1992 Toyota Camry SE 3.0L V6 from North America

Summary:

Overall a great car, new or old, reliable and competitive

Faults:

Let me first say that considering the condition of the body and model year, 185348km is most likely not the original mileage, but regardless, not many things have gone wrong, no major problems at least.

Front control arms went bad.

Brake line rusted and leaked.

Manual tranny does not shift smoothly, but still shifts.

Air conditioner broke.

HVAC controls jammed.

Gas cap broke off.

Flex pipe ripped.

Idles low at times.

No serious problems to report.

Trunk lock jammed.

General Comments:

This is a great car all around; it's roomy and powerful, the engine runs smoothly and pulls strong, and is so quiet that you can barely hear it, apart from a deep growl after 3000rpm, which is normal.

The ride is very smooth, but the bumps sometimes radiate though the body, suggesting that something may be wrong with the suspension. Due to a independent rear suspension, the car handles reasonably well, still it rolls a lot into turns.

The interior is large and comfortable, which makes long distance driving easy, considering that I bought this car for $1000, there is nothing left to be desired, judging by how the engines runs now, I can safely say that the engine will outlast the rest of the car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 25th July, 2010

28th Jul 2010, 22:10

That engine/tranny combo is very rare. My friend's mom owned a '91 Camry with the V6 and 5 speed, and I'll never forget how reliable it was and how smooth and strong that engine pulled. The gearing could have been better for highway travel, but the power of the car surprised many people. My buddy wrecked it at 138,000 miles and it still looked brand new, inside and out. What a waste. Almost all V6 Camry's from that era have the automatic transaxle. We have been looking for another 5-speed one in vain.

1992 Toyota Camry LE 2.2 from North America

Summary:

AMAZING

Faults:

Tranny blew at 430000.

Hole in exhaust at 502000; $200 bucks to fix, not gonna bother with it.

Brakes replaced at 490000.

General Comments:

AMAZING car, still runs great.

It's been owned by my family from day 1, and it's always been reliable. The cabin is still amazingly comfortable. No rust on car as of yet! Definitely pick one up.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 30th November, 2008

1992 Toyota Camry LE 4 cylinder 16v 2.2L from North America

Summary:

The 1992 Toyota Camry LE is a nice work horse

Faults:

Replaced 2 fuel sensors, 40,000.

Timing belt at 38,000.

Although the struts were good, they would squeak/groan at pot holes. Not much anymore.

General Comments:

Car has decent kick for a 2.2l 4 cylinder.

Great gas mileage.

Rear seats could be better.

Decent cabin and instrumentation, considering its age.

Decent stock sound system and speakers. Only it has 4 speakers.

Front seats are very comfortable.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 11th September, 2008

1992 Toyota Camry LE from North America

Summary:

Piece of fecal matter

Faults:

Motor mounts broke and damaged the power assisted steering unit, rack and all had to be replaced.

The coolant soured and ate up the radiator, water pump, and freeze plugs. The famous 100,000 mile coolant was an ill fated experiment.

The air conditioner broke twice and with the R12 and $900 for a rebuilt compressor, the cost was high.

CV boots twice.

General Comments:

Brakes, timing belts, oil changes, and other normal wear/maintenance items were done in a timely manner and the car wasn't abused. My young family at the time suffered economic loss from this nightmare of a car.

I will never ever buy a Toyota again. To think that this was the car of the year, pathetic. I could not sell and or trade this car in, because I wouldn't sleep well at night knowing that someone was had as I was.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 23rd August, 2008

9th Jul 2011, 16:14

You're right, it's junk. I had a bad experience. The Toyota V6 engine is no good junk.

10th Jul 2011, 12:24

Ad dollars have bought some very powerful myths over the years. Probably the biggest myth is that Japanese cars are somehow magically better than domestic brands. This was probably never true, and definitely hasn't been in nearly a decade. My experience with 80's Japanese imports was all bad, so I have not wasted any more money on imports in over 20 years. Not one of my new domestics has ever required a single repair in 100,000 miles.

I was very happy this week to see that a magazine long noted for Japanese car bias has rated the Ford Focus as the best compact in comparisons with all cars in its class (including the Honda Civic). In the same magazine the Chevy Volt was rated a better buy than the Lexus Corolla-based hybrid in spite of the fact that the Lexus actually costs 10 grand LESS. Disposable transmissions and recalls of more cars than some manufacturers have even made is making people aware of the truth about Japanese car reliability and quality. The myth is slowly but surely dying. Now the pressure is on Japan to keep up with Ford and GM.

View 248 more comments