Faults:

Overheating, but a little DIY does the job to prevent it, plus proper maintenance and tune up.

General Comments:

1. A very reliable car for getting to point A to point B.

2. Easy to maintain, easy to DIY.

3. Low cost maintenance.

4. Easy to find parts locally and from online shops.

5. Comfortable ride, but a little bit bumpy.

6. Cool air con if you maintain it.

7. Easy to park and easy to maintain.

8. Good fuel economy.

Faults:

The engine always overheats just over 20 minutes and loses a lot of coolant. My ignition coil got burned and the alternator was next, and my distributor got stuck and the head gasket blew off all in the same month. I have spent over 100,000 php just to fix it all (DIY of course); it always breaks down when you're at a stop or in the middle of an intersection.

General Comments:

The Toyota Lite Ace 1.5 gasoline engine is really reliable if you take care of it. The Toyota company is always making their cars as reliable as possible. If you always maintain your LA you can get the most out of it. After all, it's just a commuter van and it was not built for speed.

It has a big space to fit the whole family. One time we had 14 people in the car (I know it's overloading) but it got up on Mambukal Resort on Murcia. Negros Occidental. It didn't stop or overheat. It handle itself pretty well.

If you are still having problems with overheating, start small. If you really love your car, you should know what's not supposed to happen.

First things first! If your car is overheating, check the alternator, compressor, water pump, and distributor if it's not moving properly (stuck or bearings, bushing worn out). If it is then sort that out first.

Some stuck up mechanism may put too much load on your engine, resulting to overheating and bad fuel economy.

Second! Check your radiator cap, reservoir, water pump and water jacket (at the back of your cylinder head) to see if there are any leaks. Later models doesn't really need thermostat because there is always a by-pass.

Check your reservoir; if the coolant is coming back, then you have a head gasket problem.

Third! Head gasket. Change your head gasket at 7k. It's the same and a 7k head gasket has more than holes than the 5k head gasket. Don't forget to put the head gasket shell back to prevent air or water from getting in the chamber.

Fourth! Change your transmission and differential fluid so that your car can move like it's brand new again.

Fifth: Change the engine and transmission mount. So that the vibration of the engine isn't transferred to the body of the car.

Sixth: Change your engine oil to Caltex Delo Gold or Valvoline 5w-30 to make the engine run better again and change your valve stem.

Seventh: Buy a whole lot of dw-40 and spray on rusty parts like doors or handles.

Final!: Buy a new carburetor. From Corolla or Tamarraw FX to make the vibrations of the car go away when revving it up to a higher speed.

Note: if you're not using the aircon (literally) or if it is not working then remove the compressor. It removes load from the engine.

General Comments:

The car has good performance in general.

I have had previous overheating experiences, but that was practically solved when I changed the cylinder head. Now the engine is running smoothly, even with air con switched on the temp. cannot even reach 1/4 on the gauge.

3 years after overhauling it, the car still runs good, though I changed the carburetor due to vibration when the engine was cold. Now the revs are as smooth as a new ride. You can hardly hear the engine revs when running at 80 to 90 kph.

Last April 2014 me and my family had a very nice trip from Binan Laguna to Bacolod with an overnight stopover in Puerto Galera and Iloilo. No problems at all with the air con running full time.

I had plans to change the engine to a diesel, but have decided not to push through with that now that I have very good 5k performance. With 70 to 80 kph, Highway Negros occ. fuel consumption reaches 11k/liter. My advice folks... don't rush... be easy with the accelerator... don't rev too much before changing gears. After all, it's just a commuter van with an undersized engine.