Inheriting an 85, bad idea for first kid's car?

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
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Trunk Monkey
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My tercel:: 1985

Inheriting an 85, bad idea for first kid's car?

Post by Trunk Monkey »

I have the opportunity to get an '85 Tercel wagon from my dad. It's got 280k miles, it runs ok, has a little rust appearing in the rear wheel wells, but otherwise seems ok. I literally just got done replacing the head gaskets on a '97 Outback that was going to be my 16yo's first car. He's enamored with the Tercel since it's a manual and "retro".

So, I'm wondering if it's a bad idea to sell the Outback and have him use the Tercel. Are parts unobtanium? At 280k am I nearing a rebuild? I think the clutch will likely need to be replaced in the near future, especially after someone gets through learning to drive stick. I'm a Toyota enthusiast, have had Land Cruisers for years, and am very familiar with Toyota, but it seems each model has it's nuances. Thanks for any input.
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Mattel
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My tercel:: 1988 Corolla 4wd Wagon (AKA Corolla All-trac) 5speed, AC, Power Sunroof, Windows, Mirrors, Steering, Locking, Diff Lock, 14" Corolla SX Alloys with Silica Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, 210,000kms
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Inheriting an 85, bad idea for first kid's car?

Post by Mattel »

Hi Trunk Monkey, where do you live? parts availability in say the west coast of the USA seems pretty high. If you have the chance for him to try both cars first that would be ideal. Also, what sort of driving will they be doing? fast busy freeways in bad weather or city runs? If your Dad has been driving the car carefully the clutch should be fine. I would definitely flush the oil from the transmission and refill with quality replacement as that is this cars most fragile and rare part.
Previous: 83 Tercel SR5 4wd, 84 Tercel SR5 4wd
88 Corolla 4wd Wagon 5speed, All power options, Fact Sunroof, Diff Lock, 14" SX Alloys, Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, Tow Bar, 210,000kms
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dlb
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My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
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Re: Inheriting an 85, bad idea for first kid's car?

Post by dlb »

First cars rarely fare well due to the excitability and inexperience of new drivers, and t4's are becoming more and more rare, so I personally would have them stick with the Outback. Save the t4 until they are older, or for someone else who will take good care of it. Just my 2 cents though.
YoYoTercel
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My tercel:: 1983 Tercel 4x4 SR5

Re: Inheriting an 85, bad idea for first kid's car?

Post by YoYoTercel »

Trunk Monkey,
I have a similar situation to yours....I have an 85 Tercel with 280K miles. My 19 year old son wanted to learn stick and he had the hardest time learning it on an Acura Legend 6 speed. When I gave him the Tercel, it was much easier and not nearly as powerful as the Legend. He likes driving the Tercel because of the space - tall roof for a 6' 1" kid. So in my case, I recommend it if you know he is a careful driver and knows the value of these cars. Also, it's an easy car to fix (besides the major work).
The Professor
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My tercel:: 1987 Tercel SR5 4WD wagon
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Re: Inheriting an 85, bad idea for first kid's car?

Post by The Professor »

Expect that your new driver will be in an accident due to inattention or lack of skill. I, for one, would really like to avoid being in a Tercel when it crashes...
1975 Subaru SuperStar wagon
1984 Subaru Turbo-Traction wagon & hardtop
1987 Subaru RX 3-door
1987 Subaru RX Type-RA 3-door
1987 Toyota Tercel SR5 wagon
1999 Subaru Forester S
2002 Subaru WRX sedan
2019 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited
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LowBuckCanuck
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My tercel:: 1986 DLX 4wd Wagon "Jenny"

Re: Inheriting an 85, bad idea for first kid's car?

Post by LowBuckCanuck »

For what it's worth, my first car was a tercel and I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything.

A tercel is probably less likely to be in a violent crash that is the fault of the driver simply because they're, uh, slow. I would be more worried about other drivers hitting the tercel. Some of the replies above show clear bias towards young and new drivers without knowing anything about your son. If he is into the tercel I doubt he is a wannabe Ken Block.

I suppose it depends on how mechanically inclined your son is, because things inevitably go wrong on a car of this age. It would be great to learn if he is passionate about it. You can't expect everything to always work perfectly.
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splatterdog
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Re: Inheriting an 85, bad idea for first kid's car?

Post by splatterdog »

The Professor wrote: Mon Apr 08, 2019 8:00 am Expect that your new driver will be in an accident due to inattention or lack of skill. I, for one, would really like to avoid being in a Tercel when it crashes...
As would I, mostly for the benefit of the T4.. There's been at least 2 good crashes by members over the years that totaled the car, yet they walked away. Then there's crash avoidance, hard to beat visibility in a T4. A light bump in a T4 is an uneventful oopsie. Same bump in a newer car can be a thou or two. Beaters for new drivers is usually best, but T4's are special. I'm with dlb.

Pro's and cons to every choice..

Don't forget the trunk monkey, Trunk Monkey.
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
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Re: Inheriting an 85, bad idea for first kid's car?

Post by Petros »

welcome to the forum.

Where are you located? tough question, a lot depends on your son. Most of my early cars I sold for more money than I bought them for (bought them as fixers, cleaned them up and drove them, and than found another project car I liked better). These Tercel4wd cars if in decent shape are starting to get decent money for them, in the $3000-4000 range, almost collector status. there is a following that on the west coast that is hungry for good running Tercel4wd. Both of my daughters are not careless drivers, but both puts lots of little dents and crunches in their cars (they kept bringing them to me to fix their embarrassing whoops). So I would have been not happy had they done this to a nice Tercel4wd.

And as reliable as these cars are, that car is 35 years old, things keep wearing out and need to be replaced on a regular basis. Seals, bearings, locks, switches, ball joints, bushings, etc. in addition to the big items like engine, clutch, brakes, and so fourth. So any car this old tends to need a lot of minor maintenance, if he is willing to do that himself, not a big deal, but if he has to pay others to fix those things, the car will be too troublesome to own.

Foruthantly, the car is easy to work on, parts are available and fairly inexpensive, and it gives a lot of confidence to a young car owner to have those skills to be able to fix what ever the car needs.

Most critical part is the transmission, it is unique to this model. It is durable, but if abused or if not serviced regularly, it will wear out and fail. keep the gear oil changed at regular intervals, if any of the seals are leaky fix them right away (or you risk trashing the trans from low gear oil), and keep the gear oil topped up.

the other sensitive part of the car is the cooling system/head gasket. they are reliable and work well, but if allowed to over heat, you will be doing a head gasket replacement. this engine usually does not tolerate getting overheated. So keep the cooling system in good condition, always check/replace hoses, flush regularly, new coolant and new quality thermostat every three years.

The rest is all routine maintenance, oil, filters, spark plugs/wires, brakes. I have 400,000 miles on my daily driver (with lots of heavy maintenance over the years, but I keep rebuilding it), so it is possible to keep them running. There are a few forum members that have even more miles than me, and some that put a lot of miles on them without major engine work (that would not be me, I tend to be hard on my engines I live on steep gravel roads).

I have driving lots of different types of cars, many AWD, and I actually prefer the feel of the Tercel4wd, and could not think of anything I would like more. So I keep rebuilding it, and improving it as I go, with bigger brakes, bigger engine, better seats, etc.

Good luck.
'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
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My tercel:: Goldie is a 1986 SR5 attualmente con Weber/also owned the first T4WD in STL in late '82
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Re: Inheriting an 85, bad idea for first kid's car?

Post by ARCHINSTL »

TO ADD TO PETROS' ADVICE!
1, viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3171&hilit=sway+bar Especially this one!
2. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3171&p=24333#p24333

Tom M.
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Trunk Monkey
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My tercel:: 1985

Re: Inheriting an 85, bad idea for first kid's car?

Post by Trunk Monkey »

Thanks for the thoughts. He is mechanically inclined, he replaced the HG on the Outback with me over his shoulder. The Outback would be fine, but each time I get under it it seems like I notice something else that will need attention and $, more than I'm really interested in putting into a back and forth to high school car. My original plan was to get him a single cab Hilux or Tacoma, also a manual. Then he could only carry one friend and likely none of his friends could drive it since it seems like most kids don't know how to drive a manual these days. But, the Outback came from a neighbor for just a few hundred dollars and I figured learning to pull the motor and work on it would be good experience before he drives it.

Anyway, I'm not worried about him mistreating the Tercel or an accident. I'm more concerned about needing a CV replaced and finding out they haven't been available for 5 years, that kind of thing. Good info on the tranny, I hadn't thought about it being unique, but with the granny low I guess it definitely would be.

Going to bring it back from Idaho to Utah at the end of the month on a trailer. I remember driving it a few times and 65 being a challenge, lol, so 80 now may be asking too much. Then I'll let him learn to drive a manual and see if he's still so in love with it. Someone mentioned height, I'm 6'2" and have to wedge myself into it, he's 6'5", no clue how he has the leg room.

Thanks again for the info.
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Petros
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Re: Inheriting an 85, bad idea for first kid's car?

Post by Petros »

I have driven manual transmission cars and trucks for 45 plus years, I took my driver's license test in one.

the Tercel is one of the easier manual transmission cars to learn to drive, easy shift and nice smooth clutch transition. It should be the kind of car he can develop proficiency in fairly quickly.

I always felt driving a manual transmission car makes people better drivers, it keeps them more aware of what the car is doing while they drive.
'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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LowBuckCanuck
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My tercel:: 1986 DLX 4wd Wagon "Jenny"

Re: Inheriting an 85, bad idea for first kid's car?

Post by LowBuckCanuck »

If you are worried about parts availability, check out rock auto.
https://www.rockauto.com
It's a pretty definitive list of what parts you can and cannot get for these cars.

What you can't find is made up for by pick n pull, or the friendly inhabitants of this forum.
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Abletobecain
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My tercel:: 1983 4WD DLX, 1986 4WD SR5, 1985 4WD SR5, 1983 4WD SR5
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Re: Inheriting an 85, bad idea for first kid's car?

Post by Abletobecain »

Trunk Monkey - You win coolest dad award (and coolest handle award) on the forum. A T4 for a first car is awesome! And on a plus side for you...they're pretty effective as birth control. :)

I'm 6' 3" and had issues with my leg angle from being so close to the steering wheel. It's pretty easy and cheap to move the whole thing back a few inches. Here's how I did it: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=14082&p=105973&hili ... at#p105973
1977 BMW R100S 1WD ("Brunhilda"/Summer Fun)
1983 DLX Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Charlie"/Daily Driver)
1987 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Sprocket"/Off-road-Camping)
1985 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Lucky"/Project)
1983 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Cadaver"/Parts Car)
1985 Ford F250 6.9IDI ("Franklin"/Hauler)
1987 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Ravensburger"/in a million pieces)
2006 BMW 530XI Wagon ("Inga"/Roadtripper)
1969 Mercury Montego MX Convertible ("Big Ed"/My Dad's Old Car)
1983 SR5 Tercel Wagon 4WD ("Al"/for sale soon)
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