Now I’m in that awkward situation where it’s not really worth selling - and not really worth fixing up and keeping. It might still be a $400 car to the right Toyota collector, but if someone desparately needed a $400 daily driver car they’d really be much better off buying an early 2000’s beater in better mechanical shape with some dents and cosmetic issues. Yes it still fires up and mostly runs fine and there’s hardly any body rust...but the exhaust system is full of holes and multiple tin-can patches, the tires are starting to get some cracks, the timing belt hasn’t been changed for 21 years, brake calipers and hoses are the original ones and are rusted all to shit, rear bearings are noisy, driver’s window is very stiff, battery is holding about 10% capacity, the TVS valve isn’t quite right (one port blocked off, not much power until engine is warm)….and after a minor mishap with a truck trailer hitch a few years ago, the hood and grill are crumpled and have never lined up quite right and are held together with a lot of tape and zip ties.
Individually all the repairs could be done, but the time and cost to me just is not worth it. Now, if this car was a SR5 with stick shift, I would probably have much more enthusiasm to keep it on the road, but unfortunately that 3-speed automatic is just not much fun to drive when all you have to work with is 63HP. That being said, the heater in this car is the best I’ve ever had, the seats are more comfortable than my “new” (1999) Tercel, and visibility is top notch.
However in British Columbia there is a government-sponsored scrap program where you can drop off an old car at the auto recycler and either get a rebate towards a new electric car or $850 towards a new electric bicycle. There are a few conditions, i.e. you can’t just drag in an old wreck that’s been sitting in your field forever, the qualifying car must have been insured and on the road for at least 6 months, has to have all the parts intact, and has to be able to be driven under its own power to said scrapyard. I’ve got another Toyota so not really interested in new electric vehicles at this point, but I do intend to try and get in on that electric bicycle rebate - assuming the program doesn’t get shut down due to the ol Coronavirus in the next few weeks.
I would definitely be open to getting another elderly Tercel again when the time is right - preferably either a first gen hatchback or a 4WD.