1990 Camry

So I'm driving to work, all is well. 188K mile Camry dies. Cranks, won't start. Take off distributor cap, and rotor isn't turning. I had it towed to my family mechanic. He'll put the new belt on and then do a compression to see how it works out. He told me this is a "non-interference" engine, so there may or may not be valve damage. Should I continue on with this car that I love and put maybe $300-400 of work into it (if I have him do anything else), or look for another, newer car?

Thanks,

Gary in NC.

You will not have any valve damage, just needs a timing belt since he is in there anyway a new waterpump may be a good idea at your mileage..$300-$400 won't even make one car payment. Keep driving it until you have a major problem...

Thanks for your answer. I heard the same thing about the waterpump from a guy with a high mileage Honda.

Waaaaa.....?

I think the original poster with the car had the question of putting $300-$400 worth of work into his 1990 Camry vs buying a new car...So the maintenance he described was worth doing since just a single months car payment on a new one would meet or exceed the long term maintenance he needed which I think were things like timing belt and spark plugs etc which will last him 60,000 miles or more...