1997 Toyota Camry LE V6 from North America
Summary:
Good enough for me
Faults:
At 150,000 miles the rear passenger window switch stopped working.
Sometime around 150,000 miles the interior plastic trim came off the back bottom corner of the front seats (most likely kicked off by one of my three kids)
Some of the plastic trim on the front passenger side has come off.
At about 130,000 miles the drivers side power window panel came loose from the armrest, it still sits in place, but the back end flips up when you use the switch for the rear windows.
At 190,000 miles my gas mileage went from 28 miles per gallon highway to 24. Cutting my speed from cruising at 83 miles an hour to 77 brought it back up to 28.
General Comments:
I have put a lot of miles on this car and have never had to put any money into it for breakdowns. Fluid changes, filters, belts, tires, struts and such are all I have had to do.
I can tell that the engine is getting a little tired, it still isn't using any oil, but it has lost power.
I get a lot of road noise. I blame most of that on the body shop that repainted after it was hailed out in 2002.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 12th October, 2006
16th Mar 2006, 14:56
While I'll agree imports are overrated..., the fact is that you don't know squat about cars.
Its used with 100,000 miles. It'll only be a dream car like you've heard only if the previous owner babied it. I'm assuming the last owner wasn't too bad to it, but stuff
happens.
Thermostat? No answer for that, it goes sometimes.
Rack and pinion? Wearable part that will eventually need to be replaced.
Power steering pump? again, a wearable part that gave out, probably due to the driving of the previous owner.
Suspension? Another very common wearable part, you can't expect it to stay perfect forever, seals leak, valves leak, springs get worn, pistons wear out...
It probably needs struts too.
Timing belt? Another common wearable part that is supposed to be replaced every 60000-70000 miles so yes, yours is due for a new one. Unfortunately, that's how it works.
"I was told that these cars need no work until after 200K. "
Psshhhttt, yeah whatever makes your Toyota loving friends sleep at night. You have to change the oil as well, seeing as the car can't change it itself, nor run on the same 4 qts for 9 years. Same with filters (air and oil)...
"I was also told that buying a Toyota with 100K was equal to buying any domestic vehicle that had only 50K. "
False, depends on the model (Dodge Intrepid? LOL) and how the previous owner treated it.
"I can say that the whole "reliability" thing is pure farce, created by a foreign-loving media."
What media? It's all advertising and who wants to spend the most.
That Mercury is a good car with the V8. I had a Thunderbird 93 with the 5.0; loved that car until it got T boned, passenger side, luckily by someone running a stop sign.
*sigh*