Miklos73

I have a 1994 Ultima V6. I find the economy is about 13-15 L/100Km's. Not too bad, if I compare it to a Supra I once owned. I would still like it to be better, she really seems to suck the juice when I push her up hills at more than 70 Km/h. I use the cruise control for going up Kalamunda hill at 80k's/hr and it drives like a car possessed! (I have found I really should set the button to 'power' mode instead of economy when doing this). I think she needs a service, as there is a flat spot when accelerating. Funny the last owner told me it was recently serviced.

Hello, any idea how much that cost?

Hi All, I have a '94 Camry Vienta and there's little wrong with it but I'd like to fix the power antenna. It makes this Godawful grinding sound just after it has fully extended, and keeps making this noise for about 8 seconds. I am sure it is because it doesn't know when to stop extending, but it doesn't make this sound when it retracts. My question/s are this: A) are these units easily user-serviceable, and if not, B) where on the Interweb can I get these cheaply? I see these for sale at $140+!! Back in 2000 I got a new power antenna for about $45. (Yes, it was a cheapie, but it still did the job!). Cheers

I now have two Generation 3 Camry's, one is a 4 banger and the other, a V6. Both good cars. Very reliable, IF they are looked after regularly. Both have 235,000+ Km's on them, and they are still going strong. They are still economical, don't burn oil, or lose coolant. The 4 banger is just starting to drop oil. Still not a problem. Don't be put off by these cars if they have done more than 160,000Kms. just stay away from the "bargains", the super cheapies, as they may well not be...remember, you can't really get a decent car for less than $2500. The one thing I love about the Gen 3 Camry's is, these beasts hardly rust! I have hardly seen a rustbucket example of ANY of these models. Have you? I just don't know where Toyota source their steel for these cars, it's definitely superior material. When looking at a Camry you might want to buy, first check under the bonnet, check the oil level and colour. If it's really clean but way over the full mark it might have been topped up recently, maybe a sign it's eating a lot of oil. Check the coolant level and colour also. Look for oil leaks, another good sign the rings might be worn out. I personally would stay away from a car that has oil leaking from, say the rocker cover gasket. Then check the auto gearbox oil, if it looks even a little dirty, steer clear. Don't know what else to add. I suppose what I said could apply to any car.

I just bought a 1994 Camry Vienta. It has a single immobilizer/remote built into a key. I only have one, but at least it looks more serviceable than other remote keys I had. When I asked the bloke about getting a spare remote, he laughed and said I should scrap the original key and have another immobilizer fitted, for it would be a cheaper option than replacing or getting a duplicate made. I was quoted ~$100 for a replacement remote (Midland Toyota WA). I don't know where to get one cheaper - for the simple reason I cannot really get one elsewhere. The high cost mainly involves a mechanic/technician finding out the particulars of the car's immobilizer, and fixing things up with the new remotes from there. Is it worth it? In my opinion, it's a rough trade, but the little remote key I have is really nice, I'd like to keep it, and I like to keep things original. I suppose it depends on how much you love your car! That's my 2c. Sorry I can't help further.

Got a new (94) Vienta, didn't know it had a CD changer! It's stuffed unfortunately, the CD changer that is. I press eject and the door opens but the cartridge won't come out. Anyone else have/had this problem? Or should i just chuck it and install my JVC MP3 player instead?

Wow...what a response. I had a mechanic look at the Grande, he said it was a heap of crap...and to take $1000 off the asking price. I didn't want to do that, I don't like making offers and besides, there were too many things wrong with the car. I have just today sold my MK4 (too cheaply) but got myself a really nice Vienta Ultima for $4300. Not too many things wrong with it, bit of a burning oil smell when I went up a hill but that dissipated quickly. *** these V6's run hot! Or is it my imagination and/or the hot weather? The temp guage read a little below half way, and it IS beautiful to drive. Doesn't seem too bad on the juice. EDIT: Gosh, what a nanny forum! I tried to type G-O-D and it was asterixed out!

I am looking to purchase a 1996 Vienta Grande. It has 180,000 on the clock. I have driven it (but haven't had a chance to go at full throttle). It's an auto, interior looks a little worn out, not too beastly and is at least complete. Power windows work in three of the windows, right rear door is the one that's stuffed. Also, it is hard to open the bonnet as one of the hinges is....would the word be broken? Finally, the paintwork on the bonnet and roof is losing it's laquer audaciously, I suppose you will get that with Burgundy paint. She drove nicely, somewhat lacking in guts but it could have been that she was cold. I felt the steering, it felt tight and didn't feel like the steering rack was jarring loose - unlike another Vienta I had a look at. I'm having a mechanic look at it. The lady says she'll take $3000 for it 'as is'. And my spidey senses arent tingling yet. What do y'all think? Should I stay far away, or can I not lose with this purchase?

I did not have this car checked before I bought it, I figured as it had relaitvely low km's and the price wasn't exactly cheap there could be little wrong with it. One can guess I very much rushed into purchasing this car...how I wish I didn't! I had this thing serviced shortly after I bought it, but I felt no difference whatsoever in performance afterwards. I'm thinking maybe it does have a huge internal problem, the more time passes the more things I find wrong. I know nothing of the history of this car at all. The interior is near perfect, but the outside leaves a fair bit to be desired. Scratches and dents all over, not too terrible I suppose but more than enough to offset what otherwise could make this car have higher than normal market value. I will get this thing serviced again in the near future, will ask my personal mechanic to do this "ECU reset" (sorry - I don't know what that is!). I have a funny feeling the gearbox may have issues, maybe it's off an earlier (MK2) Camry? Is that possible?

It's disappointing...car models should be more peppy and/or economical as they go along, not less. The older car had 2kW more output than the 97 model, but the 97 model has 2Nm more torque. Not that I would notice it. And it is thirstier than the old 93 junker...WTF is up with that? I was thinking of getting a V6 Camry, or Vienta, or maybe even an Avalon. Basically something with a V6 engine and basic luxury appointments, power windows, trip computer, maybe 4 wheel disc brakes to boot? I don't mind a car with high mileage, as long as I can go up hills better (I take my Mum and her friends to sports activities and it's a pain going up Kalamunda hill - the car just slows to 55Km/h or thereabouts, and everyone else just flies past us). I'd also like them to open the power windows with the press of a button, not break their skinny old lady arms trying to wind the windows up and down... I basically want a nice luxury car to play with, just hope the fuel economy isn't too savage with these 6cyl beasts! When I had my old Supra, it delivered a solid 14L/100Km's, with almost no variation. And it had to drink Premium didn't it? More dollars. I can afford to run a 3.0L V6 for odd trips, sure. I could afford to run the Supra no problem, as I have more money now.

As I have stated many times elsewhere on this forum, I have 2 Camry's. both are 4 cylinder automatics. One is a '93 Executive with 236,000 Km's on it, the other is a 97 CSi with 146,000 on the clock. Although the newer car handles nicer than the older one, and has a nicer engine, it feels somewhat gutless in acceleration (especially with going up hills) compared to the older model and is also thirstier. I usually get better than 11 Ltrs/100Km with the 93 model, but with the newer car it's always over 11Ltrs/100Km. I treat both cars the same (driving habits-wise). I have done a comparison test with Red Book, the link is here;- Red Book Comparison I see no real reason why the newer car is the weaker performer in my book. Yes, the newer model is 70Kg's heavier, but that's it! What's going on? It feels like the gearbox in the newer car is not the right one, there's marks on it like it recently came from a wrecker's, maybe the dodgy dealer sold me a car with an older model gearbox fitted? Who knows?

Hi All! I'm Miklos, I am 34 years old, I work only very part-time (up to 15 hours a week, average) and on a pension (which pays me more than any job I've ever had!). Still living at home, I'm more or less a carer for my Mum nowadays...hence the reason I work so few hours. Anyway, about my cars;- I bought my first Toyota in 1999, an MA61 Supra. It was 14 years old when I bought it, and probably the nicest car I have yet owned. It was pretty much in concourse condition. It was so reliable, I made a pact with myself to not own any other car than a Toyota again. I sold it 4 years later, for a myriad of reasons. The main reason was possibly that, because of it's Targa top conversion, the body was starting to 'bend'...and I thought I'd better get rid of it before I couldn't get a good return on it anymore. I sold it to a 16 year old, I told him about the bending chassis, he didn't mind at all! I now have 2 Camry's, both still have bullet-proof reliability, one has 236,000Km's on it and it is still my favourite car. I want to get rid of my newer Camry and get an Avalon.

I bought a series of crappy cars, all would lose their coolant/oil etc, then when I got a good tax refund I bought my dream car - a 1985 Supra. It was my first Toyota, and certainly not my last! This thing was mega reliable! No loss of colant and oil. I loved this car, I only sold it because I skipped a service and bad things went wrong with it. I had it repaired but it was not to my satisfaction, didn't help that the repairman ripped me off right royally. I also wanted something more economical, and not so sporty looking. ...OK, I will answer the Camry question in a minute! My brother bought himself a 1994 Camry CSi, and I really liked the look of this car. Contemporary, classy (enough), anonymous and unaudacious - exactly what I wanted in a car. I also found this thing, for a four cylinder automatic, was quite good at taking off! That settled it, I wanted a Camry, and my next tax return came in, I bought one. Same colour as my brother's car, but not as nice. Paid $6800 for it, and it was 10 years old and had done 193,000 Km's. After I fixed the coolant leakage problem it had, I got good motoring out of her. A year later the gearbox conked out. $1800 and she was back on the road. Yes, I spend a lot of money on my cars, with these Toyota's I find it's worth it to have the reliability. I still have this car, after 4 years. In September of 2007 I bought another Camry, the MK 4 CSi, which came out in July 1997. Paid $6990, and then some for BS insurance (which doesn't really cover anything at all). I am not happy with this MK4 version, I find it's pretty gutless! Why did I buy a Camry? Reliability, economy, resale value, and they're anonymous and generic looking. Great cars!