In the latest MT is the long-term verdict on the '02 Camry. At 20,000mi it needed a new head gasket and transmission-pan gasket. I wonder if this will be a common problem?

Good thing its not the old camrys.. my 94 has 126k on it and still going strong.

FWIW - I had an 85 Camry (bought new) - it was a dog, it ate struts, mufflers and T-belts every time you turned around, the crappy white paint job lasted exactly as long as the warranty, and to top it all off the cruise control never did work in spite of about 20 trips to the dealer and numerous letters to Toyota Canada. I'm glad I switched to Subies (obligatory Subie content). I ain't never gonna own another Toyota.

I love my soobies.. Even though the current one has been a constant string of oddball problems.. at its current rate, it will be a brand new car within 6 months (replace this, replace that. fix one the other breaks.. you know..)..

 

However, I did a lot of homework before I bought my yota.. The gen 3 camry is about the most bullet proof car ever made as far as I can tell. and so far it has lived up to that reputation. after reading a couple hundred reviews, visiting message boards and all sorts of other stuff, the most common recurring problem I found out about with my 94 camry was a malfunction of the power antenna(which mine is afflicted with.. $20 fix.. been too lazy to do it).. I can live with that.. especially since it has all those things my old soobs never came with.. 200hp, leather, power seats, cc and AC that actually work consistently

 

All in all, its a great car for my wife to drive. I am confident I won't get a phone call from her telling me she is broken down on the side of the road somewhere in the 100 degree texas heat.. I honestly wish I could say the same about my soob.. but thats why I drive the soob and she drives the camry

Calebz....What model Subaru do you have? Like with every manufacturer, Subaru has their problems. But I've done extensive research as regards reliability, averaging reliability results and such. And I've found that Subaru's are 3rd to Toyota and Honda by about 3% more problems. But Subaru's are more complicated vehicles with AWD and such.

 

The '96 Legacy and Impreza have a pretty bad engine rating from Consumer Reports. The fact that both the Impreza and Legacy have the same rating leads me to believe that the 2.2L engine is mostly at fault because the Impreza didn't have the 2.5L until the 2.5RS. And since on this board I haven't heard of any major problems with the 2.2's except for oil leaks, then that must be the reason for the low rating.

My soob is the one in my sig.. I had an 88 prior to that and it gave me very few problems. despite all the problems, I still like my soob.

 

In the past 3 months I have had.

 

Alternator replacement

Bad tie rod end

Broken clutch cable

2 of the 3 bolts that hold the AC/Alt bracket broken off in the Intake manifold and block

Tail Lights shorted out at the switch

Cooling problems

intake gasket leak(that one may have been my fault:o )

power steering rack went kaboom

mysterious stalling problem.. and inability to restart after stall

and most recently, car has come down with a case of Kentucky Fried ECU.. replacement from a board member should be here in a couple of days.

 

As I said.. soon it will be a brand new car

 

But all of those problems combined, and sometimes happening all at once prompted the purchase of the camry. My wife refused to drive the soob anymore.. For the most part, I try not to drive around in it with my daughter, because my faith in the car is somewhat rattled and I don't want to be broken down on the side of the road in the 100+ degree heat with a 20 moonth old little girl in a place where i know almost no one (texas)

Sorry for you, calbz. That must be the worst Subaru I ever heard of.

 

I''ve had several Subarus but never stranded. And of course there have been some faults, but only a few. The first car I owned was an Opel Vectra. I am so glad I found the way to Subaru.

 

I hope that you will get fixed your car one day in the future.