I am assisting in finding an inexpensive, reliable car for a family in the area who is "less fortunate." The car will be paid for via charity money, essentially, and the recipients are not in a position to spend much on maintenance, just need some basic transportation that is capable of carrying 5 people sometimes, and gets good gas mileage in local driving.
Me not exaclty being an expert on "basic transportation" (preferring beatup british cars = unreliable and fast/newer cars=not basic), would appreciate any advice. I found this on the local CL and it looks to be a pretty good deal. Always heard that camrys are bulletproof, and new timing belt/water pump and tires takes care of near-term big-ticket maintenance items.
It's the middle of winter here making it difficult for me to do an extensive check-out of the car but is there anything in particular on this model I should look out for?
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/ctd/1548069431.html
Thoughts?
mndsm
Reader
1/11/10 6:38 p.m.
The oil pumps on those could be a little sketchy, leading to coking issues. Might want to pull the plug and see what comes out. Body looks clean-ish, but they are prone to rust. I owned its baby brother, and it was dead nuts reliable. As long as the regular maitenance on those is done, and you can pull the plugs, and not see any fried ones, and all the other basics are in place, I say go for it. I had to do precisely nothing on mine other than oil changes and brakes. The one worry is, 2 extra cylinders- 2 extra holes to maintain. Give her a leakdown, and if she passes, rock on. I'd drive it, because wagons are ballin.
Check the oil, look for crap built up on the underside of the oil cap. Basic look for leaks, then just drive it. That should be a VERY smooth motor. Not real powerful or anything, but it should pull smoothly. If it sounds even halfway rough, or feels weird, run. The mileage is not a big deal.
true...and the current owner appears to be maintenance-aware and have records, so that could be a good sign. Fairfax/Fair Lakes is a fairly well-to-do area so I don't expect that the car has been treated as a "beater"....
2 rear windshield wipers always entertained me...
In my personal experience with our 5SFE 1997 Camry, the oil pump issue is the O ring behind the oil pump. I came within about a half mile of blowing a motor because of it. When you do the timing belt, put a new O ring on it at the same time. It will only take an extra 15 minutes and ten bucks then. The motors are not terribly oil tight, so some grime on them is pretty normal. Otherwise, that looks like a good $1200 car. Offer a thousand, take it for 12 bills.
The 1mzfe that's in there should be a bit more resistant to leakage if it's been cared for.
5sfes leaked from factory. 
Dr.Hess...the ad says that the timing belt was recently done. Since this isn't for me, I don't plan to do any future maintenance on it except perhaps an occasional oil change if asked.
yep, they bought it without my having a chance to check it out in advance 
Anyhow, I took a quick look over and drive up the street it in the dark this evening when I got home from work and I probably would have recommended against it had I been there to check it out
The good:
Engine ran smoothly througout the power band and tranny shifted fine. A quick checkout showed new belts, new filters (oil and air), and popped the cover and saw new timing belt. Plugs weren't new, but didn't have any unusual signs of issues. Tires were decent, body was decent other than alot of paint chips on the front. Interior was dirty but generally everything was in reasonable shape with no rips in the seats or anything. Exhaust looked good and had no leaks. Steering was as tight as can be expected in an old camry.
The bad:
- Engine did have a slight tick to it...valve clearance issue perhaps?...I don't know how these engines are supposed to sound.
- ABS light was on, and one one of my stops during test-drive it kicked in on dry, non-slippery pavement. So that will need to be fixed.
- SES light is on. ANd figures I only have OBDII and OBDI attachments for Ford/GM/Chrysler cars...so wasn't able to check the codes here.
- had alot of oil/oil residue on the block. Looks like a leaky valve cover gasket based on the oil location, and clearly engine bay hasn't been cleaned in years. ALso anoyed me that the hydro struts for the hood were shot so I had to prop it up with a baseball bat...
- took a quick look at under engine with a flashlight....oil pan and tranny have oil/gunk all over them. Could just be from the leaky valve cover.... but it was quite a bit and left a couple drips on my driveway after 30 minutes sitting there 
...so there is clearly an ongoing oil leak. Oil level was at full, but brand-new filter says the PO probably just did a change on it.
- one of the two rear wipers doesn't work.
- the driver's window switch is intermittent working/not working.
- shocks feel crappy, but then again I had just gotten out of my WRX, so maybe that' sjust the way old camrys feel .
All in all....most of the issues are things I could deal with or fix with little difficulty were it my car, but I do worry that the family that got it (who don't have much money) will not fix or maintain it or make sure to top off the oil to keep up wit the leak, at very least. I might do a little work on it if I get a chance, but it's the middle of a cold winter here and working on someone else's gunky car is not high on my priority list, lol....
Anyhow, thanks for the inputs guys.
