I bought a 99 Avalon today, are they reliable as the Camry?

[SAWYER]

My wife and I are both getting different vehicles, but I am stuck spending much less. I bought a 99 Avalon XLS for 3200, which seemed like a nice price considering 97-99 Camry's in my area cost that much or more. It has 157k miles which is the only bad thing.
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[Arkaign]

Pretty much, but $3200 could have got you into an economy car with much lower miles. Still, take care of it well, and it will probably serve you well for a good while yet.

 

[SAWYER]

It was either this or a 2001 Civic LX with 127k miles for 4000

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: Sawyer
It was either this or a 2001 Civic LX with 127k miles for 4000

It's not sexy, but there are lots of deals like this out there :

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/...dist=24&standard=false

'97 Geo Prism (Toyota Corolla), 5 speed manual, 93k miles, $3,250 (could probably bargain them down).

As long as the car isn't a hotrod or has been abused, choosing a reliable model and then looking for one with as low miles as possible is a winner when buying a cash vehicle like that. ~200k miles should be an average lifespan of a pretty well-maintained Corolla or Avalon/Camry, but when you start with 157k miles, you don't have quite the headroom you might really want.

It all depends though, if you don't drive 15k-20k/miles a year, or you will upgrade again pretty soon, it's not a big deal, and you'll be in a more comfortable luxurious vehicle compared to a Civic or Corolla.

 

[zoiks]

It's a grandpa car. Next stop is a hearsemobile.

 

[ballmode]

yup

 

[thecritic]

The Avalon engines do not tolerate lack of oil changes, they WILL sludge up if you do not adhere strictly to the recommended 5k interval.

A lot of the 97-01 Camrys had strut and strut mount problems. Installing a Monroe Quick Strut was usually the easiest but most expensive way of resolving those issues. I'm not sure if the Avalon suffered from the same problems.

 

[Atty]

99 Camry costing more then 3200? I'll give you my '99 Camry for less then 3k. :-|

It's only got 90k miles on it, I hate the POS.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

so u inquire about reliability AFTER u buy the car...

 

[thomsbrain]

If you keep up with the maintenance, it should be fine.

 

[StageLeft]

That is a ton of miles, but they are nice cars. They are very torquey and quite comfortable to drive around the city. I've had one of that vintage doing about 120 mph.

 

[Eos]

My car

I have a 1996 Avalon XLS. I bought it in 2000 with 58k miles and I know have 164k. You can see in the link total maintenance costs has been under $2500 (I have free oil changes through the dealer I purchased from). It is heading for the shop this spring. I need the driver's seat fixed and there is a squeak from the steering system. Plus some light maintenance stuff. Next year is time for another timing belt, or I might wait until 200k and get another tuneup, water pump, etc.

I have done all maintenance as scheduled and the car has been fabulous.

Records. I plan on keeping it for a very long time.

 

[Vette73]

Its a basic car. It will hold up as well as it has been taken care of.


Is the timing belt/water pump due?

 

[SAWYER]

Marlin,

yes all maint. has been done

Originally posted by: eos
My car

I have a 1996 Avalon XLS. I bought it in 2000 with 58k miles and I know have 164k. You can see in the link total maintenance costs has been under $2500 (I have free oil changes through the dealer I purchased from). It is heading for the shop this spring. I need the driver's seat fixed and there is a squeak from the steering system. Plus some light maintenance stuff. Next year is time for another timing belt, or I might wait until 200k and get another tuneup, water pump, etc.

I have done all maintenance as scheduled and the car has been fabulous.

Records. I plan on keeping it for a very long time.

Did you replace your factory stereo? I am wanting to get something with a aux input, I don't have cds any more and use my Zune. I am cautious about removing this stereo, I think it has a factory amp and sub and I am not sure if I would mess that up, and a factory cd changer

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Sawyer
Marlin,

yes all maint. has been done

Originally posted by: eos
My car

I have a 1996 Avalon XLS. I bought it in 2000 with 58k miles and I know have 164k. You can see in the link total maintenance costs has been under $2500 (I have free oil changes through the dealer I purchased from). It is heading for the shop this spring. I need the driver's seat fixed and there is a squeak from the steering system. Plus some light maintenance stuff. Next year is time for another timing belt, or I might wait until 200k and get another tuneup, water pump, etc.

I have done all maintenance as scheduled and the car has been fabulous.

Records. I plan on keeping it for a very long time.

Did you replace your factory stereo? I am wanting to get something with a aux input, I don't have cds any more and use my Zune. I am cautious about removing this stereo, I think it has a factory amp and sub and I am not sure if I would mess that up, and a factory cd changer

If so look on some car forums. My 00 max has a factory bose and amp for each individual speaker and sub and I recently (january) finally replaced the head unit with one from crutchfield. I went with one with a strong preamp voltage (4V) to ensure it would be able to power those amps well, but it's been perfect. Check for specifics on your car, though.

 

[Eos]

Originally posted by: Sawyer
Marlin,

yes all maint. has been done

Originally posted by: eos
My car

I have a 1996 Avalon XLS. I bought it in 2000 with 58k miles and I know have 164k. You can see in the link total maintenance costs has been under $2500 (I have free oil changes through the dealer I purchased from). It is heading for the shop this spring. I need the driver's seat fixed and there is a squeak from the steering system. Plus some light maintenance stuff. Next year is time for another timing belt, or I might wait until 200k and get another tuneup, water pump, etc.

I have done all maintenance as scheduled and the car has been fabulous.

Records. I plan on keeping it for a very long time.

Did you replace your factory stereo? I am wanting to get something with a aux input, I don't have cds any more and use my Zune. I am cautious about removing this stereo, I think it has a factory amp and sub and I am not sure if I would mess that up, and a factory cd changer

I had the stock single din cassette with CD changer in the trunk. Separates in all doors. I removed that stock unit/changer and had an aftermarket Alpine cd head unit placed there. My car has some kind of tray with a door in the stereo area. The car should have had a double din like yours, or maybe the single din was an option. Anyway, the tray is a little storage area now.

Last summer, the Alpine from 2000 was dying, so I replaced it with another Alpine. Full iPod control, USB jack and an AiNet din plug on the backside. I found a 3.5mm > AiNet din plug cable on eBay, and it worked great until I bought the iPod.

Whatever setup was in the car at the first install, the stereo shop took care of it. But I had two amps and two subs installed as well. So all new speaker cable from the amp to the mains. The existing cable is no longer in use.

deck 1
deck 2

 

[L1FE]

Mom has a '96 Avalon, premium package with 230k miles on it. Still drives really well. Sister's '97 Avalon died at around 200k miles last year. She never really took care of it, so I'm not surprised.

 

[dud]

A friend used to own one and the only thing he mentioned about it was SLUDGE.

There's a real problem with sludge buildup destroying those engines.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: L1FE
Mom has a '96 Avalon, premium package with 230k miles on it. Still drives really well. Sister's '97 Avalon died at around 200k miles last year. She never really took care of it, so I'm not surprised.

What defined its death? engine?

 

[angry hampster]

Originally posted by: dud
A friend used to own one and the only thing he mentioned about it was SLUDGE.

There's a real problem with sludge buildup destroying those engines.

Well sure, if you never change the oil.

 

[L1FE]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: L1FE
Mom has a '96 Avalon, premium package with 230k miles on it. Still drives really well. Sister's '97 Avalon died at around 200k miles last year. She never really took care of it, so I'm not surprised.

What defined its death? engine?

I think it started out as a small engine problem, which she ignored for a LONG time. That small problem turned into a big problem, and her engine died. I don't think it was really an example of bad build quality...more like bad maintenance

 

[MovingTarget]

The Avalon really was Toyota's attempt at building an American boat. With the sludge/relibaility issues with those engines, it is probably better just to go with the genuine article.... most likely a Buick (as that is what it seems Toyota was going for I guess..). Those 3.8L engines are bulletproof. Don't get me wrong, Avalons are damn nice, but a well-cared for Buick would be easier to find, cheaper, and w/ less mileage than a comparable Avalon.

 

[sindows]

Well considering the Avalon is built off of the Camry platform, I would assume that they are just as reliable.