Servicing

[gregaudio]

Hi, just bought a 2002 Camry wagon (V6 Auto) with a regular dealer service history for less than 1/3 it's original price. If I want to keep it running reliably but don't want to spend an arm & a leg getting it serviced (and enjoy working on cars myself), what would people suggest be the recommended intervals for engine oil, trans fluid, plugs & filters? And how often should I take it to a dealer for a majour service like timing belt & water pump etc?

Cheers,

Greg

[Ronnyboy]

Did you get the Service manual with the car?

[gregaudio]

No, I did get the service history but not the manual.

Greg.

[Ozzcaddy]

Nice to have another member who has a station wagon, I bought a 1999 V6 in August last year. The timing belt needs changing at either 150,000 Ks or 10 years. As my car has only 113,000 on it, but was almost 2 years over the time period, I made the decision to have the timing belt, other belts, water pump and fresh coolant replaced by my mechanic, and that cost me $966.00.

I had the auto transmission serviced at 111,000 ks as the oil was looking pretty dark. They told me it had not been serviced beforfe as it still had the original pan gasket and filter. Next month I will be getting the spark plugs changed.

[Martinj]

How did you manage to swing a deal to get a 9 year old Camry for only 1/3rd the original list price?! Good effort!

[Hiro]

How did you manage to swing a deal to get a 9 year old Camry for only 1/3rd the original list price?! Good effort!

Because that's what they are worth? Redbook value for a 2002 V6 wagon is around $7-10,000, depending on the model, and they were $30,000-odd new, which is pretty much bang-on 1/3...

[gregaudio]

How did you manage to swing a deal to get a 9 year old Camry for only 1/3rd the original list price?! Good effort!

Because that's what they are worth? Redbook value for a 2002 V6 wagon is around $7-10,000, depending on the model, and they were $30,000-odd new, which is pretty much bang-on 1/3...

Just like Hiro says, I got it from a dealer for $10,600, no more to pay. There's others out there, I was in a hurry and found my one in 2 days of web searching. Didn't want a 4 cyl and didn't want a white one. It's got nice alloy wheels too :-)

I'm keen to keep it nice, but just wonder if it really needs to go for a shop service every 7,500km's like the book suggests. It hasn't really got a whole lot of re sale value to maintain, so I don't want to spend unnecessary $$$ on it's service history.

[hoges]

A lot of services seem to be just checking oil levels, changing engine oil, etc. If you're keen enough you could do it yourself and save yourself a fortune. Nearly every second service for the camry is simple things you could easily do at home anyway.

Slight thread hijack - is it worth having the valve timing checked on a 2004 camry at 90000km? I can do most of the servicing myself, just not keen on pulling apart the whole engine.

[Ronnyboy]

Slight thread hijack - is it worth having the valve timing checked on a 2004 camry at 90000km? I can do most of the servicing myself, just not keen on pulling apart the whole engine.

You can if you like. From Memory i dont think this needs to be dont till a later stage?

[FRM05A]

these camry are reliable car, as i have one myself. as long as you have oil and coolant inside, she will run

i'm quite picky on servicing.

i always change my engine oil and filter every 5000km,

also change my transmission and coolant every 40,000km

timing belt and spark plugs every 100,000km

as for the other drive belts, air filter and water pump, i change when necessary...

dealer will always charge you an arm and leg. find a good reliable local mechanic if you don't know how.