So we are planning to purchase this car.
It has the 2.2L 4cyl.

I look up and Google foo said it has a timing belt and is a non-interference engine.

Labor and parts on Google auto repair search for timing belt replacement is $454 to $585.
It has 165,000 miles on it and everything works well on the car.

It is really clean interior and body is real nice. Tires are about at 40 percent tread left and no uneven wear seen. It has a sun roof, A/C, Automatic Trans, power door locks and keyless entry, AM FM Cassette alpine radio. Cloth seats. Only interior blemish is a little roughness on the stock steering wheel at the top. One cigarette burn hole on the right rear seat.

Driver real nice as we took it yesterday on the hwy.

The only thing owner has said. He has owned it for couple of years and there is a small oil leak.

Nothing can be seen in the engine compartment and saw nothing under the vehicle where it was parked or the underside of the engine.

This is for our 16 year old daughter, third family vehicle when wife or I need to address something on our vehicles. I also plan to drive it perhaps twice a week on my 46 mile round trip work commute to save on gas. I currently drive a 2001 YukonXL.

What can anyone share about this vehicle before we actually hand over the money Monday. It is a for sale by a neighbor up the street.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ontmark,

Those are excellent cars (worked on them at the dealer when they were new). Minor issues with window regulators, some switch failures.
Very reliable, If not done already, I would change the transmission fluid and power steering fluid.
Actually, just do a 90k service(per owners manual) on it.

quote:

The only thing owner has said. He has owned it for couple of years and there is a small oil leak.

Nothing can be seen in the engine compartment and saw nothing under the vehicle where it was parked or the underside of the engine.

This engine can sometimes be an oil leaker.


Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk-OPqY95Xo

Re-seal the oil pump cover while the timing belt is off. This fixes 99% of them. Other than that (unless run out of oil), the 5S-FE engine is nearly bulletproof.

My wife's 1999 Camry had a small oil leak for years but as long as I kept oil in it it ran like a champ. We did have to change the the timing belt / water pump back in 2012. Bought her a new RAV4 yesterday and they only wanted to give us $350 so we are putting it up for sale I've already been offered $1000 for it.

I'm real familiar with servicing that engine, and as noted, the oil pump cover uses a formed O-ring gasket that becomes brittle, and falls apart. Rear/front main seal can cause the leak too. Have also seen pretty good oil leaks with this engine, where the distributor mounts; O-ring on the shaft, does the same thing as the OP seal. There is also a big O-ring under the oil cooler that can leak oil (and coolant at the hoses/body). that is under the oil filter, but they may have done away with it for this year. Obviously, oil changes don't get much easier than this.

Doing T-belt swaps along with the water pump is no fun for me, having Gorilla sized hands, and there is not much room to work. Takes me a long time to do the service.

Along with changing out the oil pump seal, I would also do the front seal, change out the water pump (AISIN/Toyota brand ONLY), replace the T-belt tensioner and idler bearings, swap out the 'dog bone' top mount if bad (they are many times), and clean out the throttle body at the plate. This plate area can get really coated with crud, and can cause idle issues.

I have also seen these engines blow blue smoke for a bit on a cold soak, but it usually goes away quickly. Remove the oil fill cap, and using a strong flashlight, look around... I have seen these engines with a ton of sludgy build-up, especially when used with conventional oil, and not near enough changes. Struts may be out of sorts, check CV/steering rack boots for tears, and as mentioned, swap out the a trans fluid, and make sure to service the separate differential; it uses the same type of ATF. I always like to swap out the thermostat too, along with a good coolant swap. The T-stat is very easy to change, and I would only stick with OEM parts for this one.

Some other time replacement items might include the fuel filter, PCV valve, and cap and rotor. The engine (5S-FE), is insanely overbuilt for its power and torque output, with a cast iron block/AL heads, and generally the car will fall apart, before the engine and Aisin transmission quits.

quote:

Originally posted by 2tonicP220:
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Other than the 2000 engine not having a distributor, I agree with the above.

Thanks Everyone.

Keep ideas coming.

Thanks
Roy

They are great cars and near bullet proof, I put 244,000 miles on my 2000 Camry and never had an issue other than routine maintenance. Mine developed the oil leak so instead of paying to have it fixed I donated it since I had purchased a 2015 camry.

I recently gave a 2009 Vibe to a needy relative, same 2.4 ltr engine as the Camry. It has been and still is a great car, happens to have a 'salvage' title, so not great as a trade-in.

Ours did have some oil seepage of sorts, no real dripping visible, 87k miles. I just checked it every few weeks.

Great and reliable cars. I sold my 98 to my brother and it has 230k on it with original tranny/engine. The timing belt and all related seals cost me closer to $900 done by the Toyota dealership. It's super easy to do but one of the main seals let go and I had to have my car running asap.

So far so good.

Was checking things under the hood with the wife and I found an old somewhat faded sticker on the right front strut housing.

It says Dayco Timing Belt Installed in January of 2014 at 148,367 miles. Current mileage is 165,xxx.

So looks like we are good for some time. Oil change sticker on inside windshield from Costco about 2,000 miles ago.

No sign of oil leak or wetness on underside of front pan or frame.

There is a slight rattle noise at times when stopped and in gear or idling. Sounds like exhaust vibration or bad worn exhaust hanger.

Will probably get it up on blocks in a couple of weeks and look around.

Front struts may be rather new because the upper mounting nuts are still bright cad plated looking.

All four doors have that little rubber runner to prevent the doors from dinging the other cars.

Looks like it was cared for. Coolant needs changing for some rust in it. Upper radiator hose and clamps look new and bright clamps.