Replacing '96 Camry

The new Camry’s and other their size will be too large now. You could look at the Corolla, but one issue with all cars now is the tires. Almost all cars now have large diameter wheels with very low profile tires and these are noisier and ride much rougher. Your old Camry has either 14" wheels with 70 or 75 series tires or 15" wheels with 70 series tires, i.e 195-70/15 tires. New ones come with 215-55/17 or 215-45/18 tires or close to that.

To get a vehicle with a decent ride, you need a truck, or a crossover. Something like a Subaru Crosstrec or Mazda CX3 or other small crossover would probably be your best choice. They don’t have a trunk but usually have a cargo cover to hide you valuables/stuff.

But you still have to drive any vehicles to really decide so take at least an hour long test drive. It takes about that long for any annoyances to show up. The salesmen usually like to limit you to around the block, but tell them it will be a no sale if you can’t drive it for an hour. Get in a little freeway time too.

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Oh, OK. The garage isn’t too small, the Tundra is too big.

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Yep, the 2016 Camry is about 2 inches longer and 2 inches wider than the 1996.
The 2016 Corolla is about 4 inches shorter and the same width as the 1996 Camry.

Correction, the Tundra is a T100!

Thank you all for your input. We went with the Kia Optima, gasoline. It is a little wider than the new Camry. We are sold on the warranty, peppiness, and appearance.

Good for you. Consumer Reports seem to be quite keen on Kia these days. Enjoy your new ride!

Huh? cans do not require greasing anymore… specially not every time you park.

edit: cars, not cans, sorry, typo

Gotta love the Toyota grill / anti-theft device.

Well, in a different thread, I was wondering whether certain Tatas are…bodacious.
With a little bit of oil applied to them, many Tatas become much more alluring.
Cans, Tatas…potato, potahto…
:grin:

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It’s certainly true that owners of modern cars don’t bother with greasing for the most part. Older cars had a lot of suspension and steering linkages needing grease, so the manufacturers provided grease fittings. But most of those can’t be greased w/ newer cars without taking them apart. But a little grease judiciously applied can still extend service life, even on modern cars.

  • The assorted hinges still benefit from a lube once in a while.

  • Brakes (both disc and drum) perform better if the brake grease is refreshed.

  • CV joint service life can be extended by refreshing the grease periodically.

  • Not sure if modern rear wheel drive cars use u-joints with a grease fitting (like my older truck) or not, but if they do, keeping that grease fresh will extend the u-joint’s life. And two-piece splined drive-shafts (more common in pickups) can benefit from a lubing.

The grease the car statement by the OP was a joke about the Camry needing to be greased to slide into the garage beside their huge Tundra, not chassis lube points.

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My advice to people who have been in a midsize sedan for the past couple decades is to try a compact crossover. There are many advantages and you will find they have more or similar interior space to the Camry from '96. Aside from the better view, easier getting into and out of, they all have AWD available, which in the mountains is never a bad thing. Since you are concerned with power, I’d suggest the new Honda CR-V. I am testing it this very week and I find its new turbocharged engine to be the best in class. Boosted engine also may do better at altitude than non-turbo engines. The CR-V has an excellent camera system and plenty of USBs. It is fun to drive and it gets about 50% better fuel economy than a '96 Camry 4-cylinder (29 Combined, 33 Highway compared to 21 Combined, 25 Highway for the old Camry). Bar-none the new CR-V except the base model has the best cruise control you can buy based on my testing. Its adaptive cruise control will speed up and slow down to follow the car in front of you if you wish, and it also has lane keeping assist, which means if you want it to, it will steer itself into the center of the lane. Both can be turned off if you prefer not to use them. You can read more about that easy-to-use technology in this story that appeared at BestRide and CarTalk (the Pilot has the same system) Can’t help you with looks. That is totally in the eye of the beholder and those that look at sedans and see a nice shape may not like the crossover’s looks. Let us know what you get!

John, the OP posted they choose a Kia Optima 6 days ago.

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Thanks @VOLVO_V70 My bad. The good news is I am within a week of catching up!