One owner '87 T4wd DLX, Seattle CL $1200

[Petros]

Looks like a great buy, someone should go look at it.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/3756634926.html



Not much detail in the ad, it reads ""Snowy" is a great car. One owner. 155,000 miles. 5 speed manual transmission. Gets great gas mileage and is always reliable. "

[dlb]

looks really good overall in all the pics. funny, i knew it was an '87 before i saw that part of the ad just by the colour. i actually like this blue a lot. and the '87/'88 dlx seats are actually really nice, plus i like the colour-matched window frames, so this is a dlx i'd be really happy with. i'd toss the dlx gauge cluster and put in an sr5 one, though.

[ARCHINSTL]

Posting has been deleted, so no pix.
Did someone here buy it?
Boy, those body-color window frames always add to the look - less choppy and more fluid!
Now if I could only find Topaz spray paint - Hmm - wonder if Home Depot could whip up a matching color? I had XLNT luck using a dense foam roller on the bumpers, drip rails, and windshield trim...
Tom M.

[Petros]

You can get matching color mixed up for you for about $25 for a large spary can. visit the Duplicolor website.

[Dumpo Lina]

Posting has been deleted, so no pix.
Did someone here buy it?

Tom M.

Hello, I'm new to this community, as I just bought the Tercel which is the subject of this post. Its pretty rough for being only 155XXX, but the sellers were super nice and I immediately connected with the car. Probably paid too much, but again they were pretty nice folks.
Right now chasing oil leaks, then gotta sort out brakes as all the wheel cylinders/master cylinder leak and the hoses are brittle. "Snowy" has not seen much preventative maintenance.
When I can clean up the interior I'll put up some pics

I welcome any source for decent brake lines other than dealer replacement

[marlinh]

Aftermarket rubber hoses work well. They are inexpensive and durable.

[Petros]

Welcome to the list!

Usually sources of oil leaks are front seal, distributor o-ring (make sure you read up on installing the distributor correctly over in the repair guides section if you take the distributor out), the valve cover gasket, and the gasket on the fuel pump. It is pretty rare but the rear seal can leak too, but that is a big job since you have to pull the trans.

Rockauto.com has great prices, but check the shipping cost before you commit. Autozone.com will give you slightly higher prices, but if you order more than $100 they will ship to your house for free, often it costs less than buying from Rockauto. If you are going to replace the master cylinder or the front brakes, you might want to consider doing a brake up grade, go check out my thread with instructions on how to install larger and better front brakes over in the repair guides section (if you are buying new parts the larger brakes from other models of toytotas do not cost much more to buy and install). List member Synth has the rotor spacer you will need to do the brake up grade if you do not want to make them yourself, he does not live far from you in Shoreline, WA.

If the body is in good shape without rust, and the trans is decent, no matter what else it needs you made a good buy.

Good luck.

[Dumpo Lina]

Thank you for the information. I'm researching the brake upgrade based on your wtite up.
I hope to have time to go through the car this weekend.
Body is not as pretty as the pictures- it has some really odd damage (cowling?), but no significant rust I have located yet.
Trans seems pretty smooth, motor doesn't exactly purr, but it seems solid. Possibly a carb adjustment as previous owner said they just "put a new one on" several years ago, with no tuning.

[dlb]

i was the second owner of my first tercel and i had all the repair receipts for the cars whole life. the mechanic who worked on the car must have replaced the carb about once every two years, which is ridiculous. they're easy to troubleshoot and quick to repair. i guess if someone else is footing the bill though, some mechanics would rather just toss a new one on. i think that's a wasteful approach.

[Dumpo Lina]

Update
well, this little thing is still plugging along
Fixed the distributor oil leak, seems nearly leak free now.
Other than re-aligning the drivers window, I've done nothing else but drive it all over

25-27 mpg - Great little car!