1997 Toyota Avalon

XL Sedan

6 Cylinder 3.0 Liter

Automatic

4T1BF12B8VU165866

Gasoline

Air Conditioning

Hello and welcome! You are bidding on a very well maintained 1997 Toyota Avalon XL. My wife purchased this car with 76,799 miles on it in August 2003. After about 100,000 more miles over 7 years, we now have our third child on the way and have purchased a van, so this car has to go! It has a CLEAR NEW YORK Title, current registration/plates/NYS inspection until 01/2011. Mileage will change a touch, as we still use this as an occasional driver only when we need a second vehicle. This Avalon has served us well. The mechanical condition of the car is well above average--basically, it was our only vehicle for a long time, so when it needed something we fixed it. In just the past two years, the car has had the following work done to it: All four (4) new 80K tires, Sam's Club, with warranty; New serpentine belt, upper and lower radiator hoses, and a new radiator; All four new struts/wheel bearings/control arm; Exhaust, including a NEW catalytic converter / pipes / muffler / tip / sensors; MAJOR tune-up, including the six coil-pack-type distributors, front and back (I forgot what they are really called), the plugs, wires, fuel and air filters, and lines cleaned; Fuel filler neck; Full brake work on the front and rear, including the pads, rotors, calipers, and fluid flush (the rear was all done last year, about 6 months prior the front was done); AND regular oil/fluid changes. There have been a couple weird repairs too, like the windshield wiper motor was replaced, and some sort of engine sensor. I HAVE ALMOST ALL RECEIPTS FOR THIS CAR, AND MUCH OF THE RECENT WORK IS WARRANTEED FOR A WHILE LONGER!!! There are no oil leaks, and the tranny fluid is good. We have never burned any oil between oil changes to date; it always was still reading full even right before oil changes. My mechanic said all the seals look great for its age and mileage. We also have been running good gas (93 octane) since the tune-up, as our mechanic claims that the 10% Ethanol that is now in gas can slowly gum up the fuel injectors, but good gas seems to alleviate the problem. This Toyota has some miles on it (176k+), but we have used it on several long highway trips, including a few 1000-1500 mile trips, and two round-trips from upstate NY to Florida, about 3500 mile trips (round trip totals). I would literally get in this car and drive anywhere without hesitation, as we have spent a LOT of money keeping this thing in top shape! Since it has newer tires/struts/wheel bearings/brakes, it is a smooth car with no rattles and shakes on the highway wit hthe cruise on 75 MPH. It is a great road trip car for reliability, efficiency, and still plenty of pick-up and power for the hills! We have been getting about 25-28 MPG on ALL highway trips, and about 22 overall with mostly city driving. The only mechanical issue that the car currently has is that the air conditioning isn't working. The condenser kicks on, and we tried a refill of refrigerant, but it would only work for a few weeks then fizzle out. Our mechanic said it would be about $150. to put in a new line that has a tiny leak. This was about a year ago, so we never bothered with it. Everything else seems to working great...The condensor/compressor thing works fine, it is just a steel line that has the leak, and the price he quoted included filling the refrigerant back up, the line, etc. ...Power windows work, power mirrors, CD player, tape player, radio, Cruise control works fine, all guages, lights, interior lights, signals, E-brake, fuel door cable/hood cable/trunk pull cable, etc. Also has TWO keyless entry key fobs with NEW batteries and FOUR keys to the car! The interior has stayed quite clean, and we vaccum and wipe it down regularly. The carpets have a few small mud stains, but it hasn't worn through or anything too rough, as we always had mats down in the wintertime. The dash is clean, no fading or cracks. The center console storage is pretty clean, a couple small scuffs... The exterior just had some moulding reattached and a fender banged out. To be quite candid, we never had an accident in this car, so anything on the autocheck would be from before we owned it. HOWEVER, the car is getting rusty in spots. The rear wheel wells are surface rusted, the front fenders are pretty good and clean, and the hood has a few 1/2 of a dime-sized rust pits from road stones. The front driver's side fender was peened back out after my neighbor bumped it and knocked the trim off. It was minor and not an insurance claim, but just making the new buyer aware! IF YOU WANT RELIABLE TRANSPORTATION, THIS IS YOUR VEHICLE. If you want to shine and buff and wash your car to look pretty, this car is about 85% of the way there for you. THE FRAME IS COMPLETELY SOLID and has minor surface rust. My wife had the frame anti-rust coated in 2003 when she bought the car, and it has done very well. We had the car under cover about 95% of the time in the winter, and we washed it when it got salty. Generally speaking, the car has been driven responsibly, and cared for well. ALSO! NON-SMOKING, PET FREE CAR! Please feel free to make reasonable offers, but we will not respond to requests to make a transaction outside of eBay or PayPal. We would be willing to get it to you within about a 1-2 hour radius of Binghamton, NY, for the cost of gas. There are NO fees on top of the final sale price, however, registering and taxes are all up to you and the state you live in, as you should well know. I will provide a bill of sale, clear title, and will remove my license plates as soon as you take delivery. A PayPal deposit of $250.00 is due IMMEDIATELY upon committing to the purchase. I will not end the listing until full payment and delivery is made. All reasonable offers will be considered. Thanks!