End of the line!

[hberdan]

Don't know what to really say, but after 17 years, 3 Tercel wagons, and over 300,000 miles driving them, I'm hanging it up.
I got my first Tercel wagon, a used 1986, in 1995, was hooked right away, and have owned 2 more since. I love the way they drive, especially in mountain snows, and have very fond memories of early morning drives up snowy, barely plowed, or not plowed, back roads, heading up to trailheads for numerous backcountry ski tours and overnight ski-hut trips. Sometimes we went in in front of the plows, and more than once I've returned exhausted to the trailhead from a multiday ski tour only to find the wagon buried in fresh snow, and a sketchy road to drive out to the highway. The little wagons never let me down!
However, I also remember plenty of time spent replacing parts from unexpected failures--once a radiator failed, cascading antifreeze all over a supermarket parking lot, with a car full of groceries and out of town guests--various minor inconvenient repairs in winter or during long commutes, and of course that one time the failure of the front sway bar scared me to death. And the transmission replacement, and the heater core replacement, and on and on. Suffice to say, AAA Towing has been a good friend these last several years.
Without this excellent and informative web site, I never would've been able to sustain my Tercels as long as I have, esp. this last one, which I bought from a farmer in 2004. Thanks to everyone, including the owners and moderators, and info contributors. This has to be one of the most informative and useful automobile websites on the planet.
My current wagon, the 87 Deluxe 4wd, has reached 332,780 miles on the original engine, with 115 K of those miles driven by me since 2004. The engine's really smoking, and has a leaky front engine seal. It won't pass Colorado emissions. Compression is running low, too, so it's really time for a rebuild, and I have neither the time nor the desire to delve into the project. As much joy and pure fun as the Tercels have given me, I'm at a point in my life where I'd rather do other things in my spare time than spending it on repairs.
The 87 Deluxe is posted for sale in that section of the site.

"And though you want him to last forever
You know he never will
(You know he never will)
And the patches make the goodbye harder still"

[ARCHINSTL]

Goodness - we will certainly miss you, hberdan.
You've been one of the stalwarts of the Club, what with sharing information and technical know-how.
I suppose it will happen to all of us at one time or another. Sometimes devotion is simply and necessarily trumped by (sigh) reality and practicality.
But - there are still Model T Clubs going strong, so who knows...perhaps 50 years from now, peeps will be mining this site and wondering about us.

I noted your closing lines and would add to your Cat Stevens reference:

"You're only dancing on this earth for a short while"

Which is why, 20 years after my first, I returned to a T4WD.

Since I am aeons older than most of you, I expect to drive Goldie until...
Tom M.

[Mattel]

So hberdan, can we hope to see you in the alltrac forums now?

In all seriousness, thanks for you input, catch you on a ski slope sometime I hope!

[dlb]

you've been a real asset to this forum and will be missed, hberdan. pop back in sometimes! i'm sure it will still largely be familiar faces (or avatars) then.

[Petros]

check in every so often. So, what are you going to replace the T4wd with?

BTW, I have a good running imported engine I have no plans for, would you like to buy it?

[dlb]

i think he bought a forester a while back.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7128

i was actually wondering how he was liking the subaru but i guess this thread answers that question.

[hberdan]

Thanks for all the nice comments, I will indeed check in once in a while. The camaraderie on the site is excellent!
I wish I'd been able to go to one of your Pacific NW Toyota gatherings, would've been fun.
Thanks, also, for that engine offer, Peter, but I'm gonna pass. I can't do an engine installation myself, which means shelling out big bucks--and really don't want to sink any more time and effort into the little car. It was a great vehicle, even better than the previous two--but I also decided back in 2008, when the tranny was replaced, that I would only keep this one as long as the engine was in good shape--and frankly, it lasted another 36K miles, not a bad run.
I've kept my eyes open for another T4wd the last couple of years, but none have shown up in any better shape that mine, locally anyway, and for me, there's no point in picking up yet another car that needs serious repairs and or constant replacement of old parts to be a daily driver, backup daily driver, or ski car. It was fun while it lasted.
I did get a Subaru Forester last year, but that was really more of a replacement and upgrade for the Saab 9-3 than a replacement of the Tercel. Now it's the Tercel replacement as well. I test-drove several small SUVs/crossovers, including the Rav 4 and the smaller Honda, but that Forester reminds me of the Tercel, more than the others, so I bought it. As I've said before, my belief is that Toyota made a big mistake by stopping production and development of the Tercel wagon line so long ago.

As I find photos of my Tercels I'll post em up from time to time, esp after I convert some older kodachrome slides to digital format.