Good idea or no?

[zerosoma]

Been looking at a used less gas-thirsty daily driver for my wife. We are keeping both our current vehicles and this one will be kind of our [censored]. Our two vehicles are pretty good and run fine, thought we may have had issues with our Hyundai but we decided to keep it. Anyhow, was looking at a '99 Camry XLE V6 (among others but liked this Camry the best). Has some front end damage that looks ugly but the interior is good and it drives very smooth. Brakes are good, alignment is good, accelleration is sharp. Has 180k on it. Has Salvage title due to the front end collision as the insurance wrote it off (wish I could describe it better but the grill is smashed in and one headlight is missing).

Issues - sludgy engine, know this engine is a prone sludger. Was able to scrape out some sludge 1/16" thick on the wall under the oil fill cover. Mentioned it to the guy and my disdain (future leverage). Know it will probably need some TLC but I didn't notice any rough driving or idling.

Will need headlights/blinkers replaced as they were obliterated from the front end collision. Blinkers do not work in the front. Haven't tested the headlights as it was broad daylight but will test again if I'm seriously considering nabbing it.

Okay, now since we got all of that uglyness out of the way they want $1650 for it. There's no way I'd sucker up and pay that much for it but I'm pretty sure with some charm I could get them to $1k out the door. At the very most I'd pay $1,250. KBB Fair Blue Book Value lists it as $3,250.

Wife drives 25-30 miles 5 times a week or more. I use our Prius to my managerial job 60 miles away. She uses our Santa Fe as it's less miles. I took the Hyundai to my job due to bad roads last week and measured the MPG. Even at a meager 50mph I got 14 MPG. Now I know why she's complaining about filling up $40 every week. Camry is supposed to get roughly 22-24 somewhere in there. Not looking to make this Camry our pride and joy but even if one of our other vehicles ends up in the shop for maintenance or whatever we will still have two vehicles. Yeah, so...$1k?

 

[BigCahuna]

A 14 year old car with collision damage, 180k miles on it, and a salvage title for $1650? What's the procedure in SD, for getting a car like that on the road? In new jersey you have to jump thru hoops with repair reciept's and inspections for them to let you put it on the road.And saying salvage on the title reduces the value big time. That seems way to much money and trouble for what you get in the end.My 2 cents.,,

 

[KD0AXS]

If you're looking for something to save gas, I'd look for something that gets better mileage than that. We paid $1000 for our Saturn with no repairs needed, and it gets 30+ MPG.

 

[zerosoma]

Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
A 14 year old car with collision damage, 180k miles on it, and a salvage title for $1650? What's the procedure in SD, for getting a car like that on the road? In new jersey you have to jump thru hoops with repair reciept's and inspections for them to let you put it on the road.And saying salvage on the title reduces the value big time. That seems way to much money and trouble for what you get in the end.My 2 cents.,,


Yeah, this is all ammunition for me to get the price as low as I can. Like I said I want to try to get it down to $1k, maybe less. It runs fine it just looks ugly. And yes I'll have to replace one headlight and two blinkers, not sure how much that will cost but I mentioned it to the guy. Either I (or some other knowledgeable guy with savvy haggling skills) will get it for a low cost or somebody else really ends up getting ripped off

 

[HerrStig]

I 4 or V6? There's a whole forum on ToyotaNation about what is called the "Gen 4" for short. Pretty good cars, though not as high "content" as the previous model, the 92-96, but with the davance in technology the Gen 4 has more room for the same weight. I have a Gen 4 in the fleet with almost 300K on it. Engin and trans untouched. The V6 comes with 15 inch wheels in '99, the 4 only has 14's stock, and drums in the back, the car really needs 15s and got them in the last year of the production run. If you are going to replace the front calipers on an I4 for any reason, bigger Avalon and/or ES300 brakes bolt right on as long as you have 15 inch wheels. Cost isn't much different.
There's a ton of stuff on the 'net in aftermarket parts. Rear bumper cover, for example for 80 bucks, unpainted. 1A Autoparts
has most of the lighting fixtures, though there are many sources for those. Radiators from Amazon and others in the 100 dollar range. A Gen 4, with 15 inch wheels, the right offset, and say, 205-60-15 inch tires is a good looking car.
If I could find another Gen 4 V6 in an old guy's garage with the famous 20 or 30 K on it, I'd snap it up.

 

[fdcg27]

This sounds like an old and unloved car that may have other issues that seller hasn't bothered to disclose.
Just because you can buy something that appears functional cheaply doesn't make it a good deal.
Also, whatever you pay for a third car and then spend making it acceptable to you and your wife would buy a whole lot of fuel for the thirsty Santa Fe.
If you really want a third car/beater/hauler, I'd consider either a pickup or a minivan.
Either could be picked up pretty cheaply in decent condition and either would give you the ability to haul outsize items as needed.
It is nice to have a spare vehicle around, especially one you're not trying to keep pristine in and out.

 

[zerosoma]

HerrStig, it's a V6.

Looks like to replace both headlights/blinkers (I'd rather just do the whole job rather than do a blinker here and a light there) I'm looking at roughly $110 in parts. Not as bad as I'd thought. So if this is fixed all we need to do is address the sludging issue. The grill looks ugly but I can still pop the hood.

And yeah if we can find a Corolla for this cheap we would do it. My other choices so far I've seen a Pontiac Sunfire 2002 for $2k that drove good but had very loud accelleration (VVVVVVOOOOOM). 117k on it. Not too fond of that car. The other one was a Pontiac (I like them) GT, $1500 but had some serious steering issues and possible power steering replacement needed. Lights on the dash all over the place. I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

I'm serious about staying under $2,000 and the wife wants to spend even less should we take this step. I realize the Camry is a V6 and would not provide the mpgs that the i4 would, but even having the extra car around (I know you guys know what I'm talking about) to drive in case of emergency and to do hobby work on is nice.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

It sounds more like a money pit than a sound money saving idea. Will an insurance company even insure something that bad? Especially since (per your description) it's not even currently road worthy?

 

[NHGUY]

That generation Camry has a rear suspension bushing issue.The track bar that keeps the rear wheels in alignment pivot off a bushing driven into the rear knuckle assembly.This bushing when it goes,allows a lot of rear end movement (feels like the rear end is on ice).Toyota does not sell that bushing separately,you must buy a $200-300 knuckle/wheel bearing assembly with the bushing already installed.And just wait when Toyota disontinues it...sorta puts a hole in the theory that Toyotas can last forever (without dealer support for parts....how can they last forever??).

 

[bepperb]

1500 for a beater, plus another 500 put aside to fix whatever and the insurance for a third car would have bought a lot of gas. Even at 15mpg, the break even is probably longer than you can expect a 15 year old salvage title car to last:

30 miles 5 times a week is 150 miles. 15 miles a gallon is 10 gallons a week. 4 dollars a gallon is 40 bucks. Hmm, 2000 for the car divided by 40 a week for gas is 50 weeks. So this car is going to cost you roughly a year worth of gas. How long is it going to take to repay that, at 10 extra miles a gallon? Five years plus. Is this going to last that long?

At least get a beater with better mileage. But from a financial perspective this doesn't make much sense.

 

[Dave Hess]

Civic or Corolla.

 

[Win]

No.

 

[zerosoma]

Originally Posted By: bepperb
1500 for a beater, plus another 500 put aside to fix whatever and the insurance for a third car would have bought a lot of gas. Even at 15mpg, the break even is probably longer than you can expect a 15 year old salvage title car to last:

30 miles 5 times a week is 150 miles. 15 miles a gallon is 10 gallons a week. 4 dollars a gallon is 40 bucks. Hmm, 2000 for the car divided by 40 a week for gas is 50 weeks. So this car is going to cost you roughly a year worth of gas. How long is it going to take to repay that, at 10 extra miles a gallon? Five years plus. Is this going to last that long?

At least get a beater with better mileage. But from a financial perspective this doesn't make much sense.


I've thought about that too. I know if I buy it this car has got to last to make it worth my while.

Thanks for the information, I have something else to chew on...will it even last long enough to make up for the cost...

 

[Rolla07]

Shouldnt the Santa Fe get much better mileage than that? If i were you I'd spend a few bucks figuring out why the Santa Fe is getting such bad mileage. Also the camry,a others have said mivht have other issues. Id be worried about a bent frame. Besides doing a little diy on the santa fe is alot less hassle than working on camry... And the gas savings will take awhile to catch up to cost of car after repair. Having to get it inspected might also be a pain.

 

[QuietPortage]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Civic or Corolla.

Yes. I'd lean toward a Corolla as they are less likely to have been owned by the boy racer crowd.

 

[simple_gifts]

Originally Posted By: KD0AXS
If you're looking for something to save gas, I'd look for something that gets better mileage than that. We paid $1000 for our Saturn with no repairs needed, and it gets 30+ MPG.


+1; if you want a good mileage car, get a good mileage car.

 

[KD0AXS]

Go to the cars & trucks section on Craigslist and put in a max price of $1500. You'll probably find plenty of cheap cars that have plenty of life left in them and get good gas mileage.

 

[Kuato]

Sorry zerosoma but there are too many little things adding up to "NO" with this vehicle.

 

[dishdude]

You're going to spend considerably more than you'll save, and be riding around in an old hooptie while at it.

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: Win
No.


+1