1995 Toyota Tercel DX 2 door review from North America

Slow oil seal leak somewhere around 140,000 miles.

Head gasket leak somewhere around 190,000 miles.

Other than that, only normal maintenance.

God I miss that car.

In May of 1995, Orlando, FL, I bought a red 95 Tercel for something like $12,500, which included a 'sport package'; a rear spoiler and decent wheels. I drove that car everywhere, all over the U.S. and some in Canada too. That car was a little beast! Maintenance was easy, especially changing the oil. Toyota is brilliant for putting the filter in the front of the engine. Filter off in 10 seconds.

The gas mileage was outstanding, and I did not drive the car easy. Going fast down highways did reveal a good bit of road noise, but with the audio system turned up I didn't hear much except music. Some amazing things about that car... I didn't need to change the first set of tires until almost 90,000 miles. I can't explain that one. The first set of brakes lasted forever too. I had to change the rotors one time. The car handled incredibly well in the snow and rain. I had driven it in snowy places like Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and of course throughout the midwest and northeast without any problems. Drove it on snowpacked roads in SE Colorado on the way to Telluride. 55mph? NO problem. Plenty of traction. No one else was going nearly as fast.

Lived in Pittsburgh for one year (misery) while owning the car, and despite poor roads, poor weather, and all that salt they threw down, Never had a problem.

Around 190,000 miles, I took a trip out west (again) and discovered that my oil was low... down to about 1 quart. It also donned on me that I had been driving for sustained periods of 90 mph. I was worried that my engine would be damaged... when I got back home I changed out the leaking valve cover gasket and checking the valves, I saw absolutely no damage. They were as clean as a whistle. No oil gunk build up either. Unbelievable.

I eventually got into a wreck because some girl in an SUV pulled out in front of me and I couldn't stop in time. Perhaps if the car had been equipped with anti-lock brakes, it would not have been a problem. And that was that. 7 years and 221,997 miles. About 65 oil changes, 3 sets of tires, a couple of brake changes, couple of spark plug changes, a bunch of air filter changes and many happy miles.

Since then, I've owned an Acura RSX type S. If I could switch and get my car back the way it was, I would do it in a heartbeat.