1997 Toyota Camry LE V6

Summary:

Good enough for me

Faults:

At 150,000 miles the rear passenger window switch stopped working.

Sometime around 150,000 miles the interior plastic trim came off the back bottom corner of the front seats (most likely kicked off by one of my three kids)

Some of the plastic trim on the front passenger side has come off.

At about 130,000 miles the drivers side power window panel came loose from the armrest, it still sits in place, but the back end flips up when you use the switch for the rear windows.

At 190,000 miles my gas mileage went from 28 miles per gallon highway to 24. Cutting my speed from cruising at 83 miles an hour to 77 brought it back up to 28.

General Comments:

I have put a lot of miles on this car and have never had to put any money into it for breakdowns. Fluid changes, filters, belts, tires, struts and such are all I have had to do.

I can tell that the engine is getting a little tired, it still isn't using any oil, but it has lost power.

I get a lot of road noise. I blame most of that on the body shop that repainted after it was hailed out in 2002.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 12th October, 2006

1997 Toyota Camry XLE 3.0 Liter V6

Summary:

Reliability is overrated!!

Faults:

Thermostat @ 115K, rack and pinion @ 123K, power steering pump @ 123K, suspension is beginning to rattle now @ 130K. Now they say timing belt needs replaced.

General Comments:

Bought car on the preface of "Toyota reliability". I was told that these cars need no work until after 200K. I was also told that buying a Toyota with 100K was equal to buying any domestic vehicle that had only 50K. I can say that the whole "reliability" thing is pure farce, created by a foreign-loving media. I have owned a 1994 Mercury Cougar V8 that ran until 220K with no issues whatsoever, and I can't say the same for the Toyota.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 15th March, 2006

16th Mar 2006, 14:56

While I'll agree imports are overrated..., the fact is that you don't know squat about cars.

Its used with 100,000 miles. It'll only be a dream car like you've heard only if the previous owner babied it. I'm assuming the last owner wasn't too bad to it, but stuff

happens.

Thermostat? No answer for that, it goes sometimes.

Rack and pinion? Wearable part that will eventually need to be replaced.

Power steering pump? again, a wearable part that gave out, probably due to the driving of the previous owner.

Suspension? Another very common wearable part, you can't expect it to stay perfect forever, seals leak, valves leak, springs get worn, pistons wear out...

It probably needs struts too.

Timing belt? Another common wearable part that is supposed to be replaced every 60000-70000 miles so yes, yours is due for a new one. Unfortunately, that's how it works.

"I was told that these cars need no work until after 200K. "

Psshhhttt, yeah whatever makes your Toyota loving friends sleep at night. You have to change the oil as well, seeing as the car can't change it itself, nor run on the same 4 qts for 9 years. Same with filters (air and oil)...

"I was also told that buying a Toyota with 100K was equal to buying any domestic vehicle that had only 50K. "

False, depends on the model (Dodge Intrepid? LOL) and how the previous owner treated it.

"I can say that the whole "reliability" thing is pure farce, created by a foreign-loving media."

What media? It's all advertising and who wants to spend the most.

That Mercury is a good car with the V8. I had a Thunderbird 93 with the 5.0; loved that car until it got T boned, passenger side, luckily by someone running a stop sign.

*sigh*

12th Oct 2006, 15:13

Very well put the last comment. I agree that the japanese cars are overrated (actually I am a Chrysler Intrepid owner with more than 100k miles on it, and besides of the regular maintenance just small things gone wrong with it), but no matter what car you own, as long you take care of it, she will respect you. I do this and the car is in a perfect shape.

Two weeks ago I did myself the whole work related to the timing belt replacing and the car runs like new. And again, I agree with the last comment that is wise to do all the related parts replacements in the same time. I spent for all (timing belt, water pump, belt's tensioner) 300CAD and of course, time. And you don't need to be a mechanic to do this, just common sense and some reading (I am not a mechanic, and I did the whole job inside of my garage).

And bottom line, maybe the job that you do for yourself might be better than one provided by a rushed guy from a shop. After reading the initial review, I realized that Toyota involved in this discussion worth every penny...