Calling All Car Loyalists: When to call it quits on my ‘97 Camry

If you don't quit on your Toyota, your Toyota won't quit on you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-api4c_Q_w

$600 for a fuel pump? Time to get rid of it. Just spend $3k and get a used 2005 camry and continue the cycle.

I still drive a 95 Avalon I bought new. Still runs great! Smooth as silk at 90+mph on the freeway. I see no reason to get rid of it.

gdm wrote:

Precious Roy wrote:

The $600 for the water pump is probably in excess of the fair market value of a 1997 Camry.

The main issue you will have is that some parts will become hard to find as time goes on and the manufacturer and aftermarket companies stop making them.

.... You could probably buy another similar car that doesn't need a water pump for $600.

The problem is that you can't know that the used car you are switching to isn't going to need a similar repair. Even if the water pump has just been replaced it may need an alternator and a pair of wheel bearings a month after you buy it.

Exactly. I've got an '05 Elantra that I've had for eight years. I have had repairs done to it that cost almost what I could sell it for and way more than I'd ever get in a trade. So what? The repairs may cost almost what the car is worth but they cost loads less than getting another car would unless I got something so old that it might well need equally costly repairs soon after I got it. And I too love the stick shift, absence of computer screens or back up cameras, not needing to worry about passing an emissions test at inspection time, and so on.

I just so old my 2001 Toyota Camry LE. It had 280K miles on it. Still ran decent.

The sum you spent on your car maintenance is impressing, for real. I am a permanent client of Tire Kingdom and their client support https://tire-kingdom.pissedconsumer.com/review.html , but I can't afford to spend so much money yet :D

My XV20 2.2 Camry has 66,000 miles, however after 25 years the paint on the roof and tail lid is bleached out and undercarriage looks like the bottom of the ocean.

Everything Works.

Biggest problem i start to have this year is obtaining new parts, even the copy brands. Many parts suppliers just stopped offering the parts (out of production). I have been getting lucky online so far, usually by buying unsold stock from the manufacturers.

The parts on these cars are so cheap that frankly nobody is making a profit on them anymore, compared with the prices on parts for new cars it's quite shocking how cheap they can be.

Unless it fails inspection on some major structural issue (usually crippling rust issues), one that you cannot get fixed inside a reasonable price, it's just gonna keep on rolling. These older vehicles were built different.

We have a 98 Corolla in the family. Body a bit sad, but mechanically very solid and reliable and durable. No major expenses. Keep your Camry. Toyotas are the best, most reliable vehicles on the planet.