New Member and Vehicle

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
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Gottolovem
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My tercel:: 1985 SR5 with snow plow,1987 auto 1984 parts car,1987 FX-16 GTS
Location: Reno

Re: New Member and Vehicle

Post by Gottolovem »

SnowGoose wrote:
My only real concern now is that I may need a parts car for my parts car if it lasts the entire winter.
Hahaha :lol:
You got the bug :oldgeek:
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irowiki
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Location: Farmington, NM

Re: New Member and Vehicle

Post by irowiki »

Swapping over the AC is a piece of cake if you have a donor one side by side!
Former Tercel Enthusiast (not a practical family car anymore but they still have a place in my heart)

Site administrator, if something is broken, PM me!

87 Corolla FX16, 105k
94 Jamboree RV (Ford E-350), 90k
95 Camry Wagon, 170k
97 4runner, 275k
SnowGoose
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My tercel:: 1985 SR5 Wagon
Location: Maine

Re: New Member and Vehicle

Post by SnowGoose »

I haven't been very active on here over the winter. My good body Goldie '85, which I bought for $2,050 has sat all winter in a heated garage waiting for the salt to get off the roads. My super blue '87 parts car ('87), the Tardis ($500) sat outside and hasn't seen any action either.

I'm working on getting a third car - sight unseen from Vermont again. The owner is going to drive it to Maine for me for his full asking price plus $50 ($650 total). This one has engine problems, burning quart of oil a week he says. Between the three cars my plan is to turn one of the two parts cars into a winter runner, and keep Goldie for the rest of the year. Excited to finally get to work on these projects now. I'm sure I'll have tons of questions once I get started.

I've pretty much bought up the entire New England stock of these cars over the past 6 months. To get two working vehicles for $3,200 total out of pocket makes me very happy.
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: New Member and Vehicle

Post by Petros »

are becoming a Tercel4wd hoarder? a common affliction on this forum, you can not pass up a good deal because you can not stand the idea of what might happen to it if you do not save it.
'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)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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ARCHINSTL
Goldie Forever
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My tercel:: Goldie is a 1986 SR5 attualmente con Weber/also owned the first T4WD in STL in late '82
Location: Kirkwood, a 'burb of St. Louis

Re: New Member and Vehicle

Post by ARCHINSTL »

SnowGoose wrote: My good body Goldie '85, which I bought for $2,050 has sat all winter in a heated garage waiting for the salt to get off the roads. My super blue '87 parts car ('87), the Tardis ($500) sat outside and hasn't seen any action either.
It is interesting that your #1 Terc is named Goldie, which I dubbed mine on her purchase back in '05. And your #2 parts car is tagged Tardis?
I wonder why on #2?
My Goldie bears TARDIS on the hatch, for the same reason as the original TARDIS' function.
What a coincidence!
Tom M.
Tercel Wagon 2.jpg
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T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
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dlb
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My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
Location: bc, canada

Re: New Member and Vehicle

Post by dlb »

you should be careful tom. any more stickers and someone might mistake you for a drift kid.

Image
SnowGoose
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My tercel:: 1985 SR5 Wagon
Location: Maine

Re: New Member and Vehicle

Post by SnowGoose »

Well Goldie for her Highlander gold color, and Tardis because of her spray job (got her like that - original color is a red).
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SnowGoose
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My tercel:: 1985 SR5 Wagon
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Re: New Member and Vehicle

Post by SnowGoose »

...and she came with this sticker, in case there was any doubt about the previous owner's intentions when he sprayed it.
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SnowGoose
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My tercel:: 1985 SR5 Wagon
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Re: New Member and Vehicle

Post by SnowGoose »

Petros wrote:are becoming a Tercel4wd hoarder? a common affliction on this forum, you can not pass up a good deal because you can not stand the idea of what might happen to it if you do not save it.
True. People around me might think I'm a little nuts, but they're the ones with $500 car payments for uninspiring new vehicles.
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rer233
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Re: New Member and Vehicle

Post by rer233 »

+1 on the addiction factor- I've had 11 or 12 of 'em over the last 20 plus years (kinda lost count.) I think Toyota must have laced some of the interior parts with a highly addictive substance (heroin, coke, etc.) That's the only theory that makes sense to me. Prior to finding this site, I thought I was the only one afflicted...
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
87 4wd dx Cream (a/t- not anymore- now m/t)
SnowGoose
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My tercel:: 1985 SR5 Wagon
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Re: New Member and Vehicle

Post by SnowGoose »

It never ceases to amaze me how little Americans value old cars - how 2,000+ lbs of highly functional metal & plastic are worth less than new smartphones. When I buy cars that always seem to be in the $500 - $2500 range, I always think I'm getting a great deal, while the person selling it is grateful that any sucker would even buy their old POS. The low-end car market is totally disjointed.
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dlb
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Re: New Member and Vehicle

Post by dlb »

SnowGoose wrote:It never ceases to amaze me how little Americans value old cars - how 2,000+ lbs of highly functional metal & plastic are worth less than new smartphones. When I buy cars that always seem to be in the $500 - $2500 range, I always think I'm getting a great deal, while the person selling it is grateful that any sucker would even buy their old POS. The low-end car market is totally disjointed.
very well put. i totally agree.
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
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Re: New Member and Vehicle

Post by Petros »

there is a culture of having to have the latest and newest gadget. why else would people stand in line all night to be one of the few to get the newest I-phone (and it is news worthy!).

too much television does that I suppose, we do not even have a television any more, so I am immune to that kind of thinking. Consider that many people will go into debt for a car to impress other people they do not even like very much. Seems to me any idiot can sign a new car lease (and they do every day), to pay twice as much for a car they can not afford anyway. It takes skill and determination to keep an old classic running.

I am actually more impressed with the few people I see around town driving an old classic as a daily driver. It means they know how to keep it running, even if it is an old beater, it shows they have more skill than the average car owner, and they are not driven by ego to buy new cars full of useless gadgets (most of which stop working after a few years).
'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)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
SnowGoose
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My tercel:: 1985 SR5 Wagon
Location: Maine

Re: New Member and Vehicle

Post by SnowGoose »

I'm a recent convert to economical wagons. I can relate to the stupidity, because I was raised (brainwashed) in a suburb where people live in this circle of consumption where they work so they and their families can own the latest greatest toys. I've since discovered, that, while this behavior is endemic in and around the good neighborhoods of our big cities, it is still common all over this country. My vehicle history is checkered, and I really didn't start to make good vehicle decisions until I started seeing the light around 2007. I've owned maybe 20+ cars over the past 20 years, three of which were brand new.

When I didn't know any better (late 1990s) I only wanted American V8 muscle cars of the era (grew up watching NASCAR). Naturally, being both cheap & broke, that habit died quickly when I realized how much money friends pissed into these vehicles. My natural tendencies, being what they were, drifted towards the least expensive cars to purchase - which, again in that era seemed to be mid-size American coupes and sedans that were several years old (without discriminating - any GM/Ford/Dodge product would do). They were also cheap to fix, since parts were plentiful.

I'm not very good (attentive?) when working for others (have been happily self-employed now since 2007), and my car decisions, once I reached working age (save for one) were not really logical - they were more just opportunist. In 2006, with a long commute in a job I hated (and my 9-5 job on the line after missing work too many times due to break-downs), my bosses didn't find my penchant for beaters to be too endearing, especially since the expectation (based on the parking lot) was that everyone should own new cars (with payments, of course, that tied you to their employ). I folded into peer pressure and purchased a brand new Chevy Malibu (V6 of course, because I still couldn't emasculate myself to purchase a 4-banger at that point). That was actually more my more sensible new car purchase (in 2002 I bought a brand new Mustang with cash - which I sold after two years because I needed the money that I foolishly wasted on it). My only other new purchase as a 2009 Work Truck (also cash), which was my only new vehicle purchase that was wise (it actually pays for itself, and makes me money). The Malibu is still on the road with nearly 200k (Dad's had it for the last 7 years), and still going strong thanks to my taking care of it for the past 10 years.

When I started working for myself in 2007 I started viewing vehicles as tools. The truck for carpentry and plowing and second vehicles (wagons) for tool-carrying and efficiency when the truck wasn't needed (which, let's face it, isn't often). I work for some large clients doing property maintenance (and have some subcontractors with larger trucks), and most large things these days get delivered for free, so really I just need my hand tools for the day. Now when things break down, I don't stress - I have no bosses to penalize me for taking a day or two to get it working again.

It took me awhile, and I don't learn until I get hit in the head a few times (I grew up playing hockey, so that might explain some things), but my philosophy now is that you should never have a loan on a vehicle (unless it's a work van or something that pays for itself), and that there are plentiful reliable un-wanted vehicles out there so that new vehicles are almost never justified. That, and as you said, Petros, buying things to try to impress people is misguided. I always had the skills to take care of stuff myself, but did it out of perceived necessity. It wasn't until more recently that I actually looked at it as enjoyment. I too admire the people around town that take care of older low-to-the-ground vehicles (especially here where they will rust to hell if you don't power wash the salt off religiously - the trucks last longer because of their thick frames and clearance away from the salt) - my hero is the guy driving an early 80's VW Diesel Dasher I see year round.
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Mark
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My tercel:: 1984 Automatic, 1981 sedan
Location: Victoria, B.C.

Re: New Member and Vehicle

Post by Mark »

When I was a kid/teenager in the '80s-'90s in Vancouver, no one I knew had a new vehicle. -And that includes parents of friends, not just teenagers. It wasn't until I was around 22 that a friend of my girlfriend bought a new car (a Pontiac Sunfire) and it was a big deal.
Today, I only know a few people who don't own a car they bought new. I think it's because nowadays, people around here can't afford older used cars. To buy a typical used car, you need lets say a few thousand dollars in cash (or on a credit card, but many people's credit cards are racked up already). I think many people would have a hard time coming up with even $1000 cash. So let's say you're a typical person around here and you need a car. You could find some non-existent cash under your sofa cushions and buy a $1000 Tercel or you could go into a dealer and buy a 2016 something-or-other brand new for $150 a-month that your bank takes automatically out of your account on payday. For many people, financially that is the only option. Interest rates are so low that lenders are desperate to finance pretty much anybody. Since these same people can't afford repairs on vehicles either, new vehicles come with warranties that take care of that for you as well. I actually know someone who's vehicle needed a new tire ($800 for one) and they didn't have the money so they just traded it in at the dealer for another new car.
It seems ironic, but my theory is that most people drive new cars nowadays because they are superficially much cheaper than old, used ones.
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