Ashtray needed for 1983 Toyota Tercel 4wd

[bd4girl]

Looking for an ash tray that is missing from the dash of my 1983 Toyota Tercel 4wd. Have my fingers crossed someone has one.

Carol

[Petros]

WElcome to the forum!

I might have one for you. I have parted out two of them and likely saved the ash tray. I just have to find out what box of parts it might be in. I know there is one in the local wrecking yard as well. I will see if I can find it over the weekend.

Where are you located?

[bd4girl]

Ahso...there's a chance! I've exhausted all resources and so if you come up with one, it would be a miracle....keeping my fingers crossed. I live in Dayton, Nevada which is about 10 miles east of Carson City, the capitol or 45 minutes from Reno. What part of the country are you located? Til next time,

Hopefully,
Carol

[Petros]

it shows my location over in teh profile, Washington state. We seem to have an abundance of T4wd around here because they are popular and people keep them running. So they show up at the local wrecking yards regularly. Plus I have my own personal "stash" of spare parts from the several junkers/rust buckets that I bought for parts and saved a lot odd all stuff, stuff I never thought I would need. And mostly I have not, but I have sent them to lots of forum members. Anything to help keeping these great old 4x4 wagons going!

[bd4girl]

Just noticed the profile you mentioned and a couple of observations: you have posted five thousand, four hundred, fifty-five posts! Wow. Of course, that covers a period of 7 years, but still...is that why you are listed as highest ranking member? Also noticed that my location isn't reflected. Didn't notice my own profile either and overlooked that option when signing up. I'll go back in to the file and update it. I'm quite attached to my Toyota. We ordered it with all our likes in 1983 and went to the shipping docks to pick it up when it arrived from Japan. It has 356,532 miles on it now; the engine was replaced when we had around 200,000 miles on it. It's 2-tone brown with brown plaid seats and the back seats look brand new since they haven't been used much over the years. I get razed when I take my lady friends to lunch or wherever..
what? stick shift?, roll down windows? no automatic door locks? no system to let you know when your tires need air? no this, no that? I say to them: no car payments either. I wouldn't part with. There will also be and hasn't been no smoking in it ...the reason I want the ashtray is for aesthetics reasons and to fill the hold in the dash.
One day a while back while parked at a shopping mall, a note was left under my windshield wiper asking if I wanted to sell it and to call the phone number on the note. I found that interesting. Needless to say, I wasn't interested.

Til next time,

Carol

[Petros]

Good for you! These odd looking little econo-boxs from the '80's have a way to getting under your emotions. Read about my own experience with my first one on this thread about half way down: https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php? ... 849#p66849

On all the newer cars we own, all that automatic stuff just becomes costly and troublesome maintenance issues as it ages. I realized I did not need all that junk, and this car is easy to fix. Years ago every time I had to do some major repair (like a clutch ,or engine rebuild) I would think: perhaps it is time to replace this old car....I can go into debt for $10,000 or more, for something that gets worse fuel economy, parts cost more, and many things are not easy to service at home, or I can put in another clutch myself on this car for $100, and it will be good for another 100,000 miles.

There was a thread discussing that the average American pays a totol operating cost of $9000 a year to drive a car. I maintain 5 old cars for my two daughters and wife and I. There is no way I could afford that! I would be bankrupt. We spend a total of about $1000 in repairs, including only about $100-200 on the Tercel. And fuel costs are lower in the Tercel, as is insurance, no depreciation (they are actually going up in value around here, they are still highly sought after). And best of all NO CAR PAYMENTS. In fact for most of the 11 Tercels I have bought, I bought them for less than a typical car payment. Of course they were all fixers, but even a good runner at $2000 is still a bargain.

The Tercel wins every time. So I stop fighting the desire to get something new. I decided I am keeping it for the rest of my life, I will just keep fixing it as long as I can get parts. So far so good. There were a few things I do not like about it (the seats need better lumbar support for me, the brakes are too wimpy, and it is very underpowered), so I added up the cost of improving these items (I made a "wish list" for improved features), added up the costs of doing it all, and realized it was still going to be about half the cost of a used car, and less than a third the cost of a new car. So my daily driver has become a long term project car. Of course the list of things I want to make better keeps getting longer, now I want leather seats too!

One problem I warn perspective owners about, as the car ages many minor nuisance things wear out or fail, and many simple things that can cause a lot of engine or transmission damage (leaky a seal, or hose, etc). And as long lasting and reliable as these great little 4x4 cars are, they will need more and more maintenance as they age. So if you can do this maintenance yourself, it will save really big dollars in the long run, and you avoid getting ripped off by some incompetent mechanic who was not even born when the car was made, and knows next to nothing about the engine or fuel system.

I tried breaking the posting habit, if there are good answers already up I avoid posting. But it is a tough habit to break, I want to help people keep these great little cars on the road as long as possible. I have seen to many nice ones end up in wrecking yards because some idiot mechanic told the owner it was not worth fixing. Fixes I could have done in 3 hours with $25 worth of parts. I would would like to save, or assist others in saving, as many of these cars as possible. No other cars I have owned or worked on or had experience with have caused me to feel this way in almost 40 years of working on old cars. It is not even rational, I know it. But so what? Keeping a great car out of the crusher does everyone good.

[TominMO]

Petros for President 2016!

[ARCHINSTL]

bd4girl -
Wow - an original owner! Way to go!
I owned the first one in the St. Louis area back in late '82. Funky then and still funky.
I loved that car, but had to trade after 3 years due to my sister killing the engine (long story, 'natch). I returned to T4WD-Dom in '05 and won't look back.
Tom M.

[bd4girl]

Hi, Tom! It IS amazing that we've owned this little jewel for 30 years. What a long time! Thirty years older too. A new engine was put in around 200,000 miles and there's over 350,000 miles on it now so I guess it's good for another 150,000 miles? Just became aware of this forum and it's so interesting to read throuogh the different forums and learn about the background and information of various Tercel 4wd owners. Didn't realize there are still so popular. How unique that you owned the first T4wd in the St. Louis area in 1982. Was that the first year the Toyota Tercel 5 speed 4wd was made?


Carol

[rer233]

Looking for an ash tray that is missing from the dash of my 1983 Toyota Tercel 4wd. Have my fingers crossed someone has one.

Carol

Welcome to the club! Original owner- huh? That's incredable! Did you ever find an ashtray- if not i've got one available in good condition. Probably have just about anything else you might need too (except for a good body.) Over the last 18 years, i've had 10 terc wagons and have saved tons of parts (still have 5 t4's in various states of disrepair.) Obsession?- what obsession!

[bd4girl]

Hi, What's incredible is the number of wagons you've owned and have 5 at the moment. Are you working on getting a drivable one out of those 5? Glad to hear you have an ashtray...let me get back to you on it. Another Toyota owner may have one...not sure. In the meangtime, thanks much.

[bd4girl]

WElcome to the forum!

I might have one for you. I have parted out two of them and likely saved the ash tray. I just have to find out what box of parts it might be in. I know there is one in the local wrecking yard as well. I will see if I can find it over the weekend.

Where are you located?

Hello from Carol. The good news is: I just received a reply from a Tercel 4wd owner who has an ashtray. If you haven't had a chance to check into your boxes of parts yet, and to save you a trip to the scrap yard, I'll proceed to get the ashtray from the guy who has five 4wd's all in parts. Maybe you would like to know about him.

Carol

[rer233]

Actualy, of the 5 i currently have, three are tagged, drivable and insured. One is pretty much complete and drivable (and totaled- it was the meat in an automotive sandwich) and the last one is a pretty much gutted rusty hulk.