Had an oil leak last year at about 41,000 miles.
Leather cracked on the armrest.
Has an issue with the left turn. When turning all the way to the left, the car now makes a heavy rubbing sound. It is as if the tires are rubbing on some internal instruments, because of this, I avoid turning completely left, which solves the issue.
Biggest issue has been that the oil started leaking. Had to replace a part, I think it may be the head gasket, costs $500 in replacement and repair costs. Happened at 56,000 miles.
The Camry is a relatively reliable ride in the beginning of its lifespan, but as you hit 50,000-60,000 miles, issues start to appear. Apparently the head gasket issue is common among 97 Camry owners.
It's got decent power on the road, the gas pedal feels very easy to step on and doesn't accelerate quickly from a light tap on the gas.
The interior has a lot of room and is very comfortable, there is also a lot of trunk space.
The only issue is with the maintenance costs, which tend to be pretty high.
The 97 camry is a great car I have had mine 5+ yrs. it had 72000 miles on it then it now has 125000 miles. on it and has not leaked a bit of oil and doesn't burn oil either...if your having an oil problem must be do to the driving conditions the engine is under (i.e. heavy foot high revving, aggressive driving causes motors to any motor to leak from numerous places) All the camry owners I've talked with have never had that problem..
They do leak. My 97 had signs of leaks from the driveway to the engine block. This is after the car hit 70k miles. While I had the gaskets replaced, I was advise to replace the timing belt. Soon thereafter, water pump had to be replaced.
After 78k miles, the composite portion of the radiator cracked and that had to be replaced. The steering joints will need to be regreased to avoid stiction and sluggish steering, do this if you lived in a very rainy part of the world.
This is my wife's daily driver. She does not have a lead foot and I look over the maintenance. It is a good car, just not as bullet proof as our past '87 Camry.
This is our 2nd Camry, I would love to get the '07 as a replacement, but I will wait for the '08 when all the flaws of the first batch are sorted out and figure out how to tell by the VIN or model number if the car was assembled in Kentucky or Japan. The Japan assembled Camry seem to have less Quality Control issues.
Only 3 out of 5 million Camrys in our market are from Japan... better buy a Honda... more likely to find a JHM honda...
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