.

Is the 2000 Camry much different than the '98? I guess, I mean, are the changes significant? I find more '98s in my price range, but I was hoping for at least 2000. Oh well.

'Sounds like I should put down the importance of the leather seats. I was just hoping to find something that had it all! lol! But, low mileage and XLE trim plus no dents/rust/accidents and mechanically sound should be the priority, right?

Well you don't have to get an XLE to get leather. I've got an 2000 LE 6cyl with leather seats and trim. I'm told it's not very common, and get lots of people looking in the windows whenever I go by the Toyota dealer for parts.


.

[matt3453]

When I was looking for a car, I spent several weeks scanning craigslist, the newspaper, and some other car classified sites. It takes some patience and don't jump on the first thing you find unless you thoroughly take a first person look at the car as well as the engine. I looked at one 6cyl, but it was so obviously abused I said no thanks. I even looked at an accord, but the dealer wanted $5200 for 196,xxx miles. After 2 weeks I finally found a nice 1998 camry LE 4cyl /w 118,xxx miles for $3200 in great shape! The guy had inherited another car and wanted to just get rid of it, so I talked him down to 3. I also had a mechanic friend check it out.

Unfortunately the car is all standard, but you can swap the seats for leather ones like the above poster said. Plus, its a first car for me. Regardless, its a fantastic car, but although I'm not so much a mechanic, there's so much info on this site to help you and the 4cyl is very easy to work with. Very few problems with the car and any I've encountered were easy to diagnose and ifx. For an XLE in your price range and the year you want, it might be a little difficult to find one and you might need to take out a slightly bigger loan But still, keep looking out for it. In my experience, yes private sellers seem to be best, and always ask if you can take it to a mechanic to check it out. If they don't hesitate, then you know its been well-taken cared of.

The '98 and '00 as far as I can tell are exactly the same car except for the larger headlights and taillights.

[camryto]

Originally Posted by matt3453

When I was looking for a car, I spent several weeks scanning craigslist, the newspaper, and some other car classified sites. It takes some patience and don't jump on the first thing you find unless you thoroughly take a first person look at the car as well as the engine. I looked at one 6cyl, but it was so obviously abused I said no thanks. I even looked at an accord, but the dealer wanted $5200 for 196,xxx miles. After 2 weeks I finally found a nice 1998 camry LE 4cyl /w 118,xxx miles for $3200 in great shape! The guy had inherited another car and wanted to just get rid of it, so I talked him down to 3. I also had a mechanic friend check it out.

Unfortunately the car is all standard, but you can swap the seats for leather ones like the above poster said. Plus, its a first car for me. Regardless, its a fantastic car, but although I'm not so much a mechanic, there's so much info on this site to help you and the 4cyl is very easy to work with. Very few problems with the car and any I've encountered were easy to diagnose and ifx. For an XLE in your price range and the year you want, it might be a little difficult to find one and you might need to take out a slightly bigger loan But still, keep looking out for it. In my experience, yes private sellers seem to be best, and always ask if you can take it to a mechanic to check it out. If they don't hesitate, then you know its been well-taken cared of.

The '98 and '00 as far as I can tell are exactly the same car except for the larger headlights and taillights.

I read that the '00 car has the '2-piece' each headlights so one headlight is a '2-piece' and this was because the illumination of the old style or previous year Camrys was too low (owners complained?). Anyway, that's a minor detail. I noticed that Camrys not fully equipped will have the cloth doors so adding leather seats will be obvious. Not a big deal but just saying. I think I should look at the big three, anyway: 1) price, 2) condition and 3) mileage

All the reviews on Camrys make them sound like my best choice but I would prefer a V6. Seems like less problems or issues than the 4cyl. My problem is the budget again. Your car search sounds like it was a perfect find. That would be my ideal situation, finding such a car within my budget. But, alas, many cars are from these small car lots and I'm not sure the sellers/dealers are trustworthy. I tried a 'free initial check' with carfax on one '98 Camry XLE, loaded w/ leather, with 190,000kms and it had 24 reports found. I'm not sure how useful these Carfax and Autocheck services are with reports of it often omitting important facts like an accident or structural damage not reported but I guess it helps? I know that having a mechanic check the car out is the best method but will they be able to do an inspection which would find something hidden like that? They'll be able to tell if a frame had damage and was repaired?

I can do some minor repairs myself. If it saved me enough money, I could replace an alternator, air filter, do brakes, minor exhaust work if I can get the car up high enough and various other repairs provided I can hoist the car up high enough (if stands can do that). Otherwise, I think I can locate parts from a wrecker if that helps reduce overall car repair bills (take the part to the mechanic?).

One other question: I read that the Camry isn't the most nimble in the snow or rain so are there tires that would negate or improve this situation? Do winter tires help a lot for Camry steering feel and stability in snow/rain/ice? It only gets bad for three or four months here but it would be good to know how much certain tires can help.

So far, my choices (which I feel are the best to my availability and price) are:
*1998 to 2001 Accord - but ONLY with 5s
*1998 to 2001 Camry - prefer V6 but flexible - main prob. is price is HIGH
*1998 Maxima - subsequent years means way more probs so only considering '98s

My fav. choice is the Camry but very few here in my price range... I am crossing my fingers in the next month something comes up... else, I'm looking for a stick shift Accord... I want an AT car, though... Oh well...

[LynchburgCSI]

Errr... I'd include the 97 camry in your search too. They're exactly the same as the 98 models.