Welcome back to Shitbox Showdown, where we act like we have infinite space to adopt used cars. Today, we’re jetting off to the west coast in search of some decent cars in decent shape. Oh yes, we’re going sensible for a minute. But first, let’s have a look at how our Aussie showdown went.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Falcon has smashed it out of the park. Not only does it look much cleaner than the Commodore, it’s in desirable S trim and packs a modern five-speed manual gearbox. Anyway, welcome to Los Angeles, a place where everyone is someone and old cars seem to just keep living. Lack of road salt and moisture means that old cars out here are often structurally sound, making them great choices for fly-and-drive adventures. What better to fly-and-drive than cars that pack reliable reputations to make it all the way back home? Yes, we’re temporarily ditching the excessively sketchy tat and going for genuinely usable and interesting cars.
1992 Ford Aerostar – $1,900
Engine/drivetrain: Three-liter V6, four-speed automatic gearbox, rear-wheel-drive.
Location: Buena Park, California
Odometer reading: 75,841 miles
Runs/drives? Yes
After having been beaten to the punch by the iconic first-generation Chrysler minivans, Ford needed to cook up something with some serious family appeal. It landed on the Aerostar, a sleek garageable van with a respectable maximum towing capacity of 5,000 pounds. Ford even compared the van to the Space Shuttle in ads, a campaign that had to be pulled due to sad and obvious reasons. Despite the Aerostar never achieving the same success as the Chrysler vans, it’s still bristling with suburban nostalgia.
While the Aerostar packed an array of nifty available drivetrain choices, this one seems fairly standard. Packing a three-liter Vulcan V6 mated to a four-speed automatic gearbox, this low-tech 145-horsepower lump will keep plodding away until the heat death of the universe. Unfortunately, the A4LD automatic gearbox doesn’t have quite the same stellar reputation for reliability, but it’s a fairly cheap gearbox to rebuild in the event that something does go wrong.
From a quick glance of the classified ad, it looks like this Aerostar was well and truly loved. The owners had thought to save a copy of the window sticker and keep a Chilton’s manual on hand for DIY servicing. Sure, the clearcoat looks a bit faded and there’s an unsightly gash on the left rear corner, but that looks to be all the exterior imperfections on this remarkably well-kept family hauler.
Things look pretty good inside the Aerostar as well, with a bolster tear on the driver’s seat and a grubby steering wheel being really the only indications of this van’s age. The dashboard looks to have survived the SoCal sun, the rear seats look to have survived life as a family vehicle, and the whole thing just looks grand. As it should with a mere five digits on the digital odometer. Even the air-conditioning is said to work, which means that this thing should be ready to roll.
2000 Toyota Camry Solara SLE V6 – $2,200
Engine/drivetrain: Three-liter quad-cam V6, four-speed automatic gearbox, front-wheel-drive.
Location: Pacoima, California
Odometer reading: 152,788 miles
Runs/drives? It’s a Camry, isn’t it?
While a low-mileage Ford Aerostar is very cool, maybe you’re in the mood for something more performance-oriented without venturing into the zone of questionable reliability. No problem, the Toyota Camry Solara should be just the thing. Not only does the Warren J. Crain styling of this first-generation Solara hold up well, it’s an SLE V6 model, so it gets such treats as perforated leather upholstery, automatic climate control, and a 200-watt JBL audio system.
The three-liter 1MZ-FE in this Camry Solara is still one of the smoothest V6 engines ever fitted to a production car and puts out a very respectable 200 horsepower and 214 lb.-ft. of torque. While some owners have experienced sludge on this particular engine, frequent oil changes are often enough to keep the nastiness at bay. Power goes to the front wheels through a fairly robust four-speed automatic, not exactly the most engaging gearbox but certainly a smooth one. We’re looking at a genuine double cream personal luxury coupe here with power to cruise at 80 mph all day.
On the outside, time hasn’t been saintly to this Camry Solara. The condition of the paint on the rear bumper and right quarter panel is quite poor, suggesting rear corner damage hiding in this car’s history. Still, it’s worth wet-sanding to see if any shine can be brought back, and a clean title is generally a good sign. On the plus side, the rest of the paint appears to be in decent shape for the car’s age, and the sunroof seems to work, perfect for crafting a vibe.
Move to the interior and the news gets quite a bit better. The leather seats and plastic panels all look to be in great shape considering the car’s age, with the rear seat looking as if it’s hardly ever been used. The factory head unit hasn’t been unceremoniously chucked in the bin, and even the cup holder lids seem to be working as intended. Plus, take a look at how nice that carpet looks. What’s more, the seller states that the air-con blows cold, meaning you should be set for comfortable motoring behind the wheel of this stylish Camry.
So here we are, two no-nonsense rides that should prove to be practical daily drivers with reasonable reliability. One’s a surprisingly well-kept van, the other is the pinnacle of the Camry circa 2000. As ever, choose wisely.
(Photo credits: Craigslist sellers)
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The Camry Solara is the more engaging drive with the cushier interior, and it’s the more likely of these two to yield 100k trouble free miles. I don’t need a van. 2EZ.
I know the Solara is the better vehicle, but for me, I’ll take the Aerostar, dad van all the way
I’m also impressed by the well used manual, VS unaccounted for rear quarter damage
It’s gotta be the Aerostar for me. The Solara is just too safe of a choice. Even at that price, everything on that car is more than likely completely fine and will continue to work perfectly fine for years to come. If I was putting down my real money to really buy one, I’d go with that but this isn’t real life, this is shitbox showdown. Where’s the fun in picking the safe choice
The Toyota is the easy pick for me. It will be way nicer to drive and I still have my Honda Fit as my practical vehicle.
The camry may bore me to death, but these two still aren’t even in the same ball park. Toyota all the way here. Now if you put it up against an astro, whole different game there!
I had a Solara as a rental when I had a car in the shop for insurance repairs. It was inoffensive. I would choose it. Fits my lifestyle better.
A 2000 Solara SLE V6 was my dad’s car for most of my childhood, and one of the cars I learned to drive stick on (he had the 5MT!). I loved that car, and I still think it’s hugely stylish today, especially in the Maroon color his was. I’m actively looking for another V6, 5MT Solara right now as a possible new DD. This one may be a boring color and an auto, but I gotta go for it just for the personal history.
I voted Aerostar because it’s the one I would choose. I do have to admit the Solara makes better financial sense but since when was that a requirement?
It’s got “star” in the name!!!! How could it lose?
Supernova?
My Solara 3.3 V6 convertible has more miles than this and still runs and rides like new. Nothing about the car has ever given a hint of trouble. So far, nothing more than routine maintenance, brakes, tires, and a hole patched in the exhaust.
Always choose Camry unless you have a great reason to choose otherwise. An Aerostar is nowhere near a great reason to choose otherwise.
The Toyota, and it’s not even close. Well, if the timing belt/water pump hasn’t been done, then I’d have to use that to negotiate a lower price. But I’d still take it over the Ford, because Toyota > Ford.
I’ve done the minivan thing. I’m happy to keep that part of my past in the past.
This is a no-brainer…Aerostar all the way.
Truly a no brainer but for the Toyota. That Aerostar is a ticking time bomb with the low mileage due to chronic breakdowns followed up buy copious time in the shop.
From 1997 to 2005, the oil in Toyota’s 3.0L engine was connected to sludge problems for vehicle owners. Not all Toyota’s were perfect. This one is certainly likely to be as reliable as a decade older Ford. But I think I would try the aerostar simply because it is a bit more rare to see in the sub 100K mile category these days
My mother had a 1989 Ford Aerostar from 1992 to 2002. It had 300,000 miles on it when traded in on a used Taurus that year. The air conditioning didn’t work the majority of the time, the transmission was rebuilt twice, the exhaust rusted off of it (in TEXAS!), and the power steering pump whined from the day it was new (my grandmother was the original owner). I learned to drive in that van. I have a lot of fond memories of that van.
I still chose the Toyota.
Those noisy power steering pumps must be a Ford thing. My ’94 F150 is the same way. I replaced the whole steering system outside of the column which included the pump. I was excited to get rid of that noise, but was disappointed hearing that brand new pump whine after all that work..
I wonder if the cause is a bad seal. My Honda developed a PS whine and the fix was an $8 O ring on the intake hose to the pump. Takes but a few minutes to fix. From what I’ve read it’s a common problem on older Hondas. Might be on Ford’s too.
No, this was just an incredibly common problem on Fords in the 80s and 90s. Nearly all had noisy power steering pumps from the factory.
Had to pick the Aerostar. I may be one of the few people on the planet who has never known anyone who had trouble with the A4LD, but that’s who I am. Never had any trouble with an ex’s Aerostar (or those loaned to me), which hauled a lot of goodies — lumber, furniture, etc. — around with no problem. I could use one, and would drop a few extra bucks to have paint and bodywork issues resolved. All in all, they did what they were supposed to do.
Nothing against the Toyota. But nothing FOR it, either.
The Aerostar for me. Drive it around a bit before ripping the transmission out to bolt a 1st gen SHO v6 to it and slap it in a Miata.
Wait, what?
I don’t believe that will work as well as you think it will.
Put the Aerostar up against a lot of other things and it wins, but a Toyota 8 years newer definitely wins, even with a lot more miles.
I picked the Solara. I tried to work Deano’s song Volare on here, but the Solara isn’t worth the trouble. Now the Aerostar, I can work with, Earth Wind And Fire:
” When you wish upon an Aerostar….
You’re dreams won’t take you very far…”
Sooo-la-re
Oh oh
Cam-Ah-re
Oh oh oh oh
All I know is my dad used to have an Aerostar when we moved to Tennessee and it was one of the worst vehicles he ever owned.
I remember those Aerostars for recalls and problems and an ex had the Windstar follow up which was also a POS. Some wet sanding and cheap DIY clear coat and that Solara will look decent. Neither would be good to drive, but the Toyota will be a lot more worry free as a potential only driver/beater (surely one would have something more interesting for a fun car) and looks better. Is someone really going to tow 5k with an ancient minivan with notoriously crap transmissions or dare to rely on it as a cheap small business mobile? I guess they’re both old now, but 22 is also better than 30. This one is easy.
Unless you’ve got a band and need something to strip the back seats out of to haul gear, the Camry is the better option and I voted for it. For $2,000 and a bit of pre-emptive maintenance, it should keep running and running for a long time.
Half of the Toyota engine is hidden between the upper intake and the firewall. Makes my knuckles hurt just looking at it. Ford for me.
Ah, yes but, you’ll have to spend a lot more time grubbing around in the engine bay of that Ford than you ever would in the Camry.
I see one decent car, and it isn’t the Aerostar.
As the resident Camry fanboy, this one is easy. I’d get this painted in woodland green pearl and ride it into the sunset
Not the only one, I like them too.