By 1997 we had endured the Taurus buyback saga and completed the Contour trade in as I have talked about over the past several weeks. During this time period, we were still driving the 1994 Integra I described a few weeks back. (My wife and I shared the Integra, particularly when the Taurus was acting up.) The Acura was nearing the end of its four-year lease, and although I enjoyed driving it very much I was ready for something new. Something larger, perhaps, and definitely something that wasn’t going to get me on a first-name basis with my local service department.
I seriously considered an Accord (again) as I figured I could get a good deal by buying a Honda from the Ohio dealership my parents frequented. They had bought at least four Hondas after the 1991 Accord so they were on good terms with the salespeople there. However, the Accord was in the last year of its design and I have always been a sucker for what’s new and different. I didn’t exactly know what the Accord was going to look like but I didn’t want “last year’s model.” And I didn’t want another Civic as I still associated that car with the cursed one we’d managed to unload. And I had to weigh getting a better deal in Ohio against having to deal with the hassle of bringing the car back to Maryland and putting 400 miles on it in my first day of ownership.
I’d been aware of Toyota as a brand of generally boring and reliable cars that were built to last. My father-in-law had purchased a 1994 Corolla used (it had been a service loaner for a dealership so it wasn’t exactly babied) and he put more than 200,000 miles on it over the course of almost 20 years before selling it. I’d had Toyotas as loaner cars, most recently when the Integra needed a visit to the body shop. I liked the cars as they were well-built and solid, and that particular loaner car (a Corolla) had showed it could be yanked out of a parking spot in front of my house by a tow truck and still drive like new. (I had forgotten to get my parking pass out of my own car before dropping it at the body shop so the loaner was “illegally parked.” That cost me several hours and $200 at a time when my take-home check was only a little more than $1000 every two weeks. Whoops.)
I particularly liked the 1992-1996 Camry as those vehicles (the XV10 series) were attractively styled, well-appointed, and solidly built. I was particularly fond of the coupe, a body style that even then was becoming harder to find. Some have considered this generation to be Lexus-like in build quality and appointments. However, that meant that the car was also quite expensive, so I had figured that the Camry was out of my price range so I had not included them in my previous shopping lists.
However, for 1997 Toyota introduced a new fourth-generation version of the Camry (the XV20) that represented Toyota’s effort to reduce the build cost of the car by economizing in ways the customer would probably not see (i.e., keeping interior fitments high quality but using less expensive parts underneath). Because of this, list prices came down relative to the XV10 models: a 1996 LE four-door sedan listed for $20,168 (about $31,000 in today’s dollars) while the equivalent 1997 LE sedan listed for $19,868 ($30,400 in today’s dollars). The 1997 model came with anti-lock brakes standard: these were an $1100 option for 1996. This $1400 price drop ($2200 nowadays) was enough to bring me to the showroom for a look, despite my parents being less than enthusiastic about that idea. (My mother’s disdain of Toyotas stemmed solely from her dislike of the logo which she said looked like a sombrero. The things people fixate on when deciding which car to buy…)
As with the Accord, the Camry had a base model (the CE) that made some key features optional, like anti-lock brakes, cruise control, cassette stereo, and air conditioning. Toyota did offer the CE, oddly enough, as a V6 with a 5-speed manual. At almost 200 hp, that made for an almost Road Runner-like basic performance car. I was more interested in a mid-level LE as this came standard with air conditioning, cruise, and the aforementioned ABS, among other features. That CE V6 would have been entertaining, though…
Buying a Toyota meant learning a whole bunch of new ways I could get cheated in a car deal. I can’t remember now why I picked the dealer we used, as they weren’t very close to our house and weren’t exactly friendly and helpful. I was far enough away from the end of the Integra lease that I needed to trade it in rather than simply turn it in at the end of the lease. The dealer actually did try that trick you hear about where they ask for your car keys to “assess” your trade while you try out the shiny new car, and then won’t give back your keys to try and trap you into buying a new car. I definitely made my displeasure with that practice known, and got my keys back. This car purchase was the start, I think, of a habit we still have of test-driving a car, getting the numbers together, and then leaving the dealership to get dinner or a snack to think it over before deciding yes or no. It helps us think over the deal more carefully without a salesperson breathing down our necks.
The car we picked was a 4-cylinder 4-speed automatic LE sedan – by this time Toyota had discontinued the Camry coupe but hadn’t yet introduced the Solara coupe so sedans were it. The car was “antique sage” in Toyota’s parlance, and my wife and I still argue about whether the car was green or gray (I said green – take a look at the photos and see what you think). The interior was also “sage” and looked exactly the same as the one in the 1997 Camry brochure (which I still have and obtained the below picture from – apologies for the visible center fold). Same color, same cloth seats, even the same stereo.
Our car had a few accessories that had been added at the Port of Baltimore (this was the first I’d heard of that practice – usually accessories were added at the dealer). The car had a rear spoiler with LED brake light, and since the spoiler had been installed prior to the dealer the installer had removed the package shelf third brake light and replaced it with a blanking panel you couldn’t see from behind the car. A nice touch that made the installation look more factory. This was the first car I ever owned with a car alarm, as well – it was a Toyota installation with an odd oval key fob. The dealer tried to get me to buy some gold or black pearl emblems (remember those) but I wasn’t about to pay that much money for something I didn’t particularly like. I did add the front end mask which by now was a required option in my book (even though they hadn’t gotten any better looking).
As with the Hondas I owned, the car was reliable and unremarkable to drive. It was exceptionally well built, I thought, with high quality interior appointments and relatively tight exterior seams. I remember being impressed with things like the individual swiveling lids for the two cup holders and the soft touch dash materials (the dash was low gloss plastic that was soft but not squishy – I liked it). The only thing that sticks in my mind was that the 4-cylinder automatic power train (133 hp) was somewhat inadequate for the 3100 pound car, so I wished I’d spent the extra coin for the V-6. (This feeling came back to bite me in a later car purchase, as we will see in a few weeks). Otherwise, the car required no more than regular maintenance and was always ready to go. After that Taurus, I really appreciated that!
As a bit of a spoiler, this was the first of many Toyotas I have owned over the years. The price was right, the lease payment was fairly low as the resale value of the car was high, and everything was screwed together to last. This Camry was one of the only cars I have liked enough to keep to the end of its lease (I have traded most of my cars well before the turn-in date). The car that replaced this Camry at the end of the three years was not one of my best picks, though, as we will see in the coming weeks.
Curbside Classic? I see nothing “classic” about a 97 Toyota, and actually nothing classic about any Toyota, less than 40 years old, well except maybe the Supra.
Calling a 20 year old sedan a “classic” makes me feel better about my own personal poverty-stricken fleet. They’re all classics!
These stories are interesting reflections on past ownership experiences, and not necessarily about the car itself.
Well, first, this series is COAL – Cars Of A Lifetime rather than Curbside Classics per se, and second, 1997 was 20 years ago. The fact that 1997 Camrys are still common is a testament to how well made they were which is a point worthy of discussion.
If there are particular points about this era of Camry that you don’t like and wish to point them out, well Hell, that’s what we do here. Go for it. However, we generally like to go into a little more detail than ‘Them Toyotas, they ain’t no good’.
Well a 1997 Camry is eligible for historical vehicle plates in several states so at least some entities view it as historical.
It’s be 5 more years here in Ohio before a ’97 Camry is eligible for hysterical plates : ) .
Jack; welcome to CC. But it appears you haven’t actually been officially welcomed yet, which requires reading our Welcome page. Please do; it explains what we do here: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/welcome-to-curbside-classics/
What we don’t do here is be negative and crotchety. Not at all welcome.
The website is called *Curbside* Classic, not Concours Classic. Some of us have affinities for older model cars no matter how possibly bland or understated it may have been in its mission. The ’57 Chevy was the Camry of its era. I am sure people were not fawning over them in 1977 either. If you don’t like Camries and Toyotas on this website, there are plenty of Mustang/Corvette/Camaro pages that you are free to frequent.
There are alot of Toyotas that I would call classic!
The 1980s removable top 4runners, the FJ40 landcruisers, and pretty much any of the Landcruisers for that matter, any of the MR2s… to name a few!
There’s a gorgeous ’76 Celica that I see once in a while in the city I live in and it’s for damn sure a classic!
Interesting COAL. This brings up to me thoughts of how to value degrees of difference between “sportiness” verses “reliability” and what is “needed” power as opposed to generally “adequate” power.
Remember, many USA driver’s type 1 (air cooled) Beetles took more that 25 seconds to get to 60 mph (if they got there at all) and while we knew these cars were no hot rods, they was “adequate” in their day Today, such performance would be considered dangerously slow.
The 1950s and 1960s cars we drove needed frequent tune ups, tires wore out after 15,000 miles, drum brakes barely stopped us adequately, and a 10 year or 100,000 mile life was considered exceptionally long-lived.
So, by these modest and admittedly outdated comparisons, a car like the Camry of this COAL is wonderfulness beyond belief.
The fastest car I have ever owned is my current truck (0-60 in 7.8 seconds). A slower car will require more care when merging on a fast and crowded freeway, but flooring the pedal of a “fast” car to do the same requires a lot of care as well. There are dangers at both ends of this spectrum.
In some respects car performance is like small single engine airplane performance. A Cessna 172 is called slow and appliance-like by some, but its design is an admirable balance between predicable behavior and performance. A V-tailed Bonanza is a lot less of the former and a lot more of the latter. You can get into trouble with both, but you can get into more trouble faster with the Beechcraft.
OK, this is geezer talk, but these Camrys, Accords, and their ilk are to me marvels of automotive genius, and I continue to ponder the accusations they are boring appliances with some perplexity. I, for one, do not want excitement from my daily driven vehicles any more than I want excitement from my black Amana fridge.
Of course, I still have my Miata.
The there’s the Piper Cub – arguably the safest airplane in the world – it can just barely kill you.
Your statement “marvels of automotive genius” is exactly the right analysis. Toyota did everything superbly well except avoid being boring.
Several friends have or had these and all say it is the car that will not die.
I see there is a new Camry out now. Wonder what it is like.
I, too, marvel at these “fat” Toyotas. Every single part, in a collection of several thousand parts made by a couple hundred companies consisting of several continents and perhaps a couple million individuals, operating nearly seamlessly in harmony millions of times over a span of 20+ years, with a tiny sliver of a percentage of faults out of trillions of individual operations. A car is fascinating. A modern car is absolutely amazing. A “fat” Toyota should be considered a wonder of modern human evolution. And yet, they are used, abused, and eventually thrown away, and nitpicked for being “boring.” i get that they aren’t as exciting as some rivals, but from a systems engineering standpoint, they are wonders.
+1
No doubt – my parents had a 1972 Caprice sedan when I was a kid with a 454 cubic inch big block. I suspect that my wife’s 2016 Lincoln MKZ with a 2-liter turbo 4 could beat that big block in a 0-60 time, and do so with 5,000 mile service intervals. Her MKZ could definitely leave her first car in the dust – it was an orange 1978 Mercury Zephyr with the 3.3 liter straight six/3-speed automatic with a rousing 88 horsepower. Hard to imagine anyone selling a car today that was that slow (probably faster than those Beetles, but not by
A 1978 Fairmont with the 200/auto and 3.08 rears did 0-60 in 15.8…in 79 they dropped back to 2.73 rears and 0-60 went up to 18.2. To put that in perspective a 70 Maverick with 200/auto did 0-60 in 14.5 and the three on a tree did it in 12.8. Fasted stock times I’ve seen on a Bug was the 71 which did 0-60 in 16 or so.
These Camrys have replaced the Cavalier as the official “Cockroach of the Road”©. I see these everywhere, and though having said this on here and on TTAC, this is the car I should have bought in 1999 instead of the Dodge Stratus we had less than 3 years.
The Stratus was a good enough car, but if we had gotten the Toyota, we’d most likely still have it. BUT – the dealership and sales people were arrogant and wouldn’t even talk to us!
© GEOZINGER
Has anyone actually had a good dealer experience? Imho some people’s “good” experience is the product of low expectations, and not a demostratibly superior encounter.
No wonder dealers have lobbied governments and manufacturers to prevent direct auto sales. Most people would rather put a fork in their head than wrestle with a dealer’s sales staff. If consumers had their way the traditional dealer might cease to exist.
Our local Honda dealership experience is the reason my wife is on her third CR-V and why I leased two Civics and owned the third. The reason I don’t currently own a Honda is that they don’t offer the type of vehicle I need.
We possibly could’ve purchased cheaper, but with more hassle (convenience vs. distance, etc.) but the sales and maintenance experience at our dealer has been, dare I say, enjoyable.
I’ve had good experiences with Nissan dealerships. I’ve never felt like I was talked down to during the sale and after sales service has been excellent compared to how I saw my family treated by VW and Chevrolet. I’ll be on my sixth Nissan when I trade my current one in two years from now.
They’ve been reliable and pleasant, the most notable failure of any of the five was the radio in my current ride. My own experience with Toyota service back in 2003 was on the same abysmal level as how my parents were treated by VW so I won’t go back again. VW tried the same game with my registration paperwork that they did with the car keys in the story so I won’t be darkening their doors either.
I do wish Nissan had better coffee, but I can bring my own custom blended hazelnut cinnamon and sip it out of my own cup while I wait.
Our Honda dealer and Chevy dealer have afforded us very pleasant experiences and continue to do so. The Toyota dealer in question was in an “auto mall” here in town.
Who knows if it’s still that bad.
My parents have had very good dealership experiences over the past 18 years, all from Honda dealers, spread across 5 purchases, 3 different dealers, and 2 states.
The Honda dealer local to me gets very poor reviews, however.
“Has anyone actually had a good dealer experience?”
Actually, all of my dealer experiences in the last 20 years have been quite pleasant, with the exception of the Ford dealer back in 2005 or so where I helped my older son buy a new Focus. That sucked.
I’m referring to the buying process at the dealer where we ended up buying our various cars/van. I had contact with others that I quickly departed from.
Frankly, some of me dealer experiences have been downright exceptional, like the one I bought the Acura from in Boise, ID. The salesman picked me up at my hotel in the morning, took me out for breakfast, and then got me back on the road with the car in minimal time.
I’m going to do a post on the subject.
Can’t wait to read that one. It’ll generate over 200 replies easily!
We have had great experiences at our local Honda dealer. No pressure, very competitive pricing, and an all around pleasant experience. About 15 years ago, we were shopping for a small, efficient, reliable second car. Civic and Corolla were at the top of the list in no particular order. Civic won due to dealer experience. We went to there different Toyota dealerships in Maryland, and each one was worse than the last. Every dealership and salesperson stereotype held true, and they acted as if there was no other option but a Toyota. Well, 15 years and 3 Hondas later, I haven’t set foot again in a Toyota dealership. They are great cars. Friends have Toyotas and I have enjoyed riding in them and driving s few, but they are not worth the dealer experience. It sounds like our author had a similar experience but was able to tolerate it and ended up happy.
I have had great experiences with the dealership I bought my Forte from (Laurel Kia). I also had great experience with the Carmax used car dealership in Laurel MD (though their Toyota dealership sucked). I have also had good experiences with the local mom an pop dealers in Laurel MD and Orisman Mazda/Hyundai
I don’t know. The thing about roaches…is that, like the Cavalier, you usually don’t want them, whereas people actually *want* the Camry.
Amen to that. Dealing with the local Toyota Dealers in my area soured my interest in Toyota. My Scion XB was my first and last Toyota. Fighting with the dealership with warranty work caused my to simply dump the XB and get another car.
I bought a Kia Forte which was a great car until a drunk idiot totaled it. The dealership experience was great also.
Thanks for the mention Zackman! WRT “roaches”, it depends on where you are. Here in my part of UAW country, the roach du jour is a Chevy Cruze. In a way, that’s kind of sad because they’re fairly new. But so was the Citation when I came up with that definition. The weird thing is when I go home (to where the Cruze is built), they aren’t as numerous…
What’s not to like about that Camry? I agree with rlplaut when he says: “So, by these modest and admittedly outdated comparisons, a car like the Camry of this COAL is wonderfulness beyond belief.” But then we both have Type 1 experience on our resume.
For the younger folks it could be the lack of excitement. Honestly, I don’t want excitement on the public road anymore. I mostly get excited when I see people leaving their lanes distracted by cell phones and such.
So what’s not to like about this Camry? Probably only the fact that somebody you don’t like has one. There were so many on the road that for sure somebody you don’t like has one. That, and the logo that looks like a sombrero to some people.
Without surfing the Interwebs to research it, I thought I’d ask, what is the origin of the Toyota “sombrero?” While bored at a long stop light one day, I did notice that every letter in the name, “Toyota” is contained in a stylized form in the emblem. But that couldn’t be it.
I was stuck behind the same Toyota ☺ and thought the same thing. The Y and the A are a bit of a stretch, but they’re all there.
Most cars just use the first letter on the front. One of my earliest childhood memories is standing on the front bumper of my mother’s late 30s Studebaker to touch the red off-centered grill badge with the full name of the car on it.
Expanded for your convenience.
I like G. Poon’s answer better.
From: http://www.symbols.com/symbol/the-toyota-car-symbol
” … Toyota introduced a new worldwide logo in October 1989 to commemorate the 50th year of the company, and to differentiate it from the newly released luxury Lexus brand. The logo made its debut on the 1989 Toyota Celsior and quickly gained worldwide recognition. The three ovals in the new logo combine to form the letter “T”, which stands for Toyota. The overlapping of the two perpendicular ovals inside the larger oval represent the mutually beneficial relationship and trust between the customer and the company, while the larger oval surrounding both of these inner ovals represents the “global expansion of Toyota’s technology and unlimited potential for the future.” “.
I picked this up from the paragraph below the second picture: “(My mother’s disdain of Toyotas stemmed solely from her dislike of the logo which she said looked like a sombrero. The things people fixate on when deciding which car to buy…)”
I owned two of the XV10 series, a 92 4-cyl. and a 95 6-cyl., both wagons. We loved the wagon utility!! We, like many, found them unremarkable. They were well put together and did what we needed them to do. Wear and tear items needed replacement, as with any car, but we didn’t experience any major component failures.
Our Toyota-centricity has continued, with a 2006 Highlander (handed down to my son and DIL, who drive the stuffing out of it), a 2015 Highlander and a 2002 Tacoma. Perfect vehicles? No. Exciting to drive? Nope. The 2015 Highlander, not unexpectedly, is an order of magnitude more refined than the 2006.
To Mr. Plaut’s point, time and place certainly define “adequate” from a power perspective. The 92 with the 4 cyl. was just fine, as is my Tacoma, with the 2.7L 4-cyl. How much power does a guy need? That said, after driving the much peppier 95 Camry, 06 Highlander and our current Highlander, I have to admit I like the additional power. The truck that will eventually replace the Tacoma probably won’t have a 4-banger.
I’ve always thought of Camrys as another variety of K car, just more refined.
“Our car had a few accessories that had been added at the Port of Baltimore (this was the first I’d heard of that practice – usually accessories were added at the dealer). ”
So…a bit of history. Back in the 60s and 70s, people on the West Coast were receptive to imported Japanese cars; however Middle and South U.S.A (“The Heartbeat of America”) as well as the East pretty much belonged to the domestics. In order to break into these markets, Toyota relied on middle-men, which were regional distributors who would market the cars to customers and sell them to the dealerships. These companies were also responsible for determining which configurations of each vehicle would be sold in that region, and the quantities / ratios thereof. The distributors were instrumental in Toyota’s success, in that they allowed the company to basically be a vendor at a time when it couldn’t exactly afford all of the administrative and overhead costs that went with selling cars in the U.S, especially in regard to managing dealer relations. The downside, however, is that the distributors were known for often adding weird options at the port that marked up the prices of the cars, and (in the case of some of them) charging tariffs to the dealers that then had to be passed on to the customers. It is my guess that the distributors were responsible for those “Gold Badge” packages you saw on 90s and early-00s Toyota / Lexus products.
These days, of the original five, there are only two big regional distributors left for Toyota. There’s Gulf States Toyota, which includes Oklahoma (where I live), Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana…and is headquartered in Houston. And then there’s Southeast Toyota, which includes Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina…and is headquartered in Deerfield Beach, FL. In all other markets, Toyota sells its own cars directly. Maryland, where the author of this post lived, would have been served by Mid-Atlantic Toyota Distributors Inc (headquartered in Baltimore itself), which was bought out by Toyota in the late 80s due to a right in the contract that Toyota chose to exercise. Mid-Atlantic, in particular, was responsible for a lot of price inflation that made Toyotas disproportionately expensive on the North and Mid-Eastern Seaboards, and no one was sad to see Mid-Atlantic absorbed into the Toyota fold.
Here in Oklahoma, which again is managed by Gulf States Toyota, I’ve seen several Camrys over the last few generations badged as “Platinum”. In the case of the Murano, Platinum, F-150 and Escalade, “Platinum” denotes the top or near-top trim, but is that the case with these Camrys? No. They’re base-model LEs with probably a couple of cheap add-ons and a nice price hike. They used to put the Platinum badges on the C-pillars, before they went to those weird false-window on the C-pillars for 2015, and now the badges are on the doors. In fact, the one I saw yesterday had wheel covers…*and* it looked like the Platinum badges were courtesy of the previous-gen Escalade. I got a picture of it, too. It’s right up there with Chevy dealers charging out the wazoo for making their own special editions of the Silverado by putting a lift kit on it, mud tires and some blacked-out trim and decals–something else that also happens here on OK–but at least in that instance you get something for your money. Since I can’t find anything online in regards to a Camry Platinum or with Platinum package, but I know it exists, I’m going to wager that Gulf States Toyota is responsible for it. Or maybe it’s a particular dealer. But I bet it’s Gulf States.
There is no “Platinum” Camry so yes, it must have been added by GST or the dealer. The positioning seems to be right where the Malibu and Impala have their side badges.
I don’t think any Toyota ever had lower door badging of any sort from the factory. They probably figured (rightly) that one badge on back is cheaper than two on the doors and is just as or more readable.
Thanks for the history on the distributors. I suppose it served its purpose but sounds horrible. In hindsight, it was a mistake not to have an escape or buyout clause in all of the contracts.
Both the first and second-generation Highlanders had “Limited” badging on the lower doors, although that could have also been a regional thing. Also, the trucks (4Runner, Sequoia, Tundra, Tacoma) will often have SR5 / Limited / Platinum badging on the C-pillar, like GM trucks traditionally have.
And yes, the placement reminds me of GM in general. One thing I noticed about the brand new Traverse is how high the badging is on the door; it’s almost in the vertical center of the panel.
Southeast Toyota Dist. did the same thing in the ’90s with some Avalon and Camry platinum packages, and I think somehow dide a Coach edition of each (this was when Lexus offered Coach editions which were officially sanctioned by the luxury leather goods company) that may or may not have had some input from Toyota Corp. and/or Coach.
I remember the Lexus Coach editions, but never a Toyota one. That would be a cool find indeed.
Back when I was selling ‘Yotas in Georgia, SET would take a Corolla LE and slather all kinds of Broughamy junk on it: Fake coach roof, hood ornament and even the cheap-o wire wheels; steel disc wheels with a wire “basket” to emulate the looks of real wire wheels. I think it was even called Corolla Brougham.
I think these may have been good sellers in Florida with a certain demographic, but in semi-rural Georgia, this thing was like RuPaul at a Mason’s convention! I was selling in 1991-92 and the car I’m thinking of was a leftover from 1988, if that helps you get a mental picture of how awful it was. How it ended up in Georgia is something I never did figure out.
To wrap up, the remaining Toyota distributors will do some strange things to cars at the port; I’m not real surprised by the Platinum add on, I’ve always thought these things were incredibly cynical ways to shake a few more bucks out of someone’s wallet…
Nice car and IMO the last great generation of the Toyota Camry’s, I rank this my second favorite generation Toyota Camry after the 1992-96 Camry’s.
Agree!
Visible fold or not, that brochure pic makes the Camry interior look like a pleasant place to be.
Rental / loaner-wise I’ve driven one Camry and several Accords with 4-cylinder automatic and was never left wanting for a V6. (Granted, the terrain in central Ohio is mostly flat.)
I like the photobomb by the first-gen in the opening pic, nicely done!
When these were new I can admit that I loathed them on principle. As I have aged and “matured” I now completely respect them. They do seem to still be out there in significant numbers and mostly in decent shape, not as rolling wrecks. Being unremarkable over twenty years is remarkable in itself.
I’m surrounded by them. Older Camrys have become the “beaters” of choice.
My next door neighbors bought several lightly used Camrys as their two cars, and held on to them for ages. They just recently sold the VX10, which still looked and worked great, for a van, but the VX20 is still the other car. It’s probably the cheapest way to have reliable transportation.
How about that….just this past week I sold our 1999 Camry, pretty much this exact car minus the wing. Absolutely dead-reliable car, needing only normal maintenance plus a couple cat converters over the years.
My late aunt Kathy had two Camrys of this generation, a white 1997 and a taupe 2001, both LEs. For the time they were very nice cars. Comfortable, reasonably equipped, and screwed together well. Interior material quality definitely wasn’t a noticeable improvement over the previous generation, possibly even retrograde in my opinion, but still was better than most competitors of the era.
Kathy had absolutely no issues in either of them, and even struck a dear on the highway late one night in 2002. The front end of the car sustained a lot of body damage, but she was perfectly fine and it was repaired. The 2001 was the last car she owned, as she sadly passed away from cancer in April 2003. Though the Camry is hardly a special car, for that reason, this generation Camry will always hold a special place in my heart.
Sorry for your loss, Brendan. It’s odd how we associate a loved one’s last vehicle with their passing. My older brother passed (from lung cancer) in 2013, his last car was a 88 Chevy Celebrity V6 that he bought two years before his passing. It was in cherry condition, the old man he bought it from only had about 50K miles on it.
I can’t look at Chevy Celebritys now and not think of my brother.
“(My mother’s disdain of Toyotas stemmed solely from her dislike of the logo which she said looked like a sombrero. The things people fixate on when deciding which car to buy…)”
That is funny, to me the 1992-current Toyota symbol has always looked like a cow with a hat on
I see that a 1980’s Camry was photobombing your Camry. What is the story behind that old Camry? I assume that it is neighbor owned one that they owned it for years based on the fact that other COAL post pics shows it.
Yes, it was a neighbor across the street. They already owned the car when we moved to the neighborhood in 1995, and I believe that they had it until the early 2000s when a then-current generation Corolla replaced it. They had a first-generation Chrysler minivan too which will show up in some later pictures.
Looking over the photos from my various car purchases, there are some interesting photobombs to be seen – I’d never thought about them, because they were cars I saw in my neighbors’ driveways day after day. If you look closely in the front-view picture of my Camry, you can see an old-school Mercury Villager plus two (!) Escort wagons and an Aerostar in the background.
My wife and I just purchased our sixth Toyota (2017 RAV 4) over the past 25 years or so. All of them have been well put together and reliable to operate, if not exactly thrilling to drive. The only real problem I can remember is that the 2009 Highlander, the vehicle traded in on the new RAV 4, required several different radios before we got one that functioned correctly. No issues with the drivetrain or the rest of the mechanical parts.
We have dealt with three different Toyota dealers over the years and the only complaint we ever had was that the local dealer refused to budge from his price on the Highlander so we bought one from a dealer in Louisville, about two hours away. The Louisville dealer sold us the Highlander for nearly $2000 less than the local dealer wanted. This same dealer never complained about doing warranty work on the car they didn’t sell. I know they are supposed to honor the vehicle’s warrant regardless but it doesn’t always work out that way.
My dealer experience shopping new cars during the ’80s was aggravating – to the point where I refused to buy. Since then, my two dealer used-car purchases (in ’90 for my ’87 Isuzu pickup, and ’05 for my ’98 Altima) were quite pleasant and yielded two of the most reliable vehicles I’ve owned.
As for Toyotas, in 2011, I was given a ‘heavily-used’,’96 Camry LE sedan ‘project’ car that hasn’t been quite as reliable as my Nissan. But for the price, and as long as I can fix it myself, I’m not complaining.
Biggest gripe with mid ’90s Camrys is that the suspensions are soft, sometimes excessively so after many years of wear & tear – an issue on mine that was greatly improved with a set of Camry wagon rear springs.
I don’t understand the hate for these so-called ‘boring’ cars. It seems like the owners of so many of today’s ‘exciting’ vehicles, are enjoying the added drama of frequent and costly maintenance and repair, or the expense of replacement before the warranty expires.
I don’t buy new cars, and prefer my dramas on TV – not behind the wheel!
Happy Motoring, Mark
My 99 LE has 240,000 miles and goes 70 miles a day. Nephew had a 95 v6 bought for $800 and drove it 80,000 miles in 4 years. Hit a deer at 310,000. A friend owns a 02 that he used in his driving school. Still going at 405,000. Even with Ohio winters. Have had plenty of “entertaining” cars. Boring is good. My vintage motorcycles satisfy my tinkering jones.
Mid ’90’s Toyota’s do have reputation for exceptional durability.
Non bloated styling and large side windows are a big plus. Family has a ’95 Prizm (Corolla) and at 204k miles still runs great with still ice cold AC. The ride is smooth but the handling is a bit mushy, no idea how old the shocks are, though.
they made a Camry COUPE? That`s news to me.Never saw one, but I probably wasn`t looking.
Yes, they were somewhat hard to find but were made until 1996. Even back then, the idea of a two-door midsize or full-size car based on the same platform as a four-door stablemate was on the decline.
We had a very good experience with the ’84 Camry LE we bought new that year. I’ve always thought the body introduced in ’97 was the best looking Camry.
Count me in among the Camry COAL rave camp. My ’97 LE has amassed 246K on the clock of tireless and reliable service. Now in its 3rd decade, it remains tight and rattle free, reflecting Toyota’s exacting engineering and manufacturing standards. Other machines I’ve piloted for far less miles fell prey to myriad mechanical maladies well before their time.
Camrys are good cars as long as you stay away from the V-6 models. This generation had problems with engine sludging. Also they need regular timing belt changes. If you regularly change the oil and replace timing belt following the manufacturer schedule, you should be fine. Slack off and you will have problems.
http://articles.latimes.com/2002/mar/13/autos/hy-wheels13
https://www.autosafety.org/toyota-broadens-sludge-repair-program/
300,000 sludge free miles on our ’99 V-6 Camry. It has only needed a few idle air control solenoids beyond just normal maintenance items. Conventional oil is all that it has seen. I think the mild San Diego climate where it lives may be key.
Only one timing belt in all those miles as well. Since non-interference, I’m not worried. Every oil change I pry back the plastic cover and look at the belt. The first one did not fail, but we replaced it at about 140k.
I know two people who personally had the sludging issue with their 1999 V-6s, but in the Siennas – one at about 65K miles and the other one at about 200K miles. It’s the driving type that really matters – lots of short trips in which the oil never warms up to boil off the impurities = early sludging.
WRT to dealer experiences: My best experiences were with family owned small-town dealerships. They couldn’t always match the best prices from the dealers in the bigger cities, but would make it up in other ways. I had a Dodge dealer I used when I lived in Pennsylvania that really understood that service made the sale. When I moved to Michigan in the late 90’s, I bought Pontiacs at a family run dealership because they treated me like they wanted my business. When the same Pontiac franchise got bought out by a mega-dealer, the service after the sale withered.
I have not bought a new car in the last eight years, so I have no idea how the dealers are around here, in the intervening time the Great Financial Crisis took place, some GM and Chrysler dealers lost their franchises here and were taken over by mega dealers. Even some of the smaller dealers are using mega-dealer tactics to market cars, something that doesn’t appeal to me whatsoever.
This was the generation of Camry that turned off my father-in-law. I don’t know what did it for him, but up until they owned this one, they loved their Camrys. My FIL had three of them by this point, an 88, 91 & 94, but something about this one turned him off completely. He never did explain why he stopped buying them, I could never get him to elaborate. After this car, it was Panthers until his wife had a stroke and they decided a minivan would work best. Even then, it was a Ford minivan…
I recall the pubs really harshly criticized this model for the cheap plastics and “Rubbermaid” front clip. I remember thinking the tail lights were very similar to the last Alfa sedan imported.
Several extended family members bought this model that have served them very well with minimal drama, which is what Toyotas are known for.
Oddly enough you can probably get a 2017 Camry LE today for about the same price you paid back in 1997. Progress……
I hate that two remaining distributorships have that much control over vehicle builds, useless “port” add-ons, etc. Gulf States is one of those distributorships; I wonder why Toyota hasn’t rectified that to date.
Terrific cars – durable, sturdy, nice aesthetics – they are still abundant here in Southern Indiana, as well. I am also one of those people who thinks the badge looks like a sombrero. One wonders what the other badge design choices looked like, and why those-who-vote-on-these-sorts-of-things selected this one. I miss the days when their emblem was just the word, “Toyota”. . .
I think the 3rd generation 1992-96 Camry was better looking and seemingly more durable than the 1997, 4th generation model. The 4th generation Camry just seemed generic and lackluster to my eyes.
Of all the vintage Camry’s that I still see on the road the 1992-96 models are the most abundant. On a daily basis I see a fair number of 3rd generation Camry’s out and about.
Were the early to mid 90s Toyota’s high point?
All of these are Very Personal Opinions, lest I enrage the Toyota fan base to take off their reading glasses and come at me in their Dockers and Sensible Plaid Sport shirts.
I liked the styling of these better than the ’92-96 models which had that melted blobby bar of soap look I detested. I drove one of these when I worked for Hertz to see what it was like and I didn’t think it drove any better than my ’96 Ciera; it was still floppy, plush, overboosted, and had NO steering feel. The Ciera had nice soft touch vinyl dash, plushy velour seats, just like the Toyota, and was well made also.
I can respect Toyota for producing cars which made everyone step up their quality. 30 years ago, in 1987, a 100,000 mile car was a grizzled veteran and on its way to the scrap heap, today, that car is just getting started. Alternators, starters, water pumps, steering racks, brake boosters, mufflers, and a host of other things needed replacement every two to three years. Today, people expect to get 300K plus on oil changes, batteries, tyres, timing belts, and a catalytic convertor, and they usually do across all makes, thanks to Toyota.
I also remember cars like the Darts and Valiants of my childhood, where the drivetrain kept going, but the rest of the car fell apart around it. Today, a 300K mile car is not plagued with the rattles and broken accessories that a 100K mile car was plagued by then.
I fully expect that because of Toyota, (almost) whatever brand car you buy today will make it to 300K without major problems and without the series of niggling expensive or annoying problems that generally consign a car to the scrapyard. My last 06 Caravan made it to 232K and then got smashed flat by an F150.
But . . . but . . . but. Every toyota I have ever driven has loose, disconnected, syrupy, video-game steering with no road feel whatsoever. They have a floppy, disconnected feeling and the last new Sienna I drove felt like a bunch of loosely connected parts. It didn’t actually rattle or vibrate but it didn’t seem all that well connected and it didn’t drive well.
Why cannot Toyota make cars that drive better?
I can’t believe that nobody has brought up the so-called “Camry dent” yet – that pushed-in corner on the rear bumper cover that so many of the older Camries (Camrys?) have.
Google it and enjoy reading. My kids point it out to me while we are driving somewhere.
Oh yes, I experienced the “Camry dent”. Left rear corner when I backed into a pole. Independent body shop quoted me something like $300 to remove the “dent”. I thought “nuts, I’ll do it myself”. I figured out how to remove the bumper cover and carefully popped it out. Fortunately it popped out back to original form. Results were okay.
When I had a similar experience with my 2009 Toyota Venza rear bumper, I found the bumper on that car more difficult to remove, had myriads of sensor wires (for the airbags) and other issues. Had to resort to body shop this time.
My second new car that replaced my 1988 Ford Taurus LX was 1997 Toyota Camry LE in “cashmere beige” (I think that’s how Toyota described it). It had the 2.2l 4-cyl engine, 4sp OD auto. Didn’t have all the amenities that the Taurus had, but I had a budget and couldn’t opt for the more luxurious V-6 XLE.
Rather liked the 1997 angular lines and simplified appearance compared to the 1996 version, despite comments that the 1997 was degraded quality-wise and somewhat de-contented. Also, insurance company said premiums were lower on the Toyota Camry compared to the Honda Accord and mechanic friend said Toyotas were easier to work on compared to Hondas.
So I bought the Toyota Camry and bought it through the dealer fleet service rep who was fairly straightforward, didn’t play games and didn’t try to high pressure me into extras I didn’t want. Paid with a bank cashier check, which disappointed the finance department.
BTW, the car’s final assembly location was Aichi, Japan rather than in Kentucky.
Wondered how peppy the 4cylinder would be, coming from a V-6. Was surprised it was nearly as peppy as the Taurus, owing to lighter weight, a higher rev happy engine, lower geared transaxle, closer ratioed transmission than the Taurus.
Overall, the Toyota was reliable and tried to faithfully follow the maintenance manual with a dealership that followed it as well. Had a only a few problems with the car. First thing that went out just shy of the engine warranty was the O2 sensor, which was replaced under warranty. Then a malfunctioning starter that wouldn’t disengage when the engine started. Shut the engine off and the starter continued, burning itself out and draining the battery. (Didn’t have tools to disconnect the battery). Finally, in 2009 after about 112,000 miles saw signs of head gasket issues and decided to trade it in. Disappointed didn’t get 200K+ miles out of it.
In the 12 years I had the car, it wasn’t a bad car though, better than the Taurus. Power, room, ride was more than adequate and met expectations. Quality, fit & finish was better than the Taurus and other American cars.
I traded it in for a 2009 Toyota Venza with 2.7l 4-cyl, needing a hatchback or wagon type vehicle. The Venza has also proven to be reliable vehicle but noticed short cuts in quality, particularly in the interior, compared to the 1997 Toyota Camry.