I might put my car in the Way Back Machine

[ajkalian]

I've got a 2000 Camry LE 6cyl with 220,000 miles on it and it runs great, and I have no problems with it at all. I was thinking of maybe getting a 2006 just to update things a bit, but after some recent threads about the VVTI Squirt and Burn VVTI oil lines and the fact that they are interference engines I decided on not getting a newer one. It would cost me maybe $12,000-$13,000 and I could buy a lot of repairs for that kind of money.

So I'm looking on Craigslist this weekend and here's what shows up.

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/ctd/2077932959.html

More photos here....

http://clients.automanager.com/scrip...ffad0121fe4a4f


It's a dead ringer for my car, except it's an XLE, a little nicer inside, has the premium system, and a hole in the roof with some glass in it.

It's low mileage, 83,000 and has had the timing belt changed at 78,000 miles, although it was 2 years ago. So the car wasn't driven much. I took it for a test drive, and it's in great shape, drives nice, and a careful once over didn't show any major problems. The paint on the PS mirror was fubar, but the rest of the car was free of dents, and dings. Pretty new tires as well. When I asked them what my car would be worth on a trade in they told me $2,500 which surprised me. I thought it would be much less, but what do I know.

So what I'm looking at for repairs for mine sometime in the future since all of these are original, would be new struts all around for $600, new axles both sides $500, an additional $400 if I replaced the bearings at the same time. Both would be less if I did it myself. New tires $400, new front brakes $200, and the biggie is the transmission. If it goes its maybe $2,000 to have it rebuilt, less if I swap out a used one. That's $4,000 worth of repairs sometime in the future. None of these will have to be done to this XLE.

I was thinking of offering the seller $4,000 and my car for the XLE. Either way I spend the $4,000 and I know that the XLE will go at least 150,000 miles with just regular maintenance, and that will give me maybe 5 years of driving. Whereas if I repaired my car, same out of pocket money, that additional 70,000 or 80,000 miles it would be pushing 300,000 miles on the engine in the car I currently have.

So what do you guys think of the idea, and what do you think would be a fair price to offer for the XLE. Or should I just keep fixing mine, and writing DIY's as I do it.



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[LynchburgCSI]

$4000 + your car.... hmm. What's your car worth though? If your lazy and have money to waste, yes a newer car is a good call. But hey... all of those repairs you listed off are fairly simple to do yourself if you're mechanically inclined.

[Chris Crash]

That's only getting you like $3500 for your car. You can get more.

[SilverSoarer]

Drive your existing car and then buy a 2007+ at some point.

[ajkalian]

Originally Posted by SilverSoarer

Drive your existing car and then buy a 2007+ at some point.

Not a chance. I hate the new style they came out with in 2007, to say nothing about the TPMS, drive by wire, $400 replacement keys and all the other electronic crap.

[N/A Camry Sleeper]

Don't go into debt...DIY repairs are much better if you ask me

[ty**20]

i would keep the current car and just fix. save a lot money and the DIY's on this car is fairly simple. also to brag the fact that you will kept the car til the door fall off. as long as there no rust on your car you will be honor. btw the white gen5 camry in the background in your second source is feaken sweeet..

[fenixus]

hmm swapping same year for same year just step up trim and lower mileage doesn't sound like a killer deal to me ... but you are sounding right on upcoming possible repairs which wouldn't be as early in time with the other ride.

how about you switch rides for something a little newer and maybe a coupe? not sure if you like them though but '03 Solara SLE V6 would have same guts as yours and would be nicer, especially if you can fish one out with low miles ... just sayin' ...

[Chris Crash]

^ and no botched wiring jobs.

[fenixus]

Originally Posted by Chris Crash

^ and no botched wiring jobs.

LOL true , beware of wire gremlins

[ajkalian]

Originally Posted by fenixus

how about you switch rides for something a little newer and maybe a coupe? not sure if you like them though but '03 Solara SLE V6 would have same guts as yours and would be nicer, especially if you can fish one out with low miles ... just sayin' ...

I had considered many options, including a Solara. I drove a convertible and was disappointed in the wind noise at freeway speeds, and the harsh ride due to the convertible platform, but I'm sure a hardtop would ride much nicer. But I prefer a 4 door. Easier to get stuff in the back seat. I also looked at the Lexus 300 and 330 (2000-2004) and while they were very nice and had a 1MZ-FE engine the transmission was flawed and there are hundreds of messages complaining about it on the Lexus forum. I could have picked one of those up for maybe $12,000-$13.000.

Another option was to buy a new car, and avoid all the maintenance problems. The warranty programs are very generous, 50,000 miles, some 10 years or 100,000. But the tradeoff there is that you pay for that in the form of $250 monthly payments for a long time. A 3 year lease would be $9,000 out of pocket and then you don't own the car, so that money is gone and at the end of the lease you have nothing to show for the money being spent. Knowing that I looked at new cars like Ford's Fusion and the Hundai Sonata, which turned out to be a very nice car but only came in a 4 banger. The 6cyl models Elantra, and Genesis were a lot more money. The Fusion was very nice too, but IIRC the SE model only came with a 4cyl and/or a stick shift, and you had to get the SEL to get a 6cyl, and I really didn't want to pay for all the extra stuff I didn't want or need in the SEL. I really got irritated whenever you would lift the hood and the salesman would proudly say, "there's nothing to work on in there". Screw that. A lifetime of costly repairs and your car becomes a financial Black Hole. Being able to "talk" to my car is last on the list of things I ever want to do. And one day that built in GPS crap will bite you in the butt. They know where you are, all the time.

When I talk to people that know, sheepishly admit that they had to spend some outrageous amount of money to have their whiz bang transmission adjusted, or the Gonquelator replaced, or some electronic thingie doesn't work and they wish it did, but they aren't gonna have it fixed because it costs too much. And to a person the all say. "what else can I do?". Well for openers you can buy a car that doesn't cost a fortune to fix, and you can do many of the repairs yourself. How about starting there.

So I still kept coming back to the car I have. I bought it in 2002 with 77,000 miles on it, and have driven it 150,000 miles and have not been to the dealer since the first timing belt change at 90,000. I've done all the work myself, with the help of the people here in this forum on TN. I'm considering just rolling back the clock and getting another one simply because I have 100% proof of the reliablilty of this model and year.

Furthermore I know how to work on it and have worked on it, so maintenance costs would be zero. I didn't do much of anything on my car until I started replacing stuff at 150,000 like hoses, valve cover gaskets, that sort of stuff. But I don't have to worry about the valve cover gaskets in the XLE because they were replaced when the valves were adjusted at 75,000 miles. Probably a useless $700 repair by the dealer, but at least I know the valves are adjusted properly and I don't have to worry about changing the stupid valve cover gaskets.

So it does sound a bit odd, but for me it makes sense, and I just might do it if I can get it for the price I want. If I can't I'll just keep fixing mine.


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