QuestionI am considering buying a 1999 Avalon XLS with 98,000 miles on it. It seems to be in good condition and drives good. What should I look for or can I trust a Toyota dealer to check it out and give me straight answers.
AnswerThe same points as any used car. You want to check the maintenance history of the vehicle. Definate points would be the engine, transmission fluid. Commonly overlooked things would be a long duration maintenance item like a CV boot. Don't trust anyone to check anything. At 98,000 miles nothing on the car is under warranty.
For any car. At 100-150,000 miles you're normally getting to the end of effective oxygen sensor life. So mileage is generally going to drop off. 10-years, 100,000 miles is about when OEM suspensions begin to loose it. Springs begin to slowly sag, struts / shocks are definately on their way to being blown. All of the major rubber mounts are generally going to need replacing at some point in the future. Strut mounts, engine / transmission mounts.
It's just how any car around that mileage go. If you take care of it, stay ontop of oil changes, transmission fluid changes (Installing an auxillary cooler is an awesome idea.), and coolant/cooling system maintenance. Barring poor luck. The entire Camry platform has no excuse but poor owner maintenance for not still being in sound mehcanical condition to 250-300,000+ miles.
For me, buying any used vehicle. The first day the transmission fluid gets changed, the engine oil get's flushed - then changed to an oil that actualy works well in that engine. Confirmed by actual engine oil anylisis, not speculation. ;) That's me.
More information than I could possibly write you is avalible on the 3 major Camry platform forums. www.ToyotaNation.com, www.ToyotaTuners.com, www.Solaraguy.com.
