You guys probably remembered my post to trouble shoot the warm start problem of my father in law's 97 Camry V6. Recently it went so bad that our daughter was stuck in school or his car is stuck in our driveway after the inlaws dropping her off at our home, about once a week or more. During the Thanksgiving weekend my wife and I suggested to him that we will buy them a "slightly used" car instead. The goal was to provide them with a replacement that will be under warranty for a long time while affordable for their daily routine (about 3 miles per weekday).
The car would have been a Hertz retired 2016 Hyundai Elantra with 82k miles. It would be $8100 and be under warranty for about 8 years with their usage. By then it would be a 10 year old car with around 100k miles, my oldest daughter would be 16 and youngest would be 13, and inlaws be 86 / 88 years old. It sounded just about right to me and my wife.
The idea was rejected for the following reason:
1) They are currently driving a then "top of the line" Camry V6 XLE, and "Nobody downgrade when replacing cars"
2) Mother in law thinks Elantra is too small inside, and the window glass is too small to look outward.
3) Mother in law cannot live with black interior, she needs at least grey but prefer beige, that rules out Hertz.
4) Father in law likes to stay with at least a Toyota Camry, prefer at least a SoftTex seat, and a V6 for smoothness and torque. Based on this he sort of ruled out LE, and he pretty much wants at least an SE if not XLE or XSE.
5) Because we are trying to replace an aging car for reliability over 10 years, it makes no sense to look for something that has little warranty year left (remember they do not drive much, so warranty will expire in years first).
6) Father in law will pay for another 7k to move the budget to 15k from 8k, but it is still not enough to get what "he wants" and what "mother in law wants" ($14.3k if retired SE from Hertz, $19k if SE from other dealers with beige interior, $27k V6 XSE/XLE with extended warranty).
As a result, I would not be helping them with a replacement vehicle. Congratulation Mr. entitled baby boomer, no soup for you. What I am planning to do now, is to "throw parts at the old Camry" to replace anything that can cause reliability issues 10 years down the road in a warm climate with no rust concern. Basically, I want anything that won't last 30 years and 200k miles on that Camry replaced as preventive maintenance.
I'm coming up with a list right now, can you think of anything that I've missed? Which one should I buy reman which one should I buy new?
1. Alternator (reman?)
2. Starter (reman?)
3. Radiator (new any brand)
4. Radiator Hose (new)
5. Timing belt, accessory belts (new, reputable brand)
6. Water pump (new Denso or Aisin)
7. Radiator cap (new OEM)
8. IACV (which brand?)
9. Coil over plug (which brand?)
10. Plugs (Densor or NGK)
11. Thermostat (OEM)
12. Injector (which brand?)
13. Fuel pump (Denso?) and strainer
14. Fuel filter (any brand)
15. Fuel pressure regulator (which brand?)
16. Air filter (any brand)
17. EGR (clean or replace, new or reman?)
18. Exhaust manifold gasket (Fel-Pro)
19. Valve cover gasket (Fel-Pro)
20. Oil pan gasket (Fel-Pro)
21. Timing belt idler pulley (Timken if available, buy with timing belt kit)
22. O2 sensors (Denso or NTK)
23. CV axles / shafts if boot cracked (technically I can ignore it if it is only city driving, OEM)
24. Any other sensors like ECT/CTS, MAP/MAF, Knock, crank angle / position?
25. Anything on the power steering?
26. Anything I've missed?
Things already done long time ago:
1. Struts (KYB GR2)
2. ATF change
3. battery
The car would have been a Hertz retired 2016 Hyundai Elantra with 82k miles. It would be $8100 and be under warranty for about 8 years with their usage. By then it would be a 10 year old car with around 100k miles, my oldest daughter would be 16 and youngest would be 13, and inlaws be 86 / 88 years old. It sounded just about right to me and my wife.
The idea was rejected for the following reason:
1) They are currently driving a then "top of the line" Camry V6 XLE, and "Nobody downgrade when replacing cars"
2) Mother in law thinks Elantra is too small inside, and the window glass is too small to look outward.
3) Mother in law cannot live with black interior, she needs at least grey but prefer beige, that rules out Hertz.
4) Father in law likes to stay with at least a Toyota Camry, prefer at least a SoftTex seat, and a V6 for smoothness and torque. Based on this he sort of ruled out LE, and he pretty much wants at least an SE if not XLE or XSE.
5) Because we are trying to replace an aging car for reliability over 10 years, it makes no sense to look for something that has little warranty year left (remember they do not drive much, so warranty will expire in years first).
6) Father in law will pay for another 7k to move the budget to 15k from 8k, but it is still not enough to get what "he wants" and what "mother in law wants" ($14.3k if retired SE from Hertz, $19k if SE from other dealers with beige interior, $27k V6 XSE/XLE with extended warranty).
As a result, I would not be helping them with a replacement vehicle. Congratulation Mr. entitled baby boomer, no soup for you. What I am planning to do now, is to "throw parts at the old Camry" to replace anything that can cause reliability issues 10 years down the road in a warm climate with no rust concern. Basically, I want anything that won't last 30 years and 200k miles on that Camry replaced as preventive maintenance.
I'm coming up with a list right now, can you think of anything that I've missed? Which one should I buy reman which one should I buy new?
1. Alternator (reman?)
2. Starter (reman?)
3. Radiator (new any brand)
4. Radiator Hose (new)
5. Timing belt, accessory belts (new, reputable brand)
6. Water pump (new Denso or Aisin)
7. Radiator cap (new OEM)
8. IACV (which brand?)
9. Coil over plug (which brand?)
10. Plugs (Densor or NGK)
11. Thermostat (OEM)
12. Injector (which brand?)
13. Fuel pump (Denso?) and strainer
14. Fuel filter (any brand)
15. Fuel pressure regulator (which brand?)
16. Air filter (any brand)
17. EGR (clean or replace, new or reman?)
18. Exhaust manifold gasket (Fel-Pro)
19. Valve cover gasket (Fel-Pro)
20. Oil pan gasket (Fel-Pro)
21. Timing belt idler pulley (Timken if available, buy with timing belt kit)
22. O2 sensors (Denso or NTK)
23. CV axles / shafts if boot cracked (technically I can ignore it if it is only city driving, OEM)
24. Any other sensors like ECT/CTS, MAP/MAF, Knock, crank angle / position?
25. Anything on the power steering?
26. Anything I've missed?
Things already done long time ago:
1. Struts (KYB GR2)
2. ATF change
3. battery