1986 4x4 6spd $2800 Upper Darby Pa

[hughwhomdt]

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/4250954115.html


Sorry Craigslist butchered pictures (maybe because there's too many?) This is my Tercel I've been tinkering with for 6 months or so. It was traded in by original owner at the Toyota dealership
I work at. I couldn't let it go wholesale so I rescued it. Price is flexible. I have a decent amount of time and money into it to get it to this point. I would like it to find it a home where it can be appreciated and cherished just as the original owner did for 27 years.
Thanks for viewing.

[garyfish]

wagon is also now listed on eBay with a starting bid of $1500 but no bids yet... auction ends on Dec. 27

"Buy It Now" for $2295

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Tercel-S ... ars_Trucks

the auction site has a similar detailed write-up as the Craigslist entry, but there's way more photos on the eBay listing (20 photos, but they're all small and can't be enlarged)



Hugh, thanks for rescuing this wagon and devoting all the time and effort and $$ to fixing it up... hopefully a worthy buyer will emerge who will keep it on the road

[TURTCEL]

The price seems to be a little on the high side I would say. The car has some issues that unfortunately devalue even a nice example of one of these Tercs.

I think that $1000 would be the cap on this car.

Peace

[hughwhomdt]

garyfish, thank you for the kind words. I enjoy the culture you guys have going here and appreciate the links/help I've found.
I didn't start this tercel journey to make money, I am a Toyota Technician, as a hobby I try to scoop up older Toyotas that are traded in
that wouldn't be worth much to the wholesaler or preferably one's that are not drivable at all. I get to fix them as a hobby, learn about
cars I don't see everyday, and save some milage on my fj cruiser. This particular tercel was traded with a dead miss/fouled #1 plug and
a stripped out r/f strut tube. These 2 issues made it undrivable basically.
Turtcel, yes the $2800 was a high end asking price, sorry, I put value into the work that I do. I didn't use any cheap parts either, axles
being questionably cheap but new was better than rebuilt. I'm not new at this, just new with these tercels, mainly because I was in elementary
school when they came out. As to putting my car at $1,000 is laughable coming from a guy who drives an escort wagon, or any kind of ford for that matter.
The Scion cd player in my car is worth more than 3 escorts turned in at a scrapyard. The fact of the matter is how many of these cars exist period let alone in
the angelic condition you are expecting. You have made me think twice, again. I realized the $2800 was to the extreme when I listed
it on ebay so I put a buy it know at $2295, I'm feeling even more jolly now so I will lower it again. If you go on ebay you will notice there's
an 87 fwd auto wagon on with 1 day left at 1 bid $500, that car appears decent bodywise, the owner doesn't have a clue what's wrong
with the thing so the description is weak, I wouldn't be surprised if that car hits 800-1000. I'm trying to be extremely fair with my description. Again, I fix cars everyday so I am
extremely critical and don't miss much, also I tend not to make money selling used cars because firstly I spend too much trying to make
them right and then I feel bad charging top $. Turcel, I'm not sure what shape your wagon is in, how much time and money you've invested
in it, etc, I'm newer to this site. Most of the gentlemen on this site have invested untelling hours and love into their cars not to mention cash money.
Now, I'd expect someone from the outside non tercel loving world to be harsh with criticism to these unloved boxes, but I wouldn't expect that from someone here, someone
who knows how the money can add up, not to mention time to find the correct parts. There are very few local parts that I've found on the east coast which didn't help.
My tercel might not be a beauty queen show stopper but I'd stick up for it any day that it's worth more than $1,000!!

Peace...... is apparently more expensive on the east coast man

[Petros]

welcome to the list hugh,

I do not know what your local market is like, but $2800 would be too much for that car in my local market where they are still popular. I have bought something like 9 of these Tercel4wd as fixers, I sold all of them for more than I put into them. Some I made decent money for my time, others not so much (basically "hobby" income). The Tercel4wd is still very popular in the Pacific Northwest and clean examples get good money since they have quite a following. I have been working on cars for over 40 years, I paid for my collage working as a mechanic and by reselling fixers, so I have a pretty good understanding on what these cars can bring. None of the cars I sold had any significant rust, all of them were in near perfect mechanical condition other than perhaps a minor oil leak, but everything worked good on them, many had near perfect bodies and interiors; the most any of them would sell for is about $3000. There are a few that have showed up on the local craig's list for more than $3000, but I doubt they sell for that much. Just being realistic; I could not make a living repairing these cars and reselling them because they just do not command that high a price (I say that as someone that has been self employed for 20 years). I do it because I like these cars and would like to see as many stay on the road as possible, most of the fixers I have purchased I rescued from going to a crusher.

The two issues are that your interior is rough, the body has rust on it, and your transmission is seriously worn out. Despite the low miles on the car someone really abused the trans. Having it pop out of gear means the bearings are worn and sloppy, allow the gear cluster to shift enough so it comes out of gear. I do not know how that happened on a car with that low of miles other than they never changed or even topped up the gear oil in the trans. It is most likely on its way out. maybe not, and it might go another 200k miles, but that seems unlikely. the trans is the single biggest issue with these cars, rebuild kits are getting hard to find and good wrecking yard trans are just as rare (all of the cars are over 25 years old at this point, so the wrecking yard cars will have very worn transmissions as well).

Realistically, without the trans issue your car would still be a bit on the high end price wise despite all of the work and new parts you put into it. The value of an old car like this is not related to how much money or labor you put into it, but rather what a buyer is willing to pay.

It is nice to know there is someone else willing to put some effort into saving these great little 4x4 cars, but you also need to be realistic about what these cars will bring on the used market. the most I have seen them sell for was perhaps $3500 unless it was in show room condition (and I have only seen that once with a rare example that has only about 34,000 miles on it). I have never sold one for more than $2950, and that one had no rust, had a near perfect body and interior (a California car), new clutch, new cv axles, recent wheel bearings, rebuilt head (with lots of new parts on it), new timing belt, all new hoses and radiator, front and rear main seals, new master cylinder, rebuilt steering rack with new boots, tie rod ends and new ball joints, plus new front struts, new filters and all new fluids. Everything on it worked perfectly. I may have been able to get more for it because it sold in one day to the first inquiry, but that may be more a reflection of how hard good ones are to find. there were many inquiries that offered a lower price without even looking at it, so how much more I could have gotten would be speculation.

If you want to fix the rust, and put matching touch up paint on it, and pull the trans and rebuild it, with a new clutch while the trans is out, than you MIGHT get $3500 for it. As it is it does seem a bit on the high side. Most people will stay away from a car with any transmission problems, because they are never inexpensive to fix, and would likely cost the average person more to fix then the car is worth.

I am not trying to beat you up, but you should have thought this through better I think before you sunk so much time and money into it. Trans problem is not inconsequential and not a "minor issue". Something for you to think about. Because you may be waiting to sell it a long time unless you fix the remaining problems on it.

Good luck.

[durecell]

My father had a retired Toyota tech, that had been working on these tercels since they were new and he owned a few him self, tell him if the tranny is a pint low on oil and it is cold it can destroy the tranny. The transmissions in these cars are tall and have to get the oil all the way up top. Out of the 5 different tercels my family has owned and sold or still owns. 3 of them had stripped gears on the input shaft due to low oil contrition. It is very important to take care of these trannys as they are very hard to find in good shape due to poor design and care over 30 years.

[Petros]

I have talked to owners that put over 400,000 miles on these transmissions, and sold the car with the trans still good. the just did the 30,000 miles gear oil changes like the owner's manual says. they are durable transmissions, but if the a seal leaks, and no one is paying attention, the will grind themselves apart. like any other transmission.

[garyfish]

wagon sold on eBay for $1,475

auction ended Dec. 27, only 2 bidders

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Tercel-S ... ars_Trucks

[TURTCEL]

Turtcel, yes the $2800 was a high end asking price, sorry, I put value into the work that I do. I didn't use any cheap parts either, axles
being questionably cheap but new was better than rebuilt. I'm not new at this, just new with these tercels, mainly because I was in elementary
school when they came out. As to putting my car at $1,000 is laughable coming from a guy who drives an escort wagon, or any kind of ford for that matter.
The Scion cd player in my car is worth more than 3 escorts turned in at a scrapyard. The fact of the matter is how many of these cars exist period let alone in
the angelic condition you are expecting. You have made me think twice, again. I realized the $2800 was to the extreme when I listed
it on ebay so I put a buy it know at $2295, I'm feeling even more jolly now so I will lower it again. If you go on ebay you will notice there's
an 87 fwd auto wagon on with 1 day left at 1 bid $500, that car appears decent bodywise, the owner doesn't have a clue what's wrong
with the thing so the description is weak, I wouldn't be surprised if that car hits 800-1000. I'm trying to be extremely fair with my description. Again, I fix cars everyday so I am
extremely critical and don't miss much, also I tend not to make money selling used cars because firstly I spend too much trying to make
them right and then I feel bad charging top $. Turcel, I'm not sure what shape your wagon is in, how much time and money you've invested
in it, etc, I'm newer to this site. Most of the gentlemen on this site have invested untelling hours and love into their cars not to mention cash money.
Now, I'd expect someone from the outside non tercel loving world to be harsh with criticism to these unloved boxes, but I wouldn't expect that from someone here, someone
who knows how the money can add up, not to mention time to find the correct parts. There are very few local parts that I've found on the east coast which didn't help.
My tercel might not be a beauty queen show stopper but I'd stick up for it any day that it's worth more than $1,000!!

Peace...... is apparently more expensive on the east coast man

Seems I have struck a chord with you hughwhomdt. With all the issues you listed that the car needs to be addressed I still feel $1000 would be a fair price. The fact of the matter is that no matter how many parts and how much time you put into something you can not expect to get that back upon selling.

I am not the kind of guy to go back and forth on something so childish but I have had my Terc for 2 years now, it is in great shape, and I have invested plenty of money into her to keep her really nice.

I would suggest that if you would like to keep good with members on the forum that you not be so quick to become defensive and throw out silly responses.

Good luck on selling your car, no matter what you get for it.

PEACE

[hughwhomdt]

my wagon sold. The price is fine with me because the gentleman from new York who bought it seems to be the perfect new owner. Knowing it is going to a good home is priceless. I'm glad to have had the chance to drive it around and have people wonder why that phone booth had wheels and why it was moving and I did get my money I put into parts back.. my time is rewarded in knowledge.
I based my pricing off the cars on the links here and what's gone through ebay. Very few of those cars are east coast cars and very few have the descriptions that I gave. There's an 87 wagon on ebay now for $3500, yes it looks nice. I'm sure it has oil leaks.. I'm sure the struts are shot.. yada yada yada. You guys are the experts on these cars and have learned from experience and know how much it'd cost to repair one, I wouldn't expect you'd want to spend much to buy another/more. Everything is base on the availability and how many people want it, apparently not many people are looking for these on the east coast. Concerning a similar situation, I picked up a 1 owner 87 4runner that had much worse body issue.. some I made not much better with bondo and spray paint.. that truck sold for close to 3 grand 3 years ago and I put much less into it go figure. I'm new to tercels obviously, I'm sorry to have offended anyone here, I just didn't expect my car to get such a beating here among lovers of the same. I'd think yal would be happy to see someone respecting the value of your work and passion.
I work with technicians that worked on these cars under warranty in the 80's and they beat me up for the past 6 months wondering why I'd buy or waste my time with it. I agree with the one gentleman on the post as this being a poor transmission design. Every one of my fellow technicians has said that, my regional Toyota field rep has said that also, all of them saying the major reason many of these cars hit the junk yard was because of the transmission issues and the lack of continued parts and the expense to repair. This design being Toyota's first attempt at fwd that died with this body style.
My body might have some city patina (I hate that word that all the hotrod people are banking in on) which reduces my cars value. For a 27 year old car I'm not worried at all about occasionally popping out of 4th on deceleration. Every other gear works fine. I'm a horrible salesman, I'd rather be honest to people. Ive had numerous 80s vws gits that had grinding, hard shifts, goofy clutch feel etc which were much more devaluing.
I approached this site with a respect for people that would have an interest in a vehicle most would cast away. Again I will apologize to any I have offended by my defensive response. I was offended by the one post because it was a superficial half hearted comment that obviously wasn't thought out. That is exactly why I do not use assbook (facebook) or the like. Now I'm being threatened of keeping it good with people on this site is crazy. I never tried to belittle anyone here.

[Petros]

congratulations, it sold. if you are satisfied than that is all anyone can ask of a project car.

I do not think anyone was trying to insult you, it was just your price was unreasonably high. It sounds like it sold for fair price for the condition it was in, that is all anyone was trying to tell you. to sell a project car quickly it needs to be priced well for its value.