1994 Vienta owner wants a newer Toyota

[Miklos73]

Hello everyone,

I have a 1994 Vienta Ultima which I may soon want to offload.

I have owned two MK3's over the last 8 years and want something else.

On top of my savings/tax return if I can sell my Vienta I may have a total of $10K or so to play with by the end of the year.

I am tossing up between a 2000-03 Avalon and a 2002-03 Altise or Sportivo.

I have found 2 Sportivo's near me and both are under $10K. One is a 4 banger auto with a sunroof and done 176K's, while the other has only done 114K and is a V6 manual! (Must be something wrong with the latter car!).

Also, I have seen a really nice Avalon, a 2000 model which looks concourse but has done over 200K's...and they want $7200.

Which is the better car/model- Avalon or Altise/Sportivo? And what is the right price to pay for a V6 2003 Camry Sportivo that has done around 160K and doesn't look like it belongs in a tip?

Ya just can't trust Red Book all the time.

Miklos

[K8Canb]

Hello everyone,

I have a 1994 Vienta Ultima which I may soon want to offload.

I have owned two MK3's over the last 8 years and want something else.

On top of my savings/tax return if I can sell my Vienta I may have a total of $10K or so to play with by the end of the year.

I am tossing up between a 2000-03 Avalon and a 2002-03 Altise or Sportivo.

I have found 2 Sportivo's near me and both are under $10K. One is a 4 banger auto with a sunroof and done 176K's, while the other has only done 114K and is a V6 manual! (Must be something wrong with the latter car!).

Also, I have seen a really nice Avalon, a 2000 model which looks concourse but has done over 200K's...and they want $7200.

Which is the better car/model- Avalon or Altise/Sportivo? And what is the right price to pay for a V6 2003 Camry Sportivo that has done around 160K and doesn't look like it belongs in a tip?

Ya just can't trust Red Book all the time.

Miklos

I have 1995 Camry Vienta, which has done 2015000 kms. I recently bought 2005 Camry Altise V6 which has done about 96000 kms. The cafr is in excellant condition except there are few cosmetic marks on the front and rear bumpers. I only paid $9500 and another about $500 for the charges pickles charge including their procession/admin charges. So for $10000 I got a good car and that should last another atleast 10 years for me.

I bought my car in Pickles auction in canberra, I suggest you take a look at the cars available on their web site pickles.com.au They also sell some cars at fixed prices but I find that the price for fixed price cars tends to be couple of grands morfe than auction prices.

However, due to the introduction of Aurion, availability of Avalon/Camry V6 cars at Pickles auctions are becomeing rare but they come now and then.

Hope this helps.

K8Canb

[Noodle Boy]

i would say go for a camry, an altise or sportivo depending on your choice. the reason i said that is that the avalons are rarer, therefore spare parts will be scarce if you ever need tham in the future(camrys appear more often).also, in my opinion, a camry sportivo would look much cooler. however, the avalon looks more luxurious.

a '03 v6 sportivo with 160k km on the odo would be worth around $9-11k private price or $13-14k dealer price.

[Miklos73]

I was looking to go for the '02-'04 Camry as well, the 2.4 Litre Sportivo in particular.

I have had a lot of trouble with my Vienta V6. Drives superb but I always have trouble with the engine leaking coolant.

Spent $3560 on a rebuild 2 years ago, then 18 months later another blown head gasket that required an extra $1500 to fix...(had a friend do it for me cheap). Now the car runs like crap when it's cold and there's a smell of burning rubber when she gets warm (and no, I don't hoon my cars). And it's still bloody leaking coolant! Very slowly though.

Looked at the Pickles car auction site, no Camry's in my neck of the woods at all, except maybe very late models.

One Avalon though, looked nice.

Had a look at the storm damage/salvage section, found an '02 Camry that looked very badly rolled, then left in a monsoon.

There's an auction place just a 5 minute drive from my home, they don't seem to be doing good business lately. Only 5 cars on their site...

Thanks for the replies guys. I have decided on the Sportivo, not sure whether to get the 4 banger or V6.

[K8Canb]

I was looking to go for the '02-'04 Camry as well, the 2.4 Litre Sportivo in particular.

I have had a lot of trouble with my Vienta V6. Drives superb but I always have trouble with the engine leaking coolant.

Spent $3560 on a rebuild 2 years ago, then 18 months later another blown head gasket that required an extra $1500 to fix...(had a friend do it for me cheap). Now the car runs like crap when it's cold and there's a smell of burning rubber when she gets warm (and no, I don't hoon my cars). And it's still bloody leaking coolant! Very slowly though.

Looked at the Pickles car auction site, no Camry's in my neck of the woods at all, except maybe very late models.

One Avalon though, looked nice.

Had a look at the storm damage/salvage section, found an '02 Camry that looked very badly rolled, then left in a monsoon.

There's an auction place just a 5 minute drive from my home, they don't seem to be doing good business lately. Only 5 cars on their site...

Thanks for the replies guys. I have decided on the Sportivo, not sure whether to get the 4 banger or V6.

The Toyota stopped V6 camry production in 2006 and Avalon 2005 (I think!), there will be some older Camry V6 and Avalon (rarely) will come for auctions even today. Take a look at this web page from Pickles:

http://www.pickles.com.au/cars/listing/?ed_item_type_id=100000001&ed_make_id=100000325&ed_model_id=10000746&ed_fromyear=&ed_toyear=&ed_fromkms=&ed_tokms=&ed_city=All&ed_description=3.0&ed_damage=REG&ed_sort=description&ed_search_type=AUCTION&x=45&y=6

As far camry 4 cylinder model it is continued and being made with lots of improvements like stability and traction control etc. Normally the Government departments and fleet companies dispose their cars after they reach two years may be even earlier if the cars clock certain killometers. However, some older 4 Cyl. Camry will be available at Pickles auctions whcin normally will be of finance company repossed type.

Alternatively, you can look in Tradingpost, Drive and Carpoing web sites for used car sales. You will almost get anything of your choice, both from private sellers and dealers.

Hope that helps.

K8Canb

[Family Guy]

I bought a 2003 Sportivo V6 + 5sp manual with ~50,000 klms on the clock for $14,500 driveaway from a Toyota dealer. Had some dents here and there but with 12mnth rego and new Yohohama Advans fitted it seemed like a good price. Clocked up ~10,000klms since and alls been well except for a weird electrical thing that happens every now and then. Engine has been fine and smooth.

I reckon the Avalons look really dated and you'd have to wear a hat and cardigan in it...they are usually in great nick as the old folks bought them and didn't drive much - engine is the same as the V6 Camry too.

Sportivo is the best choice I'd reckon and prices are coming down further...

Edited August 19, 2010 by Family Guy