2000 Toyota Camry LE from North America - Comments

Brakes don't last long.

Alternator went out at 60000 and 100000 miles (should last over 100k).

Automatic transmission slips and gurgles.

Lemon issue -- car has a circuit board to tell you when the rear lights are out; the board has a hot spot that burns out, that part is over $350, a $350 part to tell you that $10 worth of light bulbs are out. By the way, this part fails on over 80% of the cars, and almost 100% with time.

The EGR system had 2 valves fail at around 120K miles, both of these are around $150 to $300 for the parts, this is probably due to the recall motor that cooks oil, thus junking up the EGR system with soot.

Then we have the ol' EVAP problem, where the owners first see the check engine light, and the dealers/shops tell them to replace the gas caps, WRONG. Then they tell you the charcoal canister and associated valves have to be replaced (P0446), they rather replace all the parts than trouble shoot. The problem here is probably a result of a negative pressure system being located lower than the gas tank, so the canister fills up with gas over time instead of being purged properly. By the way, the system is designed to collect those fumes emitted while filling the tank, but when it fails it spits about a gallon of gas out on the driveway, Go Figure. I had mine diagnosed, and all components passed, and I am still driving. I believe the canister just needs long drives to purge properly. Try keeping less than a full tank, maybe will help. Oh, this is a $600 replacement.

Then we have the popcorn noises in the front suspension when driving through a bumping parking lot. This is allegedly failure of strut supports, that apparently fail every 60k. Go figure, a suspension part only lasting 60k, just in time to buy a new car if you follow the dealer mentality.

Oh yeah, I had to replace a rear left bearing; I was able to take mine to a machine shop and did the repair for under a $100, but the dealer sells you an "assembly" for over $300. That will get rid of any whining noises in the rear, "sounds like road noise".

Oh, don't forget the motor that cooks oil, causing sludging problems. The sludge blocks pores designed for oil to flow through and lube the motor properly. This sludge problem causes owners to change oil every 3000 miles instead of 6000, causes oil breakdown, cause premature motor failure, causing the engine emission problems.

The 2000 Camry is the lemon of Toyotas and other cars.

The 2000 Camry is the lemon of all Toyotas; no wonder they were redesigned shortly there after, and again in 2006.

Sorry about your bad experience with the Camry, but I don't believe the problems are limited to the 2000 model. I owned a 2004 that had a whole host of problems. I have owned six cars in my life and the Camry was by far the worst!

Wow. I have owned Camrys since the 90's. No problem. My current Camry has 130,000 on it. I am surprised because only until recently have I replaced any parts. I changed the battery a couple of months ago as a precaution. I've done two sets of front brakes and never did the rear ones. I am on my third set of tires. Gosh, the only "special" things I've done is the resistor that provides speed control for the interior fan ($35). Right now I am researching the engine light issue that just came on ($150 so far for O2 sensors). That's it man. On the other two Camrys I replaced only the tires on one.

I also own a 2000 Camry LE. Yes, my check engine light is on but, the dealer replaced this under warranty at 115,000 miles. It was evident with the white smoke and I guess because Toyota is taking care of the problem.

However, I still have a check engine light that is on. From what I can tell; I either need to replace the charcoal canister, VSV solenoid, oxygen sensor, catalytic converter, or just don't fill the tank up to full. Who knows... Anyway, I am determined to solve this as my wife can't stand the light being on.

I too own a 2000 Toyota Camry... but I have had no problems with it and it has 180,000 miles on it.. The check engine light is on but it's only because of my air filter lid sensor... other than that it drives like it's new still... I like the car personally...It's an import, can't go wrong with them...

Sorry to hear about your problems with your Camry. I just traded in my 2000 Camry for another 2000 model. Mine had 200000 miles and never once had a light come on, had the original alternator and starter, and even had the original back brakes. It was the best car that I had ever owned, but I found this other one with 90 thousand miles and decided to buy it. I can say that it did use a little more oil than I thought it should have, but I kept an eye on it, and never had any problems.

I have no problems with both of mine, replaced sway bar linkage on both recently, but what can you expect, one has 360 000 on it and the other has 370 000 on it. Great gas mileage too.

I just bought a 2000 Camry LE. It has the problem with the engine light on. I had it diagnosed by a Toyota dealer. It is the EGR system problem. It is a failure of VSV (vacuum switch valve), but they want to charge me $1100. Too high price for this.

They said it maybe a failure from the ECU, which will charge at least $800 for part cost.

My car is worth only 5000 with a 10K miles now. But this failure is too expensive.