Toyota Repair: TOYOTA CAMRY VALVE LEAKING, valve seals, toyota camry

Question
Hi,

I have a 1999 Camry with 85,000 mileage on it. Recently I noticed that when I start the car after it has parked for a while, usually one night, there is smoke coming out of the exhaust muffler. Usually it is white, sometimes it has some blue color. I asked some people and was told that I do not need to worry about it - there is a little leaking from "valve" and it only consume a little engine oil. Camry's design for that year is known for that problem. Is that right? I also heard that if the problem gets worse, it will cost thousands of dollars to repair. What shall I do?

Thanks

Jane

Answer
The Camry design is not the the problem, the problem is that people do not change their oil regularly and the valve seals deteriorate and don't seal the valve stems anymore, that said, the problem now is that the seals are leaking and causing the smoke on start up.
The course of action is up to you, you can have the seals replaced(about $1,000), put up with it and add oil as needed, or trade it in, it will progressively get worse but as long as the oil level is maintained there will be no other damage to the engine.