I bought an '01 Camry with a v6 and manual in 2015. The original owner got it with leather seats and a sunroof. They also installed interior wood trim, a strut bar, and halo style custom headlights for a stylish, tuner look. 😅 Its almost 2024 and its still my daily driver with nearly 300k. Ive driven it up and down interstates, through city traffic, and rural areas. Its a beast ❤ 💪 -EDIT- the v6 sound is very pleasant for the type of car it is lol
That's awesome! I bet a lot of those parts are either custom or not made anymore. The aftermarket support for the car at this point is basically non existent. I agree with the sound. It's almost v12 like in nature. Smooth
Hey @tedgrove7775 awesome there's another 01 V6 5 speed out there. Curious what the build date is on yours and the last 6 of the VIN if you don't mind sharing - mine was built May 2001, VIN ends in 129347. When my parents bought it new, the only other one availble had leather and a sunroof, but no side airbags, and was black (don't know what the interior color was).
@@M-t3ch Yeah man it was cool to see the aftermarket parts on it. And the engine does have a really nice sound at a high RPM. Gotta love Toyota v6 engines! Thanks for posting this video - I enjoyed it
@@zackr80245 Hi Zack! I opened the door on my car and found some details. The car was built in June 2001. It was manufactured on U.S soil in Kentucky. The last VIN digits were 131747 i think. Mine is silver with grey leather. These V6 manual Camry's were extremely rare. I actually owned a 1998 V6 manual Camry before this one (it got totaled). That one had a spoiler, gold exterior, and these rare sporty Toyota rims that were sparsely offered in the late 90s. It was insane that I found that car on Craigslist.
Thanks @@tedgrove7775 ! So yours is the same silver/gray leather as mine in the video, and yours is a very late build, one of the last. One mystery for mine is that it came with the CE wheel covers when delivered new even though it's an LE. Does yours have alloy wheels, or wheel covers? If it has wheel covers, are they the normal LE ones, or the CE ones like mine in the video?
@@M-t3ch they sound really good. i have a custom catback and intake. it's kinda droney but it sounds almost like a high displacement v6 or low displacement v8.
I bought one of these back in 2017 and still drive it to this day. Just saw a $2000 manual transmission Toyota with 130K miles. I didn't realize until later how rare they are.
I just picked up a 2000 camry v6 with the 5 speed yesterday for $1300. 208k miles shifts like butter. I am also in michigan. After watching the video ill have to look more into my spec. Its the LE and has wood grain, leather seats, and sunroof. Also has fog lights as well. Good to know the torque steer is "normal" lol caught me off guard.
@@M-t3ch I mean look if they can put HR VQ in earlier model maxima and small chassis Sentra’s from the 90s? And on budget you don’t need to be balling to do so! Hell even you can do it you have a e36 M3 and that cost a pretty penny so…
I'm 18 years old and this is one of my dream cars, been searching for a clean one for a while. I had an auto CE and it was one of my favorite cars ever, and I'd trade my 88 5 speed for one in a heartbeat
I bought a new 2001 V6 manual 5-speed in Australia built in the Toyota plant at Altona North, Victoria, Australia. I believe it has the same gearbox as the MR2. I've recently replaced the gearbox with a second-hand one as my original one failed, I am on my third clutch. Mine currently has 464000 km and the engine still sounds great, I've also replaced the suspension fully. It usually gets about 9.9 litres per hundred km but if on a massively long trip, I've got it down to 7.3 litres per 100km. I've also got the 2001 4cyl auto and can't get near the fuel economy with an average of 8.8l/100km as the 4 has to work harder, also the head gasket went at 310000km on the 4cyl just after I spent $3500 on a respray of the turret as the sun is brutal in Australia on a silver car. Brake discs are smaller on the 4-cylinder Camry and even though it's an auto, they don't feel as sharp as the bigger discs on the manual v6.
@davidmace4689 Interesting comparison! So you are saying your 4 cylinder auto does worse on the freeway than the manual 6? That wouldn't suprise me in the slightest. The 4 cylinder cruises great at about 100kph (62mph) but above 75mph it's struggling.
Finally someone reviewed this car!! i have a 99 v6 Camry manual also. I saw you mentioned the feedback when you are trying to go into 3, does it feels like 2 notches to you? I also saw at a later part of the video it seems like the shifter moved 2 clicks into 4th too did you recall feeling anything? Got this car half a year ago and i'm constantly feeling those 'feedbacks' but i never know if it's normal or not, cause this configuration is so rare that nobody has it ahhh. However I don't feel like my shifter is that floppy and im pretty confident in knowing where the gears are, but again im honestly not sure how this transmission should feel.
I am not sure if I felt two notches. Maybe a notch into neutral and a notch into gear? There was a fair amount of feedback going into gear but there wasn't too much pushback from the transmission. If yours feels like there is a lot of resistance it might need clutch hydraulics. This one was easy to put into all gears other than 2nd. Something about the shift linkage alignment. I hope that is helpful 🙂
@@M-t3ch The 2 notches I meant are from neutral to 4th. But I do feel a notch getting out of gear sometimes. Does the feedback feels like some other cars you have driven?
@kint3300 If the notch getting out of gear is the same or more than going in you might have a clutch or clutch hydraulic component failing. Or old trans fluid. On this car, I thought it shifted smoothly for the most part. I have felt other transmissions that are similar. It's a much slower pacing. Notchy but direct. Less forgiving and less smooth than a Honda trans though. Compare how I shifted this car to the RSX Type S or either S2000 I drove. This does not shift like those cars 😂
@@M-t3ch it's definitely way less notchy when going out of gear comparing to going in, but yeah I'm suspecting something with the clutch too. Oh yeah the Hondas are completely different hahaa, even like the cheapest civic feels so much better
@kint3300 Honestly, send it! Maybe change the trans fluid if it's old. Toyota still makes a good trans but the linkage doesn't do it justice. I'm happy to see another owner. I thought this car was amazing.
@@uxuxdude No it is not for sale - it still runs great - and the ac blows ice cold air. No rust anywhere on the car -lol - but paint is faded due to the relentless Arizona sunshine
man if only the fwd version e153 wasn't so rare. they get bought up by mr2 enthusiasts for parts or a ""new"" transmission. but if i had one i would TOTALLY put it in my v6 camry. but hey, the 4spd gets up to 80 in second gear. good enough for me.
The original MPG ratings were 20 city 27 highway. 20 MPG city is 11.8 l/100km. It's never gotten below 26 MPG (9.0 l/100km) while I've owned it though.
@@M-t3ch yes but the pedal was hydraulic honda uses cable for the pedal so as u drive and when you go to service for the honda they tighten the clutch cable pedal but the toyota camry u have im not sure why it feels like that i had the 5sfe 5 speed it was beautiful believe it was a 97 model too
@@ragulanuthayawarman791 Ah, I see what you mean. The issue with this one seemed to be the shifter, not the clutch. I thought the clutch operation was very smooth!
