My Tercel stolen AGAIN!!!!!!

GTSSportCoupe · Post by **GTSSportCoupe** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 8:33 am

My wife went out Saturday morning to run some errands, only to discover our Tercel was gone. I had forgotten to put my club on the steering wheel that night.

For those of you who don't know, this is the second time my car has been stolen in the period of a few months.

After kicking a good sized hole through the wall in my house (in childish anger - which my wife was pretty unhappy about) I proceeded to calmly file the police and insurance reports as I did last time. It is now Monday and the car has not been found yet. I'm beginning to think that it will never be found, or will be a complete write off.

If it is written off, I stand to loose a pretty serious amount of money. I don't think that the insurance company will give me much for a rusty tercel wagon with 371,000kms on it.

You can see in my signature some of the things I have done to this car. I am probably in it for $2500 CAD now, not to mention all the tools and emergency stuff I keep in that car.

The good news is, I went to rent a car at a used car rental place on Saturday night (when I realised my terc wasn't comming back anytime soon) and had a pleasant surprise when I got to the rental place. The place not only rents cars, but also has a shop and used car sales lot. Generally I hate used car dealers, but I think I came out on top at this place. The dealer just had an old customer trade in an 85 MX73 Toyota Cressida, and the guy bought a newer 929 or something. The Cressida was in a worse condition than the dealer normally would sell on his lot. So he was just looking to get rid of the car. Out of curiousity I asked how much he wanted for it, he replied "$200" (CAD)!! :blink: "SOLD!!" I replied.

I am now the proud owner of Toyota's top of the line 80's luxury sedan.

For those of you who don't know about Cressidas, they are basically the Lexus before Lexus. The three generations of Cressidas also share the same drive train and suspension components to the corresponding three generations of Supras. The Cressidas come loaded with as many options as you can imagine and have DOHC EFI straight sixs in rwd configuration with LSD and independant rear suspension.

My new Cressy does have some issues (hence the dealer just wanting to get rid of it). But the overall condition of the car is actually quite decent. The rear brakes are worn right out, as well as the front shocks (toast). But other than that, mechanically it is in fine shape. Body wise it has some patches of surface rust and some of the trim has fallen off, but otherwise has no problems that a good waxing/buffing can't fix. It has some electrical gremlins I need to sort out, but nothing I have not dealt with before. All in all, I am pretty happy about this car.

Still SUPER pissed about my missing Tercel though.

The bad news is, I'm not sure I'm going to buy another tercel 4wd. After all the work I did restoring my last one only to have it all wasted, I don't think I could manage doing it all again. I hate doing the same stuff twice. I'll probably keep the Cressida as a 'family' car, and buy an MR2 down the road as a fun fuel efficient car. I will REALLY miss having a sturdy 4wd Toyota wagon though.

MootsMan · Post by **MootsMan** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 9:38 pm

what a shame about the terc, GTS. i have never understood a thief....I have absolutely no use for anybody that would take something like that. Hope it shows up for you as it did last time !

takza · Post by **takza** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 4:01 am

I've always been interested in the Cressidas and the Nissan version also...the Maxima? Both pretty fast good handling sedans?

Too bad about the Tercel...not much else to say.

GTSSportCoupe · Post by **GTSSportCoupe** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 8:21 am

Thanks guys; hopefully it does show up, but so far, no word.

I do highly recommend the Cressida if you are looking for a cheap luxury import car. The Cressida stole a lot of sales away from BMW and Mercedes in the years it came out; in fact, it was a better performer compared to all others in it's class at the time. It is strange having an extra 100hp compared to the tercel - but I'm getting used to it. I'm sure that I'm not going to get used to the fuel mileage though. These days most people don't even know what a Cressida is, all they know is Lexus. This has brought the resale value of the Cressida's way down, making them very affordable.

I believe the Nissan Maxima has always been fwd, but I might be mistaken. I dislike fwd for the most part, and if given a choice will almost always choose rwd. I'll also take Toyota over Nissan, but thats just me.

20vtercel · Post by **20vtercel** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 10:20 am

I do belive the cressida's have the 5m right?

If you are lucky enough to find a 7MGTE in the j/y all intact (with a 5sp) you can make a weekend swap!! Apparently, a m/t cressida is about as common as a tucan in the arctic. In japan they are supposedly more common however it is really easy to change IIRC. A friend of mine did the swap and it is really quick! No-one expects a 4dr family car to be in the low low 13's at the track!

GTSSportCoupe · Post by **GTSSportCoupe** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 12:42 pm

20vtercel wrote: I do belive the cressida's have the 5m right?

If you are lucky enough to find a 7MGTE in the j/y all intact (with a 5sp) you can make a weekend swap!! Apparently, a m/t cressida is about as common as a tucan in the arctic. In japan they are supposedly more common however it is really easy to change IIRC. A friend of mine did the swap and it is really quick! No-one expects a 4dr family car to be in the low low 13's at the track!

Simply put, the Cressida is a 4-door Supra.

The drive train and suspension components are the same. So yes, my Mk2 Cressida does have the 5mge. A 7mgte swap has definitely crossed my mind, or a 5mgte setup, or even a stock JDM 6mge. The current goal is to get the thing running well and the bugs worked out. I'll then progress into modification territory. Hopefully I get some decent money out of my insurance company for the tercel.

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 5:56 pm

Sorry to hear that GTSSportcoupe. I sincerely hope that you recover it. I don't know what else to say. Just wait I suppose.

Jonsblckhwk · Post by **Jonsblckhwk** » Wed Feb 02, 2005 10:33 pm

hey gts that sucks about your terc

i hope you get everything worked out. but at least you will have a few bucks to spend on the cressida if they do write it off:(

good luck and remember things could always be worse...

Jon

Thereminator · Post by **Thereminator** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:43 pm

Sorry about your car Nick,I hope you get it back.Im moving so I'll be off-line for awile...carry on everyone

!!!

lesabre400 · Post by **lesabre400** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 8:36 pm

Aw geez, GTS. I can't believe it happened again. What can I say other than sorry. I think everyone has probably experienced the feeling when their car's not where they thought they parked it. That split second when you think it's been stolen is awful. Most of us quickly see our car one row over and the feeling passes. I'm sorry you had to experience the real thing (twice!) and that the Terc may be gone for good.
The upside is the screamin' deal on the Cressida. I had no idea they were such cool cars - thanks for all the details.
Hope we don't lose you to http://www.cressidasdontgetstolen.com or something. I've always found your posts helpful and entertaining. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say you will always be an honorary member of the site whether you have a 4wd or not.
Good luck with the Cressida! And for pete's sake, get the Club on there. I usually pull the ignition coil lead if I'm in a bad area with the Buick.

3A-C Power · Post by **3A-C Power** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 9:26 pm

So there's still no sign of it? That SUCKS ASS. I still can't believe anyone would steal that car for any logical reason. Maybe just for the tools inside?

I found a rust-free Tercel with a screwed front diff in Vancouver for $350, they're going to send me pictures but I'm still waiting. If you're interested, I'll gladly pass this one off to you, it's on http://www.buysell.com. The front diff isn't that hard to change.

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Sat Feb 05, 2005 9:40 pm

What can you say... The Terc has appeal... But who the hell would steal anyway???? We need those security flamethrowers out of South Africa installed...

hornett22 · Post by **hornett22** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 12:12 am

sorry to hear it.theives should be shot and the person who pulled the trigger should get a tax break! i came out of my apartment in tennessee one morning to see the back window from my 93 toyota pick up was missing.the one night i didn't take my tools inside.so long to 2k.then walking back to my apartment i noticed something else seemed odd,my 97 yamaha yzf750 was not parked on the patio.i was PISSED! fortunately the bike was at the bottom of the hill on it's kickstand.after it wouldn't start from being hotwired and a screwdriver in the ignition,they gave up.fortunately i was working on the carbs and they were in my kitchen sink.it is still bullshit that these people use oxygen! hope you get it back. i always wanted a last generation cressida.great cars!

GTSSportCoupe · Post by **GTSSportCoupe** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 10:32 am

Hey all. I wanted to thank everyone for their nice comments and sympathy. I really appreciate it and it helps dull the pain.

My Tercel still has not been found believe it or not. I expect it must be a burned out mess on a logging road somewhere by now. To tell you the truth, I don't even want to get it back at this point (when I think of what it must look like by now). Although it would be interesting to know what the thieves did with the thing.

As much as I am having fun with my Cressida, I think I am going to hunt for a Corolla AWD wagon when I receive money from my insurance company. I'd really like to have one of these in perfect shape with low kms and most of the options. This means I will still be spending lots of time on this forum (as the Corolla AWD is just the next generation Tercel 4WD - they are both Sprinter Caribs in Japan). And hopefully I can then provide experience to folks asking about either car. This is a really great forum too. Good guys on here willing to help out all the time. We definitely stand by the theory that 'a stupid question is better than a stupid mistake'.

Thanks again all!!

Nick

tercel4wdrules · Post by **tercel4wdrules** » Sun Feb 06, 2005 1:07 pm

Oh well.

I kinda know how it feels to lose the car. Numbness in the legs, rapid heartbeat, and mild faintness. Fortunately the car hasn't really been stolen. So much for the low theft index. I'm really sorry to hear that. On the other hand I hope you get a Corolla All-Trac SR5, that way you get the power windows. Good luck.