Bought a Toyota even more boring than The Critic's

[michaelluscher]

It's a symphony of hearing aid beige

Perfect first car, but I'm biased as I like my Camry

Being for a kid, he'll probably want to do fun kid stuff with it like put in a headunit, maybe add a backup camera

Remote start even 😬

It should serve a new driver well

I'd recommend a dashcam

 

[michaelluscher]

I bought a 25' roll of 5/16 coated steel line. Gonna use compression fittings near both ends to splice into the factory stuff.

Looks like the tank has to drop, bummer. Hope I can get it around the exhaust. This is a project that will wait as the temperature's dropping into the negatives.

Please no compression fittings in brake lines

Isn't that illegal? Or at least very wrong?

It'll fail inspection in my state

 

[fsdork]

...So now it's home and I'm going through it. Original sale was to an old lady born in 1937! 2012 saw a timing belt, likely recommended due to age, at 26k miles. Rockers are intact but fuel lines to the tank need replacement. Brake lines were done, and by an extraordinarily tidy mechanic. Car also needs struts on all four corners, is rolling on 4 snow tires with 4/32 remaining, and has a wrecked spare in the trunk. Size 195-70r14, LOL.

Please no compression fittings in brake lines

Isn't that illegal? Or at least very wrong?

It'll fail inspection in my state

 

[supton]

All this talk of buying a car for the kids...I had to save up and buy my own. Until that happened I was driving their old Cherokee and Acclaim when available.

I sound like such an old man

I agree, and had to buy my own hoopties as a teen driver. Thing is… around here one doesn’t get a job without a car. My oldest finally got his first job, so I get to drive him the 10 miles to work on Sat morn, then pick him up in the evening; repeat on Sun. Hard life I know, but when grandma felt the need to hand down her 17 year old well-worn CRV, I didn’t fight it. We’re working on getting that license right now.

Wife has to drive our “let’s do every extra-curricular activity” daughter around. She was the same way as a kid. So my daughter will get something also when the time rolls around—it might well be the same car as eljefino has going to my daughter. [My only holdup is lack of side airbags, that bugs me a bit.]

 

[Vikas]

Yeah those gabby struts are on the way, along with some generic 5/16 metal line to redo the fuel system. Plan is to get it inspectable then to make it lovely.

Still looking for cheap rear struts-- have had bad luck with ebay specials. Shocking! But I'll do the fronts and see where it's at.

This is my 3rd beige camry of this body style. First was a flop, second was a V6 win. link

What LiveFreeandDie still makes you inspect the car?

 

[Vikas]

So it was idling really really low, to the point of not starting if I didn't have my foot on the gas. Removed the TPS to clean it and was surprised that I only removed the magnetic windings that activate it via the little plastic cube under the throttle body. No matter, I grabbed a little brass thingie which felt like it was operating a small butterfly valve and moved it back and forth, put it all together, and the car decided to relearn how to idle. Fantastic!

But there's no glory without drama, and I busted the shifter cable for good. Set the e-brake, started her up, put it in gear to get it to a parking space, and ordered the part.

As for the fuel lines, steel got me 23 years, it'll get me another 23. I "thought" copper-nickel wasn't suitable for gasoline but it turns out it's fine.

Funny; that was one of the early repair on my 1999 Camry but drove it to the repair shop by opening the hood and "shifting" it at the gearbox! The OEM cable was expensive!

 

[rob1715]

If boring means starts right up, cold A/C, paid off, and gets me where I need to go, I'll take it. I'll also take $500 for yearly repairs compared to $5000 in yearly car payments.

 

[Wolf359]

Wife has to drive our “let’s do every extra-curricular activity” daughter around. She was the same way as a kid. So my daughter will get something also when the time rolls around—it might well be the same car as eljefino has going to my daughter. [My only holdup is lack of side airbags, that bugs me a bit.]

Just get a beater Mercedes, I'd say 2008/2009 E350. 8 airbags is standard along with Pre-safe which tightens the belts in case of a crash and Brake assist which gives you maximum braking when monitoring braking application speed. In addition to the two in the front, you get 4 side airbags 2 for the front and 2 in the rear plus two more side curtain airbags. Don't get the older models, they all have various issues. If you jump up to a 2010+, you end up with 9 airbags as standard, optional is 11.

Auto-Brochures | Mercedes-Benz Car & Truck PDF Sales Brochure/Catalog/Flyer/Info AMG C-Class CL-Class CLK-Class CLS-Class E-Class G-Class GL-Class GLC-Class GT Maybach M-Class Metris ML-Class R-Class S-Class SL-Class SLK-Class SLS-Class Sprinter X-Cl

McLaren car pdf sales brochures, catalogs and electronic media

www.auto-brochures.com

2009 MERCEDES BENZ E350 - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle...

One owner car runs and drives well interior in perfect condition no dents on the exterior abs light is on and i think it needs a service like oil change and minor stuff like that I was selling the...

newyork.craigslist.org

mercedes E350 2009 4Matic - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle...

2009 E350 4 matic white/beige leather interior fully loaded 2nd owner 186k runs and drives great always serviced books an records garaged kept never in accident car is from Boston everything works...

newyork.craigslist.org

2008 E350 Mercedes - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive...

Excellent-safe commuter car Well maintained by Mercedes dealership with new battery & tires , no check engine lights, clean non smoker and all highways miles. Clean title , registered &...

nh.craigslist.org

2009 Mercedes E350 - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive...

I’m selling a 2009 Mercedes E350 Vehicle runs very well no check engine lights recently passed inspection fully loaded for the 2009 year navigation Bluetooth no black up camera come for a drive test...

longisland.craigslist.org

 

[eljefino]

So to be clear it's 18 months before Junior gets his license, this is a car to learn on. Which is why I'm happy it doesn't have backup cameras but does have good sight lines and an average amount of safety gear for the period. If it gets transferred to his exclusive use is a future decision. He is saving up on his own-- he's seen me flip enough cars he doesn't know-know this is "his."

He does a bunch of track stuff and it'll be a load off wifey's back when he can finally drive himself all over for meets. Success in track= college scholarships.

In other news, Walmart is having a rollback on tires to make up for all the money they're getting on oil, so I'm getting a set... they're named after a prison... SUPERMAX!

The Mercedes advice, I live BITOG. This one has aiktovi all over it-- photographed in front of someone else's house. I notice no NYS registration sticker so it's a dealer/flipper.

 

[supton]

Just get a beater Mercedes, I'd say 2008/2009 E350. 8 airbags is standard along with Pre-safe which tightens the belts in case of a crash and Brake assist which gives you maximum braking when monitoring braking application speed. In addition to the two in the front, you get 4 side airbags 2 for the front and 2 in the rear plus two more side curtain airbags. Don't get the older models, they all have various issues. If you jump up to a 2010+, you end up with 9 airbags as standard, optional is 11.

Auto-Brochures | Mercedes-Benz Car & Truck PDF Sales Brochure/Catalog/Flyer/Info AMG C-Class CL-Class CLK-Class CLS-Class E-Class G-Class GL-Class GLC-Class GT Maybach M-Class Metris ML-Class R-Class S-Class SL-Class SLK-Class SLS-Class Sprinter X-Cl

McLaren car pdf sales brochures, catalogs and electronic media

www.auto-brochures.com

2009 MERCEDES BENZ E350 - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle...

One owner car runs and drives well interior in perfect condition no dents on the exterior abs light is on and i think it needs a service like oil change and minor stuff like that I was selling the...

newyork.craigslist.org

mercedes E350 2009 4Matic - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle...

2009 E350 4 matic white/beige leather interior fully loaded 2nd owner 186k runs and drives great always serviced books an records garaged kept never in accident car is from Boston everything works...

newyork.craigslist.org

2008 E350 Mercedes - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive...

Excellent-safe commuter car Well maintained by Mercedes dealership with new battery & tires , no check engine lights, clean non smoker and all highways miles. Clean title , registered &...

nh.craigslist.org

2009 Mercedes E350 - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive...

I’m selling a 2009 Mercedes E350 Vehicle runs very well no check engine lights recently passed inspection fully loaded for the 2009 year navigation Bluetooth no black up camera come for a drive test...

longisland.craigslist.org

Those are nice prices! Where would I take it for service though? I got tired of driving hour plus for a mechanic when I owned a VW. Surely a MB would be more complicated and beyond my hack diy skills.

To go this route, I’d have to find a local specialist who could do prepurchase inspection—I know nothing about MB, they are fancy cars that I don’t follow. A plane jane Camry, even if I chose wrong, they can be cheap to rectify, and even if I do it wrong, its not like it was a nice ride to begin with.

 

[Wolf359]

Those are nice prices! Where would I take it for service though? I got tired of driving hour plus for a mechanic when I owned a VW. Surely a MB would be more complicated and beyond my hack diy skills.

To go this route, I’d have to find a local specialist who could do prepurchase inspection—I know nothing about MB, they are fancy cars that I don’t follow. A plane jane Camry, even if I chose wrong, they can be cheap to rectify, and even if I do it wrong, its not like it was a nice ride to begin with.

Well if you really want a pre purchase inspection, it's really the MB dealer that can really go over it. Costs about an hour. I just take mine to an indy and I never really use the dealer. Basically there's nothing really complicated about them, you just need a scanner that can do MB specific codes. I can't think of too many repairs that only the dealer would be able to do, most stuff is just basic wrenching. My indy was really a Ford mechanic. About the only thing I've needed the dealer for is firmware updates, but the 2003-2009 doesn't really need any firmware updates, only the later 2010-2016 models. The navigation updated the firmware or you can find CDs out there with updated firmware. The forums are actually pretty good for basic DIY repairs, had my 2008 for the last 7+ years now.

 

[meep]

I enjoyed the route of enjoying n+1 beater volvos. By that I mean, they aren’t beaters yet, but the next owner will probably let it become. I’d buy them as the 2nd or third owner, still with enough life in them to repair to decent reliability, and then handed them down. The car price wasn’t so much the issue, but the insurance is what pinched.

my ex didn’t want them having cars, and wanted to delay their licenses. But both wanted to work, had jobs, bought their own gas, and me taking them everywhere at all hours was out of the question.

the one gotcha we learned, thankfully without incident - fast food deliveries. The manager where my daughter worked required them to deliver. Nobody understood that some personal insurance didn’t cover that, and the store didn’t either. That, and I was a little perturbed upon learning my 16yo daughter was fearlessly delivering as a minor to whomever called at night. Didn’t like that much in this day and age.

m

 

[michaelluscher]

I misread.

My bad.

Still, is it wise to use a compression fitting, when two flares and a union would be a tighter connection?

 

[The Critic]

Wife has to drive our “let’s do every extra-curricular activity” daughter around. She was the same way as a kid. So my daughter will get something also when the time rolls around—it might well be the same car as eljefino has going to my daughter. [My only holdup is lack of side airbags, that bugs me a bit.]

Aside from the side air bag issue, the 05 Corolla that I bought might be perfect for you. You and @JeffKeryk can fight over it. My sister is only planning to keep it for 2 years. It should have plenty of life left in it since it is completely rust-free!

 

[Wolf359]

Aside from the side air bag issue, the 05 Corolla that I bought might be perfect for you. You and @JeffKeryk can fight over it. My sister is only planning to keep it for 2 years. It should have plenty of life left in it since it is completely rust-free!

Naw, I think I talked him into getting a Mercedes, 8 air bags! I mean they do other safety things too like lightly apply the brakes so they're dry when it's raining. Never really hear about other auto makers that do that.

 

[eljefino]

Still, is it wise to use a compression fitting, when two flares and a union would be a tighter connection?

It's easier, so, yes. LOL.

They're good for a few hundred PSI, fuel is only 60. If they leak you'll know right off the bat. Surface prep is important but it's just getting a square-ish cut then cleaning the end up with some few-hundred grit sandpaper.

 

[eljefino]

Coming live to BITOG from under the car...

The initial dampness is PB blaster. The most outboard line is pressurized fuel, the inner two are EVAP.

For anyone doing this, it takes a while for fuel to drain, like it's siphoning through the pump. Good thing the tank's almost empty.

 

[Delta]

Vehicles rust so weird sometimes. My old Eagle for example, the rockers and shock tower are rusted pretty bad, but all the fuel/brake/EVAP lines are mint. Whereas your Camry it appears the body is good, but those lines are not.

 

[eljefino]

Strut time. And time to demonstrate my patented "cut 'em off" method of saving rusty end links.

The rust is always at the outer threads, so if you grind things flush, and put a little slot in for a screwdriver, you can work the nuts off, and even re-torque them for another day.

I'm chagrined these gabriel struts are fire engine red, but, hey, they were nine bucks.

 

[eljefino]

So far into it...

Car: $750
Tax/ Title/ Reg $220
4 tires, Supermax 195 70r14s, installed, $159.96
2 front Gabriel struts $37.90
Roll of 5/16" steel line $11
(5) 5/16 compression fittings, $5
one can Fluid Film $10.99
Front pads & rotors, $7.59 and $46.41. Pads were AC Delco ceramics from Amazon Warehouse and the rotors are white box "Autoshack."
Gallon of Valvoline Dex-Mer $14
ATP B-121 Premium filter kit, $21-- yet to be installed, got it for the "better" gasket. This is the only premium part I've selected.
Tranny drain plug gaskets, $4.45
Champion 318 sparks $5.88
Set Anco wiper blades, $3.88
RA Shipping charges not otherwise declared $9.99
4 quarts Maxlife 5w30 and Champ filter, $5.58
15 zip ties $0.30
Shift cable $26.36
Will go in for state inspection on Wednesday, $18.50. Could be something I missed, in which case, the total will go up.

Total $1358.79