Toyota Tercel

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Wed 29 Oct 2003 18:56
Toyota Tercel - bigbill
Hi folks

I'm a great believer in keeping old wheels rolling along......
To this extent I've been offered a B reg Toyota Tercel automatic with just 40,000 on the clock.

Any advice for me? (I was looking for an auto by the way).
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Fri 31 Oct 2003 13:08
Toyota Tercel - Harmattan
I wonder if this is the LHD one that has been touted around for the best part of a year? Anyhow, not sure if you mean the 4WD estate or the saloon. The UK spec 4WD estate was manual only and had a 1500cc engine. I borrowed one for a week in 1984 when it was just launched and it was an excellent load carrier for the time. I took it out on the sands at Lindisfarne and it was great for just playing around. The Americans think very highly of them and there are plenty of Tercels 4WD and 2WD going up to 200000 miles and beyond, I believe. I did drive a Tercel saloon auto in the States back then too on a 1-day hire but I seem to think it had a smaller engine or emissions strangling it and was a bit underpowered. Mind you there were four blokes in it.

More up-to-date I drove a 130,000 miler estate about six months ago up for sale at £120 as seen, three weeks MOT etc. The interior was filthy so I ruled it out as a banger but it drove fine, even with nearly 20 years of experience in gradually more modern vehicles. A nice condition 1500 should prove reliable and perfectly capable in today's traffic but be aware engine spares may now be tricky and automatic parts even more so if it is an import from the USA. There are a few US specialists who might be able to help.

HTH

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