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Mystery of the Millennial car trade

Today I read the CarFax report on a car I am thinking of buying--a

2000 Toyota Camry 4-cylinder with 105,000 miles. It seems to be in excellent condition.

Here is the mystery. It had only two owners. The first private owner had it for 32 days and put 5,00 miles on it. On 1/1/2000 he sold it to a dealer who kept it until early June, 2000 then sold it to the second private owner who kept it for over 8 years. A month before this sale, in May 2000 the car was serviced and the rear brake drums were resurfaced.

  1. Why did the first owner only keep the car 32 days, put nearly 6000 miles on it, then sell it on the first day of the millennium?

  1. What is with the resurfacing of the rear brake drums? I currently have a 2000 Camry and just had the FIRST ever brake job on it at 220,

000 miles. (I have had it since 18,000 miles).

Any ideas?

Incidentally the second owner seems to have maintained it meticulously with regular services at the dealership and even changed the timing belt a bit prematurely at 61,000 miles. Did it break, or were they ultra-cautious?

Reply to
jmm1951
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Sorry typo first time around. The first owner put 5,800 miles on the car in 32 days.

Reply to
jmm1951

Probably a demo passed to a different dealer to sell. What difference does it make at this point?

Reply to
e.meyer

Probably none, but I was intrigued to know why it was with a single private owner for 32 days and had clocked almost 200 miles per day. Is this how demo cars are used in the trade? Is there some kind of tax- related reason for trading it on 1/1 ?

Reply to
jmm1951

Possible the private owner was not really private and where he lived he would have had to pay inventory tax. OTH, maybe it was used in drug deals. Or he / she / it just did not like it. Or they got divorced, lost their job. Who knows.

Front brakes last me about 35 k miles. Rears last 50k. It that vehicle went

220k without new brakes then there is something wrong.

I always change my cam belts at 60k. 65k at the absolute latest. Engines cost a lot more than belts.

Reply to
Paul

" If that vehicle went 220k without new brakes then there is something wrong. "

No, I got the car at 18K and changed the brakes at 220K. Admitttedly most of the mileage was highway as I made a 600 mile round trip each week for 5 years, and Florida is a rather flat state, so no steep hills and usually able to coast to a stop to some extent at traffic lights.

Reply to
jmm1951

On timing belts I don't go by just mileage, but time also. We bought a

96 Tracker with 38K on it. First thing I did was replace the timing belt. Even though the mileage wasn't there the time was way past.
Reply to
Doc

Not necessarily true. I have a 2004 Dodge Stratus with 55000 miles on it. Took to a shop to have the brakes checked out. They took off the front and rear tires, the rear brake drums, and both front and rear pads were just as thick as new ones. And, the front discs has almost no visible wear. I expect to easily get over 10000 miles out of the brakes.

The life of your brakes has a lot to do with the way you drive.

Sam

Reply to
Sam

What rule of thumb do you use for judging when to change a timing belt by age?

Reply to
beachvan

I agree. I drive mostly Houston, Texas rush hour freeway. Stop and go... Mostly stopped.... LOL

Reply to
Paul

The maintenance schedule that came with the car.

Reply to
E. Meyer

"E. Meyer" wrote in news:C58E3F5D.1BAA% snipped-for-privacy@msn.com:

yea and I just put the first timing belt on my 89 escort with 65000 on it. It hadn`t broke either. KB

Reply to
Kevin

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