94 Camry

I have one of these cars and am pleased with it. It has 150K miles and has not had much maintenance. Check the CV axle boots since they tend to wear out rather quickly. The strut tops are clunky when it's cold but stop making noise when warmed up. Some of the 94s have leaking valve cover gaskets, but mine is leaking somewhere else low, possibly oil pan.

Before you buy have it looked at by a mechanic you trust.

"Detailing Dude" wrote in news:PoTpb.4213$j_4.3847@lakeread05:

Have co-worker with one of these. He got good use from the vehicle but did have some fairly extensive oil leakage repairs done including rear main seal replacement. Am not sure I would recommend the 4 cylinder of this era camry. Just my opinion. dc

My Japanese made, 94, 4 cyl Camry is bone dry as far as oil, or any other type of leak is concerned. The car just turned 150K miles this week, and about the only common Camry malady it has suffered is bad valve stem seals. Still on original alternator/starter, and just this year the CV boots cracked. Transmission shifts very smoothly, and it still looks great inside or out.

Some other leaks not listed that seem common are oil leaks around the distributor shaft, and from under the oil cooler. (just under the oil filter)

The lack of craftsmanship of my wife's 2003 KY built Camry as compared to my

94 Japanese Camry, is very evident. For example, the front left door edge rubs/binds against the quarter panel on opening/closing, causing the quarter panel to flex. and the rear spoiler adhesive has lifted, leaving a gap. In fact, not one body panel is well fitted, by Toyota standards or anyone else's.

If you do decide to buy an older Camry, IMO, a Japanese made Camry (JT in the VIN) that had good maintenance, is the only way to go.

Mine was diagnosed with same problem three years ago and it turned out to be a PCV valve.

I'm not sure I agree with that analysis. My 94 has was made in USA and my 97 was made in Japan. My 94 is far superior in craftsmanship and quality of components than my 97. I think the design philosophy changed with the 97-2001 models and carried into the 2002 and beyond models. They started using cheaper materials to save 2 cents here and there.

If your looking at the Ford and Chrysler newsgroups your looking at what I call "throwaway cars". With the problems these cars have suffered over the years I would never buy one! Get something that will last a while and have some resale value. A Chrysler with

80,000 miles is worth zip.

I hate to say I agree, unfourtunatly, I own a 95 Ford Taurus and an 01 Caravan. I perfer Nissan and Toyota but, it's a long story.

Anyway, this will be my sons first car and I want to get him something worth having, hence, the Camry. Just want to make sure it won't nickle and dime him to death.

Thanks Cecil

I wish mine was a PCV valve problem, but it was not. In fact, I changed the PCV valve about every 20-30k miles, along with a TB cleaning at about the same interval.

The fit issues so far with my 2003 Camry are a pure lack of assembly/sheet metal stamping quality. This link

will show you thedefect where the door binds on the quarter panel. The door is lower thanflush, and this "spur" of sheet metal flashing makes contact. Once thepaint wore off, the defect became evident, and it started making noise, anda popping sound.

I am about as a dedicated Toyota owner/enthusiast as you will find, but this US made 03 Camry that we ordered has put a big dent in my confidence, and belief in Toyota quality.

I do agree with your cost-cutting assertion though. My wife is a purchasing executive for a huge OEM/aftermarket auto parts company, and it is amazing what saving a few pennies can do, but you should see what gets "shipped" to save on scrap and keep the reject stats in-line.

I have a 93 Camry 4 cylinder. No big problems with it at 160,000 miles. Something that is annoying but can be lived with is when the automatic transmission is in Drive, and you are stopped at a light, there may be vibration in the steering wheel. There is a TSP for this, but it didn't help a whole lot. If you can live with it, fine, but check it out.

Oh... booo hooo hooo. All larger bore four cylinder engines that do not have counter balancing shaft(s) vibrate at low rpm under load.... particularly those engines mounted transversely in the car. Natural phenomenon of having crankshaft throws 180 degrees apart. Hardly a "transmission problem".

The 5S-FE does have a dual balance shaft assembly, gear driven off the crank.

As most of us know, counter balance shafts are effective over a specific RPM range, outside of which the engine goes back to vibrating as much and sometimes more than it would have without the shafts. In any case, vibration in Drive with the car not moving is sourced at the engine, not the transmission. :-)

Try and find one with a good preventive maintenance record.

I'm on my 6th Toyota [just purchased a 2004 Camry XLE V6 last Friday and am in the process of selling my 1990 Camry DX] and I'm obsessive about preventive maintenance --- and I haven't had any problems with any of my toyota's.

I can't claim the same for a 96 Jeep my son is driving -- it reminds me a lot of an AMC Gremlin I owned in the mid 70's! We do all the preventive maintence on that Jeep but the caziest things that shouldn't fail do fail --- very discouraging.