Hello! first post, first question :D

[twleung]

hello tercel world!
I'm from Vancouver BC

i've been lurking for about a year now and now I'm starting to shop for an t4wd sr5
i might be picking up an 85 this week if its as good as it seems

so here goes my question the one i will be seeing tomorrow is an 85 sr5 she claims that the motor is rebuilt and stuff so im quite sold on that

she sent me some pictures and the car is BLACK.. looks kinda flat and that is my question did sr5s ever come in black??

and since im starting to look at tercels, is there hints to what i should be noticing and paying attention when i test drive or areas to look under and etc? Like some things i should stay away from?


thanks for looking and replying can't wait to get one

[twleung]

edit it might just be a dark dark green...

[keith]

I'd look for rust around the rear suspension attachment points and for cracks around the box that the front control arms are attached to.

[Petros]

I do not recall the '85 ever came in either black or dark green, I think the '87 or '88 (rare) came in dark green.

Most important thing is the trans, it must run smooth and quiet, easy to shift, no sticking and no gear clashing between shifts. All other things are usually easy fix. Do a clutch test, stand on the brakes, rev engine up and slowly let out the clutch in first gear, it should stall the engine quickly. If it just bogs down, or slowly bogs and than stalls, the clutch will need to be replaced. Check CV boots on front axles are good and not cracked. And that is drives and stops straight. bounce the car to check the shocks, front struts are especially costly, rears shocks not too bad (and easier to replace).

Expect on a car this old you will be doing a lot of maintenance, but these are pretty reliable cars, and easy to work on, but the older the car the more maintenance they will need.

Good luck.

[twleung]

thank you keith and petros
hmm i guess the owner repainted it flat black or something..
ill take pics asap, if i get this baby.
im quite excited to drive it, so far it seems like a good deal for 800..
other 4wds around town are going for 300-500 but all need some kind of work to make it reliable

[Petros]

If the body and interior are decent, and there are no major mechanical repairs to do, 800 sounds like a good deal.

[twleung]

Finally got to check out this car today been waiting and waiting


Hmm so far the car seems great cept for the spray can paint job. And 427xxx kms on the body, she claimed that everything was pretty much replaced and rebuilt 35xxx ago, also said that she just replaced the clutch cable and , couldn't test drive the car cause the front brakes needed to be bled first soo I'm going to try tomorrow to give it a test drive.

The interior is average I thought sr5 fabric pattern were plad?? These were blue and didn't look plad.

Should I wait and see more tercs before purchasing or is this a really good deal??? Dunno if I purchased and wanted to sell, that I'd get 800 back hmmm

Any feed back would be great

[twleung]

here are some pics from the owner
dark dark green almost black even in 32c sunshine
original colour was the silver/green

[ARCHINSTL]

The interior changed in '85 or '86. This is from an '87: http://www.tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtop ... =15&t=4885.
The alloy wheels are desirable.
What Petros and (esp.) keith wrote are important. Expect to work on it at some point; while easily fixable, they are old cars - that tend to grow on you.
Tom M.

[Petros]

That is a great buy if there are no major issues. There were 4 styles of SR5 seats, the plaid was used only in '83 and '84. It would be an easy sell for that price around here, as is.

[twleung]

i bought it! pics coming!

it drove really well today drove from surrey to vancouver and more!!
had my gf learn how to drive stick and she blew out a tire.. =(
i think it was over inflated but owell there was a spare tire!! haha but the spare doesnt use the acorn wheel lugs so i just tighten them as much as i could and took her home

[dlb]

maybe the paint job doesn't look as good up close but i think it looks pretty badass. tint it out, it'll look evil!

sounds like a good buy, congrats.

[twleung]

http://www.tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtop ... f=6&t=5737 more pictures and introduction

[toughtercel]

look like there was Body work then paint it over , look under neithe both rear wheel well , start poking at front of rear wheel well , it get rust really bad . other than that you are thinking as resale then no point looking for rust free Tercel