I purchased the car new in 1996 for $26,000, twenty years later and with 209,000+ miles, it shows wear and tear and a few unexpected dents. The vehicle has always been reliable, no accidents, we just fill it up with gas and go. The Camry has been my son's daily driver for the past ten years, in fact, since he was licensed as a driver at age 16th. As one could imagine, most of the wear and tear was applied during the last ten, not prior to when I gave up possession of the vehicle. Without saying, it is nothing short of a miracle it survived "high-school".

Due to the fact that someone failed to perform the scheduled maintenance with regular oil and filter changes, the engine finally seized and let go. Rather than junk the car, instead, I decided to help my son with a 'sympathetic' restoration. That decision later turned to a surprise as I always told my son I was going to junk the vehicle. My real intentions moving forward, to restore the Camry to near its former glory, but only with a "sympathetic" restoration, not a full 'nut-bolt' resto.

This 96' Camry was a total mess!!! The car needed a new engine (originally equipped with a V6 3.0 Liter, 4-Cam, 24 Valves), mechanically it also needed half-shafts, CV Joints, disc rotors, brake pads, tires, restored alloy wheels, a radiator, engine motor-mount, a battery, new electric antenna, both front headlights, front turn signal housings and lenses. The paint was peeling off and the entire car had to be painted, three of the four fenders were in dire need of repairs requiring bodywork (from years of door-dings while in parking lots, front/rear bumper scratches and other mishaps that occurred). The carpets were originally a nice golden/tan color, they were now black, so was the steering wheel and the very, very dirty interior (grime and dirt from coffee and soda spills were now covering the center-console, it was a total sticky and dirty mess!). The gold-plated emblems and badges all around the car were now badly faded---the fronts were very pitted as expected and all the pieces required re-plating.

I knew this was not going to be easy, but I stood-up to the task and ran with it. At the end of the day, I spent nearly $10,500 in this project. Below are the results...