97 is the Gen 3 mechanicals/ laayout with new body.

98/99 had emmissions evap charcoal and purge system changed to the rear gas tank. I ma sure the 99 had weld optimization (less spot welds for less cost to manufacture).

 

97 is gen 3? I thought that was the year Gen 4 debuted

 

Hajoca wasn't saying that the '97 is a Gen 3. What he meant was that the '97 is pretty much the same thing as the Gen 3, but with the new Gen 4 body.

My understanding is that the consensus among Camry enthusiasts is that the Gen 3 is the king of the hill. That doesn't mean the subsequent generations suck, it just means that Gen 3 is famous for being the most reliable. No info to back that up, but it's what people say. My family has both. They're very similar. Don't be afraid to get a Gen 4. It's a Toyota for Pete's sake! Make sure to have it checked out for trouble codes that are pending. What some dishonest people do is clear the check engine light using a scanner, but the monitors will not be complete even though the check engine light is not illuminated. If you can borrow a scanner, check the car to see if all the Readiness Monitors are showing as complete. If not, it MAY mean that the seller just recently erased a trouble code, which is one reason why one or more of the readiness monitors will be incomplete. Buying a decent scanner was one of the best investments for me (along with a battery charger/starter and an air comressor with air tools).

 

Gen 4 has a better interior than the gen 3 Camry, which year for generation 4 camry would you recommend?

 

Our 3rd Gen 4 will be a 2001. Less sun damage for starters.

 

The year doesn't matter. Get the one with the most believable proof of regular oil changes (and other fluids as well), since the sludge problem started at that time. A well maintained older Camry with high miles is better than a poorly maintained newer Camry with not as many miles.

 

I like the headlights & rear end of the 2001 best. Without very proper maintenance this is the sludge generation (4cyl). I seriously wouldn't purchase one unless I could pop off the valve cover or look inside it with a fiber optic light.
W95c

 

2000-2001 had the lights updated.

 

Proper maintenance matters more than anything else. I have a California emissions 2000 I4. I would recommend mine in the federal emissions variety for simplicity (mine has another catalytic converter among other things that make repairs slightly more expensive).

But with good care, any will do you well. With bad care, a 2010 would be a bad deal.

Composed on a phone using AutoGuide App.
Please excuse typos / brevity.

 

you want an (ideally low mileage) maintenance zombie who did everything by the book, ideally with documentation. Gen 4s cannot survive with abuse as Toyota was dialing in the profit margins by trimming the (ridiculous) levels of durability they put in the Gen3s. They can do 200k, but not with any abuse.
Sludge is the chief indicator, remember its NOT an "add oil light" its more an "engine dead light" . Good luck!

 

I thought the gen 4 was the most durable Camry to date? So the gen 3 was more reliable and when the gen 4 was released Toyota had cheapened out with the build quality compared to the 3rd generation? Why would Toyota do such a thing? You would think Toyota would have even further improved the reliability of the Camry compared to the gen 3...why did they go backwards instead of foward?

 

Toyota cars get better technology every year, but they also fine tune their engineering to maximize profit, this often means streamlining components and assembly. A small example is seen in comparing the 93-95 Gen 3 Camry's where the older car has separate active red lights in the front doors to warn oncoming traffic when the doors are open. The 95 just slaps a reflective sticker onto the door edge and Toyota pockets the cost of the extra wire, lamp assembly etc. Similarly the front bumper turn signal/parking lights: 2 piece units on the 93, single units on the 95. Every car company if planning to maximize profit balanced with word of mouth reputation of quality. The Gen 4s have a bit of improved technology that makes the cars safer than the Gen 3, but Toyota has to make profit somewhere and they increasingly decide to (quite reasonably) trim the excessive durability that were hallmarks of their earlier cars. The blower motor brushes on my 93 were worn by 1/3rd when I replaced unit at 260K, so they were designed to go over 700k, completely unnecessary and wasteful.

New technology sells way more cars than actual durability, which is only proven years in the future. You have to last long enough for people to not feel screwed and then they repeat buy for newer tech.

And think about a bell shaped curve, in order to make everything on the car last on average to about 200k, you gotta accept that some people will have stuff fail at 100k, and these are usually the ones who didn't follow through on their commitment to maintain the car. Tech gets better but durability is fine tuned to keep profitability. A number of cars have notably been "downgraded" in successive model years, like the Nissan Versa which went from a CU rating near 85 to something like a 28 as the company tried to cash in on a single model year of unfortunate buyers.

The Gen4 are largely better cars with better tech and similar durability but only given regular maintenance.

to be fair to Toyota the average buyer does NOT want a car that lasts 300-400k, they want flashy tech cheap...we are extreme outliers here

 

to be fair to Toyota the average buyer does NOT want a car that lasts 300-400k, they want flashy tech cheap...we are extreme outliers here

To me, having a car last 400K or more is something to brag about. Guess I'm one of the "extreme outliers", ha!

 

Same here I would rather have a car that lasts 400-500k instead of it having all that cheap fancy crap on it.

 

Either will be a safe buy, but the maintenance up to when you buy it will be a big factor.

I have a 1997 gen 4, now 17 years old, 240 000 km. In my 4 years of owning it No parts have needed replacing, I have done oil changes, replaced auto trans fluid and filter, it has had tyres, spark plugs and brake pads but it has started every time, no problems... Although I want a new toy, its hard to justify parting with a car that is so cheap to run, has many different sources of parts ( oem, wrecker, different aftermarket suppliers). Every mechanic has seen them, so no need for stealership prices...
They arent really exciting but reliable and easy to service yourself, yes