Toyota Camry Problems

You have to anticipate that things will wear out and need replacing when the car gets to the sort of kilometres that yours has, but worn-out shocks and oil leaks are not what I would call major repairs. If the car were in good overall order I would have the work done. To keep driving it until it dies is not a great idea, and could be dangerous to you and other road users.

Without being able to hear the noises firsthand it's hard to say if they are normal or not, and what might be causing them. It's normal for the idle speed to be high when the engine is first started and then settle down once running is established. The second noise when accelerating through 2000 rpm is hard to diagnose. You won't get it when the engine is in Park or Neutral because the engine is not under load as it is when it's in Drive. Your best course of action is to have a mechanic listen to it.

Toyota hasn't announced its future plans for the Aurion once local production ceases, but we expect the Aurion badge will be retired. The new imported Camry will be fitted with state-of-the-art safety technology.

The Camry is on run-out at the moment, which suggests there's an update coming soon. Next month would be on the cards. I wouldn't expect any big changes with it, after all Toyota is about to end local production in 2017. Waiting for the update depends on your needs, you might prefer the newer model, which will have a better resale when you sell than the current car, but Toyota has some deals on the outgoing model and it might be advantageous to snap one up now.

Two choices that get The Tick from me are the Toyota Camry sedan, which can be quite punchy with the 2.5-litre petrol engine and is great value, and the Kia Sportage SUV with turbo diesel.

The Camry Hybrid is a very good car that gets The Tick from me. On the battery front, companies don't talk about the cost because they are expected to last for the life of the car and they generally provide assistance if there are dramas. I know of Toyota Prius taxis in Queensland that have covered more than 350,000km on the original battery.

It's hard to make recommendations without knowing much about what you want. The choices of vehicles for a family of four are many and varied, as you say. I would consider a Kia Sportage SUV, Toyota Camry mid-sized sedan, or a Ford Falcon is you want a large sedan. You would certainly be better off shopping for a one to two-year-old used car.

Normally I would tell you to cut and run from such a high-mileage car but it sounds like a member of the family. Besides, you won't get much for $7000 and your Camry still seems to be running fine.

The CVT oil should be changed every 100,000km. As for the fuel consumption it's best to do a check yourself by measuring how much fuel it is actually using. Judging the consumption by how far the gauge falls is very inaccurate, and I wouldn't stake my life on the fuel consumption gauges in the car. Do an actual measurement and you will know exactly what the consumption is. Nissan claims an average of 9.1L/100km, 7.7L/100km on country driving, and 11.5L/100km on city use. I would expect your car would fall somewhere between 9.1 and 11.5L/100km.