Toyota Camry 2006 and earlier

fredvh · January 2002

The February "Consumer Reports" magazine rated the 2002 Camry over the Altima. They said it was not as refined as the Camry, used cheaper interior elements, noisier than Camry, stiffer ride, but still a good automobile. A good article to read if you are considering both.

fredvh · January 2002

"Consumer Reports" stated that for the 4-cylinder LE the braking "was very good, but not as good as the old Camry's. Stops were a little longer, and the pedal felt spongy".
For the 6-cylinder XLE they said "Braking performance was excellent overall".
The 6-cylinder XLE has the 4-wheel disc brake system and the 4-cylinder LE has the front disc/rear drum system. This could certainly explain the difference.

alpha01 · January 2002

That only LE 4 cylinder models have the "spongy" brakes because dont the LE V6, SE 4, SE V6, XLE 4, and XLE V6 all use 4 wheel disc brakes? Even so, on my family's new 02 LE 4, the brakes seem fine, no more so spongy than my 00 LE 4.
~alpha

sam_beaver · January 2002

fredvh writes:

> The 6-cylinder XLE has the 4-wheel disc brake system and the 4-cylinder LE has the front
> disc/rear drum system. This could certainly explain the difference.

Yes, except that I test-drove a 4-cylinder XLE and was very unhappy with the brake feel. So either there is a problem with the 4-wheel disc brakes as well (perhaps only in the 4-cylinder and not the 6-cylinder for some reason??) or else the brakes are fine and my discomfort was a personal feeling that isn't shared by anyone else.

In the meantime I haven't had any luck yet finding a dealer who will rent me a 2002 Camry, nor a rental car agency that carries them. I really want to rent the exact car I'd be buying (a 2002 XLE 4-cylinder) and I'm pessimistic about finding one. I'll keep trying though.

fredvh · January 2002

According to the 2002 sales brochure ALL 4-cylinder models have the disc/drum system and the 6-cylinder models have the 4-disc system. Also remember that all of the SE and XLE models have 16" wheels regardless of whether it is a 4-cylinder or 6-cylinder system. This also might contribute to the differences. ABS in these models could also make a difference.

sam_beaver · January 2002

But according to the toyota.com website in the Camry section under "Specifications", the XLE 4-cylinder's brakes are, and I quote directly:

"Power-assisted ventilated front, solid rear disk"

This is the same for the XLE V6 and the SE (4 and 6). Only for the LE trimline are drum brakes mentioned at all.

This same information is given out on Edmunds and by Consumer Reports; of course they probably get it from Toyota.

daveq · January 2002

My XLE 4 cyl comes with 4-disc brake system. I dont feel that the brakes are spongy. In my area I know of a dealer renting out LE models, but not XLE.

ahossa · January 2002

DavQ: what area are you in and What's the name of the dealer.

canadiancl · January 2002

Wouldn't the heavier V6 models have bigger brakes, thus explaining the difference in feel?

alpha01 · January 2002

Is dictated more so by type of brakes (brake setup.. front disc, rear drum, rear disc), I believe, rather than size of brakes. Awhile back there was an excellent article in Car and Driver magazine that compared about 5 cars to determine which brakes feel the best. One of the interesting comparisons they made was with the Grand Am and Alero, which use different setups. I can't remember right now which issue it was, but I'm positive it was either 2001 or 2000, maybe February-April ish.
~alpha

bobert4 · January 2002

Has anyone else had problems with their paint chipping off the new '02 Camry. If so please contact me.

bweave · January 2002

bobert4,

I have also had problems with the paint chipping easily. I have had the car since September and already have 5 or 6 chips in the paint. Every time I wash the car I find a new chip.

When I bought my '00 Chevy Silverado the dealer gave me a bottle of touch up paint when I signed the papers. My Toyota dealer wants me to pay for a bottle of touch up paint.

Don't get me started on the other problems with my '02 Camry.

wilcox · January 2002

All cars tend to have more paint chips in the winter due to all the sand and gravel being spread all over the place. Those loose particles are flying around on the Interstates.

Check your driving conditions they may be responsible, and remember that that is what the dealership is probably going to throw in your face when you point it out.

I have always thought that our '96 Camry's paint was a tad too thin....compared to other vehicles we have owned.

alpha01 · January 2002

ahhh! what are the other problems with your 2002 Camry? Certainly, it was one of the first production vehicles if you bought yours in September, do yo think this anything to do with it? Which model is yours?. Sorry to get you started, but we just got a 2002 LE 4cly moderately optioned.. and love it! Just over 1000 miles on the odometer right now, trouble free, no squeaks/rattles, or paint chips.
~alpha

dbronzosr · January 2002

My only complaint about my 98Le has always been the paint. Very few people are as fussy as I am with a car, (washing waxing, heated garage the whole 9 yards) but the front end looks likes its sand blasted and the hood is full of chips. 60,000 miles now but its been this way since almost new. Dealer said rubber front end chips easily because bumper gives and paint doesn't.
My 89 Cady with 105,000 miles on original paint looks like new compared to the Camry. I'm curious if the Toyota Lexus line suffers from the same paint problems or is this a case of "you get what you pay for."

sobers · January 2002

The mismatch between bumper paint & rest of the body is much pronounced in 97-2001 generation. It was really very obvious. But Toyota/Honda were trying to keep costs down in 97/98 due to strong yen so there were many cost saving compromises which do not affect long term relibility & quality were taken....

lenscap · January 2002

I own a 1995 ES 300 that I've had for seven years. It's black, so the paint chips definitely show through. Although there are several on the hood, the rest of the car is flawless. And the front bumper has no marks because it's the gray plastic.

Now, my friend has a 1997 ES 300. His is silver and the chips are much less noticeable due to the color of the paint.

Hope this helps.

bweave · January 2002

I live in Houston, so there is no gravel or sand being put on the road for icing problems. I have the '02 SE and since you asked here are my gripes:
Paint chips easily.
3 squeaks/rattles: one around the back right seat, one where the seat belt attaches to the b pillar, and an intermittent rattle around the sunroof controls.
The transmission acts like it can't find a gear when around 40 mph. I take my foot off the accelerator for a moment and the rpm's drop like the transmission is going to neutral. There is also a shudder in the trans between 20 and 40. And when the engine is cold the shift from park to drive/reverse is anything but smooth-there's a pretty big lurch.

mdiver65 · January 2002

Bweave,

I am also an owner of a '02 SE. One question-are you having problems with leg cramps? Every time I drive this car I am in serious pain in my right leg. I have read reviews noting a lack of thigh support in this model is a major weakness and tried everything to fix it it with no luck.

Any suggestions? I'm in a lease and just dread the next 32 months.

Mark

PS I'm 6'1" and 230-maybe the seat length just isn't long enough

hjr2 · January 2002

Make: TOYOTA Model: CAMRY Year: 2002

Incident: No
Fire: Yes
Number of Injuries: 0
Date of Failure:
Component: ENGINE
Summary: WHILE DRIVING THERE WAS SMOKE COMING FROM VEHICLE. WHEN CONSUMER SAW SMOKE STOPPED VEHICLE, AND THEN VEHICLE CAUGHT ON FIRE IN ENGINE. CONTACTED DEALER, AND DEALER WAS NOT WILLING TO DO ANYTHING.*AK VEHICLE WAS COMPLETELY IN FLAMES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT CAME AND PUT OUT THE FIRE. *YD this was one of complaints from nhtsa site. another was starter fire, tranny failing at 2000 miles(a few of them) for various Toyota models...
the dumbest and most fraudulent complaint was"faint turn signal noise"....that was not a real problem,bit someone thought it was.

All makes have problems. I was just shocked about engine fire!
I guess my friend won't knock Suzuki's again after seeing this?

bweave · January 2002

Mark, when I first got the car it took a while to find a comfortable seat position. If you have the power seats try this with the seat bottom: lower the back of the cushion to its lowest position, then raise the front up so that it has more of a bucket seat feel. I'm not as big as you but this is a comfortable position for me.

hjr2, could you post the link to where you found that bulletin? Thanks.

the5car · January 2002

I have the 2002 SE with the 4 cylinder/5 speed
setup, and the car has discs all around...

As for thigh support, I noticed the lack of
it also, and I'm 6'1"...I found that having
the seat as high as possible, and no lumbar
support in the back gave me as much comfort
as I could squeeze out of it...what works best
though is cruise control...

Also, on it's first extended road trip,
the car got 38.4 mpg !!! Outstanding !!!

No complaints so far, probably 'cause the
wife is always driving it !!!

ralpi · January 2002

My XLE/4 cyl arrived today, and I was wondering what brand of tires others have received. I have asked dealer to check and let me know what is on the car. I have seen Michelin and Bridgestone on the 16" XLE's with alum wheels. Are these the only brands others have been receiving? Dealership is not too receptive to swapping tires, even though I offered to pay for
the labor. I do not want the Bridgestones, I believe the RE92's are the model supplied on the
16" tires I observed in dealers lot.

the5car · January 2002

I have the Bridgestones, I think....and
they're not M+S rated, either, so I don't
expect much traction in the snow...

I'm thinking about going to tirerack.com
and ordering a set of rims and tires for
use during the winter...

hjr2 · January 2002

:-) ;-) :^) <:-<??? Testing...my computer's been acting up. sorry.

mdiver65 · January 2002

Beweave & the5car,

Thank you for your replies. Unfortunately I tried both suggestions today and found no difference. My leg is in pain, my wallet is lighter and I'm locked into a lease for the next 32 months. If I could only go back in time. Damn, I'm depressed. I really want to like this car.

Sorry for venting. If you have any more suggestions please keep me in mind. Thank you!

Mark

PS Any suggestions on getting out of a lease? Does begging, bribing, anything help!?

Maybe I can bring a note from my doctor like I did in elementary school.

sebring95 · January 2002

I read on the Galant forum a guy that wasn't comfortable in the seats. The dealer had the drivers seat re-padded to fit him by a custom seat/upholstery shop. Might be a stretch to find another dealer willing to do that, but you certainly could find a good upholstery shop and see what they say.

Getting out of a lease is easy. It will cost you a small fortune though. The thousands you'll lose would be better spent, even if you have a customizer completely gut the seats and install whatever you like. Anything is possible with the $$ and right people.

bwia · January 2002

Mdiver65:

You said "Any suggestions on getting out of a lease?"

Getting out of a lease usually results in a derogatory credit situation. I have a suggestion, why don't you trade the Camry for an Avalon. The seats in the Avalon are excellent, in every way, and your new lease payment may not be that much higher.

On the outside an Avalon may not be as "pretty" as a Camry but on the inside the dash and console is Lexus like in quality and tactile feel. If you can show the dealer that the Camry is not right for you, I am sure they would give you a fair deal on an Avalon, and most importantly you would retain your good credit.

wain · January 2002

you could get Avalon seats from a "junk yard"
they might be better
floor mount holes may be the same
do not know about the elctric seat connections

mdiver65 · January 2002

Thank you all above for your input...

I have a meeting next week with my salesman and his manager to talk about the situation. The salesman said "it doesn't look like we can do anything but come on in and we'll sit down". I love these guys.

BWIA, that's an excellent suggestion about trading in the car for an Avalon. I hope it can be done.

Any suggestions on how to best prepare for this meeting? I don't want to get screwed in paying full MSRP for an Avalon but I'm sure that's pretty close to what they will offer. Also, how much value should I take off my car? It's about 4 months old now. 3,000 miles.

Anything, anything you can think of will help! Can't believe I'm in this situation after looking around for 3 months for a new car.

Thank you!

Mark

wain · January 2002

test drive the avalon more than you test drove the Camry - or rent one, or get dealer to let you take one home.
we test drive our new cars 50 + miles and if possible take one home for weekend.

sebring95 · January 2002

Well, forget about the cost of the Avalon for now. The first thing that has to happen is for them to determine what the buyout of the lease is. I'm going to guess it's going to cost you $5000. I've seen people 3 to 4 years into a 5 year lease and it still cost them $1500-$2000 to get out.

If you don't have the cash to pay-off the lease, they are going to want to roll it into the lease or loan for the Avalon. That's getting to be a pretty big amount to roll into anything and they may not let you. Either way you're going to be in a bad way. That's why I highly recommend finding another way out of this unless the money makes no difference to you. Costs alot to get out of a lease early, let alone this early. You may be better off advertising for someone to take over the lease (assuming your contract allows an assignment) and maybe even pay them to take it over.

Best case would be if the dealer will sell you the Avalon for cost less hold-back, but that's still not going to get rid of the buy-out cost. Make sure you drive the Avalon for a long time because even if you do get into this with no cash out of pocket, you'll never be able to get out of another one.

This is only one of the reasons I don't recommend anyone to lease anything, especially if you have to way to write the thing off on your taxes. Loan situation would be better even if you had put nothing down on the car.

timadams · January 2002

I would think about replacement seats or re-upholstering your Camry's driver seat. Find out if an Avalon seat would fit your car. Or maybe a seat from the last generation Camry. You should be able to find one in a junkyard for a reasonable price.

Stop by an upholstery shop and see if there's anything they can do.

Doing any of this will no doubt cost hundreds of dollars, but that's better than the thousands you will lose trading in. And trading in is exactly what you will be doing no matter what euphemisms they use.

raybear · January 2002

http://auto.priceline.com/autos/include/misc/LeaseTrading_JumpPage.asp?

May not cost quite as much to bail if you can find someone to assume your lease.

mdiver65 · January 2002

THANK YOU all for the above replies. I figured I was pretty much screwed and your comments confirmed it. I'll still going in and see what they say as I have nothing to lose. The upholstery shop idea is a good one.

For all of you out there that are at least 6' tall please test drive this car for a while. I can confirm the seats are a little smaller and offer absolutely no leg support. BE CAREFUL!

vicsa4 · January 2002

My son's 1995 Camry (75,000 miles) will occasionally lose power after being driven about a mile either first thing in the morning or after the car has been parked during the day for at least 4 hours. He had it checked by the local Toyota dealer yesterday.
The dealer said that it probably involves the ISC motor (Idle-Speed-Control?) which he said was dirty and sticking. He said his mechanics cleaned the ISC motor and that should (actually, he said "may") fix the problem.
My son will be driving the car today, so let's see what happens.
Is this a common problem with Camrys?
Have any of you had this problem?
Thanks!

sebring95 · January 2002

better question for "Camry Problems" but I'll answer anyway. Something similar happened to my 92 V6 up around 150K miles. What your mechanic fixed could do the same, but if that doesn't do it another thing to check is the cold-start injector and the cold-start timer switch. Most dealer mechanics aren't very familiar with this, but a very knowlegable toyota engineer told me these sometimes go bad. There is a way to test it and it involves starting the car when cold and timing the cold-start injector. If the injector turns off too soon (or doesn't come on at all) the car will run on low-power until the engine warms up (and no longer requires the cold-start injector). This applied to my 92 V6, no idea on 95 or even if the 4cyl has this. None of my later model V6's had this problem, even into high miles.

mike366 · January 2002

Does anyone have information regarding what a 2002 Camry V-6 owner's manual states regarding a recommendation for gasoline octane rating?

From reading posts in the town hall, and other media information regarding the V-6, I've been under the impression that "premium" fuel is recommended. However, the February, 2002 issue of Consumer Reports tests of four V-6 family sedans (Camry, Altima, Intrepid, Grand Prix) states that the Altima is the only one of the four for which premium fuel is recommended.

ralpi · January 2002

mike366- I have a Sienna, with the same engine. Recommends premium fuel to achieve highest power output, I believe the engine timing is adjusted with lower octane gas to reduce engine knock, but this will reduce power output. So it is not necessary, but recommended.

dmgurk · January 2002

Does anyone have information on when the availability of XLE's, 4cyl with leather will improve? I am in north Baltimore and am not finding many.

Also what prices are you being quoted. I recently got $1369 over invoice.

Any comments on cost of ownership of this car vs Acura TL 3.2?

cliffy1 · January 2002

I don't have good news for you on the XLE 4 cylinder with leather. I work in a store in VA and we are in the same region as you. I looked up the build mix for this month and there are only 48 being built in this configuration out of a total of 3073 Camrys. This is the January build which means February to early March delivery.

Your best bet is to find a dealership willing to order one. Of those 48, all are also coming with the side air bags and heated seats.

castleowner · January 2002

Just bought a 2002 Camry. We live in an area where the roads are very heavily salted in winter so rust is a problem.

The dealer kept pushing on me this $500 dealer rustproofing that doesn't have to be retouched or freshened for 6-8 years. Has anyone tried this? And does it work?

What do other camry owners do for rustproofing in their areas, and in particular, could I hear from camry owners with 8-10 years and 100K miles.

For my 11 year old chevrolet lumina with 250k Km on it, all I did was a local company oil spray underneath every winter or every other winter. It is driven every day in salty road conditions in winter and still has no visible rust underneath or on the body there is only a minor beginning of rust (which I promptly slapped vaseline on!).

I know that GM uses Galvanized steel (I even have a 2 year old scratch through the paint on the body which still hasn't rusted) but Toyota doesn't.

My concern is will a local oil spray eat through the rubber parts like the dealer says? It never ate through my GM parts.

sebring95 · January 2002

We sold our 92 V6 Camry this spring with over 200K miles on the clock. There was zero rust to note anywhere on the vehicle. The underside looked typical with oxidized looking metal, but nothing anywhere near the point of being called rust. First 5 years were in N. Ohio and remainder was also in a somewhat wintery location so it had it's fair share of salt. It had no rust treatment, I just tried to run it through the automatic wash once every couple weeks and touch up any stone chips. No idea on the oil treatments, I've never gotten into that kind of thing. Only thing I know is the dealer will most likely tell you anything to get you to buy their treatment over someone elses.

the5car · January 2002

The 2002s come with a 5 year, unlimited mileage
rust-through protection, which is defined as
'corrosion perforation of sheet metal'...I don't
anticipate any problems with mine, and I live
in WV...just run it through one of those car
washes with the undercarriage spray once a month
or so, and you should be fine....

castleowner · January 2002

Was ordering woodgrain for the LE and wanted to choose Rosewood (has long flowing lines) but dealer said 99% order English Burlwood because Rosewood is too North American. I think Burlwood is too busy. The standard XLE woodgrain is similar to Burlwood but of a lighter shade. I think it is too busy.

Has anyone else ordered woodgrain? and what finish did you go with?

Thanks.

timadams · January 2002

Cliffy (and anyone else in-the-know), my wife is hankerin' for a new car come April or May. She likes a friend's Avalon and is leaning that way. How does the Avalon compare to the new redesigned Camry in terms of interior room (front and back seat), seat comfort, trunk room, quietness, power and smoothness?

We'll eventually drive both, but I'm curious what your opinion is.

cliffy1 · January 2002

The Avalon is still larger and more comfortable. It is more expensive and more... how do I say this... bland. The Avalon is more powerful, but not much after you figure the extra weight. The other things are subjective. Some here find the Avalon seats much better, but I don't see it.

captainrb · January 2002

Over the past weekend, I had the first opportunity to drive a 2002 Camry SE with stock Bridgestone Turanza tires. The car couldn't move without sliding, even with traction control & ABS.
Found out from several tire dealers that this car is equipped with "Summer use" tires only. We immediately replaced them with Bridgestone Blizzaks and found the traction improved by 100%!
Highly recommend a Winter tire change for anybody driving this car in snow & ice conditions. I believe that it is the ONLY Camry that does NOT come with All-Weather tires. Be careful!

canadiancl · January 2002

are supposed to be a no-cost option on the Camry SE. Did your dealer offer that when you bought the car? If not, you may have a legitimate claim against him.

captainrb · January 2002

No, there was no option presented at purchase. In fact, the dealer was unaware that the SE came without All-Season tires when I stopped there this week. Are you sure it is an option to switch the stock tires?

Toyota Camry 2006 and earlier

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