It’s that car you know is out there, but rarely rarely see—almost a decade old and in near pristine condition. The kind of sleeper daily driver that’s perfect for the person who cares less about flash and more about function.
So when a showroom-clean 2017 Toyota Camry rolled into the Toyota dealership where he works, Bud (@gofannon_brocannon) took his incredulity to TikTok. His reaction? A detailed look around the dustless vehicle. Garnering 112,000 views, the Colorado mechanic simply captioned the vehicle “a true gem.”
“I mean, it still has the sticker on the light for chrissakes,” he exclaims.
A Time Capsule Camry
It may not feel like that long ago, but in car years and dollar signs a 2017 is basically from another era. And the condition the car is in invites the imagination. “I’m gonna show you the dash,” says Bud. “And I want you to go ahead and lock in your answer for what you think the mileage on this vehicle might be.”
He pauses. Then he pans over and says, “Whatever number you’ve got is wrong.”
The Camry only has 1,138 miles on the odometer. Most people drive on average roughly 14,000 miles per year. So 1,138 miles isn’t just reasonably low, it’s service car low. As with anything mint condition, the question is “How?”
The people of the internet have some ideas as to how a 2017 Toyota Camry could have so few miles.
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@MrsRogers2013 offers the obvious theory: “That was a memaw’s car that only drove it to the church right by her house.”
Several jokes about time travel.
That owner is clearly from the future and knew what was up. He/she is playing the long game,” says @Nifty. And @NiksTheLaw concurs, “It time traveled. Had to have.”
However, the big question that emerges is: “service for WHAT?” as @terra asks.
Service Station Information
In a subsequent video Bud explains what services an eight-year-old Camry might need. “I’ll tell you what the deal is,” he promises.
“When you go in [for] your oil changed they put a sticker in your window. On that sticker are a couple of numbers, one of them is mileage, another is a date,” he says. “The date isn’t on there just for gits and shiggles, it's on there because your oil changes are tracked by mileage or time.”
He then explains something that can happen to underdriven cars: condensation. If a car never heats up properly, moisture forms in the engine and doesn’t burn off.
Where does the condensation go? Into the oil pan. And over time, it will collect and it just float on top of the oil. Then when the car is driven, the water and oil mixture (milky oil) starts running through the engine, causing all kinds of problems. Including engine failure.
Camry For Life
In the comments, there are more than a couple of people who say they’ve had their Camrys for over 20 years. Many viewers were hoping to see a car from the 90s, 80s, or even the early 2000s.
But that’s the thing: these cars last and are one of America’s favorite cars. The Toyota Camry debuted in 1983 as the front-wheel-drive relief to the rear-wheel-drive Corona. Its popularity grew because it was super reliable, fuel efficient, and came in a wealth of trims. “There’s a Camry for everybody,” says Brain Tague of Top Speed.
Motor1 has reached out to Bud. We’ll update this if he responds.
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