Camry Owners Please

[jtdoyle1]

I've had a 2004 for nearly 5 years and love it. There is about 120,000 miles on it (just getting it broken in) and never had anything but regular maintenance costs in it and I get around 34 mpg- hwy and 28 mpg- city.

I just heard that you should replace the water pump at 90,000 in camrys. Has anyone else heard this?

 

[dmclone]

I just heard that you should replace the water pump at 90,000 in camrys. Has anyone else heard this?

I think it's common to change the water pump when you change the timing belt since the majority of work has already been done. Have you not changed your timing belt yet?


My bad the 4cyl has a timing chain not belt.

 

[Ames]

Like I said, it's a lot about gearing. At 70mph you're probably at about 2K rpm. If you drive the corvette like it's supposed to be driven you won't get anything close to 20mpg.

I really find it hard to believe that there are "camry people" who have actually said that to you. I can see if people give someone a dirty look that drives a Hummer but most "camry people" I know could care less what others are driving and drive the Camry because it's a reliable/comfortable vehicle with good resale. I must be a badass or something but I've never had anyone say anything negative to my face about a car I drive and I've had a lot of stupid cars.

Maybe it's a jealousy issue. I've never had a car worth anything near 75K so you would know more than me.

The 22 lifetime average I find hard to believe also, but it's based on my own fuel logging so I know it's accurate. A lot of town driving I'm sure you could easily pull that down to 12. But, it hasn't been babied. I get on it all the time. It has trips to Des Moines to take my wife out to eat where it's 2 hours of interstate round trip that pulls that number up. It's pretty tough to give it any kind of workout other than the on raps. The car is pretty much just idling at 70. 1st through 5th are all about the same gear and 6th is really tall. 1st gear will go 60mph; 3rd will go 150 if that's any indication of how close the gearing is.

Overall people say nice things more than anything. But you get all kinds. Prius drivers are the worst, but for whatever reasons Prius and Camry drivers tend to like to come over to me at gas stations and talk crap. Usually I'll tell them about the interstate mileage, but now I'll tell them our cars aren't that far off for mileage.

If you want to go out for a drive let me know. A nice 0 to 60 and back to 0 run is pretty fun.

 

[isubeatle]

not sure why some people are calling the Prius less of a car. we have an 08 and it's never given us any problems at all. it averages somewhere between 45-50 mpg driving around town and almost always 45mpg on the highway.

where it's really nice is situations like last Saturday when we were waiting to get home from watching fireworks. we sat there for at least 45mins inching along. during that time the engine kicked on once to give the battery a quick charge. so i didn't use any gas while everyone else was burning all theirs up just sitting there.

 

[dmclone]

not sure why some people are calling the Prius less of a car.

I don't think anyone is saying it's a bad car. It's just that it's a 18K car with a 7K add-on because it's hybrid. If you compare it to a $18K Honda Civic than it's ok but if you compare it to a $25K camry than you're going to be disappointed.

Nothing wrong with the Prius, you just have to know what you're paying for.

 

[Ames]

not sure why some people are calling the Prius less of a car. we have an 08 and it's never given us any problems at all. it averages somewhere between 45-50 mpg driving around town and almost always 45mpg on the highway.

where it's really nice is situations like last Saturday when we were waiting to get home from watching fireworks. we sat there for at least 45mins inching along. during that time the engine kicked on once to give the battery a quick charge. so i didn't use any gas while everyone else was burning all theirs up just sitting there.

I had a 95 Geo Metro that got that exact same mileage. $8,000 car brand new. 45 mins of idling you wouldn't have seen the gas gauge move.

 

[dmclone]

I had a 95 Geo Metro

Sorry

 

[kralon20]

Yes, I am still going over & over all the numbers involved in our possible new vehicle purchase. What do you actually get for gas mileage? And what percentage city vs. highway is it based on?

I have an '01 Camry w/ 160,000 miles on it (V6). Going to work and back (50/50 city to highway driving) I get 26 mpg. Flat out highway driving I can get 30. Very low maintenance.

 

[isubeatle]

I had a 95 Geo Metro that got that exact same mileage. $8,000 car brand new. 45 mins of idling you wouldn't have seen the gas gauge move.

and my Prius will last A LOT longer then a 95 Geo and i'll get better resale.

and although 45 mins of idling won't burn a lot of gas in a Geo, in the larger cars and SUVs it will. and it's pumping CO2 into the air.

 

[Ames]

and my Prius will last A LOT longer then a 95 Geo and i'll get better resale.

and although 45 mins of idling won't burn a lot of gas in a Geo, in the larger cars and SUVs it will. and it's pumping CO2 into the air.

I don't know about last longer. I'd take the Geo over the Prius with it's batteries. Way less to break on the Geo. There are still plenty of 90's Metro's running around.

Resale I guess. Once GM, Honda, and everyone else gets into the Hybrid game the resale will fall off. It's supply and demand. Easier to keep the demand up when you are the only game in town.

Even a large car will only use a small amount of gas with 45 mins of idling. For that matter even a huge diesel in a semi uses very little fuel sitting there at idle. It's the combination of millions of cars sitting in traffic idling that adds up.

 

[dmclone]

If you would take a Metro over a Prius then you need your head examined. There is not one advantage that the Metro has over the Prius.

Let's be real here, It's not a good comparison between a 95 Metro and a Prius.

The Prius is like a Bently compared to a Metro. Hell I have a motorcycle with double the horsepower of the Metro and about the same level of safety and comfort. Next you're going to play the chevette card.

 

[Ames]

If you would take a Metro over a Prius then you need your head examined. There is not one advantage that the Metro has over the Prius.

Let's be real here, It's not a good comparison between a 95 Metro and a Prius.

The Prius is like a Bently compared to a Metro. Hell I have a motorcycle with double the horsepower of the Metro and about the same level of safety and comfort. Next you're going to play the chevette card.

I was saying for longevity... A 20 year old Geo with 100,000+ miles happens; they are all over the place. A Prius I wouldn't want to get into the battery replacement game. At 20 years old with high miles who knows.

If you were forcing me to take one of the two I would take the Prius. I wouldn't want to drive either though. The Camry with worse mileage would still be way better long term. It takes a lot of gas to make up the price difference.

As for being a bad comparison I just read a magazine that did it. The Metro might be a POS but it holds it's own on the main thing a Prius is known for; mileage.

 

[dmclone]

I'm willing to bet that there are more Prius's on the road with over 100K miles than Metro's.

I agree with you on nearly everything else.

 

[Ames]

I'm willing to bet that there are more Prius's on the road with over 100K miles than Metro's.

I agree with you on nearly everything else.

Possibly true, but the percentage of Metro's that make it to 20 years old with 100,000+ is going to be greater than the number of Prius's that do the same. I don't think many Metro's get babied like Prius's do.

I'm serious on the Vette drive. If you are ever in town let me know. The Z06 is like a roller coaster. You seem like a car guy; it's a must try. A year ago I wasn't into them at all, but I always said I'd have one before I was 30. Now I have 2 of them...

 

[Bobber]

If you would take a Metro over a Prius then you need your head examined. There is not one advantage that the Metro has over the Prius.

Let's be real here, It's not a good comparison between a 95 Metro and a Prius.

The Prius is like a Bently compared to a Metro. Hell I have a motorcycle with double the horsepower of the Metro and about the same level of safety and comfort. Next you're going to play the chevette card.

Sure there is price...

My prediction when all the increase fuel mpg mandates hit, you're going to see a lot more simple 4 and even 3 cylinders. Lot less complexity and price. Hybrids are botique green cars that are priced at a premium. Until that changes it's going to be pretty hard to beat a direct injected 4 cylinder that will shut off at idle(that's coming in my opinion.)

 

[zach]

Camry, one of the best and reliable car ever made. Mechanically and as far as comfort goes, it was great. I sold mine at 130,000 to a family that gave it to their 18 year who had just blew up his hot rod. If you have a choice, buy one built overseas...they have the best record between domestics...perhaps the gap has closed? Before you guys hammer me, I have been told this directly from the chief mechanic at Toyota. Keep in mind, either model will serve you fine I am sure. It is a great car for the money.

Z