By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
My 94 still has the orig muffler at 94K
Should you choose to buy the 2002 SE (which I think is a great choice by the say), be anal about oil changes. Do them frequently and make sure you are actually getting the oil changes you are paying for. Do that, and you'll have nothing but years of great service.
Seems like the 92-2001 one was fine.
~alpha
"We appreciate your interest in Toyota and the new 2002 Camry. The shape and location of the exhaust pipe on the 2002 Camry has been placed in its location for several reasons that include aerodynamics, air flow management, and relationship to other connecting parts in the underbody. If you have specific concerns with the exhaust system, please consult with your local Toyota dealer."
I'm not really satisfied with the answer because other automobile makers don't have the exhaust pipe hanging so low in their cars.
Does anyone know if that option is available on the 4 cylinder?
For starters, it has an aluminum block - the previous generation was iron. Secondly, it has a timing chain, not a belt. Thirdly, there is the variable valve timing and consequent lower emissions to go with the higher power.
Suffice to say there is practically nothing in common between the 4 cyl Camry engines that prevailed from '87-'01, and this motor. This was a necessary step to keep the car competitive and meet the upcoming CA and national emissions standards.
Staying with the old engine was not an option, so this is not a case of "messing with it"...it was way past its prime and uncompetitive in every respect [Altima with 170 hp, and the next-gen Accord will have similar hp with its new 4 cyl engine].
Toyota seems to want charge out the wazoo for anything over it's base package. The dealer actually expected me to think I was getting a deal by lowering the wood trim option to $500 for simulated wood plastic .... Not complaining though, we just got what we thought was the best package for the least amount of money and enjoy this most quiet car...
Bill in Santa Cruz
New is not always better.
Time will tell on this change, we will probablyknow more in a year or two.
Bill, your suspension and that of the XLE are identical...there is no "beefing up" involved. The only cars in the line with different suspensions are the SEs, which have slightly firmer settings to be "sporty", whatever that may mean in the real world. Of course, 4 cyl and 6 cyl cars have slight differences to compensate for weight, but there are no differences between an LE and XLE. You do get more competent brakes in the XLE, but that only applies to the 4 cyl cars.
#1: Rear cupholder has broken twice. Very cheaply (weakly made) Had it replaced once by dealer, now it just hangs there and they won't replace it again. It was NOT abused, just used.
They changed the style in 98.
#2: Brake grinding and rumbling sound when coming to a stop from fast speeds; the brakes make a grinding noise at times when coming to a stop. Pad's are good (per dealer and others). Can't get that fixed.
#3: Rear door seal (rubber) has come off twice. Dealer re-applied once, but now wants to charge me to replace it.
#4: Creaking in steering wheel when turning (in warm and cold weather). Dealer greased turning gears once, but it didn't do anything. Heard of someone with a 98 that had this same issue and had to have something replaced in the column.
My experience with this "quality" car has not been THAT great. Anyone else share this?
It is not a scaled up version of the Corolla motor (ZZ block). The RAV4 motor is a scaled down version of the new Camry motor (AZ block). The engine was available in the Estima a few years ago.
Oil Filters
Toyota oil filters are made primarily by Denso (which Toyota owns about 20% of). Some filters are made by Purolator
Sludge
Toyota raising the enigne operating temperatures, is not a flaw. Thermodynamically for the Otto engine, by increasing the operation temperatures, you increase efficiency. If that's considered to be a design flaw -- it looks like the science of Thermodynamics is flawed also.
Just change the oil over 3000 to 5000 miles and you'll be fine. A shop in Fairfax, VA has a cool motto: "Grease is cheaper than steel"
Spark Plugs
The dual ground on the platinum plugs give increased spark plug life. You can use single ground platinum plugs, but you'll have to change the plugs at 60k miles. You could try the Bosch +2 or +4 for the plug change. They cost a lot cheaper than the Denso plugs.
steve84-it sounds like you work for a toyota dealer and i'm happy to hear that I am not the only one around who would like a 4 cylinder with the leather and slider option.
For the past 15 years I have always leased my cars mostly Riviera's and my last car a Concorde and now with the new higher price lease programs it really doesn't pay to lease anymore so I find myself for the first time in many years concerned about resale value and that is one of the main reasons I am considering a Camry and when I looked it up on the computer and realized that I could buy a loaded XLE with leather and a moon roof for a list of around $25,000 dollars I knew that was the way I wanted to go.
I was a little surprised to hear that Toyota allocates thier shipments rather then take special orders but I was also told that I could put in a preference request with no guarantee toyota will ship it but I feel it's worth the chance as I really would prefer not to pay the extra 3,000 or so for the V-6.
Thanks again for your reply.
Also had that rubber seal re-installed on the rear passenger door and the steering boot re-lubed (both for the 2nd time).
Also, anyone have a puff of smoke at starting their 4cyls. Camrys? Mine gives off a puff when starting cold = dealer said that's "normal" due to oil seeping down the guides...common on the 4's. Nice touch; start up a nice looking vehicle and it has a smoke cloud when you start it up...and it's "normal" for a $20K+ car!! I have 75K miles on it and change oil every 3K.
I AM NOT IMPRESSED!
It can't be the gas, because I still own my 11 year old chevy v6, which still runs, and has never given me a sulpher smell, or any other smell, except from the exhaust from another car. I have not driven over 4000rpm due to break-in period
Does ULEV ensure that occupants don't get all the emissions that aren't going into the tailpipe? (Humor intended)
Otherwise, love the car, very light weight and peppy, and other cars seem to want to drive near me (which I don't appreciate), versus my chevy that people would ignore (I think I prefer that).
My camry at 143,000 (10 years old next month) has original exhaust system including muffler
Sorry if this is an old topic. How does one do a keyword search on this board anyway?
Thanks!
You can do a keyword search through discussion titles using the Board Search feature on the left sidebar of all Town Hall pages. So you could put Camry in that box and find all discussions with "Camry" in the title. That is very helpful when looking to join existing conversations
However, at this time there is no way to effectively search the posts contained within a discussion and get any usable results. You cannot find all posts that contain the word "fog", for example, or any other key word.
We have been promised a resolution to this problem for a long time now. The latest information I have is that it may happen in the May timeframe.
Wouldn't it be nice.
Pat
Host
Sedans Message Board
I didn't want to hear this, but you confirmed my fears about the smoke at startup. To think I had TWO local dealers give me the same line. Should I state who? Local St. Paul MN. Toy. dealers - only are two. Anyway, I have the Toy Extended Extra Care on the vehicle...maybe, I'll get lucky. It covers 6 years and 100K miles. If this isn't covered, I've got history of invoices of checkups on this issue. This car is NOT like my old 88 Camry V6, that's for sure!! It proves that the first year of a model is NOT the time to buy it...even if it's a Toy@!!
The other reason for a puff of blue smoke at start up is the dreaded sludge/gel issue. You need to find out what it is before panicking.
Keep up the good work!
So Toyota has a minor sludge problem, but folks out there who changed their oil at 5000-6000 miles? Give me a break. You deserve problems for abusing your cars like that.
So, when I decided I wanted(NOT NEEDED) a 2002 Camry, I knew I could sell it myself. I placed an ad in the classifieds and in two days it was sold for the price I asked, $4,200. That's 26 percent of what I paid. On top of that, I was getting serious calls on it for two days after. A total of 25 interested parties.
Contrast this to the the Taurus and Sable my Father and Brother owned. They lived in the shop, barely got to 75,000 miles and it took us two months to sell the Taurus (Six years old at the time) for $1,500.
It's all in what you want to buy, and I'll agree that there must be a problem with high heat that is causing the sludging in cars that don't get new oil every 3,000 miles, but I can't see how anyone could think they are getting a deal with a Taurus. You lose in the long run.
So, I'm taking the 4banger back into the dealer for the headgasket replacement under warranty. Btw, I DO replace my oil EVERY 3K miles! I have a DC with the 3.3 -6 in it w/152K on it and it runs fine with this same approach. I had an 88 Camry V6 and did the same for 145K miles. So, there is some telltale signs of a weakness with THIS engine (sludge? I don't know) But something isn't smelling right. BTW, Toy was VERY nice to me on the phone and appologetic about the dealer 'slip-up'. Let the comments fly.