Faults:

Engine was knocking when I purchased the vehicle. I attempted to check the ignition timing, only to find that there was no timing mark on the crank pulley. To find TDC, I stuck a socket extension in the spark plug hole for CYL 1, and rotated the engine until the extension was up all the way, and then made a mark on the crankshaft where TDC was. The timing belt was off by 2 teeth.

While tinkering with the ignition timing/timing belt, I managed to damage a wire that runs to the alternator, that connects on the back of said alternator via a connector that has 3 wires. All of the wires appeared to be corroded, and the plastic/rubber parts of the connector have become hardened and non-pliable. The wires appear to be oxidized inside their insulation. I spliced a new wire on and soldered it in place.

Transmission pan is leaking.

Front right outer CV boot is torn.

Driver's side power window is sluggish and needs "help" closing.

Front passenger side window switch only works going down. Driver switch works for this window.

Both tie-rod ends need to be replaced as they have excessive play.

Accelerator cable was frayed outside of its sheath near the throttle body.

Temperature gauge was not working, replaced and is now functioning.

All of the vents for the A/C are broken as such that you cannot direct the airflow left or right, but only up and down. I believe the connection between the center to all of the other fins is missing/broken and needs a replacement.

General Comments:

Seats are very comfortable.

Interior seems quite modern for being a 1992 car.

The transmission shifts great.

Easy to drive, just wish the turn radius was better for driving in Indonesia.

This car is easy to work on and problems should be expected for a car this old. If you have experience in automotive repair or wish to learn, one of these cars would be great to learn from. If you have no experience, know of nobody who can help you, or don't wish to have to take the car to a shop... look for a newer car. The problems these cars have are relatively simple fixes, but you'll most likely always have problems here and there due to the age.

Faults:

Battery died at about 90,000kms (after it was 12 years old).

Head lamps died around the same time.

One rear light bulb died at about 110,000kms.

Water pump started leaking at about 120,000kms.

General Comments:

The car has good mileage, gets 600kms to a full tank (60L tank).

The creature comforts are nice and the electric windows/mirrors etc have never faulted. Air-con is good, shame about no rear window wiper.

There has always been something that's strange to the look of it at the back. But it would make an excellent family car.

Have barely had a fault with it, and it's a 15 year old car.

Faults:

Front disc brakes needed replacing at 140,000 kilometers.

Engine began to idle above normal revs, 1100 instead of 700, fixed by the dealer at a service.

General Comments:

The most under-rated car ever sold in New Zealand.

Sold from 1992 to 1996, these cars were superior in almost every way to their competition of the time; Ford Telstar, Mazda 626, Mitsubishi Galant, along with most imported models.

These cars have almost faultless reliability.

Their handling is peerless and leaves everything else for dead (thanks to Chris Amon modifications, which were unique to the New Zealand market).

Performance from the 94 kilowatt engine was good, in either manual or multi-mode automatic models.

Cars are capable of easy 180kph cruising on the open road.

Fuel consumption can be heavy around town (12l/100kms), but much better on the open road (8l/100kms).

Automatic models have power/economy mode transmissions, power mode on the open road provides good over-taking ability.

Build quality is superb.

Servicing costs are quite reasonable, as is the level of service from Toyota dealers.

Top-spec GLX models are rare, but simply superb.