I have a confession to make...
 

Ten years ago I talked my wife into buying(actually it was my $) a 2002 Camry XLE. However she actually found the VW Jetta more fun. It was not deemed as reliable as the Camry in those days. Meanwhile ten years later the Camry has only 26k miles and she thinks that the Camry is too big. I talked her into the Camry because I believe it was more reliable but a lot less fun than a Jetta. In the meantime I have my fun car - a 2001 Boxster so I believe I owe her bigtime:) What do you think? Did I do the right thing?The Camry has been totally reliable . Perhaps the Jetta now is reliable but I know they are fun to drive. I would like to know if anybody thinks like me in terms of reliability of a car for the wife. Am I male chauvinist? Confessions are encouraged:eek:

For me Camry >> Jetta.

You have saved enough by having the Camry instead of the Jetta for this long, even with the lower miles, to buy her a nice used fun car. Keep the Camry. Put the money you would otherwise put into repairs into a new car fund. Seriously, you cannot overestimate the amount of money you've saved by having a Camry. Keep it forever.

rabbit. way more fun :)

My mom had about an 01 bug and an 04 Jetta. Great driving cars, but they both had gremlins. The Jetta was purchased new and it still did funny things.



Does your wife even care what is fun to drive? Most women don't seem to care as long as it goes from a to b reliably, a Camry does that well.

If she wants smaller, trade for a Corolla...or if you can afford it..a Lexus IS250.

wait! i think i get this joke..funny if it was meant this way. hhaha.

Be careful about assumptions. I would try my hardest to never buy a sedan. Yawn. Boring.

Recycled Sixtie:

I understand the reliability issue. The Camry does well with that. It will last you many more miles with out problems but I think it is high time you get your wife something fun.:D

Don't feel bad about having the camry. I love my Porsches and other German cars, but I'll always admit the Japs know a thing or two about efficient, reliable, and cheap transportation. The camry was the right choice for a good DD IMO...

Cheap transportation? Have you priced a Camry lately?

I did the same thing, bought my dads '04 camry 4 cylinder , it has the timing chain engine, very reliable, it now has 95K miles with no issues..... great gas mileage too. Did my own tune up for $50 parts / 1 hour of my time.

It is true that the VW are a fun car to drive, better handling, nice interior etc.... but pricey maintenance.

As mentioned you could keep the camry, then ask your wife what she would really enjoy as a fun/ weekend car. You might end up with a boxter, miata, etc. Something you could both enjoy. Shame to sell that low miles camry that has a known history for probably very little $s. Its cool that she in interested in sporty driving.

Cheers Richard

Price a similar sized "fun" car and compare it to the camry.
Pretty sure the camry is cheaper than a 3 series, or a c class.
The camry is not as fun as those cars, but it is cheaper to buy, and is very reliable.

A lot of u say that Camrys are great, reliable(which they are) and to me have become just transportation with the fun engineered out of them. Really next time I will let my wife totally decide on her vehicle. I agree with u that I have saved $ by having a Camry vs. a VW. She will be in the same boat as me having something fun like my having a Boxster which is ^$ to run. She can choose her own fun car without my breathing over her shoulder:)Really:eek:

Oh I know there are women that prefer fun cars, my mom drives an M3...


But you have to agree that the vast majority doesn't give a rats ass.

Well, that goes out the window with the "similarly sized" fun car qualifier. But the Camry V6 with options are tapping on the door of 30K$.

That's a lot of coin.

Some women like to have fun cars. Perhaps my wife seeing me drive a Boxster makes her want a more fun car. I cant deny it to her. Maybe there is an element of competition here . Heck she deserves it. We have been married 24 years:)

Perhaps your wife seeing you drive a Boxster makes her want a more manly husband.

:)

Maybe you should keep the reliable car, and get a fun car to park next to it.

Yes Schumi I have had 2 "hairdresser cars" in a row now. Just sold the '99 Miata Mx5 in May and then got the 2001 Boxster. I have had 3 different cars over the 10 year period that my wife has had hers. I agree that all our cars are good 2nd hand buys, low mileage etc etc. However being sensible is not a lot of fun . Life is for living. I drive standard and my wife drives auto trans. As they say a happy wife is a happy life. We will gently search in the next year or two for a sporty auto auto.