1988 Toyota Camry LE review from North America

The Camry has been sitting in a driveway for two years before I bought it in 2004.

The immediate repairs were minimal.. it needed new brakes and rotors, as well as a new battery. We replaced the spark plugs and fuel filter, as well as a much needed oil change.

It also needed a completely new exhaust system.

The transmission went last summer. Just stopped. It gave no warning, it just gave out. Needed replaced.

The alternator drained the battery.. once again, it just stopped working one day (while I had the dog at the park... fun.) Both needed replaced.

The original distributer cap leaked, causing it to stall out when accelerating from a complete stop when it was wet. We replaced the distributer cap, though it still does this. :o\

The rust is... bad. It was pretty bad when I bought the car, over the wheel wells, and a little spot by the gas tank cover. Now the holes, though patched, are rusting around the patching, and nasty rust spots have developed in the door wells.

It has started leaking oil everywhere, from everything. The guys at the oil-change place said it was leaking from everywhere, and that there was nothing they could do about it. Though, they tightened the oil cap, and voila... it isn't leaking nearly as much.

The driver's door power window does not work, though it just needs a motor. The driver's door lock also doesn't work, neither does the trunk. So basically my only working lock is the passenger side.

Great on gas!

Runs awesome when it isn't raining.

The interior is nicely designed. It's little, but not so little you feel trapped. The seats are comfy too.

The power everything is nice.

It fires right up, even on really cold days. The heather heats up quickly too. The engine keeps cool in the summer as well. The AC needs charged, but that works well also.

Its gotten be back and forth to college for two years now, usually without incident, though when raining or especially wet outside the car in unpredictable.

It's a nice looking car, and if that darned rust would just ease up, it would be awesome.

Despite all the repairs, it really is the best $500 I ever spent. It has its problems, most of which have been repaired, but usually is surprises me with how good of a car it is. Now, if we could just figure out what causes the problem in the rain...