looking to buy a new camry

[bulba]

Hi Everyone,

I'm currently in the market to buy a new car, and I came across this Camry on Ebay while searching for Camry add-ons[if I were to purchase a new Camry]:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...&category=6017

I really like the looks of this car. Its got 18" BBS alloy wheels (though I hear they are not very strong), along with a ground effects that make the car look luxurious. Additionally, it has a small lip spoiler thats similar to a Bimmer's lip spoiler. All in all, the styling looks great. I have some questions and was wondering if you guys can give some suggestions.

First, the 18" alloy wheels. Since the stock wheels on the 2004 Camry are 16" alloy wheels - would there be problems with 18" wheels, e.g rubbing against the struts, bad braking/timing and offsets on the odometer/speedometer? Its being sold by a Toyota dealership, so is it safe to assume they know what they are doing - full warranty?

I've checked the forums and noticed that some ppl have had to place spacers to get Is300 17" wheels on, and in other threads, some of the studs to mount the wheels were too short, requiring special order of longer studs. If I were to do this myself, that is buy aftermarket wheels and put that on a stock 2004 Camry, would I be able to do it without these hassles using such wheels? Also, would this affect the ABS braking system in any way?

I've looked closely at the pics and it seems like the tires are 235/45R18s and with the tire calculator, I found that they have the roughly the same wheel diameter as the stock 215/60R16s. Is having a roughly equivalent diameter sufficient? What should I be looking for in terms of width? I'm hoping to get good traction and handling.

Secondly, do you think there is a modification to the suspensions on this car? I read in the forums that the stock suspensions give the Camry a mushy feel with a lot of vertical travel, and having large wheels doesn't help either. Is it okay to just purchase an SE and get the sports suspensions - I presume they handle better than the LE or XLEs?

How much would it cost to upgrade these (suspensions/struts) if I were to buy it aftermarket ( couldn't find 2004 parts on the websites) ?

Lastly, I drive about 160 miles everyday for a daily commute. I'm really hoping to enjoy spending my time in the car, getting a comfortable and safe ride, decent handling, under all weather conditions. Would it make sense to purchase a lower end Camry (V4 LE or V4 SE) and make the basic mods described above, or go with a (V6 LE/SE) and just change the wheels? Are the V6s built better than the V4s?

I'd probably bring the car back to the dealership to get the regularly scheduled tune-ups and oil changes, so would making the mods void any warranties I have on the car? Could they say that after I put the wheels on and changed the suspensions, the timing and computer settings are off, so it voids the warranty? I hear that the Camrys are rather reliable so I'm hoping something like this won't create lots of hassle. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for the replies,

bulba

[CamNub]

It looks like a pretty good deal.
I think i recall, from a thread a while back that it is illegal for them to void your warranties if you mod ur car. Dont take that advice yet, take it when someone backs me up.

Yes camrys are pretty reliable.

Ya you might have a while to find parts...Suspension/struts should cost you 250-350 and there will be installation costs.

[kasimmmmm]

I've owned both, a 4banger Gen5 Camry (crashed after 6 months) and a V6.

QUALITY
There's no difference what so ever when it comes to quality between the 2.

PERFORMANCE
If you're into driving fast and you overtake cars a lot, you're gonna love the power that the V6 delivers. I personally drive fast all the time and I like my new V6 so much better than the 4banger. If you don't drive fast and aren't going to use that power, there's no point in getting the V6. You'll just be paying extra for the high octane gas. My car stinks when i put cheap gas in the car. What I like about the 4banger though is you can get it in manual!!!

RIMS
I'm getting rims on my car too and I'm gonna go with 18s. People who have 18s on their Gen5s are telling me that they don't have any problems with 18s.

SUSPENSION
If you're getting the SE, I personally think that you don't need to get aftermarket springs. It rides just fine with the stock suspension setup.

By the way.... check these out... I want to get these tail lights for my car. Just don't know how to install them. Can't make up my mind.
Gen5 Camry 3D tail lites