Thanks guysI am an original owner of a 98 XLE and it has been outstanding.
The body has held up well for life in Michigan, Toyota's starting with the 92 Camry, have had best in class body corrosion protection.
I now have 175k miles, requiring minimal repairs that were mostly easy and inexpensive (rear hatch handle, passenger door release adjustment, and rear exhaust assembly). The most I have spent was replacing wheels and rims (due to rim corrosion) was ~$750 delivered from tire rack. I also found replacing the spark plugs was quite easy with plenty of clearance for the rear bank and have done it twice. I also have cleaned the throttle body and used fuel system cleaner as PM.
The only difficult repair was replacing the front valve cover gasket and plug seals. It was more involved than I anticipated and needed a torx socket along with a difficult plug seal insertion without a specific tool. If I could do over I would skip the seals since they were not leaking. Slug was not an issue though I always used quality oil with changes 5k or longer with synthetic. Never add oil and down no more than a quart at changes.
Only previous non-maintenance part replacement was the rear brake backer plates that due to its two piece welded construction had started to corrode and distort the shield due to the two part construction. The replacement part was a single heavy gauge part.
I have original struts/shocks (no issue) and timing belt, since manual does not list a replacement time for normal service. Water pump wear out will likely determine the full timing kit repair.
I do have a air conditioning leak that I need to sort out and a front exhaust leak to repair.
The body has held up well for life in Michigan, Toyota's starting with the 92 Camry, have had best in class body corrosion protection.
I now have 175k miles, requiring minimal repairs that were mostly easy and inexpensive (rear hatch handle, passenger door release adjustment, and rear exhaust assembly). The most I have spent was replacing wheels and rims (due to rim corrosion) was ~$750 delivered from tire rack. I also found replacing the spark plugs was quite easy with plenty of clearance for the rear bank and have done it twice. I also have cleaned the throttle body and used fuel system cleaner as PM.
The only difficult repair was replacing the front valve cover gasket and plug seals. It was more involved than I anticipated and needed a torx socket along with a difficult plug seal insertion without a specific tool. If I could do over I would skip the seals since they were not leaking. Slug was not an issue though I always used quality oil with changes 5k or longer with synthetic. Never add oil and down no more than a quart at changes.
Only previous non-maintenance part replacement was the rear brake backer plates that due to its two piece welded construction had started to corrode and distort the shield due to the two part construction. The replacement part was a single heavy gauge part.
I have original struts/shocks (no issue) and timing belt, since manual does not list a replacement time for normal service. Water pump wear out will likely determine the full timing kit repair.
I do have a air conditioning leak that I need to sort out and a front exhaust leak to repair.
