The Challenges and Rewards of Owning an Old Toyota

As I sat down to discuss with a local owner about his trusty old Toyota, I couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for the durability and reliability of these vehicles. Despite being over 182,000 miles old, this particular car still runs smoothly, with only a few minor issues holding it back. However, as we delved deeper into our conversation, it became clear that owning an older Toyota can come with its own set of challenges.

One of the most significant concerns for owners is the lack of repair support from the manufacturer. It seems that many Toyotas have reached the end of their warranty period and are no longer eligible for free repairs. This can be a significant financial burden for owners, who may not have the resources to cover the cost of replacing parts or repairing common issues. The owner of our Toyota was particularly frustrated with this issue, as he had previously taken his car in for maintenance and was told that it didn't require any repairs due to its oil consumption rate.

Despite these challenges, owning an old Toyota can still be a rewarding experience. With proper care and maintenance, these vehicles can continue to run for many years without major issues. In fact, our owner reported that his Toyota has been reliable and stable, even with the added wear and tear of age. The only notable issue he encountered was a slight rattling noise in the cat (catalytic converter) and a malfunctioning tire pressure monitoring system.

One of the advantages of owning an older Toyota is that it may be exempt from emissions testing, as long as it has reached the 15-year mark. This can provide owners with peace of mind and avoid the hassle and expense associated with regular emissions checks. Additionally, many parts for Toyotas are readily available and affordable, making repairs relatively straightforward.

However, not all older Toyotas are created equal. The owner who stopped by our shop had a different experience with his car. He had taken it to Toyota for maintenance and was told that the problem was not severe enough to warrant repair. However, when he later inspected the vehicle himself, he discovered that the frame had become rotten and needed replacement. This experience highlighted the importance of inspecting one's vehicle thoroughly and being aware of potential issues before they become major problems.

In conclusion, owning an old Toyota can be a rewarding experience, but it also comes with its own set of challenges. By understanding the potential issues that may arise and taking proactive steps to maintain your vehicle, you can continue to enjoy reliable service from these dependable cars.

**Bonus Questions and Answers**

Q: Should I buy this used SUV?

A: No, 18 grand for a car that's been wrecked is not worth it. Consider waiting or looking for something better.

Q: Why should I avoid the Lexus NX200t?

A: It's a poorly designed vehicle with an underpowered four-cylinder turbo engine. The side body modifications due to an accident are also a major concern.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enrev up your engin it's a Camry up north Le now he's worried about a couple of things which probably won't mean much of anything cuz it is a Camry this is one though that you got to be laral look under the hood and yeah who wants to buy these expensive struts he's got a stick in the trunk that he uses you'll see this is the vvti 16 valve 4-cylinder engine but unfortunately it is the Drea 2az Fe 2.4 L engine so indeed it does burn oil not a ton of oil but you have to add oil and this is the typical problem that engine had the compression ring on the top is fine so they run fine they get the same gas mod they ever got but under it are two rings there's a wiper ring oil control ring those wear and when they wear it makes it burn some oil he just adds the oil just like my grandson does and as as long as you keep adding the oil you can basically drive them forever the real problem with people who have blown the engines on these These are people that they've owned Toyotas right so their idea of maintenance is putting gas in the tank changing the oil once in a while right I had a costume with the same exact car almost blew the engine brought it to me and it was running like crap rattling I said what have you done checked that there's hardly any oil in the engine when I drained the oil only half a quart came out right so I said when did you check your oil she said so I never checked my o she said I had a change 2 months ago well she had driven all over the place right she had driven to California in back and it was burning oil she never checked it she had half a qut left luckily I filled it up and the noise went away and she drove it for years after she was lucky but she was spoiled being a Toyota driver and never checked the oil the real problem with this is if you're going to own one you got to check the oil add the oil as it burns out as long as you add it you're not really going to have any problems but if you don't have it boom goes the engine they have excellent Transmissions that can last forever and this is the bottom of the line one so it's got plastic hub caps on it you know from a distance they look okay it's got claw seats cuz it's a basic one you know they got a lot of room we go in the back they got all kinds of room in the trunk he's got a whole water supply here the gigantic trunks you can pop the seats down have more room is B used Massachusetts car you notice the body's all clean there's no rust on that so H not out a rust proof them the only real problems are the bare metal things you can see the steel wheels are rusting but they don't leak so who cares he had to replace the rotors cuz they got rotten away he said he's going to replace the back rotors cuz they're getting old and rotting away too and living in Massachusetts they're kind of anal about their car inspections the exhaust had some leaks he had to get that fixed cuz it had rotted away unlike my almost 30 year old Celica we still got the original exhaust system on it cuz we lived in Texas and Tennessee these will be eaten out and originally they were talking about 2 Grand and he got them down to about 400 bucks to fix the parts that need so that's what you got to worry about these if you live up North this the bare steel parts will Rust you'll have to replace it the actual body no Toyota that's a process when they make them using positive and negative electric paint soaking them in even gets inside the frame and they really don't have a rust problem it was only those full framed Tacomas and forerunners and Tundras that had frame problems those were total frames those weren't unibody like this they had their own frames and they didn't coat them right and a lot of them rusted out but with the Camas no it's a unibody construction the whole body is a frame and they really don't have rust problems with that cuz they're Co so it's out with a big scan tool and we'll see what shape this thing is in Ni per usual we'll plug it in turn the key on and we'll do d di agnostics get already detected the VIN now it's decoding it you can say Camry North America 2009 2az and this one was made in Kentucky this does a topology scan so we'll start scanning it we'll look around so got the original CD player no sunroof cuz it's the base model and the cloth seats hey they're still comfy and they're not worn enough cloth seats do last a long time we have a typical toy to camera it's only got one code and that's for the stupid tire monitor system those never last very long when they're as old as this something always breaks on them and we can see data from transmitter one not received we really don't care tire pressure gauges are cheap you don't expect that system to last that long We'll erase it anyways and now we'll start up and we'll look at live data here we go we will go to the ECM live data I way they have to tell you that stuff you already know it usual Black's good Red's bad let's see what shape this thing is in see the short-term fuel trim okay it's adding 4.6% and you'll often see this on older Camry's after all got 182,780 gas Mar on the highway you're going to get mid 20s with this thing you know it's not bad compared to Modern cars it's crazy cuz the new Camry you can get in the upper 30s gas mileage it's completely different design but these old ones hey they do have a tendency of lasting forever they're much simpler there's much less things to go wrong we really don't care about that little bit off we'll look at more data the mass airflow sensors got good data P those temperature normal throttle systems fine everything's looking pretty hunky dory transmission shift that is good misfire test complete it's a Toyota so it doesn't have any misfires either variable valve timing systems working speed of all cylinders are the same as I said misfire counts zero for them all so other than burning some oil this thing's in really good shape and it can still go for years that way they'll just burn o Toyota will not replace them anymore they used to but this thing's got 182,000 Plus on it they're not going to fix it for free anymore they should have at some point in time they didn't you can still the things well kind of evil swiy from Toyota here today's owner just told me the previous owner took it to Toyota they sealed the cap did a test and said it doesn't consume enough oil for us to fix it yeah well Toyota you were scumbags on that one just like some of the customers of mine guy in Illinois got a frame for his Tundra cuz it rotted away guy in Indiana had the same year Tundra with a rotten frame and they didn't fix this so hey I knew that's all I got to say now it doesn't ride bad you know it's an old car and the struts are old a little bouncy wcy these things are always known for that but it's still a stable car for driving around he's trying to hear a particular sound I don't hear it yet it rid smooth the wheel bearings are fine they're not making any noises I mean these things virtually can run forever okay it actually made the noise it's just the cat converting The Shield rattling a little he's driven it so long it's hot it's not rattling but it did rattle nothing to worry about and he's in luck cuz he's in Massachusetts and they got a 15-year law once they're over 15 years old they don't do emissions testing guess what this baby just turned 15 so he doesn't have to worry about that anymore that's the advantage of having an old car in the state that does emissions when you get to a point that they don't do them anymore you don't have to worry about any of that crap the only thing wrong with this car was a little rattly noise in the cat and the tire pressure monitoring system doesn't work anymore who cares tire pressure gauges are cheap you want to buy all four sensors reprogram them it's going to cost you a ton of money who cares car a little gay check it yourself these things are virtually indestructible this particular one sadly enough is the one that burnt oil for two or three years of production but it still runs perfectly fine although it was kind of evil that Toyota for the previous owner did a test sealed the system and said no it doesn't burn enough Oil we're not going to fix it for free so shame on you Toyota you generally make great cars but you should stand behind them better when you screw up cuz you know you're screwed up on these engines own up to a Toyota stop screwing your customers over because eventually if you keep doing it people will buy somebody else's cars they don't buy your cars because they love Japanese they buy them because they're Dependable cars and if they become not Dependable people will buy other cars and here's some bonus questions and answers Kean 41 says should I buy this used SUV looking at Lexus nx200t 2015 72,000 MI looks clean but the side body was modified due to an accident but has a clean title they W 18 grand should I buy it I wouldn't buy it 18 grand for one that's been wrecked it's 9 years old no and anyways it's a 200t that's the worst Lexus it's just that stupid four cylinder turbo they're underpowered they don't run all that great to begin with and for $118,000 I'd look for something better than that you know you don't want something's been smashed in who knows what is going to go on electronically modern car have so many computer wires going everywhere you even get the door smashed and that can end up causing problems how the car runs because it feeds back to the computer shorts out circuits no I mean if it had been clean and never been wrecked he I don't know 72,000 miles this 9 years old I probably maybe offer him 10 but 18 that's been wrecked run away from him they want too much for a car that's been wrecked and it's just one of the junky four-cylinder turbos which aren't that good to begin with you want Alexis get a six-cylinder engine their fours they're not that good I've had people buy the fours they said the same thing so we wish we would have gotten one with a six cuz the fours and they rattled too much they didn't have the power they just didn't have it and even though they're turbocharged a turbocharged for does not have the smooth power of a six owner engine so if you never want to miss another one of my new car repair videos remember to ring that Bell nah\n"