Value Determination

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
nightcrawler07
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My tercel:: 1984 SR5
Location: Las Vegas

Value Determination

Post by nightcrawler07 »

I'm shopping around to pick up a Tercel 4x4 and was curious if anyone can weigh in on how price is determined. I think the one I am looking at might be a bit overpriced, but really its hard to say. The thing about Tercel fans is that, well, we value Tercels more than the next guy. Anwyay, if anyone has any feedback I'm open to it all. I don't mind spending some dough on a sweet one of a kind ride like a Tercel, but reliability and fear of the unknown (issues, previous owners, etc) is obviously going to play a pretty big role in a multi thousand dollar purchase.
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Nordical25
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My tercel:: 2 4wd 1987's. One with 4a, other with 3a
Location: Finland

Re: Value Determination

Post by Nordical25 »

I would say that you could pay a bit extra if the car is:
-rust free/low rust
-working technically
-low mileage
-no missing or broken parts
-good paint

The more rust, technical issues etc. the lower amount you want to pay, because fixing these issues takes usually time and money. So similar idea to all older cars. And it would be good if you can find a spare part donor car since all parts are not that easy to find anymore if something major goes wrong. And even better if donor car would be same year, look etc.
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NWMO
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Re: Value Determination

Post by NWMO »

Nightcrawler,

As Nordical shared, rust is a huge factor if you’re looking for a keeper, nice daily driver. The transmission is key as well, so try to test function of all gears, 4wd and EL. $3,000 should get a decent car, $5,000 should be nearly mint. However, after 35 years, the car will need attention of some type, so don’t expect to not get a little dirty every so often.
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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eightyfive4WD
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Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2021 9:59 pm
My tercel:: 1985 Tercel 4WD 5 speed wagon
Location: Arizona

Re: Value Determination

Post by eightyfive4WD »

All great points above. It really comes down to what you are willing to pay at the end of the day. But I can provide a bit of my experience in purchasing a Tercel recently:

Image
I paid $3900 for my '85 4WD auto last January, in Arizona. I am the fourth owner. The car is 99% rust free, parts complete, and with pretty good paint, which were all big selling points for me. Since purchasing, I have still spent hundreds in replacement parts; some necessary, others less so. To give you an idea of what you might expect for maintenance on a Tercel purchase in 2022, I've replaced:

Battery, main power & ground wires, (4) tires, fuel pump, spark plugs & plug wires, all fluids, brake booster, master cylinder, brake shoes & pads, CV axles, rear shocks & front strut inserts, as well as some extras like a Weber 32/36 carburetor and restoring the A/C system with new compressor, receiver/drier, expansion valve, and R12 freon.

Just trying to give you a bit of an idea of what you might be in for. Others can certainly chime in with their repair experiences after their Tercel purchases as well. Many of my decisions to replace parts listed above were based on the idea of trying to make my Tercel as dead-reliable as possible. I wish you luck in the search and hope you end up finding one that's right for you.
1985 Toyota Tercel DLX 4WD 5 spd wagon (manual swapped, daily driver)
2007 Toyota Tacoma TRD 4WD access cab long bed (road trip/adventure-mobile)
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dlb
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My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
Location: bc, canada

Re: Value Determination

Post by dlb »

I'm in Canada so it's a slightly different market here but not much.

I've been on the hunt for another tercel for a while now and I've found the prices have gone way up from when I first got into them in 2008. I think 6 of my 7 previous tercels were between $200-600, one of those was mint while the others needed lots of little work. One I bought from a dealership so it was overpriced and doesn't count. Now, even the beaters I see for sale are $1500, the decent-to-good ones are around $3k, and the mint ones are $5-6k. That's what I've been seeing lately.
nightcrawler07
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Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2022 12:38 pm
My tercel:: 1984 SR5
Location: Las Vegas

Re: Value Determination

Post by nightcrawler07 »

Thank y'all for the Awesome responses. The last Tercel I had threw a rod in about 2009? But I think I paid $450-500 for it. I don't recall much about it, I don't even know if it was a 4WD wagon or 2WD. Now here I am shopping around for Tercels some 13 years wiser than the younger me for nearly 10x the cost! I'm nearly certain I found 'the one' and hope to be sharing about it here shortly.

@eightyfive4WD, did you have the paint done on yours recently? It looks really nice. I'm currently considering options on paint but I also may just give it a good wax and polish + ceramic coating for starters, assuming everything with the transaction goes well.
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Nordical25
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My tercel:: 2 4wd 1987's. One with 4a, other with 3a
Location: Finland

Re: Value Determination

Post by Nordical25 »

And here in Finland rusty ones, which need major work cost around 500€. Roadworthy inspected ones with rust cost around 2000€-2500€. I haven't seen mint one for sale here due to high mileage and road salt used here. So I need to build one unfortunately.

In Germany they had some mint ones for sale some years ago. Prices were around 6000-10000€.

The 10000€ example had only 32000 kilometres (20000miles) and no rust or any defects.

And in Japan mint ones can cost around 20000€:
https://www.goo-net-exchange.com/usedca ... index.html
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Value Determination

Post by Petros »

prices vary quite a lot. some view the car as an old econobox, others see it as a viable and collectable rarity. I think fixers can still be bought for $200-600. good rust and damage free body and paint I think would make them worth a lot more, even with a trashed engine or transmission.

Good daily drivers sell now between $1500-2500. and low miles really clean examples, if they can be found, sell for $5k and up to $10k about once or twice a year.

A ground up, fully restored one might be worth much more than $10k, but we really do not see any like that. if you put that much work into it likely the person would want to keep it.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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NWMO
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Re: Value Determination

Post by NWMO »

A ground up, fully restored one might be worth much more than $10k, but we really do not see any like that. if you put that much work into it likely the person would want to keep it.
I can't wait to splurge for an AZ (minimal rust) car some day, but not there yet. I agree with Peter, but will add I would likely pay $15,000+ for Bryan's car (as Peter pointed out, this car will likely never sell, great story if you search for it).

https://youtube.com/shorts/m7H5CyQWjjQ?feature=share
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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Nordical25
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Posts: 307
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2022 11:49 pm
My tercel:: 2 4wd 1987's. One with 4a, other with 3a
Location: Finland

Re: Value Determination

Post by Nordical25 »

It is very true Petros, the price can vary a lot depending of seller. And I have never seen either a ground up restorated Tercel for sale either. So the seller of a such car has a big advantage if he ever wants to sell such a thing. And you are absolutely right, it would be very hard to let such Tercel 4wd go.

AZ car sounds a good idea NVMO. The rust can get easily be in doors, fenders, body etc. So cost saving in a rusty example can get expensive if you want to fully restore it. Wow, that Bryans car restoration looks very interesting. I will definitely watch these videos.

One of my cars is currently waiting to be repainted. I can put restoration pics to gallery if everything goes good since the stress relieves usually after having a fresh coat of paint. The car should have a nice coat of paint at the end of May. I want to restore it. Not fully, but with a new paint, cleaning interior, engine bay etc.
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Value Determination

Post by Petros »

I have a Tercel fantasy of a ground up restoration, but with many mods to modernize it and make it better: fresh EFI 4age engine, stiffened frame and suspension (with perhaps adjustable ride height), larger brakes and tires, LSD rear diff, better sound deadening, modern sound system, leather custom seats and other interior up grades. Even perhaps lightweight and stream lined fiberglass bumpers, fenders, flairs, etc.

Perhaps when I retire I may build something like this, but I would not want to sell it, and I would have no way of valuing such a Tercel4wd.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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Nordical25
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Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2022 11:49 pm
My tercel:: 2 4wd 1987's. One with 4a, other with 3a
Location: Finland

Re: Value Determination

Post by Nordical25 »

That sounds a very reasonable MOD/restauration. You can plan it by getting get parts first and then some day start the restauration. I have 4a engine in my another Tercel 4wd and even that one makes the car bit faster and increases torque. So even 4a-swap is a reasonable one. I found tips for this operation from this forum by the way some time ago before joining the forum.

I am planning to convert this car into historical vehicle, which requires that the car looks pretty much original. That is why I can't go totally wild with my Tercel. However, some minor safety and 80's related accessories are always accepted. I have found for example 80's "turbine"-look alloys from Wolfrace, which are included in German Tercels as optional alloys.
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eightyfive4WD
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My tercel:: 1985 Tercel 4WD 5 speed wagon
Location: Arizona

Re: Value Determination

Post by eightyfive4WD »

nightcrawler07 wrote: Sun Mar 13, 2022 1:37 am @eightyfive4WD, did you have the paint done on yours recently? It looks really nice. I'm currently considering options on paint but I also may just give it a good wax and polish + ceramic coating for starters, assuming everything with the transaction goes well.
Sorry for the very late reply, I did not have the paint done recently. It is factory (as far as I know), and it's in pretty good shape although it's taking a beating in the desert sun, clear coat is starting to go on the roof. Saving up & planning for some future professional paint & body work. I don't detail it as often as I would like to, but a good cleaning always helps, especially with a wax and polish. My Tercel is long overdue for that treatment.

Did you end up buying the Tercel?
1985 Toyota Tercel DLX 4WD 5 spd wagon (manual swapped, daily driver)
2007 Toyota Tacoma TRD 4WD access cab long bed (road trip/adventure-mobile)
nightcrawler07
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Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2022 12:38 pm
My tercel:: 1984 SR5
Location: Las Vegas

Re: Value Determination

Post by nightcrawler07 »

eightyfive4WD wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2022 11:12 pm
nightcrawler07 wrote: Sun Mar 13, 2022 1:37 am @eightyfive4WD, did you have the paint done on yours recently? It looks really nice. I'm currently considering options on paint but I also may just give it a good wax and polish + ceramic coating for starters, assuming everything with the transaction goes well.
Sorry for the very late reply, I did not have the paint done recently. It is factory (as far as I know), and it's in pretty good shape although it's taking a beating in the desert sun, clear coat is starting to go on the roof. Saving up & planning for some future professional paint & body work. I don't detail it as often as I would like to, but a good cleaning always helps, especially with a wax and polish. My Tercel is long overdue for that treatment.

Did you end up buying the Tercel?


I got it! Have had some fun (and concerning) adventures already, and its only been 6 days. I flew down, picked it up last Saturday. Drove it back 421 miles with not issues...that I am aware of. I parked it in my garage for a night (or two?) and when I drove it next, a decent puddle of what appeared to be coolant lay on the garage floor. Easy enough fix, however I have noticed that as I park it in different places there is something coming off the vehicle. I've been checking the oil everytime I start it, so I don't think its oil. My best guess is coolant, or possible transmission fluid.

Additionally, I hung my head under the front bumper looking for the leak and noticed a hydraulic rod without a nut on the end of it. From what I can tell its the engine dampener, so I will look into that next. As of right now I'm in the process of a full detail and getting it looking nice and sharp. Image
nightcrawler07
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Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2022 12:38 pm
My tercel:: 1984 SR5
Location: Las Vegas

Re: Value Determination

Post by nightcrawler07 »

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