1992 Toyota Paseo from North America - Comments

Replaced the brakes twice within three months, I believe it was at the fault of the break installation company, not the car itself.

Had to replace the entire air conditioning unit as there was a leak and freon was escaping. It has worked fantastically ever since. I use the air conditioning on a daily basis.

Starter went out at 145,000 miles. Went out again within three months, but was covered by warranty and has worked just fine ever since.

This has been the first car I ever purchased and I have no regrets! It was the perfect vehicle to get me through college- gas is incredibly cheap (I get consistently over 30mpg).

Despite my high miles I've never had a break down, and have felt confident making long road trips.

My only fear is safety in a collision- I barely bumped a cement pillar in a parking structure at work and the front end of my car sustained serious damage. It behaves as though it were made of aluminum foil!

While the car takes a long time to gain speed, it can keep up with the best of them once it gets going.

The seats aren't that comfortable, they aren't cushy and could be described as "stiff".

My taller friends have to fold themselves up like origami to ride along, though the size suits my 5'1" frame quite nicely.

The backseat is a complete joke- no one over 3" tall can sit up straight without hitting their head on the rear glass. Even though they are no good for passengers, an amazing quantity of stuff can be stored both there and in the surprisingly large trunk.

A friend of mine also drove this car while we were in college together. I've never seen anyone abuse a car so horribly... and I've never seen such a horribly abused car stay screwed together so well. Absolutely indestructible.

I just bought a Paseo and I'm very glad to hear all the good reviews. I've owned several Tercels 91', 92', 97' so I already knew what to expect mechanically. Discovering the rev-happy twin cam engine was a nice bonus! The Paseo has a 4 star frontal and side impact rating F.Y.I. Thanks for the heads up on the fragility of the body. The Tercel is like a bumper car especially in the rear. I was rear ended at a red light on a patch of ice and sustained no damage except a stiff neck for a couple of days. You should have seen the other car! A Mazda 323 the whole front end.

I took a 92 Paseo for a little test drive a few months ago. Body was in excellent shape, suspension was flawless, interior was clean, but for some reason on the test drive the motor spun a rod bearing or something. I was driving along, then there was what felt like a HUGE drag on the engine, essentially felt like it was seizing up now that I think of it. The engine stalled and the starter wouldn't turn the motor over, so thinking the battery had run down, I tried rolling it down a hill and popping out the clutch. No go, the tires just dragged across the pavement, it was like the engine was stuck in place. I opened the hood then smelled something burning. The positive battery cable was extremely hot and the plastic sheathing was melting away! I yanked it off the battery as fast as I could. Luckily, the car's owner was following behind me, so he gave me a boost to get the car started. It took a long time to get it to turn over, but eventually it did. Now the low oil pressure light was flickering on. The car's owner decided that he wanted to drive it to see what it was doing, so I followed behind him in his Focus wagon. We went up the road a little then I started to hear this horrible knocking noise coming from somewhere. It was the Paseo making the noise! It sounded like dry rod bearings. We turned around at a gas station then took the car back to the owner's place. He said on the way back then when he floored the gas pedal the knocking went away. We got back to his yard and the first thing I did was to open the oil filler cap. Smoke billowed from the hole, and the oil on the dipstick was scorchingly hot. Something major had happened to the engine. He told me later that he had looked into it a bit and said that something had pushed the oil out of the pan and basically, the engine had more or less locked up from lack of oil. What a damn heartbreak it was to hear that. The car was in such good shape and it was priced nice too. He later sold the car for 300 bucks for parts or something, the stereo system alone in the car was worth that. I suppose it's better that the engine failed on the test drive and not 20 minutes after I bought it, as the day it happened I was all set to hand over the money and buy the car.