Faults:
Smell of rotten eggs from exhaust, leaks into car.
Strut mounts making noise at 70k.
Engine light stays on.
Airbag light stays on.
Cruise control switch replaced 3 times.
Window switch mount coming apart.
General Comments:
This car has been reliable, but maintenance costs are very high.
Smell of rotten eggs may require new cat converter, high cost to repair strut mounts, engine light problems and airbag light problems make this an expensive car to maintain. Some repairs cannot be done because dealers do not solve problems (engine light stays on.)
As for domestic cars, they have let me down over the past 20 years, so I went to Toyota. Much more expensive to own Chrysler or GM. Plymouth Voyager trans blew 2x, once at 44k and again at 177k.. had to junk it because of rust, bad AC, and engine shutting down for no reason (could not find cause.)... Chevies also gave me nothing but cancer rot on the bodies, bad trannies, knobs falling off and lousy fitting body parts. Careless engineering and lousy quality control on the assembly line is all I can think of.
Toyota needs to fix the smell of rotting flesh coming from exhaust on older Camrys. Also, GET RID Of the engine light problems and the STRUT MOUNT problems.
Otherwise, the cars are rugged and dependable if you maintain engine oil changes and tranny fluid.
Time to take trains and buses.
31st Jul 2009, 07:38
Good for you, and good luck with the Camry. I agree, they are excellent cars. I drove one for many years in South Africa, where they are still quite common. The Johannesburg high-way patrol ran several Camrys in the late nineties. I honestly could not fault my Camry, which was a company vehicle, used on very long runs, often with a 1 tonne trailer hooked up. A timeless shape, which still looks good in any modern car park. See you in the fast lane!