Hi Everyone. I need to get away from a nightmare called BMW and I'm shopping for a very reliable car. Having previously owned a 97 Camry that was still driving at 297,000 miles, the choice is clear, it has to be another Camry.
I've done a lot of research and found that there is a big difference between the different years. I'm looking at a 2010 gen 6.5 Camry with the 2ar-fe 2.5 engine, it's the SE model (I don't really care which model it is, LE would be fine too). The cost is $8,500 and the car has 90k miles.
I'm not asking about this deal, it sounds good to me but I am asking people that own a 4 cylinder 2010 camry to see how they feel about it.
I don't care if there are noises (as long as they are considered normal), if the interior feels cheap, or even if you have to take off the bumper to change out a bulb (lol), I'm only concerned with reliability.
If you have this kind of car, please share how many miles it has and if there were any non-minor issues

 

Feel your pain with BMW. One needs deep pockets or do all their own work to keep from breaking the bank.

The 97 Camry generation was one of the best there was, a SOLID car! Unfortunately quality started to slip at Toyota after 2002ish.

The 2AR-FE (or V-6) is a reliable engine. Don't get the previous 2AZ-FE, 4-cylinder that had oil consumption and head bolt thread issues.

The 2010 should be very reliable. It gets good ratings. My opinion is it not as solid as the 1997 thus your comments on cheap interior and noises.

Would state Camry (or any car) will require repairs with higher mileage as soft parts (hoses, belts, etc) don't last forever.

A few suggestions if you get the car. Find out when the transmission fluid was last changed. Lack of trans fluid change is the number one cause of trans failure!

Do a complete change (not just a pan change) every 50K. Don't do a power or a reverse flush, or use chemicals. Just remove replace the old fluid and replace with new.

Also remove and replace the power steering fluid from the reservoir between drives until the fluid is clear again. A turkey baster with attached hose works well.

 

I appreciate your advice. I knew that the new ones couldn't beat the 97 era Camry's but I figured even a bad Camry year beats the best BMW year lol.
I got my information from this site: https://www.carcomplaints.com/Toyota/Camry/

It gives you some idea of which are good years, for example 2007 and 2009 are the worst years, 2008 also has the clunker badge. 2010 is looking pretty good so that's why I picked it. Anything newer than that I can't afford.

 

Good research job!

BMW's are great, if the car is still under warranty.

Would state the possible issues with the 2AZFE engine might have you longing for that BMW.

 

Yep, 2AZFE I read that there is a risk of headbolts stripping out. That's exactly what was happening with the BMW and I had to do the timeserts. It was a ridiculous amount of work and several months later another bolt stripped out - so I'm done with that and definitely will not be getting 2AZFE. That's why I'm looking at 2010 and 2011 models because those are supposed to be quite good. They have the new 2.5l engine (2AR-FE) but do not suffer from transmission/torque converter problems that allegedly start in 2012.

 

You have done your homework.

Toyota has a website that allows checking service history. If you have a potential cars VIN, the site might provide info if the trans was worked on under warranty.

https://www.toyota.com/owners/parts-service/history

What year/model BMW had the head bolt thread issues?