1985 Toyota Camry DLX 2.0 EFI 4 cylinder

Summary:

Very good dependable work car

Faults:

A few days ago my fuel pump went out, so I replaced it. When I went to start the car, it ran fine for about 15 seconds, and then it started to act like it was starving for gas. So I replaced the fuel filter.

It's still doing it, so I took the tank off AGAIN and removed the fuel pump. I was told the pump could be faulty.

Some tips could be helpful, because after $150.00 worth of parts and still no running car, you start to become irritated.

General Comments:

Overall it's been a very dependable car, and I like to drive it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 26th August, 2007

1985 Toyota Camry

Summary:

The Camry is a great little reliable machine that is safe, cheap, and generally nice.

Faults:

Some of the paint on the drivers side door has stripped off.

Rust has taken over drivers side fender.

General Comments:

Generally safe and reliable car even at almost 300,000km.

It burns hardly any oil.

Nice interior, but nothing fancy.

LOTS of trunk space.

Easy accessibilty to things under the hood, such as the oil dipstick.

Great fuel economy.

Smooth ride.

It has a surprising amount of power and speed for a car of its age and condition.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 22nd June, 2006

1985 Toyota Camry LE 2.0 Liter

Summary:

Treat them right and they will repay the favor

Faults:

315550 Replaced Battery.

315511 Replaced Visors.

315511 Replaced Trunk Lock.

315511 Replaced Power Antenna.

315511 Minor Chips in Windshield Filled

315511 Replaced Brakes.

315511 Replaced Spark plugs/Wires.

315511 Replaced Speakers.

315511 Replaced (2) Window Handles.

General Comments:

Very Good and reliable vehicle. True it isn't cool, but its great for anyone needing dependability at a low price. Bought the car from a couple for $650 with 315000 miles. Put 50000 on her in the last year traveling between San Diego and Phoenix.

Minor items wrong when I bought the car to to general wear and tear. Replaced, spark plugs, wires, brakes, battery, and distributor as general precautionary maintenance. (Done whenever I buy a used car from private party)

Rewired the radio due to previous owner not knowing what they were doing. Had the wires all going above the carpet. Factory speakers weak/blown replaced with generic out of junk yard.

Had to replace two of the four window handles due to them being broken by previous owner.

Overall good car. No major problems have appeared, as is expected when buying a $650 vehicle. Starts every time, uses oil, but more due to leak than to burning. No knocks or clanks as of yet.

Excellent room for such a small car. Seats are comfortable for short and long trips.

Handles well at freeway or city speeds.

Turn signals could be located better, they are recessed under the bumper on mine, not sure if this is a common feature, but makes it hard for cars to see if you are turning at an intersection. Almost been hit multiple times.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 26th September, 2005

1985 Toyota Camry LE

Summary:

Incredible car

Faults:

Muffler had many rust spots. Had to replace.

C-boots need replacing.

General Comments:

I cannot believe this vehicle. The only maintenance I've had to do is get oil changes every so often. Good on gas. Excellent vehicle. Would buy another Camry any day.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 12th May, 2004

1985 Toyota Camry LE 2.0 Liter 4 cylinder

Summary:

A superior car, despite it all

Faults:

Well, the engine was shot when I bought it. Replaced with an import swap out engine.

The transmission started slipping out of gear and revving freely on occasion at about 210,000 miles. Then the transmission completely came apart internally at 215,000 miles. Again, replaced with an import swap out.

Exhaust started leaking noisily at 205,000 miles. Fixed with a weld then the catalytic converter went out at about 208,000 miles. Replaced.

Speedometer gear went bad and started shooting all over the place with a very loud grinding noise at 250,000 miles. Replaced with junkyard instrument panel.

Shocks were bad when I bought it, eventually replaced at around 220,000 miles.

There was a bad bushing in the left control arm with made a nice thumping noise whenever I would accelerate. Couldn't find a replacement within 500 miles of here because (the junkyard told me) all the older Camrys had this problem. New control arm deemed too expensive after all I'd already spent on the car.

Before the speedometer went bad, it was always ten miles per hour too fast. May have had something to do with the replacement transmission, though it was supposed to be a match.

Front brake discs warped and caused major shaking at high speed braking. Resurfaced locally.

Rear hatch release lever never worked.

Rear right window would not roll down (power windows on this model) for the first year I had the car, then started working perfectly. Weird.

Front passenger window would roll down from the driver's side master control switch, but would only roll up from the passenger side switch.

After the first year of my owning it, it developed a starting problem. It simply wouldn't start. Not even turn over. Just a click. Sometimes it would start again after a few minutes, sometimes not. I thought it was the solenoid, so I replaced the starter. Same problem. This would happen in no particular pattern. Drove me crazy, I'm not kidding. Checked all the wires, spliced what I thought could have been a short, no help. I determined it must have been a bad wire somewhere in the ignition system, because it would always start when I would run a direct wire from the battery terminal to the starter as a last resort. It stopped doing it for about four months then I sold the car.

General Comments:

Well, I know the problems I had with the car is a long list. And I did invest about three thousand dollars into the car over the two and a half years I had it. It was abused by it's previous owners, no doubt about that. Not that it was a wreck, but it definitely had been let go.

The guy who sold it to me was a friend who got it for his son, but the son didn't think it was 'cool' enough. The son blew a head gasket and the shop that machined the head screwed it up and machined off way too much of the surface, so the pistons were knocking the valves. My friend sold it to me for ten dollars. First thing I did was replace the engine, at 204,000 miles. Then the saga began.

I replaced a lot of things on this car and spent many an hour working on it. It was absolutely a headache, especially the starter problems, but what I haven't yet mentioned is how great a car it was for me. I put 60,000 miles on it in two and a half years, took it all over my state and into a few others and for the most part it was a trusty and loved companion.

For such a small car it was extremely roomy and comfortable (I'm 6'4"), and could hold a large amount of cargo. It was peppy and fun to drive, very responsive, and it cruised at freeway speeds quietly despite it's age and history. I loved this car and sometimes still miss it. It served me well, and a lesser car would certainly have been in a junkyard after what this car went through, yet it's still on the road. What more can you ask?

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 27th April, 2004

31st May 2006, 17:41

I agree. I have the same vechile, the drivers window won't roll down. the radiator needs to bhe replaced, I replaced the brakes, and the dashboard lights sometimes turn off at random times, but a good smack will take care of it.

13th Jun 2008, 11:33

I think the problem with the starting problem is the ignition swich. my camry had the same problem, but when I would jumper the connections at the ignition swich, it would start every time.

2nd Aug 2008, 15:36

I have had my Camry for 2 years and have experienced the same starting problems. It seems to act up more in cold and/or damp weather..

My car has 260k+, still runs great city and highway! Such an awesome buy: for $1000 I got excellent fuel economy, (better than my friend's 05 Intrepid), power sunroof, studded winter tires etc..

Minor issues:

Driver's power window comes off track

Fan is stuck on dash/floor setting can't switch to defrost

Radio needs a good smack once in a while haha

Driver side CV joint has started grumbling.. probably just needs a repack and new boot.

I am definitely a Toy fan 4 life, and this car will last that long!

13th Nov 2010, 10:21

A question. Sluggish in 1st gear from a start, just got the car, runs great, been sitting for some time. Just a thought; maybe change trans filter and oil? Please let me know.

tcory1970@yahoo.com

11th Oct 2011, 19:03

Re. starting problem, I've had two cars that had this elusive problem, and it turned out to be the pick-up coil in the distributor on one, and some electronic black-box gizmo on the distributor on the Subaru, decades ago -- that might have been a pickup coil too. The pickup coil is about the first thing I would try for a "weird or random" starting problem, since even after months of testing at the dealership, they couldn't figure it out on #1 vehicle mentioned above. :( The test that showed it at a GOOD shop was hooking the car up to an oscilloscope and letting it run until it randomly stalled out, and seeing what was what (?) (its other symptom = when it did start, it would randomly stall and then not start -- sometimes for days, sometimes minutes).