I have a chance to sell my 88terc and buy an 89alltrac wagon

[edt77]

So I know a guy that is selling his 89 alltrac corolla wagon. It is a little more banged up body wise than my terc but it is a 5speed with EFI! They guy takes great care of his cars and other than the fender damage and dent in the tailgate i think that it would be a safe investment. I am weighing the pros and cons... EFI really is a nice thing to have but on the other hand my terc is rolling on 15s, new engine, suspension... dang to bad I dont need both it is hard enough with two cars 3 would be rediculous! (91 toy pu 4x4 88terc4wd)

[splatterdog]

3 would be rediculous! (91 toy pu 4x4 88terc4wd)

I am at 3 just in T4's. Just sold the 76 F250 crewcab, so that just leaves the 91 Burb. Almost feel naked......

[deejay1272]

The devil you do know is better than the devil you don't...

It sounds like you have a sweet T4WD all set to go, so I'd suggest that you stay put. However, projects are fun (isn't that why we're all here??). So go get that All-trac if you can handle the ding to your budget!

[Petros]

I have owned both, and driven both extensively. They are very different cars for different types of drivers. Here is what I think: the Tercel has better ground clearance, better visibility, lighter, more responsive handling, has true 4wd, has the EL 6-speed trans, it is much easier to work on, it is more common (for finding used parts) and it is kind of funky looking-more utilitarian body (good or bad-looks like a "mini-SUV"). The All-trac is AWD, quieter, ride is softer/more comfortable, has a more powerful EFI twin cam engine, more modern body style, better brakes. It also holds it's value better, though good examples of Tercel4wd seem to be coming up in value.

My experience is they get about the same fuel economy and carry about the same amount of stuff (the rear cargo area is longer on the all-trac, but it is not as tall). There are many similar but different parts on the All-trac from the regular Corolla wagon, but most body parts are interchangeable, and these are far less common, so finding body parts is a problem. Even the antenna is different than other model Toyotas (it took me years to find a good replacement, all of them were broken, I had to make a good one from parts).

In the end I choose to keep the Tercel, and we have recently sold the all-trac since my wife did not care to drive it. I was torn between keeping it, or the Tercel, both could be extensively altered to make them have more performance. I choose to keep the Tercel since it was more fun to drive, easier to work-on and modify and parts are more common. I like smaller cars anyway, and since they carry about the same amount of passengers/cargo, I thought after I was done altering the Tercel, it would be a better, more economical yet more powerful car. It just came down to I like the features of the Tercel better.