Before you get the torches and pitchforks out, I didn’t send in this tip! Some stealthy Barn Finds reader sent in this tip but didn’t leave their name. I bet a few of you thought, oh no, Scotty G is showing us 1980s Toyotas again, dang that mustachioed meatball! This 1989 Toyota Camry LE can be found here on eBay in beautiful Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The seller has an $11,500 (Canadian funds) buy it now price, which is around $8,564 US funds.
I love the wheels, first of all. It looks like it’s decked out with winter tires and wheels (formerly known as “rims”, for any of you who are over 40). I would have thought that an LE version would have had more styled aluminum-type wheels, but maybe not. Some of you are wondering, “What the Sam H is a white Toyota Camry doing on Barn Finds?! Come on, guys, you can do better than that!” I hear ya. I have written about them before but they have had unusual features like a 5-speed, or 4WD, or in a perfect world: both. Jeff showed us a rare turbo-diesel Camry and I showed off my ’84 Camry Liftback.
The hook with this particular Camry is that it has just a mere 17,651 miles (28,407 km) on it! Another hook? There is not one spot of rust anywhere on this car. That’s a big hook, at least it is for me. I’ve been burned on rusty cars in the past and this thing looks rock solid.
This car doesn’t have a manual transmission, unfortunately, or 4WD, but it looks as clean as the day it was driven off of the showroom floor by the one elderly owner. Or, they’re elderly now. The seller says that it was always garaged and rarely driven in the winter which explains why there is no rust.
The photos are… different. I always wonder why sellers don’t give their eBay listings a final check, maybe rotate any photos that were vertical format, and things like that. But, as we know, I make mistakes here and we all make mistakes. I wish that there would have been at least one engine photo but there isn’t, unfortunately. They don’t list a VIN but they list it as being a V6 which should be Toyota’s 2VZ-FE 2.5L V6 engine which would have had around 160 hp. The AC is even cold in this time capsule. Have any of you owned a Camry? We’re all friends here, you can admit it. I have and I’m not ashamed of it.
Come on REALLY!!
My uncle paid 8k for an 88 Camry with 80k on it in 1994. Gee that was a lot of eights. It was a silver on blue V6. The LE Camry’s came with plastic wheel covers. Formerly “hub caps” to those over 40:) These were great cars even if a little boring.
I have a 1999 Toyota Corolla that came from Palm Beach FL in 2009 with 37,000 miles. I mostly drive it on vacation and around town in the summers, so it’s up to 72,000 miles now. The local Toyota mechanic says that it’s broken in and should run good for another 200,000 miles at least.
Mostly it holds down the barn floor with a couple 69 Z/28’s, a 57 Bel Air, and a couple 62/63 Impalas. Since it’s over 20 years old and officially a classic, I need to break down some year and buy it a car cover. If I keep it out of the Western PA salt and drive it as I have been lately, it might be worn out if I live to be 100 or so. But if I can still drive at 100, I won’t be driving the Toyota.
My dad drives a putty colored ’87 Camry that’s the same body style. I always thought they were particularly handsome– nothing like the fidgety, over-wrought styling of todays Toyotas.
That’s a very tiny 2.5 L V6, i believe.
Love the all blue interior. The seats feel luxurious & much more comfortable than those in any cloth seat car you can buy today!!
HUGE protective bumpers. & i bet those are glass headlite assemblies too.
There were many strange variants
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Camry#Celica_Camry_%28A40/A50;_1979%E2%80%931982%29
Most odd of all is the 2 door Camry that came LATER not earlier & only in ’94, i believe.
I have a friend that bought one new back in 1989. That was one very reliable car that he had for years. I have a soft spot for these Camrys before they began to grown in size.
Well, at least it’s not a rusted out husk for 25k.
The truth is these cars were engineered to run forever. Most of them gave in to body rot long before their engines died the death. My family went all-Toyota decades ago and I drove a 15-year-old Cressida (once mistaken for a Mercedes by a garage attendant with poor eyesight!) before I could afford to buy something newer. I switched to Subaru about 20 years ago because I live in the land of snow, but I would never scorn a Camry.
My wife had friend at work and her 1989 Camry had so much bondo body filler on it I was surprised it kept passing state inspection. But it just kept chugging along.
A used “modern” Camry would cost more than twice the BIN price of this car. I think for $8500 this could make for a reliable daily driver that would probably out-last a ‘modern’ Camry, be less expensive to maintain, and a lot more interesting to drive. Just change the hoses, belts, fluids, and tires if they’re still original, and daily drive it and never see yourself coming down the road in another one.
It’s not high-performance or beautifully styled, but then it’s not priced like a 70’s Datsun 510 either. So many of us long for the chance to buy a ‘new’ old car. Well, here’s one.
The VW Beetle of the ’90s. If Barn Finds existed in the 70’s and someone had posted a Beetle, readers would have said “Whaaaat?”
Recently I tried to find a 5 to 10 year old Toyota SUV for my daughter and son in law, knowing it would give them rock solid reliability (like his ’05 Camry). It was virtually impossible to find a good deal, since Toyotas hold their value so well. Ended up with a Mitsubishi.
That’s a great point, Fred! This car is 31 years old now, which is older than a decent percentage of Barn Finds readers. The Barn Finds of 1989 may have shown a 1958 Toyopet Crown and I’m reasonably sure that the response would have been much harsher back then.
As I said in literally the opening line for anyone who somehow missed it, I did not send in this tip, an anonymous reader did. I’m glad that it ended up having mostly positive comments, I was worried after the first person wondered about my/our sanity at showing a Camry.
There is a good reason why so many people bought them back then. It is nice seeing them sprinkled in with all the muscle cars, etc.
You didn’t send this tip in,but chose to post it.
I’ve submitted many cool/unusual finds (at least I thought they –
were) that weren’t accepted.
I see lots of these types of cars,but would never think
of sending in a link.You still see a lot of them driving around.
I for one look forward to reading about ordinary cars of yesteryear like this. Bring em on!
I bought an identical car in 1987, white LE, but it was the 4 cylinder. It went 292K on the first trans, I put in a 60K drivetrain from a wreck, I sold the car at 328K for $2000, everything worked. I ran into the buyer sometime later, he sold it to his mechanic at 440K, he said it started to smell like gasoline, it turned out the top of the fuel tank had pinholes in it from when the car lived in Ohio. I am trying to figure out how to buy THIS Camry, it is like seeing an old friend.
I picked-up an 89 Camry for $1k last August from an elderly woman . . . had 94k then, and 108k now . . . I’m hoping it will last another 200k.
I also have an 85 Camry Turbo Diesel that maybe someday I will put back together . . . time is a very precious commodity.
Last, I have a 91 Corolla with 104k on it that my wife spun-out on black ice last Spring . . . totaled, but I hate to crush it.
I’m glad to see all the love this post is getting. I agree; the durability of this year/model/make is well worthy of this site.
But… what is the average age of Barn Find members? I was guessing 62.
Gee another used car on barn finds.com…..or is this the extension of eBay…..
Well you did have the option of skipping clear past this posting instead of clicking on it..
These were bought by people who have as much affection for their cars as they do for their toasters. This being a V6, it’s more like a 4-slice toaster or a toaster-oven, but it’s still the automotive equivalent of a toaster.
CCFisher,
I appreciate your perspective and the humor with which it was expressed.
This generation of Camrys were good cars! The 4-cyl. were basically bullet proof! The V-6 were ok except for oil leaks. I had a ’90, 4-cyl. and was black on black and the A/C had issues with expansion valve even after 3 replacements. By the time I trashed it, it had 250K miles on the original drive train! When I bought that car, I had bad vibes about it! It was trashed due to a serious accident, luckily we were fine. The front was crushed-totaled. Another luck was the other driver had insurance and I got good settlement out of it! Any new owner can be assured of a longterm survival daily driver escept for the V-6! I like velour looking cloth interior!
I’m in the same camp as Bakyrdhero, bring these on!! Personally, I think this is a little more exciting than a toaster. These were well appointed, and well screwed together mid sized cars, and a whole lot more exciting than what the big 3 was giving us. We had to choose from the k-car, Corsica, and Tempo. I’ll take this Camry over them anytime.
Camry, Accord, Maxima, and Stanza were so far ahead of the big three in all categories except rust protection. I’d say the gap is closing somewhat now, but the Korean (Kia/Hyundai) have come further in the past twenty years than domestics still. It kills me to say that because the big three IMO are producing some nice looking and riding vehicles, I just can’t bring myself to trust them and ultimately pay an ever increasing price tag for one of them. Burn me once…
From that sweet spot in Toyota design language evolution between the earlier “box it came in” and later “shapeless blob” eras, it seemed everything they made during this mid-’80s/early-’90s period had a certain refined, tasteful, lean and balanced elegance to it—maybe not knockout-fancy by any means, but painstakingly detailed little gems with nothing unresolved or out of place, and a common theme of looking as if they were whittled down from an extruded ingot matching the cross-sectional profile at the B-pillars.
The consistency and continuity of this language across models for nearly a decade suggests a particular eye at the helm firmly guiding the process, with a sensibility informed by rational industrial design principles more than fanciful automotive styling expression; whomever that unsung hero may be, I salute them and lament their apparent departure from the industry.
I left college after my sophomore year. Looong story for another day. I then enjoyed what I call my hobo years before going back to vocational school six years later. I did a bunch of different things that included, for a while, selling cars. I just happened to be at a Toyota store when this body Camry came out. We got this exact car in except with leather seats. This was also the first year you could get the v6. Keep in mind guys this car is about the size of the current Corolla. When we looked at the window sticker, we all tripped. Everyone was thinking there’s no way this will sell.
First Camry we had ever seen priced over $20,000. No one would buy that, ever.
We were, of course, very wrong. The hot ticket to look for was the DX with the V6 and the 5-speed. I saw a few on the locator but never in the flesh. Later, I did get to sell a 5-speed Previa. Imagine a mid engine sport minivan.
We’ve had several and found that the LEV6’s were great cars, very reliable and lots of zip from the V6!! This is a steal!!
I had an ’88 LE V6 and I LOVED it!!
Gave it to my ex-wife in the divorce and she destroyed it!! ☹️☹️
Mom had one ( my sister has it now). 4 cylinder – 5 speed. Got 30 MPG on the highway. Had 300K on it before it finally got a new clutch. In between I think it needed 2 water pumps and the front brakes done 2 or 3 times. Granted my mom was initially commuting around 30 miles each way on the highway for the first 10 years or so of its life, but still… 300k on a clutch?
I ended up driving it around that time ( not killing off the clutch) when my dad bought a new Corolla in my neighborhood to replace it. Drove it 900 miles back to their place for them and the only thing I could feel wrong with it was the drivers seat foam was starting to break down a bit.
This car seems like a bargain. Closer and it would be mine!
Our family has been basically Toyota since folks got the first one in 1978. I have owned a Corolla and on my 3rd Camry (2011 SE v6). Every damn one of them has been as flawless as one can expect from a Toyota. Normal maintenance and parts as they breeze passed 150-200k.. If I needed one, I’d put an offer on this one !
Reliable, yes, but among the most boring, plain-Jane cars to look at and drive of all time. Just dreary, boring old crap that are an affront to style and class.
Depressing even to look at. There are equally reliable and less boring cars out there. Indeed the toaster of cars.
My Aunt had the first 5-speed V6 to hit the DC area in 1989. It was a dark red LE with a matching velour interior. The car was quiet and very quick, but lacked a tachometer of all things so it was easy to stall or over-rev if you weren’t paying attention. With 235k miles the original clutch gave out in 1999 and she traded it on a brand new, blue Civic Si coupe.
If this one had a 5-speed I’d be all over it!
I am continuing to enjoy the toaster metaphor. Toasters do their job well. When I want toast, I break out my toaster and it does the job. Camrys are basic, comfortable and reliable. I’d never buy one, but I drive a 58 roadster which is neither extremely comfortable or extremely reliable. Barn Find specializes in unreasonable cars, but on occasion an interesting and reasonable car slips in, and I think it adds to the fun of this site.
I agree, Douglas. I’ve had a few toasters (Toyota and otherwise) and they always served their purpose, just in an incredibly dull way. I definitely wasn’t being negative towards Barnfinds, I love the variety on here and the admins do a fantastic job giving us finds all over the spectrum.