Toyota's reliability is superb. My grandpa had a '72 Corolla, brand new, until his death in 1992. 28 years later, my uncle still drives the same vehicle and it doesn't break much (apart from the fact that he rarely took the car out after 2010 due to his own troubles). But 48 years to the vehicle and is still running strong so that's something to ponder upon. P.S It was imported straight from Japan.
This Reminds me of one of my favorite articles from The Onion. “Toyota Recalls 1993 Camry Due To Fact That Owners Really Should Have Bought Something New By Now”
Mom had a 95 Avalon (slightly stretched out V6 Camry) until a couple years ago. 330,000 miles. Only sold it because a rust patch above the windshield cracked the glass and made it impossible to replace. She absolutely loved that car and the engine and transmission still ran perfectly when it was sold. The bodies on these cars give out before the rest of it does (assuming it was maintained halfway decent anyway).
@@jblyon2 Not shocked. My father had a 1968 Beetle for years. Same principle as the Camry. As long as you did the maintenance, both cars would go forever. But, yeah, the Bug started to rust out and my father sold it. That moment made me so sad.
yeah true but I'm not saying the new ones are bad. Why would anyone have such strong opinions of such basic transport anyhow? These things are so dead nuts reliable that when I think "camry" or "corolla" I think of these old ones since I see the old ass ones nearly every day
I remember walking home during a thunderstorm in elementary school when I saw my first new ‘92 “wide body” Camry. I was like wow, that’s nice. Yea, I did have a Ferrari poster on my wall.
@@Detah_ The V6 manual model tested is advanced for the time. The engine and transmission combo makes it competitive with most cars sold now. You can install a double din Apple CarPlay unit with back up camera and you’re good to go in one of these. The engine is silky smooth and the sound with deleted resonators is actually almost musical. I’ve done this.
@@augustbikebanditturner3907 Mom sold a 95 Avalon at 330,000 (same engine) and it still ran and shifted like new. If you don't live in the rust belt and properly maintain the thing I wouldn't be surprised if it hit 750k. She had to sell it because of New England rust.
We had this car in the '90s. LOL! Very reliable and pretty quick too for those days. In the past 30+ years, there's never not a Camry in our family. 🤣 There's a saying, "Every Asian family has a Camry or Accord." And it's true. LOL! 😂
@@danmccarthy4700 yeah but at this point they are pretty old it's the gaskets that are all falling apart. The cars themselves are still amazing. I would buy one and restore it with all new seals and gaskets. This way you get a car that will last for another 30 years
@@casey3916 If you are mechanically-inclined, the Camry is a very easy car to work on. Parts are fairly cheap but looking for interior parts may be tricky.
I mean I don’t doubt that these were some of the best they’ve ever made, but this notion that modern Toyota’s aren’t made the same isn’t really true imo, everyone I know with a modern Toyota/Lexus has not had any major issues.
@@danmccarthy4700 as well made as they are a 30 year old car can be a bit of a handful. While this camry can easily last 30-40 years, most have been neglected and just aren't worth fixing.
@@electrikoptik lol ehhh #2 is debatable,,My aunt made a pretty nice buck working for world bank and she drove her 97 Camry all the way until 2008 My grandma still drives her 2003 corolla, And she had that previous 97-02 generation which she REALLY intended to keep forever and she worked for the banks too and did well, Some people are very conservative
Toyota makes the best transportation appliances. Like an old trusty fridge, it isn't flashy or even stylish, but every time you open the door, your food is nice and cold - year after year. And even if you later buy a flashy wifi stainless french-door fridge, it will keep working out in the garage for many years, and serve as the backup when the wifi fridge breaks.
@@electrikoptik A lot of people keep old cars, especially as a second car. When their trade or sale value drops to a level that they don't make a big dent in a new car, they keep the old one around. That's exactly what I did for many, many years with a 90s Pickup and a brand new Pickup, then an additional new sedan.
@@kari9856 There is no 1991 model year example of this generation. Toyota in all markets globally, built it for the 1992 model year only, even if a few early cars were first registered from October through December 1991.
The shop I worked at back in the late 2000s had an SE manual as the "parts getter" vehicle. The boss eventually got rid of it and I kinda regret not taking it off his hands.
I worked in a collision repair facility that did repairs for the largest Toyota dealership in the state. We repaired many of these. I still see Camry’s of this vintage frequently.
Old school people wanted to know what going on because back in the day there was a real threat of walking to a phone for help. A change in volts or oil PSI were valuable information back then. It's still good information, just very unlikely to happen.
Wow. This car would've been almost 40k in today's money. Such a nice looking car. Unlike other cars after almost 30 years, there's nothing about this generation of Camry that gives off any sort of retro or oldschool asthetic. It just looks like a contemporary car.
Its been nearly 30 years since this review and i have never seen one in this configuration. I had no idea you could get a V6 and a manual. They must be super rare.
Even VWs can't match Toyota's reliability. Short of buying one inside warranty, I see no good reason to buy a modern German car. Perhaps an old Mercedes diesel, but those are now worn or expensive.
Our 94 Camry LE almost made it through all of our children learning to drive. The engine was done 4,000 miles short of 400,000. My son sold his 90 Camry 13 years ago with 374,000 miles on it. I still see that car driving around town. Built to last.
We had 200k miles on our 93 and when my brother was scheduled to take his driver's license road test, the instructor got in the passenger front seat and told my brother to start the vehicle and my brother said it's running and he looked at the cluster with 200k miles and said "no way" in disbelief hahaha. That's how smooth these cars are.
My mom had a 1993 Camry SE she bought brand new we put 364k on and gave It to my grandma she got it up to 405k before the trans gave out all we did was oil changes and tires, I think a CV axle went bad and some belts but damn that car was a work horse
This is the car that started the whole “A Camry V6 is faster than this” in so many other MW retro reviews of classic sports cars. That trend continues today because they still sell a V6 Camry in 2021 and it’s much faster than this one.
This was the best Camry Toyota made until the current generation. It had very tasteful styling, was reliable, comfortable, and Toyota built this to a standard, rather than a price.
We had 200k miles on our 93 and when my brother was scheduled to take his driver's license road test, the instructor got in the passenger front seat and told my brother to start the vehicle and my brother said it's running and he looked at the cluster with 200k miles and said "no way" in disbelief hahaha. That's how smooth these cars are.
They’re great vehicles and easy to work on. I have a 97 LE with over 260k miles and still runs like a clock! It’s my daily commuter and still get an average of 28-30 MPG even with the AC running.
This was one of my original childhood cars that I remembered. My parents used to have an xle model of this car in silver with the v6 and automatic transmission bought from the owner.
The 90s cars had really quirky interior designs - which did feel was shared by a lot of cars of that era but now that I see them, its a whole new level of nostalgia. I had a 1997 Daihatsu Mira as my first car, and looking at this Camry's interior it feels a LOT reminiscent to the first car, except mine was much, much smaller relatively.
In 2012 this was my first car. It was the V6, green in color with a pinstripe on each side, and came from a junk yard for 700 dollars. I miss that car.
I bought a 94' Camry with 71K miles last year. I specifically went for that year and model because I wanted the most reliable and easy/cheapest car to work on I could find. It's been incredible so far and it's proved to be easy to work on. Thought about selling it for something cooler, but now I'm just going to re-paint and keep it forever.
This was my first car! Bought in 1995. I kept it until 2020 with 363028 miles. Ended up donating it. During its lifetime I only had to repair a leaky power steering, battery, cv joints, and struts. It was very reliable but the gas mileage was poor.
I've seen a few, but the owners are hilariously silly, sinking the equivalent of the entire car's value into repairs every few years, err "Maintence" as the Eurofans call it. LOL!
As a previous bmw “fanboy” i had a 1999 m3 in 2006-2012 that was pretty rock solid. However, new bmws are not very good reliability wise. A few years ago I bought a 1999 Camry with a 5 speed manual. That thing just ran forever with minimal maintenance. It was even on the original clutch with 247,000 miles! Try that in a bmw! Oil changes and front brakes were the only two things I did in 2 years.! I always recommend these cars to people look for reliable cars. Bought mine for $1500 and sold for $1500 2 years later 👍🏻
"Drive through the parking lot of any shopping mall and you're bound to see a lot of cars like this one." John got that one right - those things were everywhere.
@@mitch9521 Yeah that's why I said generation Because I know it was that 07 to 2011 body style, I just couldn't confirm at what year it stopped but most of the manuals I've seen have been the first two years
When I wanted to try one, the dealer let me sit in it, but wouldn’t allow me to actually drive it. Ended up buying a Maxima SE which suited me better at that age. Today I’d probably prefer this car.
Back when the Camry was available with a manual. I miss those days especially with the more sporty looks and the greater performance available on the modern Camry. From 185 hp to 300 hp is a huge jump and the new Camry looks so much more sporty. Really helps to give you some perspective. Please keep these retro reviews coming.
it’s crazy how different 90s cars were from 80s cars in both styling and technology whereas practically nothing about contemporary cars has changed in the past 10 years
The engineers and designers of the 1980s were extremely ambitious, in developing new models for the 90s. Safety was a big focus airbags, ABS, security remote keyless entry, aerodynamics, higher performance, deleting chrome, adding flush body panels & lighting. The Malaise Era had a slight effect on most cars in development being bland through the early 80s, until the mid-80s pushed harder for more curvy designs by 1990-95.
Surprising 2015 mode makes the same power or around the same power with 4 cylinders. I’m keeping my 2015 Camry SE until it gives up love it been dependable and drives like the first day I took it out of the lot
Back when the Camry became round and beige. They're still great cars, though, some of the most reliable you'll find on the road. I still see a lot of these out there.
