I am my own grandpa [image heavy] - 2004 Toyota Camry LE 2.4 auto

[Xist]

I hit 220,000 miles in my Accord and tried to not worry about the transmission going out in my Prelude at 220,000 miles and the head gasket in my Civic going out at the same mileage.

My transmission started slipping and I got a CEL when I was trying to leave Phoenix after visiting my girlfriend.

P0740: Torque Converter Clutch Circuit Malfunction

I went to a transmission shop the first thing in the morning and you know how mechanics always say "Don't just have AutoZone read the code and throw parts at it, have an actual technician diagnose it and properly fix it!"?

Every actual technician I get throws parts at it based on the code, except for Mom's mechanic, who told me that I needed a new engine based on... no, I have no idea. He never looked at it!

So, the guy at the transmission shop read the code and gave me an estimate for $1,800.

What a coincidence! That is what my car would be worth with a rebuilt transmission!

It took me a couple of days, but this 2004 Camry LE was the first decent car that I could get. The blue book in Fair condition was $2,950 and $3,467 for Good. I paid $3,200.

Hopefully these pictures don't disappear. My browser crashed or something once I uploaded the images, but I still had the upload window open, and the links are currently working.

[edit: They stopped working!]

The hood, roof, and trunk are faded. Mom keeps telling me to paint it. No, not personally, she wants me to pay someone, and refuses to accept that would cost more than the car itself.

I don't know what is going on, I started adding captions, but even though they were between the pictures, the site put them all together!

The hubcap are much less scuffed up!

The back bumper looks much nicer than Mom's!

Did someone hit this with a hammer? Whatever damaged this looked perfectly round and level!

It looks better when you can't see the hood, roof, or top of the trunk well!

There are hardly any scratches on this side!

This corner is scuffed, but not too badly!

How do I remove Armor All? Doesn't that slime attract dirt?!

Oh no! There is no possible explanation except this radiator leaking, even though I drove 165 miles uphill without this spot getting worse!

Is that timing chain juice? Is this area going to be black in a week or two?

This is the allegedly-leaking timing chain cover.

You need to be this far away for the tint to look okay.

I didn't realize the tint would bother me until I rolled down the window. That noise has to go!

How hard is it to cut tint as wide as the window?

They missed a spot!

I think they missed this, too!

Did Mom's cupholder once look like this?!

I think they changed the instrument cluster with the mid-generation refresh. This looks dated!

I just wrap Gorilla Tape around this?

Mom hasn't been able to use her cupholders in 15 years and I keep thinking "Must be cleaner!"

I guess there is supposed to be more to my cupholder. Can I order a new visor mirror cover, or do I just protect it with Gorilla Tape?

Secret charger!

Mom's car doesn't have a tape deck!

The only thing the previous owner left behind was this first aid tape.

I keep wondering if the mechanic left this greasy footprint. I happen to have experience cleaning Camry floormats. Mom tells me to get some clear ones from AutoZone, like hers, which turned brown over a decade ago. My Accord has black rubber ones, which are still black.

I feel like they could have done a better job here.

Who puts a blind spot mirror on the inside? How easily will that come off?

These are for cell phone mounts, right? These are designed to never come off, right?

What is this thing sticking out of the base of the driver's seat?

Clean!

Missed it by that much!

Well, I am going to go ahead and post this before anything else happens.

[Xist]

The timing chain cover is leaking. YourMechanic says $1,129.56 and RepairPal says $229-264, although it calls it a “Front gasket.”

The timing cover is on the side, so that must be something unrelated.

Dr Car shows how to remove the cover and replace the timing chain. The video is only 22 minutes long, but he says that if you have a good impact wrench, it should only take you 10 hours. He removes the cover 8 minutes in, so 3-4 hours?

How bad is this leak?!

I don’t know what is on the side of the engine bay under the overflow reservoir, but I don’t think it is Armor All!

The radiator is leaking and you need to flush the cooling system after replacing the radiator.

I am just going to wash off the dried coolant and leave it alone.

The shocks and struts are leaking. MyMechanic says $1,957.20 to replace all four and RepairPal is drunk. You can only select one or two wheels, not all four. They say $1,016-1,077 for the front and $933 to $1,011 for the rear.

Seriously?!

Mom replaced those from some random shop in 2017 and it was more like $1,200!

You need an alignment after replacing struts. YourMechanic simply doesn’t show alignments, but RepairPal says $343-437 and KBB says $101-118. I cannot find anywhere around here that posts their prices on-line, but I found a place near Mesa through Groupon doing 4 wheels for $36.

What could possibly go wrong going to the absolutely cheapest place?!

The parts would be $750 at O’Reilly’s, but RockAuto has Monroe quick struts for $460--$437.88 with 5% off.

When I make a big purchase I install Honey to see if it has better coupons than I can find. For some reason it doesn’t do anything with RockAuto.

Amazon has the same parts for $448.38 and they aren’t supposed to arrive any faster.

The power steering pump is leaking. I don’t know how bad, just that it is on the bottom of the engine bay, so it shouldn’t wreak havoc like on my Prelude.

YourMechanic says $494.88 and RepairPal says $384-627.

I don’t know that it is worth dealing with the timing chain cover or power steering pump. The shocks and struts aren’t nearly as bad as Mom’s were when I drove down in 2017, but I shouldn’t keep driving like that. These three repairs may easily total $4,000. I took my Prelude to two mechanics before I bought it. Each looked at it quickly and said they wouldn’t be afraid of it. I found a shop that gave it a full inspection after I bought it and they listed over $4,000 in repairs, saying this was typical for a 13-year-old car, and you need to figure out what really needs to be fixed.

According to this page, we have had 50% inflation since I bought my first car. So, that Honda’s repairs would cost more like $6,000 today, while the Camry is 17 years old, and has 199,000 miles.

The Prelude had 150,000.

That Prelude cost $3,750 in 2021 dollars.

I watched a 7-minute video for replacing front struts and a 5-minute one by the same guy for the rear. So, someone--not me, but someone--could do this in an hour for $450 and a shop would charge $2,000?

Well, I should probably spend more than $50 on an alignment.

So, I could replace the struts myself, have the lowest bidder on Groupon align it, be out $500, and try to live with two leaks?

[Xist]

People always state their plans for the cars they purchase. Well, I am not downshifting to save my brakes, that is for sure. I have replaced the brakes and rotors on both my Accord and Mom's Camry.

It isn't hard or expensive.

Transmissions, though...

I had Accord for 50,000 miles and downshifted more than I used my brakes. How much longer would my gearbox have lasted if I just shifted to drive and then back to park at the end?

Mom uses her brakes vastly more than I do and she had her original brakes until a couple of years ago.

I plan on watching the timing cover leak, cleaning the bits the cleaners missed, replace the struts, get an alignment, just try to keep it clean, and then HHO, windmills, find ethanol-free fuel, disable the cylinder deactivation, vortex generators, gas pills, and magnets!

Is all of that mutually exclusive with an eBay intake, an eBay exhaust, eBay coilovers, and eBay... fuzzy dice?

[nemo]

Originally Posted by Xist

Spare parts always a good sign.

Hope it serves you well.

[Piotrsko]

Unless the strut mounts are worn or bent, you shouldn't need an alignment after replacement. Toe could be off if it's higher or lower, but you can do that yourself. Test by driving in a smooth level parking lot. It shouldnt wander hands off.

Clutch wear is the failure point in downshifting, transmission doesn't seem to care unless you burnt the syncros by forcing a gear change. On an automatic, the issue is downshifting adds heat and cooks the transmission fluid.

Downshift was a thing back in the days of manual adjust drum brakes because you adjusted them less and engine compression added to stopping power. Oil change day on a VW bug always included valve adjustment and brake adjustment.

So like, whatever.

[JSH]

Congrats on the car.

You said that you took this to a mechanic for inspection. Did he tell you about all these issues?

Finding and fixing the coolant leak would be first on my to-do list - then the shocks / struts. The rest I wouldn't worry about unless the leaks are real bad. Just keep an eye on the fluid levels.

[Xist]

Yes, I had a pre-purchase inspection.

Instead of a cracked radiator, which I feel would have been problematic during 3.5 hours of driving uphill, what if the dried residue is from a prospective buyer checking the coolant after the engine is already warm?

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Xist

Yes, I had a pre-purchase inspection.

Instead of a cracked radiator, which I feel would have been problematic during 3.5 hours of driving uphill, what if the dried residue is from a prospective buyer checking the coolant after the engine is already warm?

If said owner knew he spilled coolant and there is not coolant leak then why would he say:

"I don’t know what is on the side of the engine bay under the overflow reservoir, but I don’t think it is Armor All!

Oh no! There is no possible explanation except this radiator leaking, even though I drove 165 miles uphill without this spot getting worse!"

and

"The radiator is leaking and you need to flush the cooling system after replacing the radiator."

[Xist]

The first one is sarcasm and the second is what the mechanic said.

[freebeard]

It sad when you have to explain a joke.

"Maybe use colored text?", he said.

I just assume it's Xist bein' Xist.