I had a 2001 4Runner back in the day, it's not far from the truth. I gave it up at 300k because I didn't want to swap the torque converter and needed 4x4 for snow, and I still sometimes regret selling that thing.
My SIL has a '96. It runs, but I never see them drive it so I have no idea why they have it lol
When I was a little boy growing up in the late '90s, we had an '84 Celica GT 5-speed. Silver, hatchback, pop up headlights. Looked a lot like this
It was the last year the Celica was RWD. I loved that car. I thought it was the coolest car ever. I was heartbroken when it got parked. I'd been told it had 386,000 miles. I'd love to have one of my own, but I already have a 5th gen Prelude, and we have room (space- and money-wise) for only one old project car so I don't think it'll be happening lol
Early 00s Japanese cars were just built different. I almost never see Chevy Cavaliers, or Saturns from that time period, but every now and then I'll see a 2003 Honda Accord or Toyota Camry still cruising down the highway no problem. Love that shit.
2003? I still see Hondas from like 89 to 95 regularly you literally can't fucking kill a Honda short of just running it without oil and even then it will make it a few hundred miles before it gives up
I daily a quarter million mile 1997 Prelude. I'd drive my 2012 Civic more but it's either got a bad starter or a bad alternator right now. I can get it to run with a jump, but I got stuck two and a half hours away from home when I found out it was having issues. Fun times.
If it runs fine after you jump it, it might just be a shot battery. If the alternator was bad, itβd probably die pretty quick even once running, especially if you load the car by like turning the lights on and the fan and the radio.
My husband's 2003 Camry is still running. We have to rebuild the right front boot every 4-5 years and the plastic is beginning to dry rot, but other than that it just won't quit. I think it's got 180k some miles on it but at this point I've quit looking at the odometer because the car is going to outlive both of us.
Comfortable doesn't even come close to describing it. My parents had a loaner once, and it made me regret buying "just" a Camry when I was Corolla-shopping. That car was a dream.
The Avalon is the Toyota-branded version of the Lexus ES300/ES350 series (Lexus is Toyota's luxury brand), very nice and very reliable (and fairly unremarkable too, which i kinda dig tbh)
My mother had this kind of car. It was miserable to drive, floated around like a boat, actually felt like the front and rear axles were connected on a ball hitch. rusted to shit at 16 years.
I had a 99' '99 Corolla sitting on my drive for the longest time, it wasn't a looker but it still ran well. I would get strangers knocking on my door asking to buy it.