What do I need to know about a 1997 Camry?

[Nick1994]

Just bought a 1997 Toyota Camry LE 2.2L automatic with 185k miles for $1,700. I guess this is the sludger engine, it's had a lot of those miles put on in the last 3 years by the previous owner, he drove it to Colorado all the time for work. I'm putting a timing belt on it and it has a new power steering pump and 4 new struts. What can you guys tell me about it?

I also have some Mobil Super High Mileage 5w30 in my stash I'll use for its oil change this week with a Wix filter.

 

[Rolla07]

Looks in great shape for a 16 year old vehicle!!

Start with recalls:

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2007/toyota/camry/recalls/

 

[Nick1994]

The guy sold it cheap cause he noticed it just started leaking oil. I popped the hood and right away saw where it was coming from, slightly loose oil filter, and one from a quick lube shop as well. Probably isn't the right one just one that fit good enough.

 

[Bud]

Bought one new in 97 and drove it for 10 years. After first oil change I went to synthetic and after warranty went to yearly oil and filter changes. I put about 8000 miles per year on it. Other than routine maintenance I never had any problems with it. Hope you enjoy the car.

 

[Rolla07]

Check the water pump also. Do you have the maintenance records? See if it was replaced, otherwise look out and see if you see any leaks.

 

[Nick1994]

The only maintenance records I got was a sheet from Brakes Plus it was:

Transmission flush
Coolant flush
4 new struts
Alignment
Power steering pump
Radiator hoses

The total was $2.200 and that was May of 2013 at 176k miles and it has 185k now

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
The only maintenance records I got was a sheet from Brakes Plus it was:

Transmission flush
Coolant flush
4 new struts
Alignment
Power steering pump
Radiator hoses

The total was $2.200 and that was May of 2013 at 176k miles and it has 185k now


Who drops $2200 on a car that old? He should have sold it.

 

[Nick1994]

That's what I thought! But I wasn't gonna complain that's for sure! And I paid $1700 for it and last year he paid for a paint job. He said he had new brakes put on too.

 

[bepperb]

Looking at the front drivers lights the paint job might have been an accident. Still, I think you got a great deal on a car that could last years and tens of thousands of miles. My father had a 2.2 that went somewhere around 280,000 miles before the floorboards were to rotten and it wasn't safe anymore. He really wanted 300,000 and the drivetrain would have done it without a doubt.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
That's what I thought! But I wasn't gonna complain that's for sure! And I paid $1700 for it and last year he paid for a paint job. He said he had new brakes put on too.


People (myself included) put money into a vehicle towards the end and then the straw (that broke the camels back) happens and they sell or trade a vehicle for not much more than they put into repairs in the last 6 months.

A quick business analysis should be done for any repair over a few hundred.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: Donald

Who drops $2200 on a car that old? He should have sold it.


Seriously??? $2200 on a heavy maintenance is no big deal. You should think in terms of how much it would cost to replace the vehicle with an equivalent or better, and its a heck of a lot more than $2200.

What doesn't make sense is doing that kind of maintenance and then selling it. A maintenance bill like that makes sense if you plan to keep it few years, but not if you're going to sell within six months.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Nice. Those are my favorite Camrys. My mother-in-law had one, a 1999 model. Excellent cars for commuting and for traveling. If I were smart enough back in 2004 to buy it from her when she traded it on a new TL, I might still be driving it today.

 

[TomYoung]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
That's what I thought! But I wasn't gonna complain that's for sure! And I paid $1700 for it and last year he paid for a paint job. He said he had new brakes put on too.


People (myself included) put money into a vehicle towards the end and then the straw (that broke the camels back) happens and they sell or trade a vehicle for not much more than they put into repairs in the last 6 months.

A quick business analysis should be done for any repair over a few hundred.
Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
That's what I thought! But I wasn't gonna complain that's for sure! And I paid $1700 for it and last year he paid for a paint job. He said he had new brakes put on too.


People (myself included) put money into a vehicle towards the end and then the straw (that broke the camels back) happens and they sell or trade a vehicle for not much more than they put into repairs in the last 6 months.

A quick business analysis should be done for any repair over a few hundred.


I am always up for a "business analysis" but would caution folks about two faulty ideas in this note. The first is the idea that there is a straw that breaks the camel's back. There isn't. The second is that the cost of the repair should be weighed against the price of the car. The correct business case is to weigh future utility expected against the cost of new or newer cars and their expected utility and cost. You may add in the jolly value of having a new car as additional utility.

When a cars value drops to below a thousand or two, any repair will constitute a significant portion of the car's value.

I suppose that there are truly unfeasible situations, but time has shown that'd raving the olde car is almost always a better economic decision.

 

[diver1972]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
...What can you guys tell me about it?
It'll very likely run as long as you need it to with minimal care and feeding. It'll likely leak oil from more places besides the oil filter.

Please see the Camry in the signature block. I've owned it for 6 years and, consequently, now know quite a bit about the 4th generation Camry and always willing to share what I know.

Originally Posted By: Rolla07
Check the water pump also.
FWIW, original (Aisin) water pumps are known to last roughly 200k miles. In fact, I just did a timing belt, pulleys, and front seals job on mine a couple months ago and intentionally skipped replacing the 6-year-old Aisin water pump with 70k miles on it. I don't like doing things twice and I'm not expecting to need to do so in this case.

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
The only maintenance records I got was a sheet from Brakes Plus it was:

Transmission flush
Coolant flush
4 new struts
Alignment
Power steering pump
Radiator hoses
Sounds like preventive maintenance, the power steering pump notwithstanding.

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: Donald

Who drops $2200 on a car that old? He should have sold it.


Seriously??? $2200 on a heavy maintenance is no big deal. You should think in terms of how much it would cost to replace the vehicle with an equivalent or better, and its a heck of a lot more than $2200.

Originally Posted By: Donald
What doesn't make sense is doing that kind of maintenance and then selling it. A maintenance bill like that makes sense if you plan to keep it few years, but not if you're going to sell within six months.
It's possible that the previous owner intended to retain the car for much longer than that. Sometimes circumstances don't play out according to plan. Perhaps that's what happened here.

Originally Posted By: TomYoung
...I am always up for a "business analysis" but would caution folks about two faulty ideas in this note. The first is the idea that there is a straw that breaks the camel's back. There isn't. The second is that the cost of the repair should be weighed against the price of the car. The correct business case is to weigh future utility expected against the cost of new or newer cars and their expected utility and cost.

 

[Nick1994]

It's like you owned the car before me, haha. Yes I found out the valve cover gasket is leaking as well. The power steering pump must have been leaking bad and not maintenance because there was like 3 bottles of power steering fluid in the trunk. He got rid of it because he's moving to out of town to the woods and needed a truck.

Looks like we have pretty much the same car. You're my go-to guy now haha.

 

[jrustles]

I had the same year, trim, model, colour!

It was reliable, the only work/problems were
one head gasket (new, replaced with revised one)
one new radiator
new CT sensor
new modulator solenoid for EGR
valve cover gasket
water pump
front crank, cam seals and oil pan gasket
and usual items like struts, strutmount bearings and brakes, never bothered to fix the sway bar end link

I'm surprised that the original ball joints, bearings and front end parts remained fine until it was sold at some nearly 500K KMs

Good luck with it!

Originally Posted By: diver1972

Originally Posted By: Rolla07
Check the water pump also.
FWIW, original (Aisin) water pumps are known to last roughly 200k miles. In fact, I just did a timing belt, pulleys, and front seals job on mine a couple months ago and intentionally skipped replacing the 6-year-old Aisin water pump with 70k miles on it. I don't like doing things twice and I'm not expecting to need to do so in this case.


Oh yeah they go for a while. @ about 450K KM's the bearing on the original Aisin water pump became noisy and was replaced- didn't leak though!

 

[Nick1994]

Is it really a sludger like people say they are? What did you use for oil and how often did you change it?

I'm changing the valve cover gasket tomorrow and will find out if this one is, oil cap looks clean.

 

[diver1972]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Yes I found out the valve cover gasket is leaking as well.
Nice, easy fix. I recently replaced mine with a reusable Fel-Pro gasket which is hailed by many as the best to be had.

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Is it really a sludger like people say they are?
Yes; however, after you cut through all the anecdotal stories out there, you'll conclude that one must really be neglecting the oil to encounter sludge. Even moderately conscientious owners won't see sludge.

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
What did you use for oil and how often did you change it?
Here's some background. And here's my current path.

 

[jrustles]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Is it really a sludger like people say they are? What did you use for oil and how often did you change it?

I'm changing the valve cover gasket tomorrow and will find out if this one is, oil cap looks clean.


5sFE is more of a "varnish" engine, sludge requires inappropriate oil or an inappropriate drain interval. Also, I once experimented with corn oil in it, and that sludged it up in short order!

 

[Vikas]

Any evap codes? That generation is prone to have problems in that area and fix could be expensive if it involves replacing the canister assembly.