1990 Toyota Camry DX review from North America
"This car is very durable, dependable, and cheap to operate"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Front and rear oil seals needed to be replaced on the motor at about 200,000 miles.
Both lower ball joints needed to be replaced at 217,000 miles.
Control arm bushings needed to be replaced at the same time as the ball joints.
Flexible coupling in the exhaust pipe wore out at about 210,000 miles.
Replaced the radiator due to the fins starting to disintegrate near the bottom.
Alternator went at about the same time as the oil seals.
Both the front and rear struts needed to be replaced.
Drivers seat is starting to wear badly.
General comments?
I got this car from my dad after he had used it to drive to work every day for two years and now I average about 400 miles of highway travel every weekend going back and forth to school with few problems.
It has not required any major repairs in the time we have owned it. Almost all of the repairs that have been done resulted from normal wear and the high mileage that this vehicle has and I was able to perform the majority of the work myself.
The front wheel drive on this car is excellent in the snow and for winter driving is almost as good as my 4 wheel drive pickup.
The transmission is slow to engage in drive when it is cold and would occasionally overheat when I got off of the highway after 3 1/2 hours of driving. A bottle of Lucas trans fix took care of the overheating, but did not fix the delay in engaging.
The driver's seat is showing signs of wear and could benefit from better lumbar support but is still fairly comfortable even after 3 hours on the interstate I will probably be replacing it this winter.
Overall it is very dependable and will start in even the coldest weather. It was parked for over a month and it still fired right up as soon as I turned the key.
With my driving habits it will average between 33 and 35 miles per gallon on the highway.
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| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Yes |
| Model year | 1990 |
| Year of manufacture | 1990 |
| First year of ownership | 2002 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2006 |
| Engine and transmission | 2.0 liter 4-cylinder Automatic |
| Performance marks | 8 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 9 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 7 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 7 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 177000 miles |
| Most recent distance | 218732 miles |
| Previous car | Chevrolet K2500 |
| Date of Entry | 17th December, 2006 |