So I was just given a 1999 Avalon XL a few months back. How was I GIVEN a car you ask? My friends brother borrowed his Avalon and decided to aim at a parked car at about 45 MPH. Long story short, he doesn't have the time to fix it and had to get it out of his parents driveway and as long as I can tow it out of there, it was mine.
Collision was to the front right, no mechanical damage, she starts right up and idles perfect. Unfortunately I need to replace the bumper, hood, fender, headlight, axle and a few more suspension parts. Also, there is slight frame damage but not a big deal, I'm sure a body shop will be able to fix that little bit of bending in the front right.
My question to you guys is, do all 1st gen Avalons share the same front suspension parts? Can I go as far back as 1995 for the axle and other suspension components? And for the hood, fender, headlight and bumper, am I right in that 98 and 99 are different then 95 through 97?
Since I'm already asking questions, are there any other lowering springs besides VOGTLAND? Once she's up and fixed I wanted to lower her about 1.5" and I have a set of VSR 17" wheels to put on.
Wow...I feel like such a noob. Apparently I posted way back in October when I first got the car and didn't realize I've been on here already. Well, sorry for the double posting guys.
there is no frame. if the unibody is tweaked my advice is to sell het to a junkyard - it will never drive right, after that, AND it just might be dangerous.
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there is no frame. if the unibody is tweaked my advice is to sell het to a junkyard - it will never drive right, after that, AND it just might be dangerous.
My bad, I know it's not a frame but I meant the actual unibody is bent ever so slightly. It's truly nothing major, almost looks like you can probably hammer it out yourself but I would never dare even attempt that.
Most shops can repair a unibody tweak pretty effectivly. The quesiton will be do you want to spend the money to put her back since she's really not going to be worth money-wise what you're likely to spend fixing her.
Avy's are great cars to own. before you spend money fixing it up, make sure the componants you're not replacing are worth keeping. sure would be a shame to fix the car to find she has a sludge engine or the brake lines and fuel lines are all rusting away.
Before you spend any money, check it over as though you were buying it for retail.
You are correct about the years for the front end pieces and i'm not sure why, but the suspension for a 95-96 are different then 97-99. the axles are different too. even a 97-99 has two possiible axle choices.
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Last edited by HATEnFATE; 04-20-2011 at 07:46 AM.
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Mechanically she is sound...damn near perfect. Matter of fact the engine was replaced with one that had 75,000 on it and it was driven about 20,000 with that engine in it, so less then 100,000 on a Toyota engine is not bad. She starts right up now, runs great, idles perfect, no overheating or leaks of any sort. Even the brake lines have not been damaged as the master is still full.
Between the body and suspension parts I figure I may end up spending about $700. I called a few local shops and they said roughly $300 to $500 to get the uni fixed. So I figured if I end up spending $1200 to fix an Avalon XL that has an engine with less then 100K on it, I'm not doing bad.
By that logic then my Avalon is half way to being broken in.
I also have a 91 MR2 NA with nearly 190K and she drives PERFECT. Other mentionable hero would be a 90 Celica ST I bought back in 2008 for $500 with 225K on the dial. Drove her from Tampa FL all the way up to Chicago IL in the middle of winter, drove her for 3 months of sub-zero weather and then drove her all the way back to FL. Only issue I had was a rusty lower rad hose clamp that gave out one night. Otherwise she was perfect the whole way through.
toyotas are unbreakable, I recomend you to fix it, and it will run for years, find the body part on a junk and suspension new but , it worth it, they looks like lexus better than camrys.... I have more faith than you in toyotas.. cheers mate... good luck and have fun watching the avalon comeback to life
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toyotas are unbreakable, I recomend you to fix it, and it will run for years, find the body part on a junk and suspension new but , it worth it, they looks like lexus better than camrys.... I have more faith than you in toyotas.. cheers mate... good luck and have fun watching the avalon comeback to life
Hi Jack, thanks for the reply bud. I had a couple of body shops stop by to asses the damage to the unibody and both shops claimed that it would end up running me about $2K in the unibody repair alone. Add the hood, fender, bumper, headlight, suspension, axle and misc and now I'm spending roughly $3K total in bringing back an Avalon that's probably worth only a bit more then that when repaired.
So I sold her. Had her posted on craigslist and people started calling within 5 minutes of the post going up, no kidding. I had her sold the same day for $1K so that wasn't bad. Took that money and invested it in my 1991 MR2 that is in desperate need of some body work.
Anyway, thanks to all of you for your replies, I do appreciate your time.
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