eBay -- immaculate 4WD DLX wagon, AT, 55K -- Ohio

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garyfish
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My tercel:: 1985 Tercel SR5, stock; 1987 T4WD DLX wagon, manual tranny
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eBay -- immaculate 4WD DLX wagon, AT, 55K -- Ohio

Post by garyfish »

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Tercel-W ... ars_Trucks

eBay listing says it's a 1980, which of course is impossible... looks like a 1983 or '84 to me (because the rear wiper parks horizontally), but I don't see an inclinometer

description says the wagon is a California vehicle that was in storage for 13 years, and recently it was driven cross-country from Los Angeles to its present location in Youngstown, Ohio

seller obviously doesn't know these wagons, and can't even post the correct VIN or model year

a rare near-mint specimen for sure... this could end up selling for big bucks, perhaps upwards of $5,000

5 bids so far, current bid is $2,550

auction ends May 06, 2014 at 10:48:52 PDT
1985 Tercel SR5 4WD wagon, 300K
1987 Tercel DLX 4WD wagon, 6-speed manual, 274K -- got this one running Jan. 2015 (had been sitting for 2 years); this has been my daily driver since 2016
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rer233
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Re: eBay -- immaculate 4WD DLX wagon, AT, 55K -- Ohio

Post by rer233 »

Something a little hinky here. Dx's never came with tachs- so the cluster's been swapped. Can't really trust the odo reading then.
if it aint there, there's a good chance it won't break!
83 SR5 Silver/Blue (Snowmobile/work beater)-totaled but drivable
85 SR5 Blue
88 SR5 White (the 'good' one)-not anymore-totaled
87 fwd silver wagon a/t
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Re: eBay -- immaculate 4WD DLX wagon, AT, 55K -- Ohio

Post by Jarf »

Nice disclaimer too "I cannot vouch for any drivability" yet he just drive the thing cross country??
I realize he is trying to cover his butt but that mega-statement was written by a lawyer in training (or someone trying to hide something?)
Also kinda odd that a head gasket was done to pass emissions, THEN it got t-stat and new rad, perhaps there is a little overheating issue still??
And why on earth would a car need CV's at 55K? Hinky indeed.


All that said, still a nice car, but the sketchiness is worrisome, fortunately though its an auto, so I can stop thinking about it now :)
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irowiki
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Re: eBay -- immaculate 4WD DLX wagon, AT, 55K -- Ohio

Post by irowiki »

rer233 wrote:Something a little hinky here. Dx's never came with tachs- so the cluster's been swapped. Can't really trust the odo reading then.

I don't know, perhaps some people had the tach installed by the dealer?
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Re: eBay -- immaculate 4WD DLX wagon, AT, 55K -- Ohio

Post by ARCHINSTL »

What they said about the mileage shown on the swapped cluster - of course, many peeps looking at this won't know to ask.
No pix of engine bay, but one of door panel ? ? ?

OT, but interesting that the car with all of the "graffiti" has a MO license plate.
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dlb
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Re: eBay -- immaculate 4WD DLX wagon, AT, 55K -- Ohio

Post by dlb »

i hope prospective buyers have an opportunity to do a carfax check or whatever it's called. all that work done on such a supposedly low miles car is curious, plus all the "i'm not responsible for anything to do with this car" talk, plus the incorrect gauge cluster, makes me suspicious. buyer beware.
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Re: eBay -- immaculate 4WD DLX wagon, AT, 55K -- Ohio

Post by Vienna »

I admit, our low miles 2wd we've been working on had work listed as done to her, we found things from receipts and official toyota stickers on things like the timing belt giving us clues to work she had done, but nothing as serious as a "head gasket rebuild" (I don't know if he means REPLACED gasket or redid the head?).

It's up to 2.9K as I write this, I really hope the person buying it doesn't get duped by this guy. He sounds like a fraud to me. How hard is it to get the vin and imput it into the listing, let alone getting the proper year from the "manufactured in _____" plate right beside the door vin? It's a mystery "1980" wagon.

Edit: The vin he stole for the listing is from this:
http://www.econpch.com/inventory_detail ... v_id=10187
A 1980 4x4 toyota truck.
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Mad_Marx
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Re: eBay -- immaculate 4WD DLX wagon, AT, 55K -- Ohio

Post by Mad_Marx »

A DLX with an SR5 gauge cluster, suspiciously low mileage, no information about drive-ability or maintenance records, and no pics of under the hood or chassis. Fishy, very fishy. Buyer Beware!
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Re: eBay -- immaculate 4WD DLX wagon, AT, 55K -- Ohio

Post by Vienna »

I bugged him about the year and vin number as well as the lack of engine bay pics. He replied saying he'll look into it it, and see about adding the pic.
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Re: eBay -- immaculate 4WD DLX wagon, AT, 55K -- Ohio

Post by Petros »

curious, that same vin number put in google turns up in '80 4x4 truck for sale in several parts of the country, looks like fraud to me. That is not even close to a Tecel vin number.

That could be an honest mistake, and it the car is as described, that is not an unreasonable price. But lots of these details are adding up to something far less than honest. It would be an easy thing to fix the vin, if the seller actually wanted to.
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Re: eBay -- immaculate 4WD DLX wagon, AT, 55K -- Ohio

Post by Vienna »

He still hasn't added the proper vin or pics despite telling me he was going to do it. He also evaded the questioning the cluster being from an SR5. He could have said "it was done before I got it", if it was honestly nothing of his doing, but he just outright evaded.
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Re: eBay -- immaculate 4WD DLX wagon, AT, 55K -- Ohio

Post by Jarf »

This is almost more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

"It took however about a week to travel east with it going about 65MPH" " a grocery getter, economy box, not a Lexus"
I wonder how long it would take, to make the same trip in a Lexus, doing 65mph?

"I have no receipts with me except for the axle shaft left….The rest of the work was done at the same time but we do not have paperwork" WTF?

16pic's and nothing of the right side or engine or underside??

And why would the switch for the rear wiper be missing most of its decals and the imitation leather grain on the steering wheel looks oddly smooth, much like mine at 5x the mileage???

I also seem to see a few rusty spots trying o poke out from under the W/S trim, not what I would expect from a dry climate car that was "always garaged".

1 day and 6hrs of more fun to be had.
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marlinh
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Re: eBay -- immaculate 4WD DLX wagon, AT, 55K -- Ohio

Post by marlinh »

Some poor sap is going to end up with this thing. Weird that there are only pics of one side. The whole thing sounds suspicious to me too.
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Petros
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Re: eBay -- immaculate 4WD DLX wagon, AT, 55K -- Ohio

Post by Petros »

I do not see any evidence of rust trying to poke through, but the car was from Santa Monica CA, if it housed near the water front it can get as rusty as a car in Detroit. Actually the low wear on the seats and brake pedals indicated low miles, the faded labels are not uncommon in sunny climates.

Looks to me like a 1984.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
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'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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Re: eBay -- immaculate 4WD DLX wagon, AT, 55K -- Ohio

Post by Jarf »

What I was seeing is on the LF windshield pillar, theres something growing from beside the trim, first one about 4inches above the bottom corner, couple more up near the top and one more a few inches in across the top.
Could just as well be dirt or even the poor pic.
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