'88 T4WD SR5, 170K, PRICE DROP TO $2950 -- Idaho

[garyfish]

edit 5/26/2014:
the original Craigslist link was inactive... here the current listings where the seller has dropped the asking price by $1000 -- now down to $2950

http://slo.craigslist.org/cto/4486374656.html
http://spokane.craigslist.org/cto/4486053640.html

from the photos it looks really clean, but for the asking price it had better not have any major "issues"

[dlb]

looks really nice.

[Jarf]

I saw that one yesterday and was all set to buy a plane ticket until I realized it was an 88.
While that may well be the quintessential year for most, for me it means bi-annual emission testing (87 and prior are exempt)
My hunt continues….

[marlinh]

What is the production date? It may be an 87.

[Gottolovem]

emissions testing twice a year wow

[Jarf]

Sorry, I meant it's every other year and an early production date wouldn't help either, the VIN would have to be for an 87.

[irowiki]

Or you can hope they extend it to cover more years!

[garyfish]

price went up $550 ... now listed at $4500

http://spokane.craigslist.org/cto/4478659812.html

[Gottolovem]

Jarf that car should pass smog testing without a hitch?
The price is high but if it is as advertised it will be trouble free for many years to come.

[marlinh]

Sorry Jarf, I misunderstood you. Aren't you outside of greater Toronto? North of Barrie? You have to get emissions testing twice a year? That sucks.

[Jarf]

No, the emissions testing is every 2 years. The covered area is a closely guarded secret (it would seem) but it applies to "southern Ontario", somehow that extends well past Barrie, go figure.
There used to be a rolling exemption year but they changed that sometime ago to the '88 and on models.
I realize that car would likely pass with flying colours, that isn't my worry.
I keep all my cars running as clean as possible, I have no desire to pollute unnecessarily.
The rules are arbitrary and stupid.
At the dealer, when incentives were large and the DP would "register" cars to collect the incentive and apply to a sale price, that vehicle was considered "sold" so when it was retailed a day or a month later it was considered a "used" vehicle and subject to testing, even with ZERO mileage on it.
Thats mostly a PITA but it just gets dumber from there.
We had one tech that could fail any car, he was a master at not following procedure but adamant that it was always the cars fault.
My biggest issue though is that the facility that tests your car is ALSO the place that will repair the car.
I see a pretty big conflict of interest there - If the car passes shop collects $40, if the car fails, shop sells loads of profitable repairs and best of all its on the well, we can try this, but no guarantees. It's a hornets nest just waiting to be kicked.
Best of all, there is no "pre-test" possibility, you run it through and either it passes or fails.
If it fails you can be retested for "free" as long as its at the same facility.
Case in point, "Red" (88Toy Van) passed with flying colour when I bought it oddly enough, the exhaust had a leak, secondary O2 sensor was totally missing, CAT was clearly heat damaged among a host of other issues, I fully expected it to fail and was hugely surprised when it passed.
It's "anniversary" 2 yr test was due 13 months later (while the testing is every other year, it goes by model year, not when you register in your name)
I had no worries about this test as I had replaced the entire exhaust system including CAT and both O2 sensor, replaced the TPS, clean the TB and intake, replaced the timing chain and gears and about a million miles of vacuum line not to mention a ton of other stuff.
The thing ran like a top, took it in and it failed, gross polluter style.
When I questioned the shop on why it would fail all they would say was well, it's pretty old, probably needs everything replaced, I then mentioned that every single piece of emission equipment had already been replaced they said well, you must have done something wrong.
"Leave it with us and we'll see what we can find out, be a couple of days and $250 to diagnose, repairs extra", needless to say, I walked away.
I found another shop (only 40 mins away) that promised they could do it while I waited. After an hour of waiting I asked the advisor how much longer and he said,
"I'll have to call and find out"" WTF?? turns out they don't do testing on site but farm it out (might have been nice if they had told me that) anyway, long story short after waiting an hour turns out the guy could't find the ENGINE but finally figured it out and oh, by the way, it failed.
When I got it back, every single piece of carpet was pulled out and torn, things were upside down and I got the exact same spiel on what it might need to repair.

Fast forward, I found another shop that specializes in performance stuff. Took it down there, they ran it throughout the rack (while I waited and watched) and handed it back to me with a flying colours pass.

The point of this whole diatribe is that all 3 tests were performed by accredited facilities, NO REPAIRS were performed between the tests, the only difference was the operators. That and my wallet was $120 lighter ($40/test) and I had wasted about 3 days of my time.
This scenario tells me the whole system is a joke, designed to generate tax dollars.
So this year they have decided that since ALL cars are OBD11 compliant there is no longer any need for the dyno-rack and all the testing is now by plugging into the diag port and verifying that everything is operating as it should.
All cars that are non-compliant (not OBD2 pre '95)) will now use a stationary test, run at idle and 2500rpm. Not under load!
So now we have a test that doesn't sample when the vehicle is most likely TO pollute but I still get to pay my $40, every 2 years.
Now if they just said, anything not OBD2 is exempt, that might actually make sense.
I mean seriously, up here in the rust-belt, the number of 20+yr old cars is at endangered species levels, 25 yrs and you have me and a handful of hotrodders.

Sorry, rant over.
Thats why I now target pre 88 vehicles as it just avoids all the above stupidity.

Dumbest part is, even knowing all this, I am still tempted by that cherry.http://www.tercel4wd.com/posting.php?mo ... 15&t=10314#

[marlinh]

Wow, what a story! I remember when Vancouver started doing emissions testing. Great idea but inconsistent results. I would still see serious oil burners spewing smoke out the exhaust wondering how in the heck they passed. Then there's the 'conditional' pass, etc, etc...Good luck with your search...

Luckily where I live they don't have that requirement.

[garyfish]

seller has dropped the price by $1000

http://slo.craigslist.org/cto/4486374656.html
http://spokane.craigslist.org/cto/4486053640.html

and FINALLY listed the odometer reading, at 170K

[garyfish]

price went back up, to $3500

http://boise.craigslist.org/cto/4498651542.html

wonder why this wagon didn't sell at the lower price... sure looks nice in the photos

[geoedb]

Price is up to $3500
It looks nice & clean
I'll be driving through there around July 4th