I was recently gifted my father’s 2014 Toyota Camry after some idiot totaled my old vehicle. My dad is an avid Toyota consumer- he actually just purchased a 2025 XLE Camry not too long ago, and it is incredibly nice. I don’t know much about cars and I can’t afford the kind of maintenance my Dad put into the car… so I’m looking for some advice on how to keep my new high-mileage Camry on the road for as long as possible.

Anyway, this car is a 6-cylinder and has 212,000 miles on it- my Dad was the single owner and I actually remember when he brought it home in 2014 with only 17 miles on it. I learned to drive with this car and it holds a lot of sentimental value too. He maintained the car very very well, only bringing it to the dealer which he bought it from to get any kind of service (which I think is a little silly but he had the money to do it so I guess why not); thus, I have all the records of everything done to the car- whether it was an oil change, brakes, transmission flush, etc.

My main concern is this- a lot of family/friends have told me the car isn’t going to last much longer and to start saving for another vehicle ASAP. On the other hand, my Dad has a lot of faith in the Camry and he’s assured me it will last another 100k. What can I do to extend this car’s life? Considering its high mileage, do I really need to bring it to a Toyota dealer for maintenance?

I am extremely clueless and don’t have much experience taking care of my own car- in the past I kind of just did whatever my Mom told me to do, but she’s not here to help me anymore. I also only became financially independent within the last year, and I definitely don’t want to burden my Dad by asking for money to maintain the car after he gave it to me for free.

This is my first time posting anything on Reddit so I apologize if this was long-winded lol. Thanks for reading this far and I would greatly appreciate any advice/suggestions people can provide

 

Congrats on your car.

Over the years at times Toyota has had issues of quality and design flaws which may be why your friends are making comments.

The is no reason your well-maintained car should not last a long time!

The V6 is a good engine!

The trans fluid being changed is a significate action to prolong trans life!

Regularly change the engine oil and use synthetic oil.

Get some kind of service manual for the car. The best manuals are from Toyota IF you can find one. Haynes and Clinton have manuals with basic service info.

Follow the maintenance schedule in the owner's manual.

Enjoy the car and stop worrying!

 

Congrats on the new Camry and listen to what Joey said!
I have a 2012 SE with the same V6 and I love it! Always starts and has plenty of power!
I would go over the meticulous records your dad kept to see what has been done. The 3.5 V6 is very reliable, other than oil changes, the plugs should be changed at around 120k miles, or at least at that interval. The spark plug change is involved and the dealer will probably charge you from $600-800 to do it.
Then getting the transmission fluid changed is next. Follow the maintenance guidelines for mileage interval. I do think having the fluid changed every 30K miles is nice but not necessary and probably 60K is more reasonable. Also, only do a "drain and fill", DO NOT do a flush! If the transmission fluid has never been changed, at this point, then just leave it alone unless you are experiencing transmission issues.