85 Camry (anything?)

You are extatic because it was built in Japan, Sheese wake up...doesnt make a difference. A 20 yr old car is 20 yrs old, you have probably a few thousand in defered maintenance comming up now, yesterday, to make it fairly safe. Things also deteriorate with age, ex last year my 91 brake line blew going around a corner. It left me out of a car at midnight 30 min from home in a bad area. How do you know mileage was not turned back. a few hundred thousand

Mark, best not to post when you're hungover.

Best suggestion for the original poster is to learn to love the appearance in a retro sort of way. Just keep it clean. I still drive a '77 Toyota truck, and think it looks kind of cute. BTW, flexible brake lines never leaked, but were replaced due to cracking. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Low mileage car like that is a find. Age makes little difference. It is the condition - and sounds like yours is in great condition.

nospam im not hungover, just pointing out reality-facts. How a car has been maintained to schedule is what counts. Old fluids will reak havoc in many areas are just 1 issue. Just because it is Jap built with 35000 means nothing.

That's *Japanese*-built, you WebTV-using, grumpy, ignorant shitheel. Bob J.

Yea Bob Jap as in 12 -7 -41 dont forget it.

Thanks for quickly confirming my assessment of you, ignorant douchebag.

My mom has an '86 with 68,000 miles on it, and I found another with 44,000 on it.

If the maintenance has been done, it will be a damn good car!

Mark, I know the odometer hasn't been turned back because it checks out with the motor vehicles department. I expect to put a couple of thousand dollars of mechanical reconditioning into this car before driving it...changing all the rubber and rusted metal...relubricating everything...

With cars you can finance them and make a bank richer, you can do what my mom does: save up cash for a newer one and watch it depreciate, or you can buy a beater and put aside about a hundred dollars a month for the inevitable repairs. The mileage on this one decided my course. I paid $1275 for it. Even if i put $3000 dollars worth of repairs in it to make it reliably driveable, it's a better deal than buying a

10-year-old Camry with 150,000 miles on it. Hope your hangover wasn't too painful.

Mark, I know the odometer hasn't been turned back because it checks out with the motor vehicles department. I expect to put a couple of thousand dollars of mechanical reconditioning into this car before driving it...changing all the rubber and rusted metal...relubricating everything...

With cars you can finance them and make a bank richer, you can do what my mom does: save up cash for a newer one and watch it depreciate, or you can buy a beater and put aside about a hundred dollars a month for the inevitable repairs. The mileage on this one decided my course. I paid $1275 for it. Even if i put $3000 dollars worth of repairs in it to make it reliably driveable, it's a better deal than buying a

10-year-old Camry with 150,000 miles on it. Hope your hangover wasn't too painful.

You paid $1275 for a 85 Camry?? Are you nuts? Even finding parts for one that old is a pain. I paid $2500 for a 95 Camry with 80k miles. The only thing it needed is a new flex piece in the exhaust and a water pump (made a little noise).

Parts for '85's are still pretty handy, both from Toyota and aftermarkets. I can get radiators, hoses, belts, exhaust, springs, shocks, window lifts, etc, etc. The hard parts are the fuel tank and the...and the...

Well, I did have atough time with alloy wheels, seats and interior pieces. Everything else is pretty much available. *BUT I would do it all now, because junkyard cars are going away and Toyota probably isn't going to support these cars too much longer!

Parts? What parts? The whole point of the Camry is that you don't need parts!

I drove an '82 Toyota Corona for 100,000 miles and did nothing but change the oil and have it tuned. The $3,000 estimate for 'repairs' was the most pessimistic scenario I could conjure up. It should need nothing but having the rubber and fluids replaced. Remember: it's been garaged all these years and only driven to keep the fluids circulating.

Reply was delayed because i take my vacation in December when the weather where I live stinks.

Exhaust, although I bought an exhaust for an '83 Tercel and an 85 Celica in the last year,

However, there will be some wear, esp if you drive the car daily. Little niggling things, like widow lift switches (power windows), etc. A switch for my Celica is $165, I paid $200 for the car!

Get it looked over well now, replace what needs replacing (up to $1000, that's about the value of the car, that, with what you paid) and drive it till it won't drive anymore!

Note: My Celica is an '85. It ran well, but the engine was blowing so much oil it wouldn't pass inspection. Found one for $300 with 160K on it. Spent $250 having it put in, and 2 weeks after I got it replaced, the ball joints went, the exhaust broke, the high pressure line on the fuel tank sprung a major leak, and th high pressure steering hose broke! So now, do I repair it again, or...? (except for that, it still runs like a champ! I probably will...)