Eileen's Suburban needed replacing about this time and I wanted to replace it with a used SUV we would purchase to get out of the leasing cycle.  I was also looking for an equally good towing vehicle to pull around my 21' Trophy Walk Around.  As a result I traded in my Z28 LS1 for a Dodge Durango of all things.  So do not feel too sorry for me, I made out OK.

The 2000 Dodge Durango SLT Plus was a strong fuel slurping beast that easily towed the boat and transported the family safely in a tank like structure.  But this 4 vehicle move was a bit of a disaster.  The Dodge proved to be unreliable with engine and transmission troubles and the Nissan was often mistaken for a Camry.  We should have stuck with the Chevrolets.  I could have bought out the Suburban for just about what I paid for the Durango and kept the Z28.  Hindsight is always 20-20.

The Maxima did turn out to be a pretty good car and somewhat fun to drive.  It had a little kick and could surprise the unwary minivan driver.  The handling felt pretty good too, but on the whole it just did not quite pull off the sporty thing.  The sunroof was nice and it was a roomy car.  Over all it was very reliable except for a clutch at around 130K.  And it was nice this car had a chain driving the overhead cams, so no 100K timing belt like so many other OHC cars.

The worst aspect of this car however was the torture I was subjected to from my family.  This did not start out as intentional but rapidly developed into a regular phenomenon.  The problem was the color and shape of the car.  The light gold color I referred to as "Daytona Champagne Gold" (to give it a race car spin) was perceived as Camry tan by the family.  As many of you know almost all Camrys are tan which caused some confusion in parking lots.   The undistinguishable melting butter shape of the car was quite anti-distinctive. 

This led to the regular occurrence of the family members walking up to the nearest tan Camry in parking lots and waiting for me to unlock the doors.  Ha-ha, right?  They do not know how close they were to being left standing there, having to eventually bum a ride from the unsuspecting Camry owner.  Who would have the last laugh then? 

Daytona Champagne Gold!

Overall the Camry was a good car with issues.   My next car, the WS6 TransAm overlapped this one.  So when a friend of mine was looking for a cheap stick shift car for his son I was ready to part with the CaMaxima and try to salvage my wounded pride.