Does It Have To Be A Camry?
Last Saturday, my husband and I took our youngest son shopping for a reliable used car. He already has had a year behind the wheel, in his 1995 blue Honda Accord station wagon that has more than 165,000 miles on the odometer. We are passing this first car on to our youngest son's older brother, also a college student, who is much less interested in driving and more concerned with creating video games and playing "World of Warcraft" on the computer. He solely needs a car to commute to and from school.
Our 18-year-old does a lot more driving because he is a pitcher on his college baseball team and has to drive to 5:30 a.m. workouts, practices, fundraising events (such as serving as a security guard at USC football games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum sports stadium) and daily commutes to school with friends. He is a more practiced driver and seems to have a natural ability in terms of motor skills and response time in a car.
Safety and price were the most important factors as we began our search, especially since we are paying for the car. My husband wanted to check out used Volvos since he claims they are durable and have a safety track record along with prices for used models in the $9,000 range. I suggested that we consider the "stalwart dependables" that rank well on J.D. Power and Associate's initial quality and vehicle dependability studies—Toyota and Honda models—which are also some of the best-selling vehicles in our state of California.
I am not an ardent Toyota fan. Their vehicles are not much fun to drive and many of their designs are bland. But it's hard to argue with J.D. Power and Associates' findings with regard to their reliability, dependability and quality. Older Toyota Camrys and Honda Accords generally receive between 4 and 5 out of 5 Power Circles in our quality ratings—which means these models—2001 and 2002 for example—are better than most or among the best in overall mechanical quality as well as design appeal and comfort.
Since the Toyota store on Pacific Coast Highway in Torrance was closest to home, it was our first stop. We were given a choice of older Camrys with 4-cylinder engines and lots of miles—none had odometer readings of less than 100,000 miles. Our son wasn't interested. I myself was more attracted by a used blue Celica that was in mint condition—but it was selling for $19,000. The salesman knew our needs and showed us three Camrys in the $10,000 price range: bland and durable.
Our son tested a 1999 black basic Camry and wanted to look at a 2001 red model that already had been sold. Neither of the cars were certified Toyotas but the salesman did show us clean CarFax reports on the first two models. Then the salesman showed us a 2002 Camry LE sedan in Aspen Green Pearl with low-profile 16-inch tires and alloy wheels. Our son loved the tires and wheels. However, the real selling point for our son was the aftermarket Sony 6-CD changer and audio system. This model also was powered by a standard 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine that produces 157 hp. It had a little more pep climbing the hill than the previous generation 2001 model that was powered by the older 2.2-liter engine. In addition, the car only had one owner and had no accidents listed on the CarFax report.
And the price was right: $10,999 before sales tax, license and registration fees. Our son was excited. He sent text messages to his friends—before driving the car. When he drove the Camry home, he sat in the driveway with one of his buddies looking at the features and reading the manual. Now, our family (including three sons) has five vehicles in the driveway and parked on the street—more than we should have and our models represent the full contingent of the top volume automakers: GM, Ford, Honda, Nissan and now Toyota. And though I think they are less fun to drive, we can be thankful that our two youngest boys will be driving safe but still inexpensive durable autos—from Toyota and Honda—even if they do have high mileage.
