About to buy a 2000 Camry Le with 2.2l 4 and 214k

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: yesthatsteve
Originally Posted By: Curtis Newton
Is it just the shading of the pics, or is the rear bumper a bit of a different shade of white? Has it been wrecked?

FWIW, our old Camry (88 model) was still running at 355K with original transmission and engine. A rear main seal leak and other issues sent it to the salvage.


Just about every Camry of that generation I see on the road has a rear bumper with a slightly different shade of paint. I suspect it fades at different rates on plastic vs metal.
I'm SURE that's a deal killer....

 

[JOD]

The car looks pretty good, but if it's a RMS leak then I'd be offering a LOT less, so I'd sort that out first. I don't know about the 2.2, but the older 2.0 Camry's were prone to that, and it's an expensive or time-consuming fix. If it's a cam seal or a valve cover leak, that's not a big deal.

 

[Donald]

Also keep in mind that a BITOG member getting a reliable car like a Camry (from say 100K) to 300K miles is way different than expecting a Camry with 214K to make it to 300K.

 

[hattaresguy]

The used car market is nuts, that's a $2k car with spaceship mileage.

 

[donnyj08]

i agree that price is high. i have no doubt that it should run many more miles, but it will need a lot of tlc. My GF's family has a 96 camry 2.2l with 256k on it and they drive it out of town all the time, but they seem to be getting random parts replaced a few times a year also. there comes a point where in the long run its cheaper to fork up a few grand more and get something with relatively low mileage.

The used car market is ridiculous as a whole, but there are killer deals out there if you look around. try facebook buy,sell,trade pages as well as check craigslist often. you can find those deals from people who are hurting for money and often times pick up a great deal. you just have to be fast to react and be first to look at it. i recently saw a 2006 altima with 132k miles, 2 owner, maintenance records and a clean indiana title for $3600 on a local facebook buy,sell,trade page. the people were in a pinch for money. the deals are out there you just have to hold the money and be ready to buy fast when you find a deal.

 

[G35_TX]

Originally Posted By: Donald
So its in TX so no salt I assume. But it is a 13 yr old car. The rebuilt trans has 114K on it. The timing belt has 50K on it. Are these receipts or just what the guy says?

But typically Toyota Camry is a solid car.

Still a bit of a risk.


All receipts.

 

[G35_TX]

Originally Posted By: Curtis Newton
Is it just the shading of the pics, or is the rear bumper a bit of a different shade of white? Has it been wrecked?

FWIW, our old Camry (88 model) was still running at 355K with original transmission and engine. A rear main seal leak and other issues sent it to the salvage.


Faded. The car was all faded. But after I buffed it, the bumpers all came out great. See more below posting shortly.

 

[G35_TX]

Sorry it took me a while to get back here. Been dealing with job issues and this car. Just picked up the Camry due to me loosing my job. Has 214k miles was well maintained for the engine oil change and most maintenance and receipts. After a full buff and detail inside and out here is a good pic of her. Sadly it started to leak badly on oil. More than just the drips we saw rarely. We think due to it sitting a while and not driven while trying to sell it, and now me driving it more, caused it. It was the oil pump seal and gasket (never replaced) that gave out. So it went in a week early to my buddys shop to get the work done.

Those that say this car is worth less than $2500 are wrong. Actually this car if the maintenance was completely kept up still goes for around $4500-5500 with this mileage. I did get it for $2500 as I pointed out the issues that I had to spend the money into it to fix. Main thing, body never wrecked, engine perfect, transmission questionable but still shifts good, just has a little rough shift sometimes.

Not sure if I want to switch to Synthetic and just stay with a good Dino oil due to other leaks could happen? What do you guys think of this and what is your opinions of the engine inside?

$2k worth of work. List below:

Putting new struts Monroe Quickstruts. Original OEM still on the car.
Change brake, power steering, coolant and trans fluid's
Timing belt kit with water pump, oil pump seals and gasket, crank and cam seals and distributor seal.
Oil pan seal
Valve cover seal with spark plug o rings
New plugs NGK and wires
New pcv valve
New air filter
New fuel filter
New radiator cap
New lower camber arms
New thermastat
New brake pads front and rear and resurface rotors/drums

The way the car looks now after a detail and some of the leak and in the process of leak being fixed. Also some shots under the valve cover. This used Kendall Oil (regular oil not synthetic) for the life of it. It looks great for 214k miles.

Oil pump fixed with new seal.