Toyota Camry 1998 Problems

I would advertise it privately, eBay is one to do that, but there are websites like CarsGuide and AutoTrader as well. The wreckers won’t give you much for it, and I doubt you’d get much at auction.

It can be found in your car’s service book, but it’s 100,000 km.

You have to anticipate that things will wear out and need replacing when the car gets to the sort of kilometres that yours has, but worn-out shocks and oil leaks are not what I would call major repairs. If the car were in good overall order I would have the work done. To keep driving it until it dies is not a great idea, and could be dangerous to you and other road users.

Have the camber bar bushes checked, they can cause a rattling noise if worn.

Your experience of increased performance and increased fuel consumption on E10 is in line with what we've been told would happen, but the failure of a rubber component in the fuel tank is cause for concern. So too is the starting difficulty you had. Both of your cars are claimed to be E10 compatible, but like you I'm not convinced that E10 won't cause some issues on some cars.

The FCAI guide to E10 compatibility indicates you can use E10 in your car and BP also says you could use E10 without a problem. But there is too little real world experience available yet to say for sure that it will be fine. At least for the short term your mechanic's advice to use Premium unleaded would seem to be prudent until we know more.

I wouldn't be too concerned about it. Sooty deposits can be because it was running rich, and you could see that in your fuel economy which would have suffered if it were wildly out of whack. If there were no change in the car's performance I would keep driving it and watch for any sign of a malfunction before having it checked.

DAEWOO makes the Viva in South Korea for Holden. I have had few complaints about it from Carsguide readers, which would suggest it will be a sound choice. The other cars to consider are the Mitsubishi Lancer, Toyota Corolla and Mazda3.