I have a 1993 Toyota Camry in immaculate condition inside and out with 130K miles. The transmission has been redone. It has a new radiator, belts, battery, tires, exhaust - everything but a new engine which blew a rod and bearings. I can replace it with a Jasper Engine for $5000 or a Japanese Import for $2000. The Jasper Engine has a 3 year parts and labor warranty but is so expensive. I am not familiar with these Japanese Imports which only have a 6 month warranty and come with 40K miles. Last option is to sell the car but I’m not sure if I would get more than $1000 for it even with all the new parts and the excellent condition. Can anyone give me some advice? Thanks!
With a car that age I would go with the Jasper engine, or one from a low mileage wreck which the seller is prepared to guarantee for at least 3 months. I’m somewhat puzzled why your engineblew at oly 130,000 miles.
Buy the least expensive motor you find. You may be able to find a junk yard motor and have it installed. Obviously some risk involved but this car is 15+ years old. Jasper is not worth it on a $2-$3k car.
With a blown engine your vehicle is only worth about $500 no matter what the condition is due to age and hassle of changing engine.
It would not occur to me to sink so much money into a 15-year-old car. You can spend $2000-$5000 and still produce a car with a market value of less than $2000 or thereabouts. If your car is then seriously damaged via an accident, your insurance company is not going to offer you even that much.
You are hoping, of course, for a long-lasting reliable vehicle while spending the least amount of money up front. Your plan may work. It may also backfire; these things are unforseeable. My advice is to replace the car. If you are determined to disregard my words and proceed with repairs anyway, I certainly wish you the best of luck.
I agree with the others that spending that much on a 15 year old car is not prudent. At this age the work would be more than the value of the car, even if you went with the Japanese Import engine.
If you were doing your own work I’d suggest looking for a boneyard engine.
If you can’t find a junkyard engine for this car to install at a cost of under $1000 (parts and labor), I don’t think it is worthwhile at ALL to even think about fixing this. The car is worth MAYBE $2500 with everything working. You won’t get $1000 for it in this condition. But you’ll never be able to fix the engine and recover the cost - you’ll have to keep it and run it for awhile. It just seems like a waste on a 15 year old vehicle that looks like has seen quite a lot of mechanical failure… radiator, exhaust, transmission, etc… Sounds like a real money pit…
Do you change your oil??? 130k miles is NOT a lot of miles.
As for a car that old…I wouldn’t put a lot of money into it. $2000 for a Japanese import is reasonable.
I would try to find a salvage yard that does engine installs. That way if it is a bad engine they will cover the cost of putting another replacement in. Otherwise, you are out the installation cost if it is a bad engine. Maybe a shop includes that with the import engines too. I was thinking of going the import route with a Sentra about 8 years ago and it looked like a good deal, IIRC. The price was too high for what the Nissan was worth. It was very very not immaculate.
I’m going to give a slightly different answer: It depends on how devoted to this car you are. You will have a very hard time finding a 1993 engine in a wrecking yard; 1993 Camrys are not collector’s items, so when the time comes for these cars, they generally get hauled off with very high miles. It’s unusual that you had a 15 year old car with 130k miles on it.
If you reeeeeeally like this car, and are convinced you’ll have it for another 5+ years, then get a quote to have this engine rebuilt. But you have to be madly in love with it; otherwise, you can probably buy yourself a good 1998 Camry for around the price of an engine for this 1993.
Personally, I’d go for the newer car, but I don’t get married to cars. When it’s time for me to sell, I never have a tear in my eye. I just never have had that issue.
I just looked at my favorite website for engines for Camrys. They have nothing older than a 2003.
One more question: Is this a 4 or a 6?
Sounds like you have already spent a lot of money on this vehicle and don’t want it to go to waste. It was explained to me that in Japan something (taxes maybe) make owning a car more than 3 years not worthwhile so a lot of used parts are available with little wear. If you want to keep the car for many more years, and can’t find a low-mileage salvage yard engine that you trust, go with the Japanese import. Enjoy.
Agree; don’t get sentimental about cars. Of the ones I parted with, I gave away 2 (Plymouth and Chev) to my kid brother, took 3 (Colt, Malibu, Dart)to the “recycling yard”, gave one (Impala) to my son, sold 2 (Granada, Caprice).
In each case, the car was ready for new hands, or recycling.