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Toyota Camry 2006 and earlier

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Comments

  • c0kec0ke Member Posts: 44
    Hey, the guys are right about the exhaust system hanging a bit low.

    It doesn't take much of an extra load in our '02 LE for the tail pipe to drag when backing out of our driveway(or pulling in). Will have to check more closely to see if I can determine if it's the tail pipe or the resonator?(surely that's not the muffler back there)

    The drive is on an incline so I'll need to perfect driving in at an angle or else move.
  • rvideenrvideen Member Posts: 5
    We are looking at new cars for my wife. We looked this summer at 2001 Camry's and Maxima's but decided to wait until the new 2002's arrived. One of the features that my wife likes is the trunk release button on the keyless entry.
    the 2001 Camry did not have this feature. did they put it on the 2002's?
  • wenyuewenyue Member Posts: 558
    Just shook hands on a Lunar Mist 2002 Camry LE, 5-spd, w/ ABS and Keyless entry.

    $18,6xx + tax + title and licence. All negotiation done over the e-mail with the internet manager at Rinke Toyota near Detroit. Great guy. Offered to order it for $19,000. I counter offered for $19,600 out of the door, and say that we could sign the deal quickly and painlessly if he can agree to that. Came back offering $19,82x out the door, which is $500 over dealer cost (invoice + TDA). Faxed me a hard copy agreeing to the price. No B.S, no hidden fees, no hard sale on useless add-ons. Bargained well and done. :)

    Ann Arbor (Dunning) Toyota was closer, but they tried to use the whole bag of sales tactics on me. First say they can't order a 5-spd, have to add automatics. Then they say they must add carpeted floor mats. One tried to sell that at $21,500 out of the door. While another salesman said they would give me $300 off MSRP if I buy one from their lots (if I order, it would be MSRP). I didn't give them the pleasure. Ann Arbor has only 1 toyota dealership, they are really spoiled. Somebody needs to give them some competition

    Rinke Toyota was 20 minutes further out, but deserved the business. Took a test drive, and filled out the order form and shook hands. Best sales experience so far. All dealers should be like that. It took less than 1 hr of his or my time to conclude this deal. Quick and painless. So the profit might not be high for him (the deal net him $100 if he gets 20% commission), but he made an easy $100 bucks for almost no work.

    The car, while not evoke any passion, it does evoke one emotion = peace/tranquility. Enjoyed the short test drive in a LE-automatic, the ride was comfortable and quiet, steering was little too effortless. Seating was higher than the last Camry and gave a more commanding view. Well, not much could be said, it's a family car, and it's strength is it's solidness and total lack of offense. :)

    Well, this will be my last post for a while. Townhall is too addictive, and I have very little time to spare at this point of my life. Best wishes. Bye y'all.
  • canadianclcanadiancl Member Posts: 1,078
    I'm not sure if the low exhaust pipe some of us have commented on is related to the problem you've encountered. The section of the pipe that hangs low appears to be close to the area between the rear wheels. Therefore, if it is between the wheels, you wouldn't scrape it backing out of, or going onto, a steep driveway.
  • hblumehblume Member Posts: 1
    Hello everyone. This is my first time posting a message, and unfortunately it is because I'm having problems with my car. I bought a 97 Camry LE in June 2000, with a little over 36,000 miles on it. After a few months, I had a couple of incidents where the car would idle roughly when I would come to a stop. On one of these occasions the car died, but the engine started back up right away. I didn't take it to a mechanic because it never happened again until 3 days ago. Only this time it died several times in a row, any time I would stop or start to slow down. If I was not giving it gas, it would die. After getting the car parked, I waited for about 30 minutes and tried to drive it again. Everything was fine, and it hasn't idled roughly since. Has anyone had this problem or know what could be causing it? I would appreciate any help! Thanks!
  • mackabeemackabee Member Posts: 4,709
    I think the thunk everyone is referring to is when you initially start the car and the A/C is on the compressor kicks in and you hear the "thunk". I've noticed this on the new Camry and also on the Avalon and Corolla. Try starting the car without the A/c on and the "thunk" disappears. Ahosso, thanks to the usatoday link on the Camry. Anytime you post anything on edmunds (url) it will show up as a link. So you must have done it inadvertanly. Anyway, you saved me a customer and future repeat business.

    : )

    Mackabee
  • mackabeemackabee Member Posts: 4,709
    I know this is in the wrong topic, but I'm answering a question posted here. As far as I know, November will be the last month of production of the current 2002 Corolla. I saw a quick sneak preview of the new car at the Camry ride and drive, and could'nt really tell much about it. The Toyota Japan website has pictures of it, and it looks like we will be getting pretty much the same car. The start up production is timed to coincide with production of the new Matrix, which will also be built in Ontario Canada. Check out the pics of the Corolla at www.toyota.co.jp Edmunds also posted a few pics from a recent auto show. My son who is stationed in Germany and attended the Frankfurt auto show, sent me some pictures of it but it looks totallly different than the Japanese version and the version we are supposed to get here. We'll see come the first quarter of calendar year 2002.

    : )

    Mackabee
  • jrct9454jrct9454 Member Posts: 2,363
    ...we are on the wrong board, but the folks on the Corolla board are indeed chomping at the bit for anything CONFIRMED about the new Corolla. When you've got something to share, do go over there and help out.

    Everyone has seen both the Matrix and the Japanese / Euro Corolla, so it's not like there are huge doubts about what the car will look like outside. But the shots of the interior imply a SIGNIFICANT upgrade...IF the North American-produced versions are not made noticeably less rich. We'll see...
  • c0kec0ke Member Posts: 44
    includes a trunk release function that is implemented with a third button on the remote.

    You press the trunk release button and hold it for approximately one second.
  • c0kec0ke Member Posts: 44
    Suppose felix buckels up the groceries to get rid of the confounded sensitive alarm.

    If someone taps her car enough to set off the air bag protection is that going to splatter the milk that's now buckeled in safely all over the car?

    Something to think about ... accidents do happen but this could make for an expensive replacement of the passenger side air bag.

    ... sorry, the thought keeps coming back.
    Any ideas ... will have to research the manual again!
  • mackabeemackabee Member Posts: 4,709
    If she would have bought the car from a true pro, he would have pointed out the tray in the trunk that holds two 1 gallon milk/fruit juice bottles and she would have no reason to put the milk in the front seat to begin with. Also, the airbags in the 2002 Camry are multi-stage bags which deploy in accordance with the severity of the crash and the position of the seat.

    : )

    Mackabee
  • perkylizardperkylizard Member Posts: 2
    How often does Toyota change body styles. I am wondering if Toyota will change the Avalon for 2003.
  • c0kec0ke Member Posts: 44
    My salesman did mention the convenient container compartment when I picked up our LE last week. Was showing it off to the wife ... who wasn't impressed with my trying to stash a couple of one liter Pepsi bottles. Sigh ... after all these years of metrics taking over the auto industry.
    The airbag deployment is indeed more complicated than I imagined. From the manual it looks like you would have to have a frontal impact of 15mph to set off the airbags. At that I expect no one's going to worry about spilt milk (except maybe the EMT's if you didn't have your seat belt engaged properly).
  • mackabeemackabee Member Posts: 4,709
    Toyota has gone to a 5 year cycle on complete redesigns. Look for a redesigned Avalon in 2005. The 2003 will be "re-freshed" which means new tail lights and headlights and grille. Look for the Nav system to be available also.

    : )

    Mackabee
  • olivemarieolivemarie Member Posts: 5
    My car did about the same thing that yours is doing. I have a 97 Mazda that would have had close to the same mileage as your car has now when this happened. Car would stall out when slowing down to stop, this didn't happen all of the time, but the occurrence increased over time. Forgive my lack of auto savvy as far as mechanics, but as I recall the problem was a sensor for the fuel system, a computerized chip that controlled the amount of fuel going into the injecters. They said it was wise to bring it in as I would have eventually been stranded on the road with a vehicle that wouldn't start. I was lucky my car was under warranty at the time.
    Hope to be driving a phantom gray pearl Camry XLE before too long... if the universe cooperates with the financial end!

    Olivemarie
  • ahmikeahmike Member Posts: 1
    I just bought a new 2002 Camry LE. I notice that on windy days or if I'm driving fast on the highway, there is a metallic rattling noise near the front windshield. I'm not sure if it's a loose wiper blade or my hood or something else. Anyone else notice this?
  • canadianclcanadiancl Member Posts: 1,078
    If you grab the front edge of the hood when it is closed and latched can you still move it up and down a bit. If you can, the latch and/or the rubber stoppers may need adjusting.
  • jodar96jodar96 Member Posts: 400
    I did spend a lot of time in both showrooms look and feel both cars. I did drive an Altima 2.5S with manual transmission.

    I have to give it to Camry. It has a lot more solid feel to it than Altima. Material quality is much better in Camry. Yes, Altima's shape is sporty, but one should not be deceived by sporty look. If there is no solid feel and material quality to go with the look...who cares? the gear shift in Altima felt light and flimsy. You cant's see the gages in daylight unless you have the instrument panel lights on!!!!

    Open and close Altima's doors. It is very light and flimsy, specially the back door. It is large, and is moving a lot of air out of the way while it is closing.

    At the end reliability and resale value also come in the picture. Past Altimas did not have great record in either area. The new Nissan 175HP engine is kind of gimick.... and exactly at what RPM those extra horses come out to play? and how often are you driving your car at those RPM's? Almost NEVER. One Nissan engine advantage is its use of timing chain instead of belt which never requires maintenance. I still take Toyota's engine over Nissan's.
  • jrct9454jrct9454 Member Posts: 2,363
    Actually, the new Camry 4 cyl [and the Corolla / Celica 1.8] uses a chain, as well. This engine is completely new, a scaled-up version of the all-aluminum design that debuted here in the '98 Corolla. It is as close to a maintenance-free design as the state of the art permits right now.
  • vinneyvinney Member Posts: 43
    I believe Honda is switching to timing chains as well. I read somewhere the new CRV will have a chain driven engine and also the new Accord for next year. I think the dealers are not to happy about this since they won't get to charge 400.00 every time they change your timing belt.
  • petpal2petpal2 Member Posts: 4
    Does anyone out there know why Toyota doesn't include Auto Climate control as an option in SE V6?

    Jack
  • canadianclcanadiancl Member Posts: 1,078
    On the subject of strange decisions by Toyota, why would they go with a foot-operated parking brake for the XLE models?
  • clhawkins01clhawkins01 Member Posts: 25
    I don't know why they don't offer the auto climate on the SE V6, but I sure wish they did!
    Anybody know if we'll be able to upgrade the system if we wanted to?

    On that same note ... does anybody know how interchangeable Lexus and Toyota parts are? I noticed the 2002 LE 300 has steering wheel controls for the radio. I'm assuming that the controls could easily be adapted to the SE's steering wheel (looks exactly the same).
  • cliffy1cliffy1 Member Posts: 3,581
    Toyota always does this. You realize that the price of the SE and XLE are pretty close. They had to leave something extra to justify the added cost of the XLE. If you want climate control, you get the XLE and pay the extra few dollars.
  • mackabeemackabee Member Posts: 4,709
    on the steering wheel. These are actually controls for the trip computer.

    : )

    Mackabee
  • edwardh5edwardh5 Member Posts: 130
    why is there less up/down adjustment range on the steering wheel in the 2002 model compared to say the 1994s?
    wheel will not go down as far.
    and the between the seats console plastic looks really thin and cheap.
  • har1bushhar1bush Member Posts: 207
    I just checked the prices on the new Camry LE and SE V6 models and they were ready to be sold at 22K and 26K respectively. That's with sticker prices of about 24K and 29K.... I think that Toyota is making enough Camrys for everyone that dealerships will soon sell them at invoice. I now take initial criticisms about the Camry's price back. A SE V6 with leather, side airbags, and CD changer looks like a very nice deal.
  • ravvie4meravvie4me Member Posts: 110
    on the road in my area. It went by me as I was turning onto another street. It was silver (Lunar Mist) LE and it looked very good. Looks good coming and going! I also saw one parked in a pharmacy parking lot but only caught a glimpse of it, I think it was Catalina Blue LE and looked pretty sweet from what I saw.

    I have also seen a new Altima (silver) as well, not to impressive...

    -RAVvie4me
  • maxamillion1maxamillion1 Member Posts: 1,467
    That's a first for me, just about everyone likes the Altima's styling better. I am not trying to be rude or anything, but what makes you like the Camry more than the Altima? Please respond.

    Also, I went to Charleston yesterday with my family, and I saw 8 new Camrys on Interstate 26 as expected, most were LE models. I also went to Toyota of Greenville this morning, and they didn't have many new Camrys at all, two SE models, one was Phantom Gray(I LOVE THAT COLOR TOO!) and the other was Lunar Mist, the Phantom Gray cost about 30K, it had everything except the NAVI, the Lunar Mist had the lowest optional package, with just keyless entry, and a power seat.
  • walterchanwalterchan Member Posts: 61
    Which Toyota Camry is known for more quality and reliabilty? Made in Japan or USA? Is it true that 80% of the Camrys are build in USA and 20% of the Camrys are build in Japan?
  • canadianclcanadiancl Member Posts: 1,078
    Walter, I don't know about the ratio of Camrys built in US v. Japan, but in terms of build quality, I would put my money on the Japanese-built ones. And if I'm not mistaken, the west coast gets the Japanese-built allocation. So you may be in luck.
  • castleownercastleowner Member Posts: 42
    Rented & test drove for 1 full day. Camry LE automatic vvt-i 4cyl. 7000km. This is an opinion only and may not be quoted or cited in any way and it can be denied. Exterior/ interior is excellent. Base stereo is good. According to torque curve from Toyota, 4cyl generates about 130lb-ft at 1200rpm, 145lbft at 2000rpms, and 162lbft at 4400rpm. This 4cyl engine is the most driveable 4cylinder engine I have seen for city driving. It is optimized to deliver decent acceleration between 0-100km/h without having to "punch" the gas pedal so it stays "quiet" if that is what you want. The car feels very light and agile and front end feels very light weight. Starting from 0km/h, the wheels are quick to spin when you want to accelerate briskly, and the car takes a while to "catch-up". The transmission is optimized to avoid 3000-5000 rpm range for fuel economy. Used the overdrive cancel switch to get the engine firmly in this 3000-5000 range and realized good passing power even at above 100km/h from the higher torque in this range but engine noise is noticeable and fuel economy really took a beating (see below). Because the engine is optimized for low-end torque and quiet driving, there is not that much more on tap and putting the pedal to the metal produces proportionally more noise than acceleration in my view. Highway cruising at 100km/h (60mph) is at 2400rpm, is very quiet and in my view as good as some GM v6's like regal, impala, grandprix. 120km/h around 2800rpm has a bit of road or engine noise that you won't find in a GMv6 but is reasonable because this is not a v6. Above that the rpms rise quickly and the noise increases but the car still has smoothness and a refined feel. A final word, for 335km of mostly high speed highway driving and brisk city acceleration this car used 38 liters of gas, which puts fuel economy at 11.34L/100km, almost the same as the camry v6 city EPA of 11.6L/100km. This means: Driving habits really made a difference and to use the power that the vvt-i can amply deliver all the time, one has to pay a lot in fuel consumption. Some have said the suspension is too soft, I think it is just perfect since going around a curve any faster is unsafe for everyone on the road. Overall, this car is a clear winner over any other 4cyl family car and even some v6's.

    I need to try the v6 camry now, do v6 camry owners have any comparable notes in the above areas?
  • castleownercastleowner Member Posts: 42
    Are any camry owners checking their fuel consumption?

    In my performance test on the 2002 4cyl auto over 1 day highway and city, I got 11.3L/100km which is not much better than 21mpg. I blame extensive use of o/d cancel switch and brisk jack rabbit starts for this. I think in a camry v6, the acceleration would be more than adequate so fuel economy would not suffer that much.
  • rward99rward99 Member Posts: 185
    While the Japanese economy is down, and demand for cars is down, some production is shifted there from Georgetown. I don't think there is any set percentage. It allows Toyota to keep those workers busy and they don't have to lay off anyone. If the situation is reversed some production would be sent here to the US.

    As far as quality goes, the build process is the same, but materials, such as the sheet metal used for bodies, will be acquired locally. But many components are the same, no matter where the car is assembled. All Toyotas go through a very rigorous quality control process, and I feel that no matter where they were made you're going to get a quality vehicle.

    I have an '89 pickup built in Japan and a '91 Camry built in the US. For the fit and finish, performance, satisfaction, etc. I can't see a hoot's worth of difference, and I've been very satisfied with both.
  • armtdmarmtdm Member Posts: 2,057
    I have a 92 SE built in Japan. I cannot compare with a current US version (although I feel the Japan cars are built better even though highly computerized process, policies/procedures the same etc. the American worker IMHO, just doesn't care on the assembly line)( will get much disagreeemnt form the union people on this one no doubt) anyway, I will say that parts are a problem or at least have been for my Japanese built car. The service depts honestly cannot interpret markings on parts, read Japanese obviously, convert into metric properly (not so much nut and bolt sizes but radiator pressure cap pressure etc. ) and one has to constantly inform parts that the car was built in Japan (yes the VIN # is a give away). This may not be true of new Toyotas as possibly Japan US parts can be substituted/interchangeable but this is not true on my 92 where soem Camrys were built in US as well as Japan.
  • jrct9454jrct9454 Member Posts: 2,363
    The last time I saw any data, which I think was for the 2000 model year, Toyota's internal audits on quality actually grade the KY plant higher than every other one in the Toyota system except the plant in Japan that is used to produce the Toyotas we see as Lexus branded cars [Lexi?].
  • jasdmwjasdmw Member Posts: 118
    The quality leader for a number of years has been the Corlla/Solara plant in Cambridge, Ontario; about an hour West of Toronto. That plant is sooo good that they are tooling up now to build the RX300. This is the first Lexus to be produced outside of Japan, ever.
  • lsclsc Member Posts: 210
    >>You cant's see the gages in daylight unless you have the instrument panel lights on!!!!

    The instrument panel is designed to be lighted, like the panel in the Lexus ES300 or the Infiniti I35.

    >>Open and close Altima's doors. It is very light and flimsy, specially the back door. It is large, and is moving a lot of air out of the way while it is closing.

    The door moves a lot of air because it's big. It's light, but it closes with a solid sound.

    I would also most likey take the 4-cylinder Camry over the Altima. Performance wouldn't be on my mind if I'm buyin a 4-cyl. family car. But the V-6 is a different matter. Well, I actually bought the 240HP V-6 3.5 SE because I wanted the added performance. Also the multi-link rear suspension setup / tuning and the 17" wheels was a big selling point over the Chapman rear struts w/ 16" wheels set up for comfort.

    Once again, performance suspension setups wouldn't be a consideration for me if I was buying a 4-cyl. family car.
  • rrtkerrtke Member Posts: 11
    I see that Toyota has made fog lights Standard Equip on the SE only. Has anyone added them to an XLE as a dealer add on? If so what did they charge.

    Thanks
  • armtdmarmtdm Member Posts: 2,057
    This months issue ranked the Camry 2nd out of 8 cars, Accord was first. They tested the SE V6. Altima was third.
  • alpha01alpha01 Member Posts: 4,747
    I recently posted my comments on this article in the Honda Accord Forum, which has sparked an interesting discussion. If necessary I can re-post my original, but be sure to check out that forum for other comments.
    Basically I feel that in that context, some of the cars were mis-represented (especially the Dodge Intrepid, and I also felt the representative Camry in that crowd should have been the LE V6), and some serious contenders were omitted b/c of C&D requirement of a V6 engine and certain interior room specifications... namely, the Passat 1.8T (more than enough power) and Galant V6 (plenty of room...).
    ~alpha
  • dvd9dvd9 Member Posts: 22
    WOW Accord(5 yr old design) was ranked better than the new Camry and Altima. I can not believe it.

    I wonder it is b/c Accord is a better value car! For 25k you can get an Accord V6 EX with std leather, traction control... But you would have to pay about 29k for a v6 Camry se and about 28k for a v6 Altima SE. I saw a v6 Altima Se in the lot and it does not even have abs or traction control. I think Camry V6 and Altima V6 are too expensive. I can not wait to see the newly design Accord next year.
  • soberssobers Member Posts: 496
    I agree, Honda has the most honest pricing I guess among all the imports. Motortrend recenty rated GMC Envoy the SUV of the year, Tthey had CR-V in the test & they were realy surprised to see the price-content ratio & value offered by it. Honda MSRPs are also more inline & realistic than the others In my opinion.

    I guess becos of this pricing only Honda increased Accord's invoice by $400 ob EVERY trim for 2002 despite renewed competition !!!
  • talon95talon95 Member Posts: 1,110
    I have to contest the contention that the Galant is roomy enough to compete in the C/D comparo. For the class of car, the Galant's rear seat is surprisingly tight... too small to be truly competitive. The space there is more on a par with a Corolla or Civic than a Camry or Accord.
  • sebring95sebring95 Member Posts: 3,241
    The last comparo C/D did that included the Galant, it won over the Camry/Accord. It was a year or so back, and was obviously a 4th gen camry. We were looking for a bigger car to replace my wifes 3rd gen Camry and after driving the Avalon, Camry, Accord, Intrique, and Impalla my wife decided she didn't like any of them and didn't want something bigger than what she had. The Galant was the first car she drove she liked. To me, the front is as comfy but the back is tighter. Overall it's a tad smaller than the 4th gen Camry we have, but the wife hasn't said one thing about the quarters. I suppose if you were hauling around folks in the back all the time it might make a difference.
  • rward99rward99 Member Posts: 185
    >The quality leader for a number of years has been the Corlla/Solara plant in Cambridge, Ontario



    Small number of cars produced means more time to look them over :-) BTW, the engine and transmission for the RX300 will come from Buffalo, WV USA.

    http://www.toyota.com/html/about/news/archive/press_release/manufacturing/docs /2001/20010126_tmmwv.jsp
    (you will have to edit this URL to a single line. The editor won't allow long words)

    Georgetown - 500,000 cars (annual production)
    Cambridge - 200,000 cars (annual production)

    (Just some good natured ribbing, and figures)
  • sinjin_dogsinjin_dog Member Posts: 84
    Have a 2000 LE made in Japan. Well, there are wind noise at 65 plus mph near the rear passenger door area from day number one.. Went to the dealer twice for it and they could not fix this. The trunk lid is off set by 1/2 inch from rear body fender. At the time of my purchased, CE made in Kentucky and straight line of trunk lid/rear body fender. Parts used in CE model had Denso parts made in good ole USA, where my Japan built had Denso parts made in Japan.

    The moral of story is that Kentucky version had better quality in my opinion.
    Oh, still very happy with 2000 LE, just wish there are little more horsepower.
  • canadianclcanadiancl Member Posts: 1,078
  • talon95talon95 Member Posts: 1,110
    It had a significant advantage because of the price restrictions (under $20,000) in that test. You could get into a basic V-6 Galant in that price range, but the Camry and Accord could only be equipped with an I-4. The engine difference really made all the difference in the world in the scoring.
  • alpha01alpha01 Member Posts: 4,747
    .. the Galant/Accord/Camry et al. C&D comparison that is being discussed appeared in the September 1999 issue.

    For Comparison Purposes, the interior of the Galant IS Marginally smaller than that of the Camry but WAAAY bigger than the current Corolla, contrary to that which was stated in a previous post.
    The numbers for the Galant are
    Overall Passenger Room- 97.6 Cu.ft. +
    Cargo Volume- 14.6 Cu. ft.

    Corolla
    Passenger Volume - 88 Cu.ft. +
    Cargo Volume - 12.1 Cu.ft.

    ~alpha
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