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So much for Toyota's reliability...

Bignate603

Bignate603

Lifer
In the past two years since I've owned my '99 camry I've had to replace an O2 sensor, take apart my air intake and scrub out a completely fouled EGR valve, replace the whole freaking fuse box (seriously, when have you ever heard of the fuse box going bad? freaking expensive dealer only part too), a CV shaft, a window motor, a front strut because the bearing at the top was making a horrible groaning noise, and just today the check engine light came on AGAIN. Oh, and did I mention it's burning it's transmission fluid?

The car is driving fine right now but the coolant looks really low. It was full 2 weeks ago when I changed the oil. This pisses me off. I don't want to toss any more money into this thing but I'll have a hard time selling a POS toyota with the CEL on.

This steaming pile of scrap is possibly the worst car I've ever owned. It's left me stranded more than anything else I've ever driven. That fuse box problem was dangerous, the car would just suddenly lose power right in the middle of traffic, no warning at all. Then it wouldn't start for another 30 minutes.

After all of this crap I don't think I'm going to be looking at another Toyota any time soon. Even when the thing was running it was like valium on wheels. Our minivan is more fun to drive.
 
Originally posted by: Bignate603
In the past two years since I've owned my '99 camry I've had to replace an O2 sensor, take apart my air intake and scrub out a completely fouled EGR valve, replace the whole freaking fuse box (seriously, when have you ever heard of the fuse box going bad? freaking expensive dealer only part too), a CV shaft, a window motor, a front strut because the bearing at the top was making a horrible groaning noise, and just today the check engine light came on AGAIN. Oh, and did I mention it's burning it's transmission fluid?

The car is driving fine right now but the coolant looks really low. It was full 2 weeks ago when I changed the oil. This pisses me off. I don't want to toss any more money into this thing but I'll have a hard time selling a POS toyota with the CEL on.

This steaming pile of scrap is possibly the worst car I've ever owned. It's left me stranded more than anything else I've ever driven. That fuse box problem was dangerous, the car would just suddenly lose power right in the middle of traffic, no warning at all. Then it wouldn't start for another 30 minutes.

After all of this crap I don't think I'm going to be looking at another Toyota any time soon. Even when the thing was running it was like valium on wheels. Our minivan is more fun to drive.
Click to expand...

Do I understand you to say you have a ten year old Camry that you've owned for 2 years? Have you any idea how well it was maintained before you got it? How many miles on the odo when you bought it? Anything will fall apart if it isn't taken care of. Give us some more info.
 
You replaced a strut because the top mount was bad..?

CVs will wear out eventually. So will struts. So will o2 sensors.

You have a ten year old car, dude. My Tacoma had 171k when I bought it - I replaced the o2 sensors, the leaf springs and the driveshaft carrier bearing - it happens when you don't have a new vehicle. Things wear out.

Oh..and why are you buying a Camry if you want "fun to drive"?
 
This post makes very little sense.

How many miles on the clock? Who owned it prior to you and what was the maintenance like?

I own two toyotas, and my family had several before I started buying my own cars. All of them were rocks.
 
That is bad luck. I have not heard of a fuse box going.

Some of those items are not necessarily unusual, though.
 
[general thread consensus] You must be mistaken, this is obviously a GM car if you are having so many problems.
 
Originally posted by: ExarKun333
[general thread consensus] You must be mistaken, this is obviously a GM car if you are having so many problems.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say that.

>>I've owned my '99 camry I've had to replace an O2 sensor,
These go bad on all cars

>>take apart my air intake and scrub out a completely fouled EGR valve,
Common issue on many cars

>>replace the whole freaking fuse box (seriously, when have you ever heard of the fuse
Wierd

>> a CV shaft,
Normal

>>a window motor,
Normal

>>a front strut because the bearing at the top was making a horrible groaning noise,
Normal

>>and just today the check engine light came on AGAIN.
Depends...

It's just an old car with a lot of parts that need to be replaced. 10 years old.
 
Originally posted by: Pliablemoose
How many miles on the odometer?
Click to expand...

140k when I got it, 150k now


Originally posted by: LeetViet
10 years old car that you've had for 2 years. Did you get it checked before buying?
Click to expand...

My mechanic looked it over, I got all maintenance records when I got the car. There wasn't any noticeable gaps in their maintenance, they even had the dealer scheduled service up until I got it.

I understand that most of this stuff isn't that crazy for an older car and I've be fine with if it wasn't for the the fuse box and the transmission burning fluid.

It's just an old car with a lot of parts that need to be replaced. 10 years old.
Click to expand...

I've got a jeep and a chevy minivan that have similar mileage and are both 2 years older. The trim inside is falling apart on the chevy but both of them keep on going fine with only oil changes and the scheduled maintenance.
 
I've never heard of a car "burning" atf nor have I ever heard of anyone replacing an entire fuse box. The rest of the stuff is entirely normal for a car that age. Who told you to replace the entire fuse box and how do you know it's burning fluid?
 
That generation of Camry was notorious for rotten suspension. Common for them to have issues with that.

Fuse box is weird. Never heard of a car having issues like that. Heck, my friend's old 70's Malibu doesn't have a fuse box issue.
 
Reliability != Wear and tear components lasting forever.

Except for a few exceptions, all cars are reliable with proper maintenance and if it was manufactured on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Monday and Friday and fooked.
 
Originally posted by: KIAman
Reliability != Wear and tear components lasting forever.

Except for a few exceptions, all cars are reliable with proper maintenance and if it was manufactured on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Monday and Friday and fooked.
Click to expand...

😀 That applied when people were making cars like the model T. Back then it was a rule of thumb, buy a car manufactured on Wednesdays, but nowadays, robots don't get excited for weekends and hung-over. I know the manufacture date on my cars, but it's never been a big deal for me.

As for the OP, a fuse box doesn't usually go out. It's probably because of some short causing the problem.

As for the new CEL, did you replace both upstream and downstream O2 sensors? If you only replaced one, it is reasonable and extremely common for the other one to follow soon, O2 sensors have limited lifetimes.
 
It took 10 years for my old Civic to start acting up. I would've never purchased that old of a car with that many miles. You should try to stick with 2-3 years old and Under 30K miles if you want to get the most out of a used car.
 
Yeah, your bad experience with one Toyota means they are all garbage. My family has had great luck with Toyotas. My Corolla has over 200K miles with no major problems.
My brother and sister each have Toyota trucks with over 200k miles with no major problems.

All cars will nickle and dime you with minor repairs. If you bought a Chevy or Ford you might be looking at a major rebuild.
 
Originally posted by: lsd
I've never heard of a car "burning" atf nor have I ever heard of anyone replacing an entire fuse box. The rest of the stuff is entirely normal for a car that age. Who told you to replace the entire fuse box and how do you know it's burning fluid?
Click to expand...

The car was randomly dying when it got hot and I would lose power to almost everything. After messing with it for ages I wiggled the wiring harness right where it came out of the fusebox and got the car to repeat the exact symptoms, same things lost power. I checked the wires and they were all good, the connectors were all in good shape and cleaning them off and reseating them didn't help, so I pulled out a volt meter. Power was getting to the box and wasn't leaving. That pretty much confirmed it and a replacement box made the problem go away.

As for the burning transmission fluid, it's turned a dark brownish/black and smells like its burnt. Do a quick google search on burning transmission fluid, this is a relatively common symptom of transmission problems. Coupled with the clunky shifts that the car is having I'd say the clutches in the transmission are failing. I've tried changing the fluid but it's still turning the new stuff black.
 
Originally posted by: marincounty
Yeah, your bad experience with one Toyota means they are all garbage. My family has had great luck with Toyotas. My Corolla has over 200K miles with no major problems.
My brother and sister each have Toyota trucks with over 200k miles with no major problems.

All cars will nickle and dime you with minor repairs. If you bought a Chevy or Ford you might be looking at a major rebuild.
Click to expand...

I've got a chevy and a jeep with similar mileage. The '97 chevy minivan has needed a starter, a fuel system flush (it was missing because of a clogged injector), and normal stuff like spark plugs and tires. The '97 jeep cherokee sprung a few oil leaks and the radiator went out. $10 in gaskets for the oil leaks and $200 for a radiator (that was from the dealer, probably could have gotten it cheaper if I wasn't in a hurry) is mild compared to what I've had to deal with for the Toyota.
 
Originally posted by: Pulsar

>>I've owned my '99 camry I've had to replace an O2 sensor,
These go bad on all cars

>>take apart my air intake and scrub out a completely fouled EGR valve,
Common issue on many cars

>>replace the whole freaking fuse box (seriously, when have you ever heard of the fuse
Wierd

>> a CV shaft,
Normal

>>a window motor,
Normal

>>a front strut because the bearing at the top was making a horrible groaning noise,
Normal

It's just an old car with a lot of parts that need to be replaced. 10 years old.
Click to expand...

10 years old is NOT even close to old, and it's inexcusable for so many things to go wrong on a Toyota unless it's been abused.

I've only ever owned 80s Toyotas, and never had these problems. Toyota and Honda didn't get their reliability reputation by building cars that fell apart after a mere 10 years.
 
I'm with jagec here, 10 years isn't that big of a deal. Heck the shocks and struts were replaced for the first time on the truck last week, and other than oil/spark plugs/tires/brakes, the only other maintenance was motor/tranny mounts and a MAF. Window motors still work fine, and we've owned the truck since new 10 years and ~100k ago.
 
Yes many of those are common on a ten year old vehicle. (except for fuse box, although I've seen people replace an entire wiring harness)

What isn't common is that it all happened to the same vehicle.

Too many people base their opinions on their own anecdotal evidence.


But, if I were you I wouldn't buy any lottery tickets on the way home.
 
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