new tercel owner

[kevcmc]

my girlfriend just bought (which means i will be the primary mechanic) an '83 4wd wagon. i gave the deal the thumbs up, since i have owned 2 toyota trucks, as well as a '74 corona wagon. all three were bullet-proof.

the tercel has 225,000 miles on it, and has been well maintained. everything seems OK, save for the normal this-and that small stuff of a well-used 26-year old 'yota.

i'm very excited. she is parting with a mercedes diesel (i have a 240D) that i just have a feeling is time to go.

we like camping and taking back roads, so i think the tercel will serve us both better that the benzo.

[sdoan]

Sounds like a great car. Congratulations! I had an '83 for 12 years and 110,000 miles. Sold it to my friend so I still do the maintenance on it and it is now at about 290,000. I now have an '84 with 148,000 on it. Recently I've begun to worry more about the durability of the trans so I'm going to put full synthetic GL-5 gear lube in these two. Probably the worst maintenance fiddle-farting is draining and filling the combined trans, 4x4 extension and front diff. There is a bunch of info on it on this forum but it is not your standard drain and refill process (the components are connected but you still need to loosen 3 filler plugs, 3 drain plugs and use a gearlube pump). For an owner new to these cars I'd recommend checking the trans fluid level right after you check the engine oil. It is scheduled to be replaced every 30,000 miles and if it gets low the bearings and gears high in the gearbox are starved. The other thing is that there is no center diff so they shouldn't be driven in 4wd unless the road surface is slippery or the trans will wear excessively. Everything else about the car is totally conventional and near bullet proof.

Had a friend with an old 190D - wonderful old car!

Post pics!

[Petros]

Welcome. I have once owned a '74 240D, it had a manual trans, it was a pretty good car, got great fuel mileage. I did all the maintenance on it, I found parts very expensive, and not as common as Toyota parts from the normal parts suppliers.

But the Tercel 4wd is fun to drive, and with studded snow tires the best snow and ice car I have ever driven. It just need a bit more power, gas struts and it is perfect.

[dcn]

Photos Kev! Photos!

[kevcmc]

yeah, i know--"photos or it didn't happen". honestly, it didn't happen yet. i am actually getting the car, not my girlfriend. she turned it down, and i'm parting w/ my mercedes.

photos soon. i'm driving it now, although i technically don't own it yet (long story).

do these things use any fuel? i haven't seen that needle move a whole lot.