Toyota Camry

[cbowditch]

The Toyota Camry never sold very well in the UK, and the Gen3 is rather rare these days (in the UK) Earlier in the year I tracked down this beauty. It came with a massive service history folder. The first owner of 20 years had changed the oil every 2-2.5K from new. Everything works, electric sunroof, seats, original stereo, and the air con is ice cold 😀 Not bad for 161K miles and 25 years. The camry is really underrated and under appreciated in the UK. In the US, it was a best seller thanks to amazing durability, reliability and comfort. I think the exterior styling is what put lots of Brits off buying them, but I don't mind it all.

Usually when buying a car of this age, there would be loads of annoying little faults to sort out, but not on this one. Sadly I didn't buy it direct from the 1st owner, there have been some owners inbetween who did neglect it

[cbowditch]

So after purchase there was some things that needed attention but not much really:

1. A major service was long overdue. I changed the engine oil/filter, autobox oil, air filter, brake fluid and spark plugs

2. I paid the local garage to change cambelt and water pump

3. I repainted the alloys. I don't think I can use the word refurbed, coz it wasn't a pro job but they look miles better. Well, 3 of them anyway, I didn't prep one of them well enough sadly.

4. Rear Exhaust was rusty, but not actually blowing

[grogee]

I want to know everything about this car including the part number of the electric window switch. I adore these, you're right they must be well engineered to keep those moany lardy Americans happy. I also like the 'hands free' auto option that allows you to eat a Big Mac in traffic

[cort1977]

Very nice.  They were very popular in Oz as well.

Was this the generation where they made them in two widths?  Sounds crazy but I'm sure they made a 'wide body' version for some markets.

[cbowditch]

Some fun was had with the exhaust rear silencer. Not available from Toyota or on e-bay etc. Due to the popularity in the US I thought I could perhaps buy one from the US. Sadly it didn't quite fit as this pic shows

In the end I bought a mid pipe as well, which also didn't fit, but the local garage cut the flange and moved it 30 degrees so it would fit the back box

[cbowditch]

1 minute ago, cort1977 said:

Very nice.  They were very popular in Oz as well.

Was this the generation where they made them in two widths?  Sounds crazy but I'm sure they made a 'wide body' version for some markets.

Oh really, thats news to me if they did come in 2 widths 😆 But yes you are right the Ozzies liked them too, just us Brits that didn't

[Liggle]

I love these. A lot of the ones that were left ended up having the engines poached by Woodsport for MR2 V6 conversions! 

[cbowditch]

The last issue is a small hole in the rear sill. Despite the amazing build quality of these cars, tin worn will eventually get to all cars made of steel. My friend Jay from Leicester did the repairs for me

[cbowditch]

2 minutes ago, Liggle said:

I love these. A lot of the ones that were left ended up having the engines poached by Woodsport for MR2 V6 conversions! 

Yeah, I plan to cherish this one. Not many left at all now. You can still find the Gen 4 with the 1MZ lump around for sale. The 1MZ wasn't as popular with tuners compared to the 3VZ fitted to the Gen 3. It goes reasonably well 🙂

[cbowditch]

6 minutes ago, grogee said:

I want to know everything about this car including the part number of the electric window switch. I adore these, you're right they must be well engineered to keep those moany lardy Americans happy. I also like the 'hands free' auto option that allows you to eat a Big Mac in traffic

I'm sure you can get the switch from rockauto.com. They have so many parts listed for these its unreal

[wuvvum]

Nice!  I've always fancied trying a V6 Camry, having rather liked the 2.2 estate.  Closest I've got so far was probably a 3-litre Nissan QX.

@Spottedlaurel is our resident expert on these.

[Spottedlaurel]

Great to see! Regrettably I'm just an armchair enthusiast now after 15 years on/off ownership of a total of 5 Camrys (4x gen 3, 1x gen 4). My last two recently went to a scrap/export guy, @cbowditch it's possible he may still have them if you want to chase him up for parts? PM me if you want his number.

Only had one V6 amongst all of them, an early gen 3 saloon. Anecdotally they suffer HGF and auto 'box issues, although mine was OK over several years and that included trackday use. Its V6 eventually ended up in an MR2.

I got over the exhaust supply issue by having a full stainless system made up for my 2.2 estate.

They are great cars, very underrated here. Takes a while to appreciate their best qualities, it's easy to see the Lexus similarities. If I didn't have my LS400 then I'd have kept a Camry, and I can't rule out owning a 6th in the future if circumstances permit.

We got the wide version, as did Australia and the USA. It was Japan that got the skinny model for tax reasons (although they did sell the wide, US-built estate in Japan badged as Scepter).

Good luck with it!

[grogee]

1 hour ago, cbowditch said:

I'm sure you can get the switch from rockauto.com. They have so many parts listed for these its unreal

I don't really need the switch, it was just an expression of my lust for the Camry

[cbowditch]

3 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Great to see! Regrettably I'm just an armchair enthusiast now after 15 years on/off ownership of a total of 5 Camrys (4x gen 3, 1x gen 4). My last two recently went to a scrap/export guy, @cbowditch it's possible he may still have them if you want to chase him up for parts? PM me if you want his number.

Only had one V6 amongst all of them, an early gen 3 saloon. Anecdotally they suffer HGF and auto 'box issues, although mine was OK over several years and that included trackday use. Its V6 eventually ended up in an MR2.

I got over the exhaust supply issue by having a full stainless system made up for my 2.2 estate.

They are great cars, very underrated here. Takes a while to appreciate their best qualities, it's easy to see the Lexus similarities. If I didn't have my LS400 then I'd have kept a Camry, and I can't rule out owning a 6th in the future if circumstances permit.

We got the wide version, as did Australia and the USA. It was Japan that got the skinny model for tax reasons (although they did sell the wide, US-built estate in Japan badged as Scepter).

Good luck with it!

Thanks, I'm not having trouble for parts as rockauto.com seems to have everything I could ever dream of needing, even if the parts aren't always the best fit lol

The Lexus LS is just a bit too big for my tastes. Although it still has the excellent ride and build quality traits so I can see why you like them too

I heard also that V6s suffer from HGF. This car has had the coolant changed regularly as well as the water pump, fingers crossed it will last several more years before that happens!

[DodgyBastard]

I have a 2.2 manual at the moment, it goes quite well for a £500 shitter.

[grogee]

That blue one is ace for £500, is it waftmatic? The bland blue really suits it. It's so nondescript that I'm sure you could get away with Brinks Mat and the police would have 'nothing to go on'.

[DVee8]

I had a 1984 gen 1 Camry. like this one.

[wuvvum]

4 hours ago, grogee said:

That blue one is ace for £500, is it waftmatic? The bland blue really suits it. It's so nondescript that I'm sure you could get away with Brinks Mat and the police would have 'nothing to go on'.

Reminds me of a quote in a Jack Reacher novel which made me smile, about a character who drives a silver Camry.

Quote

After a mile Reacher decided they had been wrong about the tricked-out Hondas being the most invisible cars in California. The Toyota fit that bill better. He was staring right at it and could barely see it.

 

[Madman Of The People]

 

Common as cockroaches here in the States.  These were once the car of choice for the automotive illiterate until the all-conquering crossover/SUV knocked it from it's bestseller perch.  These days, the car-as-appliance crowd have made the Toyota RAV4 their default choice.

 

[DodgyBastard]

It's not a bad car, it's easily the fastest car I have at the moment but it's so smooth you don't realise the speed you're going, could easily lose your license in it.

It's a 5 speed manual with 4 cylinder 2.2 petrol engine. To be honest I'd have preferred it as an auto having previously had a V6 auto Camry the driving style just suits auto better.

It needed a couple of bits of welding and exhaust gaskets for its MOT but has been driving ok for the few months we've had it, my Mrs drives it and has racked up over 3k miles. It does on occasion stutter or misfire or the revs drop making it feel like it's going to stall but always seems to clear itself up. Mostly filling with super unleaded but on occasion had to use E10 so don't know if the stutter is related to that or something else.

[Inspiral_Mondays]

23 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

They are great cars, very underrated here. Takes a while to appreciate their best qualities, it's easy to see the Lexus similarities. 

Toyota actually sold a mildly reworked version of the Camry in the US as the Lexus ES. The modifications were really half hearted and the mid noughties version especially was very difficult to tell apart from the equivalent Camry, even for a car buff like me.

[carlo]

I had a bit of a Camry phase around 2000 - 2005, had two Mark 2s.  Love the styling of that one, so clean and the interior was real clubhouse.

Had a 2.0 Exec auto and a V6 auto, preferred the 2.0 actually as the V6 was a bit peaky and characterless.

Wheelarch rust was always an issue on these.

Here are the two little lovelies:

 

[Rod/b]

I had a 2.0 Exec Auto on the F plate, it was utterly bombproof, apart from the front wings which I to replace. I lent it to a mate for best part of a year who drove it all over the UK without lifting the bonnet, and subsequently discovered it had virtually no oil in it - when I got it back it wasn’t even registering on the dipstick. Lobbed a load of whatever i had on the shelf in it, and drove it down to Naples via the Alps over the following week. Only issue we had en route was a sticky caliper, otherwise it didn’t miss a beat. 
 

 

[cbowditch]

On 10/27/2021 at 8:28 AM, DodgyBastard said:

It's not a bad car, it's easily the fastest car I have at the moment but it's so smooth you don't realise the speed you're going, could easily lose your license in it.

It's a 5 speed manual with 4 cylinder 2.2 petrol engine. To be honest I'd have preferred it as an auto having previously had a V6 auto Camry the driving style just suits auto better.

It needed a couple of bits of welding and exhaust gaskets for its MOT but has been driving ok for the few months we've had it, my Mrs drives it and has racked up over 3k miles. It does on occasion stutter or misfire or the revs drop making it feel like it's going to stall but always seems to clear itself up. Mostly filling with super unleaded but on occasion had to use E10 so don't know if the stutter is related to that or something else.

Thanks for sharing. That looks clean. I'm sure it will last as long as you want it to.

[DodgyBastard]

28 minutes ago, cbowditch said:

Thanks for sharing. That looks clean. I'm sure it will last as long as you want it to.

Erm...

[grogee]

@DodgyBastard "It does on occasion stutter or misfire or the revs drop making it feel like it's going to stall but always seems to clear itself up. Mostly filling with super unleaded but on occasion had to use E10 so don't know if the stutter is related to that or something else"

Shirly not? These would have been happy with crappy third-world petrol from a milk bottle. Must be a sensor issue I'd guess, or loose earth mebbe. Or fuel filter. Or, or or...

Easy for me to say from the comfort of my armchair. I'm guessing no OBD port on these so Toyota-only diagnostics.

[EightMegs]

Some enterprising Russians have worked out how the old Toyota diagnostics protocol works but you'll need to make up your own cable and find a PC with a serial port.

http://toyota.kgbconsulting.ca/wiki/OBD-1_Serial_Interface

[DodgyBastard]

I think it's ignition related as no spark, I might get a better look at it if it stops raining and I can find someone to give me a hand.

[EightMegs]

35 minutes ago, DodgyBastard said:

I think it's ignition related as no spark, I might get a better look at it if it stops raining and I can find someone to give me a hand.

Is that an E90 Sprinter peeking in?

[DodgyBastard]

26 minutes ago, EightMegs said:

Is that an E90 Sprinter peeking in?

It is and is in desperate need of new front wings.