CrazyDragon

Right now I'm just really worried about the sludge issue. Since I'm buying it 2nd hand, I really have no idea if there is already any sludge issues in the car. If there's none then great I can keep it that way. Right now I have 2 choices. Either get a 1mz-FE Camry or the famous Nissan v6 maxima. Apparently that Nissan engine has won best engine for 6 years in a row. But that car has a terrible turning circle though. My mom has one.

Okay did a bit more research and found out that oil sludge build up is mainly due to driving for short distances where optimum temperature was not reached. And also not changing the oil filter regularly. Changing oil filter won't be a problem as I'm always 100% on time for each service and I'll use Toyota service instead of other mechanics. Don't really trust other mechanics anymore. Got scammed too many times. Now here's my dilemma. I live around 650km away from my family. I'll go back 4 times a year. But when I don't, I'll only drive the car around town maybe 3 times a week for grocery shopping and bringing my dog to a park. Will this cause a sludge build up? Is it possible to check if the car I'm looking at has any sludge build up? What are the symptoms of it? What else should I be aware of before buying it? This is the one I'm hoping to get http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=496360398 Thanks for all your replies guys. Appreciate them.

What do you mean by over sensitive knock sensors? And what do you mean not boosting it? How much will the gasket leak cost to fix? I've had my eye on one 2001 Camry with 145,000kms on it.

I have a Toyota Landcruiser Prado KZJ 78. It had the 1KZ-TE engine which was very famous for cracking heads. Unfortunately mine just went bout a month ago. To be honest it's a little expensive to maintain as it's almost 18 years old. It's still my favourite vehicle but as I'm studying right now, I don't really have enough time to learn how to fix it. I decided to sell it cheap and maybe look for a 2000-2002 Camry instead. I understand that there are two variants of the 2000-2002 Camry. One comes with the 2.2L Engine and the other comes with the 3.0L 1MZ-FE engine. I tried googling any known faults for 1MZ-FE engines and everything seems quite random. If you google known faults of 1KZ-TE pretty much everything points to blowing head gasket/cylinders. So I need to ask around and do my research before actually start looking for a Camry. What are the known faults of both 2.2L and 3.0L engines if any? Does anyone have a 2000-2002 model? The XV20? What are your thoughts about it? What should I be careful of when I'm looking for one? Any advice is appreciated Thanks, Kevin