eBay Tercel 4WD in the Nashville area

[ARCHINSTL]

Mootsman -
You might look at this - just listed - automatic, though.
Interesting description by someone who apparently buys and sells, though...
<a href='http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... S%3AUS%3A1' target='_blank'>http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... AUS%3A1</a>
Auction # 4572614478
Tom M.

[Inkyturbo]

I couldn't stand having an automatic Tercel. It would get bad gas mileage, and with the amount of hp we have it would have NO power with the AC on.

[MootsMan]

Thanks, Tom , for the heads-up on that car. My wife needs something to drive in place of the gas-sucking behometh Ta-Ho that she's currently driving. $3.00 a gallon for regular at most places here now, and it's only going to get worse. Thing is , she can't drive a manual, and has never forgiven me for laughing my ass off during a couple of sessions when I was trying to teach her !

I'll try and check it out in a couple days. I own two already, but one has the transmission out and my mechanic has been dragging his feet for 3months now.
I hope to get the timing issues with my daily driver fixed over the weekend or next week.

[ARCHINSTL]

Moots -
Well, I would really look that over with a fine-tooth comb. The fellow's description reads like a used-car salesman wrote it. Of course, he may be a little more candid with a fellow Tennessean than with a Yankee, particularly if he knows the car is going to stay in the neighborhood. He does have 2 or 3 Negatives, though. He apparently buys and sells cars, judging from recent purchases and sales. Incidentally, the location just shows up as "Nashville", and while I'm sure it's not the same guy, my seller's name is Donald Brock in Smyrna.
And, I would get it in writing about the A/C needing only a charge. I was burned on "blows cool" on mine, although it was my fault for not noticing.
Off the subject, though - a couple of friends of mine had the same reaction you did on that tunnel trail in Illinois; they got off and walked quite a ways before they felt their equilibrium returning.
Ever do the Katy Trail here in MO? It is the longest rails-to-trail project in the USA, and goes from St. Charles (a little West of STL) to Sedalia. It is hard-pack gravel. It parallels the Missouri River virtually the entire length and is quite scenic. Lots of B&Bs and scenic little RR towns.
A nephew who lives in ATL has done that GA trail and has raved about it.
Good Luck !
Tom M.

[MootsMan]

I actually saw the car yesterday, but haven't had a chance to drive it yet. It looks pretty good inside, but the paint , although not peeling, has some issues. It's had to believe that if this is an original owner car that the paint is in such bad shape. It's very obvious that the car hasn't been taken very good care of through out it's life. It's at $735 now. He told me in his email that he has an offer of $1000 on it. I guess that's still not too bad.....seems like from what I hear everyone on this forum say, that's pretty decent mileage.

Off subject, onto the bike trails, Tom, I have heard of the Katy trail, but never have ridden it. I really need to be on the lookout for a tandem, and get my wife involved in riding. She never has been the athletic type, so consequently, there's very few activities that we do together, and I think tandeming would be fun.

Is that hard pack gravel the same thing that is on the Tunnel Hill Trail ?? it's a very fine crushed limestone, and a hard trail, but maybe a 1/4" loose on the top. I didnt' have any trouble riding on it with my road bike and the 700x23C tires.

MJ

[ARCHINSTL]

MJ -
That car is the same color as mine, which was originally sold in Nashville by Harpeth (?) Toyota. I noted from the pix of the right rear quarter that the paint is down to almost the primer (?) in the identical area under the fuel filler door as mine. Evidently the gold did not hold up too well to gasoline compared to other colors. Other than that, the paint on mine looks pretty good and is not deteriorated, per se. I do need to polish it, but have concentrated on getting it to run.
Which, incidentally, it flunked the HC and NOx portions of the emissions test yesterday. I had the EGR tubes blocked with ball bearings to facilitate idling issues, so the tech did not notice the EGR disablement. So, I guess when it is retested the EGR will be working, albeit idling poorly, and the NOx retest should be an improvement. More work to do.

Vis-a-vis the Katy Trail: It is a hard-pack crushed limestone, and 700x28 and larger tires should have no problem anywhere; some 23/25c tires may have issues at the outer edges of the trail, though. There is no coasting, however, but because of the surface only. Since it was originally laid out for antebellum woodburners with not much power, it's really flat.
Check out:
<a href='http://www.mostateparks.com/katytrail.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.mostateparks.com/katytrail.htm</a>
<a href='http://www.katycentral.com/' target='_blank'>http://www.katycentral.com/</a>
<a href='http://katytrail.showmestate.com/' target='_blank'>http://katytrail.showmestate.com/</a>
Tom M