AZjeff
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It's at a Lexus dealer and you're expecting a bargain? Thus thread took a strange turn, BITOG dissing any manual car is unheard of.
Spotted a unicorn: 2011 Camry with a manual
- Thread starter Elkins45
- Start date
I can’t imagine a Lexus dealer buys cars at auction to resell, so it must have been a trade in. I wonder who transitions from a manual Camry to a Lexus?
Interesting...I find an auto with an underpowered car MUCH more annoying than a manual. With a manual, just leave it in a lower gear...an auto is always trying to upshift, then you have to wait for an anemic transmission to downshift when you want to get moving.
Every time I see the title of this thread I think of 
we had one for a decade. Good car, but showing its age after 200k.
The six speed is a gimmick. 5 and 6 are too close together. If I wasn’t on the highway I would use 5, getting on the highway I would skip 5 altogether.
2 gear synchro was always bad. I forget what Redline gave it good shifting, 80 something—but that made it unusable in winter. Gave up and used MTL and was slow on the shift, its a Camry after all.
Clutch was vague.
But it was a stick, and we live in the sticks, so it was rare for it to bother us. Fuel tank sized for the V6 so it had over 500 mile range. The 2.5 was a decent engine, good torque curve, although double downshift in the hills when loaded up was not uncommon.
Not sure if I miss it or not. It hit the ideal that is Camry: it’s in the driveway, and you don’t think about it. In 230k I think I did maybe 3 sets of brakes, pair of rear swaybar bushings, and the hvac blower as the wife said it made noise. I think it was ready for struts, engine mounts and who knows what at that point though.
The six speed is a gimmick. 5 and 6 are too close together. If I wasn’t on the highway I would use 5, getting on the highway I would skip 5 altogether.
2 gear synchro was always bad. I forget what Redline gave it good shifting, 80 something—but that made it unusable in winter. Gave up and used MTL and was slow on the shift, its a Camry after all.
Clutch was vague.
But it was a stick, and we live in the sticks, so it was rare for it to bother us. Fuel tank sized for the V6 so it had over 500 mile range. The 2.5 was a decent engine, good torque curve, although double downshift in the hills when loaded up was not uncommon.
Not sure if I miss it or not. It hit the ideal that is Camry: it’s in the driveway, and you don’t think about it. In 230k I think I did maybe 3 sets of brakes, pair of rear swaybar bushings, and the hvac blower as the wife said it made noise. I think it was ready for struts, engine mounts and who knows what at that point though.
Maybe someone "Finally got their piece of the pie," and was able to partake of "Movin' on up."
The positive of the manual is that nowadays it's virtuously theft proof
The iron duke was not a "fun" engine... with not a "fun" transmission either, with a buzzy interior.... My buddy had one in HS with a terrible, but very loud stereo... And I think it had an exhaust leak, getting some in the cabin... It never quit though, but I wished it would...
A base model Civic of the same era though, was quite a fun car with a manual, and even a 4 cyl ranger with the Mazda 2.3 was kind of fun to run through the gears. An eager engine(even if under powered) and some effort on the feel of the controls pays off.
Our 2003 Tracker wasn't the best manual for in town use either, a short first gear and a lazy syncho on 2nd wasn't great for hustling it from a stoplight.
I've only driven a few manual toyota's (Yaris, Corolla, MR2)but they seem to be between Honda and say GM for their fwd manual "fun to drive" quotient, and I really like the manual in the Focus, with great ratios, decent gate feel, pedals work for heel and toe. Its not fast, but fun to drive.
I think 2012 was the last year for the manual Camry. A Toyota dealer had a manual BMW 535 xi a few years back. Oh how I wanted to buy it.
Wasn't A/C pretty much standard by 2000 or so? I can remember my parents test driving a Saturn in 1995 and at that time A/C was an option.
They finally got around to posting actual photos of the vehicle today.
Car dealers are the worst. Their crack sales staff told me they verified it was a manual.
Car dealers are the worst. Their crack sales staff told me they verified it was a manual.
Your story is deja vu for me - I was looking for a 2nd car back in 2004/05 to replace our '85 Mazda 626.
I wanted a wagon or 4-door sedan, 4-cylinder, with no rust, and a manual transmission.
Saw a 2001 626 advertised which met all my requirements, and drove about 40 km to the town where the dealer was located.
Same as your Camry, the 626 was not manual as advertised, but automatic.
We wound up with a very basic 2001 Mazda Protege SE with 1.6 l, 5-MT, crank windows, and no AC. We kept it for 11 years and it remains one of my favourite cars of all time.
The good news here is that I didn’t drive an hour to check it out.
Yeah, I always find it amazing that sales staff say whatever it takes to get you in the door, and waste your time, hoping that somehow they are going to get a sale, after blatantly lying or being to lazy to walk a dozen yards and confirm they have the car you want.
Speaking of a Toyota unicorn, I saw a Camry wagon yesterday. At first I couldn't ID it, then thought it was an Accord wagon, then got closer and saw the Toyota symbol. I couldn't tell you the last time I saw one of these to save my life! Seemed to be in pretty good condition, too.
@Elkins45 Their sales staff is probably thinking "Of course its a manual car! It's not a self-driving car!"
@Elkins45 Their sales staff is probably thinking "Of course its a manual car! It's not a self-driving car!"
LOL That's like the kids who don't know how to start a "key" car!@Elkins45 Their sales staff is probably thinking "Of course its a manual car! It's not a self-driving car!"
I did not participate in the "5 Favourite Cars Of All-Time" thread in part because my tastes are so weirdly out-of-sync with most people's.Speaking of a Toyota unicorn, I saw a Camry wagon yesterday. At first I couldn't ID it, then thought it was an Accord wagon, then got closer and saw the Toyota symbol. I couldn't tell you the last time I saw one of these to save my life! Seemed to be in pretty good condition, too.
@Elkins45 Their sales staff is probably thinking "Of course its a manual car! It's not a self-driving car!"
For example, I'd have to seriously considers Camry wagon with a 4-banger and MT.
Ironic--spending the morning shopping, and I found one of these. Only the photos confirm it's a stick. 
Not sure if I want to look, NH rust means its probably bad, and for the fam I really should only shop automatics (plus Friday afternoons the commute is stop and go).
Not sure if I want to look, NH rust means its probably bad, and for the fam I really should only shop automatics (plus Friday afternoons the commute is stop and go).It won’t sell…very few will be interested. You need a specific buyer for a typically easy sell car.
Yesterday evening I gave a Toyota Tacoma a jump start with my booster pack. I joked to the owner that I'd give him a great deal - I'd trade him even-up - his nice Tacoma with a dead battery for my rusty '07 Grand Caravan with a good battery.
He replied that no-one would want his truck because it has a manual transmission. I told him that was a bonus in my mind, but he declined my offer.
He's from Guatemala originally, and is used to Canadians not knowing how to drive stick.
