95 Camry LE one week driving experience.

Got my 95 Camry LE 4 cyl. (113K) for one week now and put about 300 miles on it. (Had a 96 Corolla before).

Things i like:
* Good power, smooth transmission.
* Smooth ride.
* Roomy.
* Everything is working.

Things i don't like:
*Noisy highway driving. Anything i can do? (there is a sunroof)

Things i don't understand:
* Steering wheel vibrate when waiting for a traffic light (at D, ok at N or P).
* Suspension(?) makes muffled "bump, bump" noise sometimes when road surface is slightly uneven. When road is rough, it is fine.
* Engine noise is clear in the cabin when idle (at P), even louder than my 96 corolla? (Engine noise is smaller when running).

I am thinking to do a 120K maintenance. Anyone know what will be done ? Is it worthy? Thanks for any comments.

For maintenance items, see:
http://www.edmunds.com/maintenance/MaintenanceServlet?popup=new&tid=edmunds..directoryalpha.directory..1.*

Vibrating steering wheel is normal if only mild. Very strong vibration indicates need for maintenance or repair.

Noisy highway driving is unusual. Check your tire pressure. May be high. See if your tires are a good quality. Some are have a hard compound and last forever, but ride like round rocks.

I have a sunroof in my Camry. It has always been pretty quiet, though now I am getting some noise in the cabin. It is definately a problem with the rubber seal on the sunroof. Or it could be that your sunroof isn't closing enough. I've found that closing the sunshade on the moonroof quiets the noise in my car alot. Does this happen for you? If you do have a bad or sticky seal, you could try rubbing some stuff on it that is meant to soften or refurbush the rubber. I'm going to try that this weekend. If the seal is broken/cracked, or the sunroof mechanism isn't closing properly, more repair work may have to be done.

Steering wheel vibration while stopped is VERY common among Camrys with that mileage. Mine has done it for as long as I can remember. From all the places I have gotten info on regarding this subject, there is not too much you can do to stop this. It's a "normal" quirk for that car.

I've been in a Corolla and the engine is much buzzier than a Camry. You should almost barely even notice that the engine is even running on a Camry in great condition. At 121,000 miles, when I got my Camry, it was smoother than most V-6's I've been in (It is a 4-cylinder) and I even accidentally tried to start it a few times while it was already running. If your Camry is noisier than your Corolla was, then there is something that needs repair or is wearing out(Someone else here will no better than I what might be wrong). With 156,000 on my car now, it has some engine noise, but I just deal with it due to the mileage.

Me, and alot of other people, have had the same problem with the suspension. My parents (and alot of others here) had a worn out bushing in the rear suspension (I think stabilizer bar?) that made a clunking noise on certain bumps. It was very cheap to fix. My car had blown struts in the back. That was expensive to fix ($400). My friend has a 99 Camry that had clunking in the rear (at only 40,000 miles). The strut mounts (where the strut attaches to the frame up near your rear seets) were damaged and needed to be replaced. It was covered under warranty, and wouldn't have been as expensive as my car's problem anyways.

Finally, DEFINATELY do the maintenance on your car. It's still a baby and will last a LONG time if you maintain it. I have had moments where I wasn't "nice" to my car, and it still has been unbeleivably reliable. Most people who get in my car either claim it is a V6 due to the smooth engine and frame, or think it is only 4 years old or so due to the exceptional quality of it's construction (things just don't fall apart on these cars). If you spend the tiny amount of money it requires for maintenance, you will save yourself thousands of dollars in the next 4 years or so from mechanical failure or having to buy a new car. These cars rarely break or wear out if you are good with the simple maintenance, even at 200,000 miles.

Thanks alot for the input. I think the steering wheel vibration is normal, though somewhat worse than the Corolla. Tire pressure is 33 psi, 10% higher than the recommended. The tire is "Mohawk" and different tread on front and back. Brian, what kind of tire works best by your experience? Also, the Edmunds.com thing really helps.
Andy, I have the same experiece when i close the sun shade, yes. What stuff are u using to refurbish the rubber? The rubber on my door seal is kind of stiff now. And some part on the back door seal is sticky and make the plastic panel and metal sheet in contact with the seal sticky too, maybe from some chemicals. I heard i can use 3M Adhesive Remover to remove the sticky part. My engine is certainly not as quiet as yours. I am wondering if 92 is better designed in terms of engineering. I have experienced some very old electronics are more reliable than the new ones. Also thanks for the input on the suspension, i will have it checked when i do the state inspection. The 120K maintenance costs about $300 and it is not cheap for me. But i think i will do it considering the last owner may never do it before. Thanks again.

I like Michelins. If you live in a wet area, make sure the tread pattern has alot of openings in the outermost tread to let water out.

Those Mohawks are probably the problem. The change to Michelins would be like night and day.

Wow, really. I am surprised to hear that tire can make such a difference. Next time, i will try Michelins.

I haven't yet tried puting anything on the molding in my sunroof. I just bought some spray protectant that works on vinyl, rubber etc and will apply it tomorrow. I'll let you know how it works.

My friend has a 99 Camry that runs pretty quiet, so I doubt the newer Camrys are worse. What kind of noise tdo you hear? Is it a tapping noise? My car makes a slight tapping noise at idle that it never used to make 3 years ago. I was told it was just valve chatter or simply that the engine is a little looser than it used to be.

ALso, I DO have an XLE and have heard that there is more soundprrofing in that model. Can anyone confirm? That may cause a difference in sound levels (There is an unexplained extra 150 lbs in my car compared to an LE with the same options).

I can't really tell what noise it is. There are wind noise, road noise and engine noise. I will pay more attention to it.

Andy, u were right. The corolla's engine is buzzier. But when my camry is in neutral and park, there is some constant noise in the background to make me feel it is noisy. I don't really know what the noise is from. It sounds kind of like fluid flowing sound from a freezer, so it maybe waterpump or some belts, just guessing. I did not use air conditioning. Do ur guys have any idea how i can pinpoint it?

Probably your power steering pump. As long as the fluid levels are normal, don't worry about it.

update:

Now I feel steering wheel vibration is not a problem. After I changed two rear tires, the car is pretty quiet now. The tire I used is Cooper touring. For the clunking, I have the two rear struts changed. But it did not solve the problem. It is something else might be the strut mount. I will send the car in tomorrow for a recheck. I suspect my old structs are good. Is it OK to ask the mechanics to change my old ones back? Or I should keep the new one since my car (95) is already 120K. Usually how long will these struts last?

update:

Now I feel steering wheel vibration is not a problem. After I changed two rear tires, the car is pretty quiet now. The tire I used is Cooper touring. For the clunking, I have the two rear struts changed. But it did not solve the problem. It is something else might be the strut mount. I will send the car in tomorrow for a recheck. I suspect my old structs are good. Is it OK to ask the mechanics to change my old ones back? Or I should keep the new one since my car (95) is already 120K. Usually how long will these struts last?

My 95 camry has 177K on it and I am driving on the original struts. I have had to replace the two front motor mounts. I have always ran good quality Goodyear tires. I have Regatta 2's on it right now and they are the smoothest ones so far. Always get around 60K on them.

I have found some Coopers to ride like round rocks also.

I have a 95 camry LE, also a 4 cylinder baby.

There is no such noise as you have indicated previously which led me to believe that it is your sunroof that is the problem. My guess would be the gaskets are not sealing properly when it is closed because it is worn out. I do not have a sunroof on mine and thus I do not hear anything, in fact, it is too sound proofed that I didn't hear my tail pipe fall off (real true story 2 years ago....) It was that good!!!

My tires as ordinary Hercules all season and believe me, I'ved tried them all, Michelins and Yokohama's and Pirelli's. They all work and rate the same way on my Camry......

When I changed the CV's on my camry, that's when I had this vibrations at high speed on highways past 120KPH. Otherwise I had none of these vibrations whether I'm on D or N or P whatsoever or just standing....

The Clunking you are experiencing is very common and its the sway bar/ adjuster sleeve bushings. Very simple repair. For some reason mechanics are never able to pin point that problem.