2002-2005 Toyota Camry Pre-owned
The Toyota Camry has never been an exciting vehicle. It doesn't accelerate hard, it doesn't turn hard, and it doesn't brake hard. So why are you interested in it? Because it is, simply put, one of the most reliable cars on the road, period. And when you've got two kids that need to get to soccer practice, you don't need 600 temperamental horsepower or a bone-jarring, corner carving suspension. You need a car that is simply going to start, run, and stop. And that's precisely what a Camry does.
Introduced in 1980 as the Celica Camry, the Camry evolved into it's own
line in 1982. Since then it's been everything from a five-door hatchback or conventional wagon, to a two-door coupe and convertible, branded as the Camry Solara. However, for all its iterations the four-door Camry sedan is, by far, the most recognizable version out there. So, not surprisingly, when the fifth-generation Camry debuted in 2002, the sedan was the only version you could buy that rolled on the all-new architecture.
That new architecture involved making the car longer and taller than the old model, adding a full 51 mm (2 inches) between the wheels to increase interior room. The result is 38 additional millimeters (1.5 inches) of legroom for the rear seat occupants, as well as a larger trunk, expanded to hold a maximum of 473 litres (16.7 cubic feet) worth of cargo, a must when you're hauling the kid's hockey or soccer gear around.
And true to form, even the base LE model comes well equipped with all the
must-have options a family looks for in a car. Coming standard with air conditioning, air filtration, a tilt steering wheel, cruise control, power windows, mirrors, and locks, as well as a CD player make the base 2002 LE a well equipped car for the money; addition of the optional touch-screen navigation unit makes it a fantastically equipped car for the money.
If the LE has a weak point, it'd have to be safety. The LE doesn't have the upmarket SE and top-shelf XLE's standard side airbags, meaning the LE received a "poor" side-impact rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. That said, it did receive good marks in offset and head-on collisions; and that's a good thing too, given the LE's rather shoddy standard braking setup. First off, the LE does without the SE and XLE's rear disc
brakes, and it wouldn't come standard with ABS until 2005; both of which seem almost inexcusable in a 21st century family sedan. Adding to the airbag woes, all 2002 models with the three-spoke steering wheel were recalled due to a faulty airbag cover: apparently during airbag deployment the lower-portion of the cover was known to break off and strike the driver, causing obvious injury. The fix is a simple dealer-installed airbag module, so make sure any potential Camrys have had this done. Like all models, the LE came standard with a 2.4L four-cylinder producing 157 horsepower and 162 lb-ft of torque. The four-cylinder came with the buyer's choice of four-speed automatic or five-speed manual. A 3.0L V6 was optional (making 192 horsepower in pre-'04 cars, and 210 horsepower in 2004 models and up), and was available exclusively with a four-speed slushbox. Be careful of automatic-equipped 2002 Camry's as they have a propensity to shift poorly; a problem caused by the engine control module. Make note that 2003 models received a revised ECM that addressed the problem, and the 2003 modules can be retrofitted to 2002 models.
The Toyota Camry has never been an exciting vehicle. It doesn't accelerate hard, it doesn't turn hard, and it doesn't brake hard. So why are you interested in it? Because it is, simply put, one of the most reliable cars on the road, period. And when you've got two kids that need to get to soccer practice, you don't need 600 temperamental horsepower or a bone-jarring, corner carving suspension. You need a car that is simply going to start, run, and stop. And that's precisely what a Camry does.
Introduced in 1980 as the Celica Camry, the Camry evolved into it's own
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| All new for 2002, the Toyota Camry looked vastly more interesting than the outgoing model and offered more room to boot. (Photo: Toyota Canada) |
That new architecture involved making the car longer and taller than the old model, adding a full 51 mm (2 inches) between the wheels to increase interior room. The result is 38 additional millimeters (1.5 inches) of legroom for the rear seat occupants, as well as a larger trunk, expanded to hold a maximum of 473 litres (16.7 cubic feet) worth of cargo, a must when you're hauling the kid's hockey or soccer gear around.
And true to form, even the base LE model comes well equipped with all the
 |
| Even in its most basic trim, the Camry still offered a reasonable level of creature comforts, including air conditioning and air filtration. (Photo: Toyota Canada) |
If the LE has a weak point, it'd have to be safety. The LE doesn't have the upmarket SE and top-shelf XLE's standard side airbags, meaning the LE received a "poor" side-impact rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. That said, it did receive good marks in offset and head-on collisions; and that's a good thing too, given the LE's rather shoddy standard braking setup. First off, the LE does without the SE and XLE's rear disc
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| The optional 3.0L V6 was available in both LE and XLE trim levels, and gave the Camry some much needed passing power. (Photo: Toyota Canada) |