Rent, Lease, Sell or Keep: 1993 Toyota Camry DX – 5 Speed

by Steven Lang

Published: April 26th, 2011

rent lease sell or keep 1993 toyota camry dx 5 speed

12 years. That’s how long I drove a 1994 Toyota Camry LE coupe. It was red with a sunroof and ABS. Truly loaded for the time. But not quite loaded for the modern day. I never even considered anything else because to me this was just like an underpowered Lexus without the cost.

We’re talking the type of quiet and serenity that many compact vehicles (which this technically was) still can’t match. The 3rd Generation Camry was the absolute peak of Toyota’s over-engineering prowess and my car pulled a straight 239k with nary a hiccup. One owner later, it just recently crested the 300k mark with plenty of life left on the original powertrain. With that in mind I can…

Rent: Does anyone know how to drive a stick anymore? I swear that the only folks I ever get who even have a clue how to drive one are either over 45 or are immigrants. The Camry would have no trouble pulling in a $25 daily / $175 weekly rental rate. There are still millions of folks who would rather drive an archaic Toyota than a new domestic. That’s too bad for them. This car is good. But not that good. It is 18 years old after all.

Lease: Now we’re in the Camry’s sweet spot. $500 down. $50 to $60 a week for 18 months. Preferably to someone who is 45 or older since they are by far the easiest segment of the population to finance.

These customers want reliability, a little size, and very cheap operating costs. The Camry would be the perfect for it. Of course I have to endure the risk of them not paying or totaling this car without having full coverage insurance. Despite an eagle eye on insurance, this has happened to me twice. I made money on both cars. But not nearly as much as I could have.

Sell: With 188,000 miles and a body that is in near showroom condition, I am probably looking at around $2500. I used to price them right near their out the door price. But today’s market is different. There is so much finance fodder out there that you can’t help but try to get a healthier margin on your inventory. The lack of any good old-school Camry’s that haven’t been rebuilt or Frankensteined by someone with a very strange foreign accent will probably make my life easier if I decide to sell.

Keep: I am tempted. The fellow who owned this car put his kids through Emory, Annapolis, and at least three or four private high schools. He took care of this car from day one, and the interior is surprisingly strong with nary a rip on the seats or a cracked piece of plastic on the dash. I can probably hit close to 35 mpg’s on the highway, and I can still service this particular car with my eyes closed.

In fact, I just did an oil change without so much as blinking an eyelash. Everything is as I remember it. 12 years of familiarity breeds not only acceptance and rote memorization, but respect. With gas prices cresting four dollars, it may now be time to say bye to the 1st Gen Insight hybrid and ‘Hi’ to a familiar thrifty beater. I’m only in for $1150 so depreciation shouldn’t be much.

#SellLeaseRentOrKill

Steven Lang

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2 of 64 comments

William442 on Apr 27, 2011

Come on people. A ten speed, non synchro, Road Ranger, takes some time to master, but passenger cars are easy. The 15 year old took about ten minutes,with me as a teacher! Just do it, and save the rev matching for driver's school.

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Romanjetfighter on Apr 28, 2011

Soft touch plastics everywhere, from the lower door panelss to the glove box, and the steering wheel is great. The 2009 Camry I drive is a shit box compared to the 96 model. Only problem is they added the side impact beams in 95, I think. I wouldn't feel safe in that 1993 camry.

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Recent Comments

Alan Well, it will take 30 years to fix Nissan up after the Renault Alliance reduced Nissan to a paltry mess.I think Nissan will eventually improve.
Alan This will be overpriced for what it offers.I think the "Western" auto manufacturers rip off the consumer with the Thai and Chinese made vehicles.A Chinese made Model 3 in Australia is over $70k AUD(for 1995 $45k USD) which is far more expensive than a similar Chinesium EV of equal or better quality and loaded with goodies.Chinese pickups are $20k to $30k cheaper than Thai built pickups from Ford and the Japanese brands. Who's ripping who off?
Alan Years ago Jack Baruth held a "competition" for a piece from the B&B on the oddest pickup story (or something like that). I think 5 people were awarded the prizes.I never received mine, something about being in Australia. If TTAC is global how do you offer prizes to those overseas or are we omitted on the sly from competing?In the end I lost significant respect for Baruth.
Alan My view is there are good vehicles from most manufacturers that are worth looking at second hand.I can tell you I don't recommend anything from the Chrysler/Jeep/Fiat/etc gene pool. Toyotas are overly expensive second hand for what they offer, but they seem to be reliable enough.I have a friend who swears by secondhand Subarus and so far he seems to not have had too many issue.As Lou stated many utes, pickups and real SUVs (4x4) seem quite good.
28-Cars-Later So is there some kind of undiagnosed disease where every rando thinks their POS is actually valuable?83K miles Ok.new valve cover gasket.Eh, it happens with age. spark plugsOkay, we probably had to be kewl and put in aftermarket iridium plugs, because EVO.new catalytic converterUh, yeah that's bad at 80Kish. Auto tranny failing. From the ad: the SST fails in one of the following ways:Clutch slip has turned into; multiple codes being thrown, shifting a gear or 2 in manual mode (2-3 or 2-4), and limp mode.Codes include: P2733 P2809 P183D P1871Ok that's really bad. So between this and the cat it suggests to me someone jacked up the car real good hooning it, because EVO, and since its not a Toyota it doesn't respond well to hard abuse over time.$20,000, what? Pesos? Zimbabwe Dollars?Try $2,000 USD pal. You're fracked dude, park it in da hood and leave the keys in it.BONUS: Comment in the ad: GLWS but I highly doubt you get any action on this car what so ever at that price with the SST on its way out. That trans can be $10k + to repair.