1990 Toyota Camry DX review from North America

FYI I got the car with a used engine in it (app. 85,000-90,000 miles on it).

When I got the car, I had to put in $500 because the car was shaking like crazy and had no power. Turns out it was a cracked intake manifold, there were a bunch of dead old gaskets that needed replacing, and I had a head gasket leak (which remains to this day as it would be $600-$900 to fix)

I had to patch up a number of rust holes. They weren't bad for a Camry of this year however, but the rust is already coming back.

The rear passenger door is not functional. The door rusted out quickly at the hinge. A used door at a junk car place is at least $100. Worth it in the long run, but I have yet to fork it out.

I replaced the muffler.

The left blinker refuses to engage and instead makes an annoying buzzing sound.

The overdrive will not engage until the car is well warmed up. I am not sure if it is a common Camry design, but at any rate it is annoying when you start right up onto the highway and can't get over 40mph without over-revving the engine.

Engine stalls after lengthy highway driving.

Noticable lack of performance, increasingly in hot weather.

Often shaky. (most of these might be attributed to head gasket leak)

With the head gasket going out, the car is performanceless and begging for lots of cash to go into it. I'm not satisfied, and am getting rid of it. Camrys in general are wonderful cars. I've just managed to find a sadder car of the bunch.

Being foreign and all, these aren't the cheapest cars to keep on the road. What they have going for them is reliability, which keeps you from putting all the cash into them. If you aren't lucky enough to have such a deal, it hurts to keep going.

Common problems: rust, money, aesthetic appeal, room (for a family/cargo friendly vehicle anyway)