My Metro died. What car should I get? Thinking Camry/Accord appliance.

[Shaneajanderson]

Originally Posted by Xist

Mom's Camry has 190,000 miles. She has about one repair a year. Then there is that timing chain...

Pity. Mom has replaced her shocks twice. I drove her and my brother to Phoenix so we could visit my sister in Oregon. I needed to slow down much more than normal for the corners. I felt rather nervous with how the car handled. Then the car did not start. I got a jump and we made it to the nearest repair shop, but we barely made it into a parking spot. They said that Mom needed a new alternator and I asked them to look at the shocks.

The repairs should have been easy enough, so it was frustrating that I was not able to do them myself.

I replaced her original brakes back in December. The rotors looked perfect.

With mine it's the bushings on top of the struts, the shocks themselves work just fine. If the shocks ever go bad I'll take care of the clunky bushings, it's probably all factory still.

Mine has a timing belt, but the previous owners did all their service work at Cedric Theel Toyota in Bismarck so I just need to call them with a VIN and I can find out pretty much everything that's ever been done to the car, and figure out the next service intervals based on that info.

My commute is 42 miles of straight, mostly flat road with a couple of large hills, and only 2 or three turns. In three weeks it will change to a 30 mile drive that is straighter, flatter, with only 2 turns.

[redpoint5]

I replaced the struts on the 1998 Camry and it didn't resolve the clunk/rattle noise when going over bumps. Youtube says it's the swaybar bushings that need replacement. I don't care enough about a 300k mile car to quiet that minor noise.

[Shaneajanderson]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I replaced the struts on the 1998 Camry and it didn't resolve the clunk/rattle noise when going over bumps. Youtube says it's the swaybar bushings that need replacement. I don't care enough about a 300k mile car to quiet that minor noise.

Swaybar bushings Make sense too, still not a hard fix

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Shaneajanderson

Anyway, what sort of mods should I be looking at?

Ecomods, you mean?

[Shaneajanderson]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Ecomods, you mean?

Yes, those are the only mods worth doing for me right now, I'm not looking to rice out an auto Camry.

Any other mods I would do now would be utilitarian mods to my pickup, such as the tonneau and ladder rack I added this summer. I'd like to put a plow on it but they are big dollars, and I wouldn't use it enough to justify the expense.

[MetroMPG]

Not tempted?

[Shaneajanderson]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Not tempted?

ehhm....no. Unless we're talking about launching that car unoccupied off the side of a cliff, then maybe.

On second thought, even that isn't very tempting, as I could maybe scavenge some good parts off that one.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Not tempted?

When "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" goes too far.

[Shaneajanderson]

Originally Posted by mpg_numbers_guy

When "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" goes too far.

What's more concerning to me is the thought the MetroMPG had this picture in reserves already when he first asked me to specify what kind of mods I was talking about.

[MetroMPG]

I have an excuse: I am in Florida at the moment.

---

OK! Sensible mods:

1) Got a ScanGauge or equivalent?



2) You need to get a block heater in there. You won't get top gear (or torque converter lockup) until the coolant at a certain threshold.

3) Grille blocking to improve aero, warm-up times & heat retention.

4) How's your PSI?

5) Anybody else?


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