thinking of buying

Shop carefully. You may get one that was maintained well, owned by an older man or woman who only drove it for scheduled maintenance, or obviously you could get a real hog. I'd look for one offered by an older man or woman with under 100K.

Obviously, look for rust on a 10 year old car. Hopefully you'll find one that was garaged all it's life.

I've seen 3 '86s in my area with 50-70K on them, they all look great, except for one that looks like it's brand new!

Good luck

excellent choice

excellent choice my preference would be Japanese manufacture (VIN begins with "J") imho with used cars you're buying the owner as much as the vehicle always buy directly from the owner only at their home say "I'm calling about your car for sale" and if they say "which one" hang up. couple of times I've purchased from a "friend" or "associate" of the owner in each case there had been minor concealed prior collison damage imho worth paying more for maintenance records and documentation most common comment I hear about those years: "Best car I ever owned."

In alt.autos.toyota, I posted a message about working for a Toy dealer. Here's the gist:

we were having 2005 Camrys coming in with "J" VINs. BUT, every new car gets an 'origin' sticker, saying where the car was assembled and where the parts came from. Surprisingly, the ones with the "J" VINs were MADE in Japan, but the parts content was 75% US/Canada!! So, it looks like they assemble the car, ship it to Japan, install the engine and tranny (the sticker said Japan engine and tranny...) and then shipped back to the US!!!

My 94 had a "4" number for the VIN and I believe it was more solidly built than my 97 with the "J" VIN. Of course the 97 was the first year of the new design so I don't know if that has something to do with it.

Watch out for cars coming from the Katrina incident.Could be salvaged from the flood.Make sure the title is clear. Good Luck.....

"" wrote: > Daniel, 10/24/2005,1:29:33 PM, wrote: > > > excellent choice > > my preference would be Japanese manufacture (VIN begins with > "J") > > My 94 had a "4" number for the VIN and I believe it was more > solidly > built than my 97 with the "J" VIN. Of course the 97 was the > first year > of the new design so I don't know if that has something to do > with it. > > -- > "I miss. I miss. I miss. I make." -- Seve Ballesteros > describing his > four-putt at Augusta's No. 16 in 1988.

Check NHTSA now or don?t complain later.