Sudden and unfortunate prognosis for the Camry today. I ran it through the drive thru car wash today to get the salt off of it, and afterward dried it by hand. I decided to pop the hood to check the fluids as I usually do. There have been a couple rust bubbles on spot welds in a few areas that have been there for a while; spot welds rust sometimes so I was never really worried about them. I gave one of them a light poke, and POOF, my finger went right through the strut tower. Fawk! So I reached my hand up through the wheel well and bent back the splash shield and chunks of rust just started falling down. That little spot weld rust hole was nothing compared to what was hidden by the splash shield. The other side is pretty much the same way. I didn't poke at it but I know what would happen if I did.
Some of you guys know me, I usually have no problem welding stuff up. But being this is 1.) on both sides of a spot welded body seam and 2.) it is a very structurally important location, and as such I don't see any good way of patching it up.
The inspection is up at the end of this month, and it certainly won't pass, nor should it. Even without the rust, it will minimally need front pads and rotors and four tires to pass inspection. In the near future it will also need one or two wheel bearings, and probably ball joints, maybe a few other things too. I need to sit on it a few days, but with all these things in mind, as hard as it is, I think it may finally be time to say goodbye to the Camry.
I did just buy 4 wheels for this car, but I'll sell them separately and I should have no problem getting my money back out of them. I'll probably put the factory head unit back into it, put the carpeted mats in and pull the WeatherTechs out and sell those separate.
I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do with it yet. I'll see if I have any family members that are looking for a new car, maybe they can use it as a trade in. I could part it out too, but that's usually more trouble than it's worth. I can always throw it up on Craigslist too, but I feel like this car deserves a more dignified conclusion than that. I have no immediate plans to replace it as I have the Outback, the LaCrosse, and if need be, the truck to get around in. If I do replace it, I'm not sure what it would be with. I like Tacomas but they are $$$. Have much have GMT800 Tahoes depreciated?
Anyways I'm a little upset because this car has been around for so long and I was hoping it'd be around a while longer, there are lots of fond memories with it. I remember the day my dad brought it home, I learned to do brakes on it, learned to change oil on this car, hell, I learned to drive on it. Odometer is currently at 216,000 miles, and the original engine and transmission are still there and working even though it burns some oil. No warning lights, no leaks and the A/C still works. I'll be completely honest, this is probably the most comfortable car I own. Sure its boring and bland but it is effortless to drive.
It will be missed.
Some of you guys know me, I usually have no problem welding stuff up. But being this is 1.) on both sides of a spot welded body seam and 2.) it is a very structurally important location, and as such I don't see any good way of patching it up.
The inspection is up at the end of this month, and it certainly won't pass, nor should it. Even without the rust, it will minimally need front pads and rotors and four tires to pass inspection. In the near future it will also need one or two wheel bearings, and probably ball joints, maybe a few other things too. I need to sit on it a few days, but with all these things in mind, as hard as it is, I think it may finally be time to say goodbye to the Camry.
I did just buy 4 wheels for this car, but I'll sell them separately and I should have no problem getting my money back out of them. I'll probably put the factory head unit back into it, put the carpeted mats in and pull the WeatherTechs out and sell those separate.
I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do with it yet. I'll see if I have any family members that are looking for a new car, maybe they can use it as a trade in. I could part it out too, but that's usually more trouble than it's worth. I can always throw it up on Craigslist too, but I feel like this car deserves a more dignified conclusion than that. I have no immediate plans to replace it as I have the Outback, the LaCrosse, and if need be, the truck to get around in. If I do replace it, I'm not sure what it would be with. I like Tacomas but they are $$$. Have much have GMT800 Tahoes depreciated?
Anyways I'm a little upset because this car has been around for so long and I was hoping it'd be around a while longer, there are lots of fond memories with it. I remember the day my dad brought it home, I learned to do brakes on it, learned to change oil on this car, hell, I learned to drive on it. Odometer is currently at 216,000 miles, and the original engine and transmission are still there and working even though it burns some oil. No warning lights, no leaks and the A/C still works. I'll be completely honest, this is probably the most comfortable car I own. Sure its boring and bland but it is effortless to drive.
It will be missed.
