"Ryanator122" (hawkeye122)
02/24/2014 at 14:22 • Filed to: Camry, San Francisco
3
26|
"Ryanator122" (hawkeye122)
02/24/2014 at 14:22 • Filed to: Camry, San Francisco | 3
| 26 |
And it makes me MASSIVELY sad; I loved the heck out of my Camry, read why!
208,345 Miles. That's how far my 2001 Toyota Camry CE 5-speed manual carried my family, without fault. It was only fouled up by my lack of attention.
I suppose I may as well start with how it came to be mine. In 2000, my parents owned a first-gen Neon. Like all the rest of them, our Neon blew a head gasket. This was ok, because my family had recently moved into a new home and wanted a new car to go with it. They went down to the local dealer and picked out a "Cashmere Beige" 4 cylinder. They decided to forgo the Leather, nice stereo, or remote unlock. Our model had a handful of options: Electric locks, electric windows, tilt-wheel, A/C, and a heated rear window. About an hour after taking it off the showroom floor, it had an appointment to get the rear windows tinted, along with a thick "Eyebrow" tint along the top of the window. My mother loved the heck out of it...
"It was so comfortable" she said. "I sat in it, the doors gave that nice heavy noise when you closed them. It was solid. Everything felt like it would hold up to the test of time."
At this point, it became my mothers DD. she drove it about 60 miles per day, to and from work. "It got something like 33 miles to the gallon. It was economical and comfortable. I'm not sure I could have asked for more."
A bit later, my father purchased a 2002 Jeep from the dealer. At this point we kept the two cars for quite some time. On our various trips to the Bay Area (About 230 miles away), Sacramento(140-ish), Eugene, Oregon (300), Reno (200), and LA (600+) the Camry would get the call. The trunk was spacious, the seats were comfortable, the radio was alright, and we got pretty good MPG's on the freeway. Depending on the conditions, it was totally feasible to get 450+ miles on a single tank of fuel.
After 100,000 miles, we took the Camry in for its first major service. Clutch, belts, and a water pump were all it needed.
In July of 2008, my parents traded the Jeep in for a 2007 4runner Sport Edition, which was surprisingly still new. "We looked at the Pilot, and the Explorer, but this just felt much better than either. And, it had the V8." says my father. The 4runner ran just as well as the Camry did, but even around age 12-14, I noticed that the seats weren't as nice. The rear seat of the Camry was MUCH more comfortable, despite having fractionally less leg room.
Eventually the financial crisis hit my family, and we had to get rid of it in favor of a much more frugal 2004 Tacoma 2-door, 4cyl, automatic.
Up until a week ago, the Camry lived on, faithfully carrying me and my family everywhere we needed to go. At age 15, my parents bought me a 1994 Geo Tracker, which I absolutely abhorred. Slow, small, AND it only got 19 MPG's. This was killing my ability to go do things on the weekends. It felt like a liability on the freeway, and it had standard road car tyres fitted, which kept me from getting into offroading very often. The convertible top leaked. The stereo was garbage.
Within the first month or so of having my Permit, my parents decided to pick me up from school. They had decided that a trip to see my half-brother was in order, and thus we needed to drive to Orange County. Of course, I explained that I had been up since 4, after having gone to bed around 1:30. It was now 3:30 PM. "No no, we still want you to drive!" So there we go- a 12 hour journey to the city with some of the worst traffic on earth. Even after we arrived, they had me drive the entire time, in and around the greater LA area. That is where I really bonded with the Camry.
I put up with said sorry excuse for a vehicle until I graduated, when my father graciously traded me the Tracker for the Camry. He knew I preferred it.
It was given to me with just over 160,000 miles on it. That was just 10 months ago. (Yes, I put nearly 40,000 miles on it in less than a year. The bloke at the dealer who sold my mother the "Infinite oil changes forever" probably hates me.) As a car enthusiast with an affinity for racing, I immediately set to finding an Autocross club. I was able to Autocross it about 5 times before the clutch began to slip on me. In fairness, this was the car I learned to drive in, and had been abused as such during that time. When the clutch started to slip, I called a hard pass on Autocross, to preserve the clutch as long as possible; hopefully until winter break when I could afford to go vehicle-less.
Over that summer, I decided it would be a good idea to go volunteer with the SCCA. They had an event at Sears Point/Infineon/Sonoma/Whateverthey'recallingittoday, so a friend and I mounted up and made the trek. After arriving at 4 PM, we quickly found that Club Racing definitely was not known for its night life, and decided (against my better judgment) to venture into the hell hole (if you aren't using public transit) that is San Francisco. This wasn't the first time I had driven in SF(probably closer to the 6th), but it was the first time I was going to do so with a third pedal. I knew it wasn't the traffic I had to contend with, but the hills. I knew the clutch was on its last legs, but I went into the city confidant. "Yeah, but I can just be patient and navigate my AROUND the hills.".
Wrong. It can't be done. I met my fate on Stockton street, attempting to get up a hill. I was just able to limp the car back to the raceway.
This was a problem. I still had the return journey to make, and we had arranged to meet a friend who lived down there. I simply couldn't pass it up, since I had a massive crush on her.
"Look (Name omitted), we can't drive into San Francisco anymore. The car can't take it. I still have to drive this thing home." "Oh no, it's fine, just use the BART" "The what?"
Not knowing how to use the Bay Area's light rail system, I insisted that we drive all the way to her hometown to have her show us. Go ahead and pull up a Google Maps for Sonoma to Castro Valley. That's how far I drove, simply to arrive and get on a train and go back across to San Francisco. After spending all day in the city(After having stood in the sun and wind from 8-4, making sure that people's Miatas and Formula Atlantics were the correct weight), we caught the train back to her town. It was about 12 at night, and we still had a decent drive ahead of us. I decided to forgo driving the last 60 miles of the journey, as I was unbearably tired. My friend Ben took the wheel, and managed to drag the clutch a long time before killing it.
"I'm telling you, if you do that again our asses are gonna be stuck here."
He re-fired the car, and got it going. The stoplight had gone yellow again; it was the last one before the on-ramp.
"No Ben, go for it. There's nobody for miles." we stormed through the intersection at a whoping 12 miles per hour. A light flashed. Sure enough, we managed to run the only light with a camera. I offered to pay his ticket.
After we returned, I had a bit of an issue. Since the money for the ticket was the money I had planned to spend on the clutch, I had to nickel-and-dime myself out of doing anything fun to get the funds up in time to get my car fixed. It spent a month parked at the shop, as finally one day it refused to grip the engine at all. I knew the belts needed changing again, but I didn't have the money for it. It would have to wait until March. When I finally got it back about 5 weeks ago, I was so pleased. I missed my car, and couldn't wait to drive it again.
Then, on Friday, a rattling developed in the engine. "Hmmm" i thought. "That must be the timing belt having gone. Ah well, it's not an interference engine. I'll swing it by the shop and figure something out."
I get to the shop. "Rev it up?" I prodded the gas pedal. "Yeah, man. That's rod noise. I'd say you've had it." The mechanic is the father of one of my best friends, so I have no reason to suspect he would lie to me.
What? And then I realised... It was due for an oil change. The dealer had forgotten to put the sticker, and thus, I forgot to take it in. It was 2 quarts low.
We checked, and sure enough, I was low on oil.
A freshly rebuilt engine is $2400, plus whatever 10 hours of labor. One which hasn't been rebuilt is about 1K less, but still... It simply won't be the same. I had already planned to get a different car (An E46 or E39 with the 3.0, manual) when I had some more money come in, and was going to send the Camry back my father's way, saving him a killing on insurance and fuel. But now... I'm not sure what to do. I could sell it as "Salvage" and take a huge hit on value, get the engine fixed and then sell it, but then still take a loss with the cost of the clutch and engine rolled into it. So I'd almost have to keep it, but it'll never be the same. I'm not sure I can keep driving it. I know it's not like a dog or anything else living, but I still really felt attached to it. It took everything I had to be passive with all the discussion of "Beige" and "Appliance" about them on Oppo. Here's why it doen't deserve you're ridicule.
1. 30 MPG's in a decent-sized vehicle.
2. While the tail was a bit wayward, the front end would bite pretty well with a bit of convincing from the brakes. If you did it correctly, you could get the car to rotate pretty easily. And that's with 13-year-old shocks. Does it feel heavy? Yeah. It's a hefty car. But it doesn't feel especially unwieldy.
3. Comfort. I can count on one hand the number of cars I have sat in which are more comfortable.
4. Space. 4 of your mates and all of their backpacking kit for a 30 mile hike could be fitted into it. On top of that, it would still make the 400 mile round-trip to the trailhead on one tank of fuel(14-16 gallons). Not a single complaint about discomfort.
5. Torque. Granted, it took a bit of work with the gearbox to find it, but there is plenty of torque. It isn't fast, by any means. But I never felt like I was holding anyone up, and I could go on the offensive, making passes in short spaces and the like, when I needed to.
6. With a nice Exedy Stage one clutch and a short-throw shifter, the gear engagement is crisp. Probably one of the better manual transmissions I've driven.
7. Aside from my bout of idiocy, it ran flawlessly ALWAYS. A timing belt, 2 clutches, some brakes, and a zillion oil changes(Which were free) were the only mechanical bits that ever needed doing. If I hadn't jacked it up, I'm sure it could've gone at least another 100,000.
Yeah, it doesn't feel E-Class. It's not as fast as a 3-series. It's not as cool as a Jag. But it doesn't matter. It did the job, and performed admirably. 3 wins in H-Stock and 3rd, and a 5th. I doubt the engineers at Toyota ever imagined it would win a speed contest EVER. If I were willing to light up the fronts a bit, I could take most other 4-banger sedans on a sprint to "Just under the speed limit, because that's safe and legal" with ease.
I miss it. Hopefully I find a solution soon. This Aveo I've been lent by my grandparents is pitiful...
TL;DR I forgot to put oil in my Camry and now a rod is banging around in the engine. But screw you, judgmental oppo person, it's a dope-ass car.
Takuro Spirit
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 14:32 |
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As a fellow Camry owner (211k, 1998 CE V6 manual) I feel your pain. Aaaaaannnnd now I need to go check my timing belt and oil and stuff....
Sorry for your loss.
HOWEVER.
Even running these cars aren't worth much. Better to just part ways and move on.
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Ryanator122
> Takuro Spirit
02/24/2014 at 14:33 |
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Thats what I'm thinking. But then if I get a different car, I'm gonna be worried about the general unreliability.
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Takuro Spirit
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 14:37 |
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Wanna buy my Camry? :D
awe46m3zcp
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 14:42 |
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I vote for an E46, or a Lexus ES of the same era since you love Camrys. I hope you learned a lesson. Hills and low oil don't go together.
RacecaR
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 14:44 |
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I drive a '96 4 cylinder, and love it. The other day I saw the oil light pop on when I was cornering hard (I drive it like a damn sports car). Its about due for an oil change anyway.
But yeah, I love my Camry. We also owned a 2000 for a bit, but still loved the '96 more than it. I am kind of looking forward to get rid of it from a Lexus IS, but it has never left me high and dry. Starts on super cold days after sitting for a couple days. Has always ran well.
gmctavish needs more space
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 14:44 |
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That's brutal man :( I have no attachment to Ford Tauruses, but if my dad's Taurus died, I'd feel the same way. The car you learned to drive on or had lots of experience with is special, doesn't matter how beige it is. I wish you luck
Rico
> RacecaR
02/24/2014 at 14:46 |
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The Oil Light turned on when you were cornering hard? Are you sure you aren't driving a BMW disguised as a Camry?
hethoughtofcars
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 14:56 |
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My girlfriend has a 2001 in that same color (I think they all came in that hue in 2001), but it has the 4 speed auto. I completely understand your reasoning....Toyota reliability in particular. I think you may be attaching too much sentimental value to it, though. I don't think it's comfortable for long trips at all. It's missing any sort of lumbar support. My dad has a 2012 Camry hybrid. That is COMFORTABLE.....perhaps even Lexus comfortable. Yours had a 5 speed and not a standard 5 speed but an upgraded one (which I bet made it feel a lot more sporty than typical Camrys), but, for me at least, the steering is still so numb. I'm curious as to what car you will get next and how you'll feel about the Camry in a few years. We're all sentimental about our first cars and the cars we grew up with, but there are better cars out there even in the same class: Mazda6 immediately springs to mind.
Ilike_cougars
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 15:05 |
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Not that I don't believe you are anything, some SR20 could have put things in better perspective! I used to have a 02 Mercury Cougar, it had 79K miles when I bought it, loved it to bits , by time i sold it I had so many adventures in it, that I didn't feel like giving it away. But it was bought by a Dad who was giving to his daughter as her first car, so somehow it felt a little better.
It's a "Porch-uh"
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 15:05 |
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Sears Point/Infineon/Sonoma/Whateverthey'recallingittoday
I still, and always have, called it Sears Point. Been going to races there since the 80s and driving there since the 90s. My home track.
Rod bearing might be do-able without pulling the engine. I was able to do so on my Probe's Mazda V6. You'll probably have to pull the crank and get it cleaned up, then replace all the rod bearings. If you're lucky, the rod is still in good shape. I think I replaced all the rod bearings and had the crank cleaned up for about $250.
deekster_caddy
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 15:49 |
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So it needs a clutch soon but still runs? Try an oil change with a 'thicker than recommended' oil. It may stave off the required rebuild for a little while. If it doesn't rap with thicker oil, you can limp it along for a bit longer and then decide, or use it for a trade-in!
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Ryanator122
> Takuro Spirit
02/24/2014 at 15:50 |
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Haha only if it's got the facelift done
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Ryanator122
> Rico
02/24/2014 at 15:51 |
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Mine did that occasionally. The next day id take it for service. Oddly enough it didn't do that this time
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Takuro Spirit
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 15:55 |
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:,(
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Ryanator122
> deekster_caddy
02/24/2014 at 15:56 |
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No, the clutch is done.
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Ryanator122
> Takuro Spirit
02/24/2014 at 16:00 |
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Lol maybe if it was in better shape!
Dunnik
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 16:07 |
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It's said that there are two things that will survive a nuclear holocaust: cockroaches, and beige Camry's. It takes a lot to kill one from that era :/
I don't like the Camry, but I do respect it, especially the older ones, and especially a manual. And its always a sad day when a fellow Opponaut loses their cherished ride.
You seem to have learned the appropriate lessons, namely: you shouldn't need some sticker to remind you to change your oil, and that if you plan on autocrossing your DD, make sure you have the funds available to fix whatever you might (will?) break.
At least you learned these lessons on an old Camry. Far cheaper than learning them on the E46 or E39 :P
P.S. Comfortable seats ? You think they're as comfortable as a Volvo, Merc or BMW? Or even a domestic? I've long thought the Japanese just still don't know how to make a comfortable, supportive seat, outside of Lexus. And in Lexus's case, that's probably because they just added lots of extra stuffing.
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Rico
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 16:12 |
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IMO I think you should part ways with the car and pick up a nice, good condition, 2004+ Camry. All the reliability you want + more creature comforts.
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deekster_caddy
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 16:22 |
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See if you can find a used low mile engine. Sometimes a site like car-part.com can surprise you. You'd have a great opportunity to do the clutch while the engine is out, and the used motor could be good for another 100+K miles, who knows?
If you are doing the labor, back on the road for about $1000 is my guess. If you are hiring out, not sure what they would charge for an engine swap but throw the clutch in there at the same time and save some money.
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Takuro Spirit
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 16:22 |
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It's just a bit dirty from the WI road salt. Nevermind that crack in the bumper, or the missing emblem.
Mercedes Streeter
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 16:23 |
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Touching story! At least it served your family well for 14 years. Being the person I am, I'd find a way to keep such a valued inanimate member of the family.
I wonder where my first car is. I hope it hasn't met the crusher. That little KIA was able to be McGyver'd and kept running no matter what challenges were laid before it.
If I ever find it again, I want it back!
But yes, beige cars really aren't as bad as they're made out to be. They aren't the best at anything really, but they serve their intended purpose like no other.
m-b-w loves his SUBAROO
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 16:39 |
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Heres a few replacements.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Cam…
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Cam…
RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 16:40 |
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I've sort-of-adopted a '99 Camry. I don't know about 'dope-ass,' but it's competent in ways that some modern cars still struggle to match.
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Ryanator122
> Takuro Spirit
02/24/2014 at 17:06 |
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Haha that makes more sense. My car doesn't even know what road salt is! It did snow this year though. Just enough to make it sketchy- I started calling it the "Rally Camry".
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Ryanator122
> Dunnik
02/24/2014 at 17:13 |
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Mercs have decent seats. I've always found the domestic seats to be really firm and uncomfortable- Explorer, Taurus, Malibu, Durango, Aveo... The Cruze wasn't horrible.
The BMW seats are comfortable, but weren't really shaped for someone of my stature (6'4", 230). The bottoms seem too short.
Whatever the new Lincoln sedan is... Uhhh, the Fusion one! Yeah! That is the most comfortable seat I've sat in. Got to drive one on a little course at Barrett-Jackson in Reno.
Have yet to have a hand in a Volvo yet.
The Fit and CRV I drive for work are miserably uncomfortable.
The Camry COULD use some more support. I really slide around a bit in situations where "Spirited driving" is called for
Eric the RC guy
> Ryanator122
02/24/2014 at 17:42 |
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The only reason I'm glad my 2001 LE isn't manual: it has never in its whole life felt like a race car, and now at ~205k she is still running quite well :) *knocks on wood*