Toyota Camry tops Cars.com American-made index for 3rd straight year

For the third straight year, the Toyota Camry mid-sized sedan tops the 10 vehicles in Cars.com's annual American-Made Index.

The index ranks U.S.-assembled vehicles based on the percentage of their parts made in the United States and the number of vehicles sold to domestic consumers. At least 75 percent of the parts in every vehicle on the list were made in the United States.

"The Camry remains an incredibly popular vehicle, and higher total sales require a higher number of U.S. factory workers and a larger number of U.S. suppliers -- all of which contribute to Toyota's ranking," Cars.com's editor-in-chief, Patrick Olsen, said in a statement.

Most Camrys are assembled at Toyota's Georgetown, Ky., plant, which employs 6,429 people.

About 25 percent of Camrys are made at Subaru's plant in Lafayette, Ind., Toyota spokesman Jim Wiseman said. Toyota contracts with Subaru to make the vehicles, Wiseman said.

Through May 31, Toyota sold 125,218 domestically made Camrys in the United States and about 80 percent of the parts in the Camry are made domestically, Olsen said.

Wiseman said today that the company was committed to using locally made parts.

"Part of Toyota's guiding principles is to support the communities where we're based," Wiseman said. "The best way we can do that is by using locally made parts."

While it's advantageous for foreign automakers to use U.S.-made parts, Olsen said the Detroit 3 use fewer locally made parts to cut costs and better compete globally.

"They've lessened their domestic parts content but strengthened their bottom line," Olsen said in a telephone interview.

Two other Toyota vehicles cracked the top 10: the Sienna minivan at No. 6 and the Tundra full-sized pickup at No. 9 . With three vehicles in the rankings, Toyota tied General Motors for the most vehicles in the top 10.

GM's Chevrolet Malibu mid-sized sedan ranked third, up from fifth last year. The Chevrolet Traverse crossover was No. 8 and the GMC Acadia crossover rounded out the list at No. 10. Neither the Traverse nor the Acadia was on the list last year.

For the second straight year, the Honda Accord claimed the second spot in the rankings. The Accord is built at the automaker's Marysville, Ohio, plant and 120,035 American made units were sold in the first five months of 2011.

Honda's Odyssey minivan also made the list, coming in at No. 5.

The Chicago-made Ford Explorer made its debut on this year's list at No. 4 and is the only Ford Motor Co. vehicle to make the rankings. According to Olsen, 85 percent of the Explorer's parts are made in the United States.

The Jeep Wrangler, ranked No. 7, is the only Chrysler vehicle on the list.

in the market to buy a used mid-sized sedan

QUESTION:

I am in the market to buy a used mid-sized sedan. I am looking to spend $10,000-12,000. What would be the best deal, and how long could I expect it to last?

ANSWER:

You could purchase a 2003 or 2004 Toyota Camry for that price. I have always been impressed with this car. A well-cared-for Toyota will give you many miles of happy motoring.

The key is difficult to insert / remove from ignition

QUESTION:

I have a 94 Camry. The key is difficult to insert / remove from ignition and won't turn at all. I've tried the spare key and it won't even insert all the way into the lock. Saw online about removing lock cylinder, but can't turn to ACC position

Answer:

You can either drill the lock cylinder which is no picnic or what I do is drive a square shank screw driver into the key slot then put a wrench on the shank and force the tumbler cylinders to the ACC position. Obviously use common sense here not to break the whole housing off. I have had good success at doing it this way.

car is making a low moaning sound when it gets to around

HUB BEARING

Question: My car is making a low moaning sound when it gets to around 30 to 40 mph. The mechanic I took it to today drove it and said it was the wheel barrings and that it would cost $250 to $350 to fix. It''s a 2001 Toyota Camry. What do you think about this price? Answer: If the noise has been verified as that then this is a very fair price. The part is not more than $50 but the labor is intensive on the bearings.

Toyota Corolla 1999 and I have trouble to start engine

Question: I have Toyota Corolla 1999 and I have trouble to start engine. When I turn key on I listen only one click from from starter and nothing. After that I turn key on once again and the engine start normally. It is happen any time when is engine cold or hot. sometimes take me 15 min. to start engine. Battery is new and checked for load, amp.. , salesperson checked start motor - said it is OK. ( 9,5 V ) at that time car started without any problems. I checked crankshaft sensor ( Ohm ). By Haynes book it''s OK. Should I perform some another tests!? or what is problem? Answer: This is a very common problem. You are having intermittent starter issues. What happens is you get poor contact inside the starter, usually due to worn starter brushes. This causes an intermittent no start. Vehicle may click one time for 20 minutes and then start fine. You can verify this by probing the signal wire (small single wire) on the back of the starter with a test light when the vehicle is giving you this no-start problem. Probe the wire with a test light and ground the alligator clip. Now have someone turn the key and see if the test light lights up. If it lights up, but does not start, you know that you are getting signal to the starter and you are having a problem with the starter itself. (NOTE: BE CAREFUL WHEN PROBING THE SIGNAL WIRE BECAUSE THE ENGINE MAY START. YOU WILL HAVE YOUR HANDS DOWN IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT!! REMEMBER THAT THIS IS AN INTERMITTEN ISSUE, SO EVEN IF IT DOES NOT START 100 TIMES IN A ROW, IT MIGHT START THE NEXT TIME. PLEASE BE SURE THAT YOUR HANDS/BODY IS CLEAR OF ANY MOVING PARTS IN CASE THE ENGINE STARTS.) The brushes are held by the brush holder (#5 in diagram). You can take the starter apart, but I would recommend replacing the starter if you are not a skilled technician.

car is shaking badly when I brake

Question: My car is shaking badly when I brake...especially braking on hills. My guess is that my rotors are bad. I have a 1998 4-cyl. Toyota Camry and I would like to know how much I should expect to pay if the rotors need to be replaced. Answer: Rotors installed would be around $100.00 and the Brake pads installed with premium pads would run around $130.00. So parts and labor around $230.00 +tax for complete job. Keep in mind some shops charge a shop supplies fee...