4 cyl Base (268,000) vs 4 cyl LE (400,000)?

[trauma1]

Nice to be a part of such an honored car-owning community.

I'm the new, proud owner of a 1989 Camry base model with manual and no power options. It runs great, has better than average rust, with just slight hesitation at times and a waterpump that needs to be replaced in the short term ($300 CDN by a great after hours Toyota mechanic). It's got an average 268,000 km.

I could really use the pass-through rear seats that only the LEs have, and I'm looking at a 1989 Camry LE with auto and all power options, including the sunroof (rare in Ontario, it seems).
This one seems quite solid. It's been rustproofed and has had some rust areas sanded and painted over in a fairly careful way. It's got 400,000 on the car, and apparently had the engine and trans replaced at about half that.
In any case, it drives fine, just a bit of a "clunk" into gear as it moves away from a stop, has soft brakes, and the sunroof doesn't quite close all the way (though doesn't leak apparently) and produces some annoying wind noise, even at 60 km.
This is a dealer car, and he's selling it etested, certified and with a one year drivetrain warranty for $1290 CDN(plus tax). He says he normally doesn't bother certifying and guaranteeing any old trade-in clunker.

So, a few questions:

1. At 400,000, should I even consider this car, newer drivetrain or not? It's got one of the best bodies I've seen for an LE over the last couple of months, and I DO like the sunroof..

2. I had never driven an auto Camry before this, and certainly feels different than the manual; requires a different driving style, I guess.. have to stab the throttle to move it down to a lower gear for a faster start.
Given the extra weight of the power motors and extra drag of the A/C belt, is there really much difference in fuel consumption between the 4 cyl LE auto and the 4 cyl base manual?

3. How and how much to fix the sunroof so it closes properly?

Thanks very, very much!

[JOET/CAMRY]

Originally Posted by trauma1

Nice to be a part of such an honored car-owning community.

I'm the new, proud owner of a 1989 Camry base model with manual and no power options. It runs great, has better than average rust, with just slight hesitation at times and a waterpump that needs to be replaced in the short term ($300 CDN by a great after hours Toyota mechanic). It's got an average 268,000 km.

I could really use the pass-through rear seats that only the LEs have, and I'm looking at a 1989 Camry LE with auto and all power options, including the sunroof (rare in Ontario, it seems).
This one seems quite solid. It's been rustproofed and has had some rust areas sanded and painted over in a fairly careful way. It's got 400,000 on the car, and apparently had the engine and trans replaced at about half that.
In any case, it drives fine, just a bit of a "clunk" into gear as it moves away from a stop, has soft brakes, and the sunroof doesn't quite close all the way (though doesn't leak apparently) and produces some annoying wind noise, even at 60 km.
This is a dealer car, and he's selling it etested, certified and with a one year drivetrain warranty for $1290 CDN(plus tax). He says he normally doesn't bother certifying and guaranteeing any old trade-in clunker.

So, a few questions:

1. At 400,000, should I even consider this car, newer drivetrain or not? It's got one of the best bodies I've seen for an LE over the last couple of months, and I DO like the sunroof..

2. I had never driven an auto Camry before this, and certainly feels different than the manual; requires a different driving style, I guess.. have to stab the throttle to move it down to a lower gear for a faster start.
Given the extra weight of the power motors and extra drag of the A/C belt, is there really much difference in fuel consumption between the 4 cyl LE auto and the 4 cyl base manual?

3. How and how much to fix the sunroof so it closes properly?

Thanks very, very much!

Hello trauma1,

I would keep the 1989 5 speed manual transmission camry you currently own. just get the waterpump replaced, and have some bondo work done on the rust. afterall you said it runs great.

The fold down rear seats were available in both the DX (base model) and the LX model for the 1990 Camry and probably for the 1989 model also since they are both from the same (second) generation. if having fold down rear seats are that important to you you could always go to an auto salvage yard and remove the fdr seats out of a camry there and replace the non fdr seats in your car.

The 1989 Camry LX (auto transmission) model doesn't sound to promising. the car clunks into gear from a dead stop, has soft brakes, a sunroof that doesn't close all the way, and annoying wind noise when you drove the car. you said the car has over 400,000 miles on it but, the engine and transmission has approximately half that mileage. Hmm.. can the dealership thats selling this car prove it? it seems like the dealership is asking top dollar for this car considering the mileage and all the problems it has.

Both the DX and LX Camrys were made available with power windows. (the power window motors won't decrease gas mileage)
The air conditioner puts an extra load on the engine only when the AC compressor is engaged, which in turn will decrease gas mileage.

Good luck in your decision.

Regards,
JOET/CAMRY