"Frozen" Struts

There’s no luck to it at all.
You replace the struts, and the problem will go away.
You will then have a 91 Camry that rides so much better than it has for the past 20k miles.

How long do you plan on keeping this car?
If you want it to last, and you like it, who cares what the KBB or NADA valuation is?

If you bought it for $500, and can’t afford to replace them, then that’s a different story.

My co-worker sitting next to me has a '94 Camry, with 264k miles on it, and his rear struts are bad too, and perform exactly the same way you described. My gf’s daughter has a '92 Camry with 172k, and they are not as bad yet as your car, and his car, but they compress easily, and it bottoms out going over large bumps, like our driveway curb.

Her car has way more problems than the struts right now, and isn’t worth sinking the money into, at this time. Her father bought the car for way too much money (~$2500, idiot), with visible front end damage on it (damaged hood, no grill, headlights held with bailing wire, hood held down with bungee cords originally, etc), bald tires, and its been a money pit so far.

Luckily she inherited a slightly better '98 Corolla from her recently passed away aunt, with 173k miles on it, that is physically in much better shape, but it has low compression in one cylinder, and has a vanishing oil issue that I haven’t been able to look at long enough to determine if its from the low compression cylinder, or from an external leak.

It needs new struts, too.
Low man on the totem pole, at this point in time.
But, if the rest of the car checks out, then the struts will eventually get replaced, by me, in my garage at home. Just like I did on my '98 Porsche Boxster, within a month of purchasing it. It only had 80k miles on it at the time, but the right rear was blown, and was leaking oil. It had completely different symptoms than what you’ve described, however.

BC.

PS:
Just to close this topic… Today the temperature went up to the mid-40s and, as usual, the symptoms disappeared instantly and entirely… I drove into town and back enjoying the same old quiet comfortable Camry ride that I have come to expect in anything but freezing weather…
BTW, I didn’t BUY this old-timer, I inherited it. I wouldn’t BUY a car with 200 Grand on the clock.
Thank all of you for your input on this situation.
Monklet

I guess today, people think cars will last forever and mileage is unimportant…100K? 200K? 300K??? What difference can THAT possibly make…

We don’t know your situation, as you can plainly tell.
I wouldn’t have kept a car that I inherited with 200k miles on it, unless I couldn’t afford anything else, and desperately needed a car at that moment in time.

Oddly enough, my coworker got his Camry from a family member with 243k miles on it, just about the same way you did, and he did in fact need a car at that time in his life. He’s getting something newer in a couple more months.

Good luck to you and your high miles Camry.

BC.

wait! i dont have a camry but i had brand new mcpherson struts installed up front prior to winter and these exhibit the exact same “bottom out” problem in the nordic “canadian plains” cold mornings after a night at -30C -22F but after some hours of daylight approx -22C -4F it goes away. when i complained i was told everyone has this problem during cold snaps.

I just discovered this today, scared the crap out of me. I darn near hit my roof over a slight dip in road. I can’t wait to get my tax refund to fix this. Mines is a 01’ Camry with 200k+ miles. It also makes this loud rumbling noise upon starting Abd after warming up it quiets down. Then there’s the water leaking into my floor board on passenger front n rear floor. I was told it might be the heater coil.