I am thinking of buying a 1997 Toyota Camry V6, but am confused about some of the comments. Owners claim the V6 has sludge problems. The dealer blames the customer for poor maintenance, the customer claims there is a defect in the engine. Over 3,000,000 V6 engines were made between 1997 and2001,yet only 3000 had sludge problems. If there was a defect wouldn't all the engines have the same problem?
I'm in Australia. I own 2 Camry's. and I know a few people who own Camry's. They and me have never had this 'sludge' problem, or even heard of it. Well I have, but only on this website. Must be the people who get sludge don't change their oil very often (thinking, 'she'll be right mate, it's a Toyota') or live in a cooler climate. But 0.1% of engines having this problem is not too bad going.
I've owned my 97 camry 3.0 since it was new and it has almost 200k on it. Change your oil on a regular basis and sludge shouldn't be an issue. Not a cheap car to fix, but a great car otherwise.
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