1996 Toyota Paseo Reviews

Replaced battery at 105,000.

Replaced radiator at 145,000.

Replaced rear exhaust at 148,000.

Replaced headlight bulb at 149,000.

Bought as a cheap runaround for £300 with six months MOT. I intended to keep it for a month or so. It has surprisingly proved to be the best car I have owned; it's covered 60,000 miles in a little over 2 years, and has never failed to start. The car has never let me down, and I haven't got round to changing the oil or plugs yet. The bodywork has a few dents due to the age of the car, but there is no rust.

The interior is good and front seats relatively comfortable, but the back seats are cramped, especially for adults. As a 1.5 litre sports coupe, it provides adequate power with good economy. I use the car daily, and it returns 45mpg on the motorway with 35/38mpg in mixed driving.

These cars are quite rare in this country, although the running gear is all Corolla / Starlet based, so parts are readily available, but you won't need them very often in my experience. I really can't fault the Paseo; it's been fantastically reliable; so much so that I kept it, and got rid of my Mercedes C Class Diesel that was a constant drain on the finances.

I would seriously recommend these little cars to anyone who is looking for sporty looks, good economy and fantastic reliability. You won't be disappointed.

Exhaust wear and tear needed replacing.

Full brakes (discs, pads, shoes) replaced - wear and tear.

Fantastically reliable, never breaks down, starts first time every time. Bit slow in 4th gear, but still nippy enough.

Decent on fuel consumption and nothing ever goes wrong with it apart from natural wear and tear. Not too great on hills.

It's very small in the back, anyone over about 5'6" can't fit in without sitting awkwardly, and banging their head on the back window. Nice in the front though.

My drivers rear shocker went.

My radiator went.

This car is in my opinion very stylish for a small car; quite nippy and very generous on fuel.

It's cheap on insurance and just makes the cheap road tax bracket. It is quite pleasing when people ask me about the car, as no one I know drives, owns or knows anyone else that has one.

I must admit that the back seats are quite cramped though.

Not much has gone wrong in the last 4 years, except normal wear and tear parts, i.e. brakes, struts & shocks, tune-up parts.

The 2 ignition coils went bad, and I replaced them with after market; big mistake!! went back to Toyota coils.

Needs a new catalytic converter; no problem.

Car is very reliable! A good chic car! Small, but comfortable.

Somewhat noisy on the highway, because the engine revs high.

Holds the road well with G009 Bridgestone performance tires.

Hope to keep the car for a long time.

The third day of ownership, my back box split at the join to rest of exhaust system - should have checked more thoroughly before buying. Was dreading price and parts availability - but a local ETC centre came up trumps, £69 and one in stock (despite never seeing one before!)

2 new front tyres, but you can expect this on any car.

This car is a serious loophole insurance and performance wise for younger drivers. I am 18 with 0 NCB and it costs me less than my old clio 1.2 to insure!

They are economical aswell, I can regularly drive it hard, and I've never had less than about 32mpg, on a run it does upwards of 45mpg!

The manufacturers performance figures are a bit below what its capable of too - 0-60 comes up quicker than 11.2, more like ~10secs, also feels more powerful than 90bhp. Above 4k rpm these are lively little numbers and punch above their weight!

I've replaced the air filter with a TRD panel filter, and also some iridium leads and platinum spark plugs which improve drive ability and economy when driving hard.

Also, typical Toyota reliability, oil is always clean when changed, starts first time, no taps/rattles/knocks.

So if you want something cheap to insure as a first/second car this is for you! Especially with the music on, windows down and sunroof out with people asking what it is, this is for you!!