Purchase of Toyota Camry for teenager ?

It's a great car for anyone. We bought a 97 XLE for our daughter for a college car. Now has 107k miles, uses a quart of oil every 3000, and has never caused us any consternation. Teenagers aren't known for much other than driving, "what's check the oil?" She's 400 miles away, and feel confident it'll go another 100k or better. For 5 grand, you should be able to get something around 96-98 or newer if you want the 4 cylinder. Reason we feel so good; my 84 pickup is still chugging right along. New fuel pump, rear pinion seal, and regular maintenance. Pretty good reliability record for the nameplate.

Yes very good choice! Safe car with airbags, get one with anitlock brakes if you can, even safer. Not much goes wrong with these cars. Get a 4 cylinder for better mileage and to keep him from speeding too much! Read the post I left here this week. I have a 97 I bought new and have

200,000 miles on it and it is still in great shape, not even a rattle in it. Do have it checked out and follow the maintenance procedures and use Toyota parts. There is a timing belt that needs to be replaced at 60 to 80K miles so be aware of that($250 or so). A high mileage Camry with good mainetance records sure would not scare me off!

Thanks Rob !!!

--james--

At least he's buying his own,.............

I would love for my unemployed daighter who got kicked out of school to have the reliability quality of a camry for her first car.

Now,...............Anyone hiring rogue teenage goth chicks with terrible work ethics?..........she can play a mean Playstation game ro two also. Chats and types about 200wpm. I have never seen a faster more flawless typist. If only she'd get outta bed before 11:00 am

Remove "YOURPANTIES" to reply

MUADIB®

If A Quiz is Quizical, What is a test?

The Peacemaking Meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled due to a conflict.

Sounds like someone in need of a serious asws-kicking to me! (Yeah, listen to me...all talk and no action...Kept TELLING them I was going to kick their butts, but never did. Took 'em a MONTH to find the Playstation, though, and then they couldn't REACH it!)

Get her to learn Medical Transcription. Or, if she REALLY is that good, they are always looking for rapid typists at the phone services for the deaf, you know, they take the call either from the caller or the deaf person with the TTY and they type the speaking person's words so the deaf person can read it. They pay VERY good, too. I tried but washed out...You need to type 65 WPM to START, and need to get to 80 or 90 in three months. No caps, no punctation no nothing its like typing just like this and you have to be fast at it go ahead if you can do this kind of typing they will pay you very well to do it go ahead the problem was with practice i hit 70 wpm but couldn't go any faster go ahead

ther r also shrt cts u can take 2 make typing faster....

Other than the Arse kicking, there are some gems I will suggest to her. I inherited the 17 year old after n9.5 with her mother. Mother threw her out. I still get to pay child support and still have the kid. This week makes six months. I think She's staying. I have a car for her. No A/C but could be arranged. She can certainly make a go of typing for the hearing impared I bet. I have already suggested to her to learn medical, but she is scared of liability. Thanks for the hint/s

Remove "YOURPANTIES" to reply

MUADIB®

If A Quiz is Quizical, What is a test?

The Peacemaking Meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled due to a conflict.

Any toyota camry years 89-1998 were excellent vehicles. I have 91 toyota camry with 155k miles and it still gets 32 mpg on the highway. I personally would stay away from the 2000 and on generation of the camry. Toyota has been secretly contracting work to General Motors to streamline processes and cut costs. This in turn produces a decrease in overall quality and less bang for your buck so to speak.

hope that was helpful

Would you be so kind as to share your source of this information? I for one would truly appreciate it. TIA, davidj92

Evidence? The 2000 and later are very high quality.

Yes. It is boring enough to inspire very little wild driving on the teenager's part, but reliable enough to calm the worries of most parents who are far away.

I work on them for a living. Take the Pontiac Vibe and the Toyota Matrix for instance. Both cars share the same production facility. Both cars share toyota engines and transmissions although the driveline seams to be of GM Decent(the differentials). I think I read on either edmunds.com or autotrader.com that GM handles the interior and electronic work in both vehicles as well.

And as of last Saturday, I am sad to say that the interior of toyotas sister scion vehicles appear to be of Diamler-Chrysler origination. The "new-car" smell so to speak is extremely simlar to that of a new Jeep Liberty. Several of my co-workers share that same opinion. I, however, have no strong evidence other then a hunch on that matter.

Plus newer 02-04 camrys have been known to burn up transmissions like never before-search the web for information on that.

GM has been swapping parts with the Japanese for years now. Heck they bought Isuzu out a while back and use only Isuzu desiels in their chevy/GMC pickup truck lines.

This method of production unfortunately has spilled into toyota. And you will see a decline in overall quality when you use american parts in japanese cars. That is just a fact of the auto industry--The Japanese build better quality more reliable vehicles then americans do--my life's work is testimony to that!

This would seem to me that GM is trying to up their quality. I'm not sure how it relates to GM but they have had a partnership with Toyota for quite a few years now, the early 1990's they produced a small car called the Nova, I think it's the same branch that makes the Saturn, but not sure. I think the Geo is also from this partnership. This is not GM parts in a Toyota though.

I'm not doubting your sense of smell, but I doubt Toyota is using Chrysler parts as the quality is not high enough.

As I said above they have had a successeful partnership to produce the Saturn for quite a few years now. But, this is not GM parts in a Toyota.

Heck they

I couldn't agree more. The Japanese forced the American auto industry to build a better quality vehicle in order to compete. The American vehicles are close to Japanese but still not as good. That's another reason I doubt Toyota is using GM parts in their vehicles as the quality isn't as great and the prices are higher. davidj92

Well, the Matrix radio sure LOOKS like a Delco unit to me! That's what I thought the first time I saw one. I'll bet this is correct.

There goes my idea of owning a MAtrix... :(

That's Delphi,( no longer Delco). That's what I do for a living is factory audio system repairs.

Funny thing is, Delphi (maker of GM radios for eons) is making the Ford units for many of the '05 models and they are total Wrecks of radios. They haven't been terribly reliable, the software sucks horribly, and support is unbelievably wanting!

Remove "YOURPANTIES" to reply

MUADIB®

If A Quiz is Quizical, What is a test?

The Peacemaking Meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled due to a conflict.

Geo was a marriage of Suzuki and GM. Suzuki vehicles re-badged by GM. A strange marriage. started out with a Chevy Sprint, then went awry for years, all the way inot the Suzuki Sidekick/Geo Tracker vehicles.

Smells funny, but it's not who makes it, It's the chemicals that are used and the gases they give off. Almost all new cars use very similar interior products, made of similar chemicals...............they all stink.( so far as my smeller is concerned) I work on lots of new vehicles of varying models, mostly Ford stuff. They none smell too differnt from the others to me. The biggest "smell differnce is in the coverings,..........fabrics or leathers, and where they are manufactured. I bet Chrysler stuff is the same manufacturer as theford stuff, as the GM stuff, as the rest.............I have been to the Upholstery shop to visit about seat repairs, and they were talking about a specific supplier ( I forget the name ) and seemed to indicate that it all came from the same place.........Manufacturers probably buy similarly I'd bet........."best price", "look we want" "Texture".....etc...

Hadn;t heard this ( or read it) as I have elected to stay away from the current/recent body style due to terrible utilization. Asss-end of the car's way too high for my tiny wife to see out of with rear view mirror. Sad to hear the Tranny's are Crap too.

Since wayyyy back. Yes, the earlier ones were that breed listed above, The corrolla/nova.

Saturn is a differnt kind of car. They are now trying to become like the others, by introducing "off-market" vehicles, such as the Skye. Seen it?..............Pretty car. If it makes it to the market, I suspect they will sell well, as long as the fuel economy isn't terribly bad.

Cummins is built by Isuzu???.......Could be I guess.

In order to build that "better" vehicle, the Japanese have instilled cultures of and families of automobile makers. It is like a Toyota City. It is a way of life for many families. We are not at that level with most things in our American Societies, and likely will never be. We like the opportunity to have upward mobility, and the choices are limitless when you're american. Hence, some people just need/want a job, while others adopt a "way of life" to adhere to, and many times that "way of life" is to not be committed to a company that's not committed to them.

Point and case: I have just passed my 10th anniversary at my place of employment. They have always offered to buy back some of whatever unused vacation or sick pay the employes have left after their anniversary.. This year, I had 3 sick, 3 Vacation left. I went to apply for re-imbersement and the HR manager ( determined not to work with me ) told me that I could only selll back one or the other. Not a combination of both. Some places give gold watches, some places give money, some places give other forms of gifts when a guy/woman passes a milestone like a ten year anniversary. My company has changed it's "reward" for employee loyalty so many times I can't remember all of them in the 10 years of service I have given. They changed it just before I hit 5 years, then right afterward. Both before and after got a watch, necklace(chain) or something like that, but my year, it was nada............zip, ZILCH! This year, my anniversary of 10 years, got me a nice letter with someones' signature on it that I have no knowledge of. And the promise of a ring............yeah, a ring. No options of any kind. Just a ring. They came to me a couple of weeks before my ann. date and asked what size ring I wear, and I told them " I don;t know."........rude huh?............not really, as I don't wear Jewelry of any kind, because I work with electricity. I have watched careless people lose fingers to the burn of a wrench touching a fender while tightening a battery connector,...............NO JEWELRY. this doesn;t even count that everything I put on, I'm allergic to. Contact allergy to everything metallic. Now, A company that wants to show appreciation, should take the time to know the employee enough that this type of impass shouldn;t have to be dealt with by anyone. I could forgo the ring, (and will sell it for it's weight, for it has no sentimental value to me , from the ever so attentive company) but they won't let me. It's a ring,.....or nothing. Gratitude huh? I started with this company in 95 at 9 bucks an hour and have worked my way up to enough to live nicely. This didin't occur by luck, or seniority. It has been by applying myself and hard steady work. Youd' think that they'd want to develop more employees that dedivate themselves to the company, and would want to use the opportunity of showing how they reward hard work, to the short timers. A raise, a bonus check,............some kinda gift that the worker sees as nice, or useful. I assume that this is how they'd like to be percieved. As A Caring company to work for?????

This is what has become of America's Corporations. They have no committment ot the employee anymore. As a matter of fact, they even do their best to rob them of pensions that a guy may have spent a lifetime working for them, building up a decent retirment. The government has seen fit to allow the Corps. to walk away from the responsibility of paying a pension to many life long employees.

So now,...........wehere were we?...........Oh..........

So That's why American auto manufatcurers don;t make as good of a car as the Japanese do. ...........sorry for the rant, but there's more of an explanation than "who's building it" as a reason for the quality. And what I just ranted about is only the tip-o-the-iceberg.

Remove "YOURPANTIES" to reply

MUADIB®

If A Quiz is Quizical, What is a test?

The Peacemaking Meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled due to a conflict.

Ach So! Is it still a GM division, or has it been spun off?

Elect tech, eh? we're having a kind of discussion about electronics in a.a.t. You know, Bad Boys Race Our...(or the other one...) ;)

I worked in Industrial electronics and Aerospace for about 18 years.

I *HATE* TVs. "Do you know how to fix a TV" "Um, no, it entirely different..."

And it sucks about the Ford radios. I don't know who was making them before, but the sound was decent and the reception was FANTASTIC!

Hard to explain really. It is it's own company, spun off of AC/DELCO. Which was once GM/AC/DELCO. Which was originally DELCO-REMY Is that about as clear as mud???? Back whenit was DELCO-REMY they did all kinds of stuff and had severall other items of interest (alternators, Brakes, Other electrical components such as voltage regulators and thinsg of that nature). I once had a radio for my listening pleasure, adapted to a power supply of some sort (I think it was a DELCO-REMY unit also) wired up in my room as a home stereo. It had Delco-remy stickers all over it where it had been worked on and repaired at a shop my Dad worked at. (Dallas Texas). This was a common home stereo in most of my life till I could afford to actually BUY something.

Now keep in mind, I said I repair audio systems. I didn't say I was a component tech. What I do is troubleshoot problems in the car, and I drive around in a van full of re-manufactured radios and such, and if needed I will exchange the unit. I do wiring repairs and some installation, but my most common repair is to the customer. They generally don;t ever read a manual, and will not believe that it could be something that is caused by them. This repair is known as an ESO repair. ( Equipment Superior to Operator) I do actually put new CD mechs in many radios or just pull adhesive lables out of some otehrs and clean an occaisional Tape head , but for the most part I fix cars, not components.

Funny you should mention that.........I am a liscensed A&P mech, that only ever got to use my license for employment 1 time. for about 3 and a half months. I worked for Eastern Airlines and went down with the ship due to lack of documented experience. I was up against 19000 other aviation employees from that same company, many with decades of experience. No possibility to compete with that , so I went into Car stereo installation, and eventually got where I am........6 feet or so away, making much better money though.

No TV's in my repair knowledge base. I open 'em up and check for blown fuse. anything more complex than that , generally they are tossed, in favor of an updated unit.

Ford radios were coming to a level of competence in my opiniion just before this unfortunate change in vendors, by farming all the radio construction out to a few vendors, such as pioneer and alpine. JBL was involved in the "sound" part for a while, just enough to spoil people to sound quality, but there was little follow through with that program. Most of the radios were produced for ford under the VISTEON name brand for a few years prior to the Delphi thing. The reason for the fantastic reception (according to what vehicle/unit you had ) was the pioneer connection. Remember the "Super Tuners"????

That's a bit of the story anyway. I know there's much more, but these are the biggest milestones in Ford audio , and me.

Remove "YOURPANTIES" to reply

MUADIB®

If A Quiz is Quizical, What is a test?

The Peacemaking Meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled due to a conflict.

I have a Camry purchased from a private party for 3000 dollars. Again the mileage was well over 115 K and the car is a 1993 make. I think you should be able to get a better deal than that since you are spending more money. If you go to a dealer, it will of course be more expensive.

We had a Hyundai which was less "advanced" then the Tojo, but things like heater controls, door hinges and key tumblers lasted better. And when it did go wrong it was a bloody site cheaper to fix. And they reckon the Hyundais improved a lot since the one we had! ...from this ng it doesn't look like the Tojos have.