Advice on Camry purchase in future

[hawkman71]

Hi folks, I'm a new member of the forum (or at least a new poster), and have been seeking info for my 7th Gen Corolla.

It's really too small a car for my 6'4" frame, and I thought if the price was right, I'd bump up to a Camry. I used to have a 91 Camry and remember it being better for legroom, although not perfect. It was also a much quieter car as far as road/wind noise. Maybe that's part of "they don't build em like they used to" deal.

So, if I was to go to Camry (think used, think $3-6k), is there a generation/year/model/engine size I should stay away from or look for?

Engine: 4 or 6? Never had a six. I'd love some more power but love good gas mileage. (It seems that friends who have modern American cars with V6s can get 30-35 mpg, so I thought we should be able to out of Toyotas).

I'm thinking engine problems or something that was awesome(!). Did sunroofs leak at one point? Was a certain tranny bad? maybe this is a useless question, maybe they are all great. I don't know. I figured there was to be some advice here...

Thanks everyone.

[Yuko]

For $3-6k (sale by owners), you can find many Gen 3 and 4 Camry. Do you like the more Lexus-ness of the 92-96 or the shaper lines of the 97-01? Both will either comes with the 2.2 I4 or the 3.0 V6. (you will hear many stories of sludge but change you regularly and you'll do fine) Go for the V6, the sacrifice of power for a bit of MPG is not worth it. The 90's Toyotas were pretty durable but I do find their paint is quite weak; chips easily.

Gen 5 Camrys (02-06) are nicer but the resales are a bit high. More refined engine, drivetrain, and ride (the brakes are known to be too soft). Gen 6 are out of the question; too new.

You will find that 99% of Camry will come with the automatic. There're good transmission, just don't flush it if the mileage is past 100k miles. Simple drain and fill is good or a pan-drop.

As for the sunroof; if it factory installed, it should be fine. I know a few cars that had aftermarket sunroof and most of the time it will leak.

As a side note, ask or check the timing belt on the 2.2 and 3.0 engines. Has it been changed before? It's not a tough job but it can help swing the deal. (Don't worry too much if it breaks, the engine will simply shut down)

As for any used cars; check if it been repainted (wrecked?), what has been replaced/rebuilt, condition of fluids, rust, damage, and mileage. Good luck on your search.

[AlmightyCamry777]

For $6 k you can find a decent camry, they are everywhere thank goodness, but i'd avoid anything made AFTER 2006. Toyota changed generations and these later cars are full of problems: ABS clunk, "drive by wire" headaches, the infamous accelerator pedal recall. Simply examine the older posts here about the problems people have had with these later gen camrys - Forget it.

the 1999-2000 model camrys are very good. Try and find a Japanese camry not a kentucky camry (you can tell by the VIN, i think the japanese ones have a "J" somewhere in the VIN but im not sure). The paint on the Japanese camrys is far superior - the paint on my 2002 V6 kentucky camry is crappy, it will scratch if you brush up against it.

2001 and later are the sludge engines. If the owner ignored Toyota's oil erroneous change interval and changed every 3000, the engine will probably be in good shape. If they changed every 7,000 like toyota said, and used only dino not synthetic, you may risk buying a car with a sludged up engine.

There's no reason to avoid these cars necessarily. i have a 2001 V6 solara and a 2002 v6 camry, changed the oil every 3000 and have had no issues. but caveat emptor,, i have seen engines from people that weren't good about changing their oil (ex girlfriend had a 2001 Sienna with this 1FMZE V6 engine, it smoked so badly and quit running and needed the pans taken off and everything cleaned out for $500 due to sludging, The engine recovered nicely, runs fine, it even smogs - but now it uses one qt of oil every 400-500.). .)but if an engine is sludged up it usually manifests itself in performance, smoke, engine smell, and tailpipe residue (oily and wet vs dark or light powdery grey, which is how it is supposed to look inside the tailpipe)

pre-2007 camrys, most of them have a timing belt not a chain like later models so know this might have to be changed. Other then that, and the sludging issue, if the car has less then 100,000 on it you probably can't lose whatever you buy. If it looks good and drives good, it probably IS good - it's a camry! (An allmighty camry?)