1991 Camry wagon - good deal?

An old car like this will probably need quite a bit of maintenance. Maybe as much as, if not more than, the $1000.

Try and find something with less mileage.

or equivalent...

you can goto

and get a suggested retail value of the car.

================== You need to evaluate the condition of the car and the seller. Actually the care the car has received can be more important than the mileage or age. What kind of documents does the seller have regarding maintenance? Look at the car. Has it been pampered or neglected? Look at the condition of the fluids (engine oil, transmission, power steering, brake), and the interior (torn and ragged or old but clean). Here are the questions I used: "I'm calling about your car for sale"

Are you the Owner of the car? (deal direct with Owner only)

Why are you selling

Are you the original owner

Does it have a 4 cylinder or 6 cylinder engine

What color is it

Does it have a sunroof (moonroof)

What is the mileage

What kind of condition is the paint

How about the interior

Tell me about the maintenance. Have you replaced:

Timing Belt - when, where (by whom), receipt? Struts A/C oil changes - how do you keep track of mileage for oil changes transmission oil/ filter change

Are service records available? (showing accurate odometer readings)

Smog Certificate, Pink Slip

Has this car ever been in an accident

Private residence required: i.e., always meet only at their home.

Mechanic check:

C.V. Boots struts frame damage oil leaks brakes radiator Air Conditioning (check power window operation) (antenna) (lights)

That many miles you cant know.

air conditioning? operating antenna? service records? moonroof? paint condition? oil leaks? this is 15 year old, 200K, $1000 car, not a 3 year old, low mile $20,000 car we are talking about

Rusty 91 Camry would give no more than $500

I have a 91 109000, I put in maybe 2000 in the last few years and always maintained and drove it right, it has rust, but I would not part with it for 5000 as I could not get anything else as good, or know what I am buying. You have to get a mechanic to look at it and drive it hard and see if the tranny slips in higher gears when you get it hot, You could get a car that needs 2-8000 soon, or get lucky and buy one maintained, I suggest looking at the polution test results and doing a compression test, among everything else to check, it might be a 100$ junker, but

200000 has pushed all the components life expectancy to fail possibly tomorrow.

Quite right. About the time you get to your fourth question, the seller will say "Hey, this is a 1991 car for a grand, and I don't need the Spanish Inquisition about this!"...and hang up. Even at a dealer's used lot, with an eight year old car for $5000, you'll likely get a response like "I don't have a clue about all the questions you pose....maybe you should get a NEW car!"

Indeed, I was just at a Toyota dealer looking at a 2005 Certified highlander for $20K+ and while looking at the engine I asked if any service records were available, he looked at me like I just landed a space ship from Jupiter, I honestly don't think anyone ever asked him that question before, after hesitating he said "nah, but we did just change the oil, look see how clean the oil looks! " (showing me the dip stick). The truck had 24K miles on it and he said "at least you know it was changed once in the last 24K miles, worse case".

i'm up to my second old camry (89 and 90). The first one had over 350

000kms and it was still going (got totalled in an accident). I replaced it with another one which is just as reliable. I purchased both cars at approximatly $1000 and only did regular maintenance (brakes, oil change, new battery). The one i have now (1990) still has original exhaust. it has a few problems but nothing that "needs" to be fixed. (shocks, struts... burns a little oil... a/c not working, rusty quarter panels) 88-91 camry's are the best beaters. I can get 1998-99 dodge caravans for $1000 and even with the age difference I don't think I will get any more service and reliability than i am getting with the camry... aside from hauling bigger things... and not looking like a broke student perhaps... Biggest things to check for I would say is the tranny and oil leaks.

...

That's the problem with buying a used car from a dealer. They say they can't release any service records at all: protecting the privacy of the original owner, etc.

I had the same problem when buying my '99 Camry, 66k miles.

Michael