Camry Altise - 2004 - reliable?

[erron]

Hi guys, short term reader, first time poster.

Ive always loved toyota's but my last couple of cars have been fords (blame my Wife), anyway, both of those were money pits, my 2001 falcon auII, i spent more money than the car itself fixing it over the last 2 years!! biggest one was the gas converter (factory gas).

Anyway, ive been eyeing off the Camry Altise 2004/5 lately and they sure do look and feel nice, i found a good deal for one at a yard, only 60k kilometres on it for $10'000, immaculate condition, 1 previous owner with papers.

My question is though, is this a good toyota model to come back to? anyone got one and had any problems?

[Andrew357]

The facelift Gen5 isn't a bad choice by any means. I'm assuming it's the 2.4l given you haven't specified the engine size, @ only 60k it's still very young and it's major service isn't for another 30km (sparks).

Haggle a little, given it's the base model Camry.

[White Lightning]

Hey mate - nothin wrong with fords in general but I will concede that the AU in general was a pig lol...

I'm a car salesman (don't distrust me based on that lol) and the price seems in the ballpark... low kms for a vehicle of that age is awesome... that being said the price is a little on the low side... I'm not saying that it is a bad car or anything - but be weary... it could be priced to sell because its been on the lot for longer than 45 days and they need it gone... or it could need some work or it could be a lemon... at that price however Andrew is 100% right... haggle and get him down if u can, and if u can't then so be it... and even though its usually a sales technique to make more money in this case i would recommend going the aftermarket warranty for that piece of mind... you may never need it and if u haggle him down enough u may be able to factor it into the cost of the vehicle - however it is definitely on the cheaper side of the ballpark so make sure you ask the right questions...

Things to look at:

Previous owners (and never believe the "one little old lady thing" - because as true as that may be - a lot of old ppl drive their cars once a week to do the shopping and don't maintain them based on the fact that they think it doesn't need to be done)

Service History - have all of the logbook services been done and have they been done on time

Vehicle interior - along with service history, the condition of the interior is also a dead giveaway as to the life of the vehicle. You can cover up and repair exterior damage but reconditioning an interior is difficult to do completely, and expensive to replace...

Rego - confirm that the vehicle will come with rego. nothing worse than buying a car and coming up with deposit etc.. and then finding out after its done and dusted that you have $360+ in rego to pay in 21 days time...

Tyres - What condition are the tyres in? they may be roadworthy but will they need to be replaced in the next 6 months? <-- haggling point

Air Con - Not always covered by aftermarket warranty - make sure that it works and works well. If not hit the dealer up to ensure that it is. It is a standard feature of the car and as such should be working. If it isn't and they aren't willing to compromise u can either haggle them down based on this or walk away...

But you get the drift - fine tooth comb that SOB and make sure everything is either 100% or will be made to 100% if u intend on purchasing...

[jeffy]

Hmm 10k you can go lower for them, cos i see sportivos go for 8k

But they're pretty reliable and safe (I think all Toyota do) as long as they're well maintained and looked after :)p