what kind of repairs should I expect when buying an 04 0r 05 or 06 Toyota Camry or corolla

The only major maintenance would be the replacing the timing belt and possibly the water pump. I say they are maintenance and not repairs is because all cars in the range of 60k-100k miles will need to get it done. Water pumps are not a costly repair and that since it is driven by the timing belt that most people just have the service done as well to save on future labor costs since various components are removed and will not add to the labor cost by much if any. Otherwise most everything else would be repair as things fail or wear out which is mainly random.

Depends very much on mileage. Under 50,000= nothing at all except ordinary maintenance. I agree mostly with vietle, but I don't understand why he would say water pump if it is performing properly and not leaking. Otherwise, I think he hit it right on. From a '06 Corolla owner.. Get a car fax!!! If private party you will have to pay for it yourself but if dealer make then give you one. I don't want to sound like a commercial for CarFax but they contain important information that could make or break your decision.

I meant possibly the water pump as well because if you are having to replace the timing belt you are removing hardware that also runs the water pump. Most of if it being service labor cost. So instead of fixing the time belt now then in 20k more miles if you your water pump is corroded and not working right you will have to pay the same labor cost to replace that as well. timing belt + water pump + labor is cheaper than (timing belt + labor) + (water pump + labor). Hope that helps. Just a cost saving tip but not necessarily the only way to go about it.

Understood now. Thanks. And right on.

Only thing is the FE series, the 1ZZ FE 1.8L used until 2008 does not have a timing belt. The cam is chain driven, I just found that out