1985 Toyota Pickup 2wd xtra cab 4 cylinder carb from North America

Summary:

This is an amazing vehicle, probably the best I'll ever own

Faults:

The windshield washer reservoir leaks, but I never bothered to get it fixed.

The parking brake doesn't work.

The plastic bits on the bumper get torn off after a few years.

Rust is taking over.

General Comments:

Great truck, never let me down or left me stranded.

Hauls a surprising amount of cargo for being such a small truck, and never complains.

It's fun to drive, handling is great. Doesn't like to go much faster than 65 mph, but that's fine with me.

We got caught in a snowstorm once, and slid off the freeway into a ditch at 40 mph. It was our fault, we were running all-season tires. The truck climbed right out of the ditch and back onto the freeway. No problems.

We're having a baby soon, so we bought a Volvo 940 wagon, but if not for the baby, I would've been happy to ride the Toyota until the end of time.

Such a great vehicle. Basic, solid as a rock. The way a truck should be. I said I'd buy another Toyota, but probably only one from before the 1990s. Great cars.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 5th April, 2010

1985 Toyota Pickup 22R from North America

Summary:

This is the best truck Toyota has ever made

Faults:

The only bad thing that has happened is that there is some rust and the clutch is messed up. Got rust on the fender wells because the manufacturer tacks the wells. Other than that I've only put bout $300 in to it and it is running great.

General Comments:

Even though this is my first truck to ever own I have still driven and worked on others. It is really fun to drive and even though the engine is small it is surprisingly powerful and it will last forever.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 26th August, 2005

1985 Toyota Pickup from North America

Summary:

Very unpleasant to own

Faults:

What hadn't gone wrong with this truck? The engine seals constantly blew, and the truck leaked oil everywhere.

The truck burned a lot of oil, and smoked excessively while idling, to the point that my wife got a ticket for unreasonable emissions while she was sitting at a light.

The transmission shifted roughly and abruptly.

Fuel economy was abysmal.

The transfer case wouldn't disengage, had to take it to the dealer to fix. Same problem 1 month later. Never put it in 4x4 mode again.

General Comments:

I had all the original receipts for this truck, and I knew the previous owner, who took care of it very well. It wasn't abused. I can't figure out why it was just so unpleasant.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 12th November, 2004

26th May 2006, 19:40

...anyways you must have gotten a bad toyota (oxymoron) but hey I've seen that same truck run on 3 cylinders and major mechanical problem (NO oil and fluids). TOYOTA FOR LIFE. FYI- don't get an automatic trans... it's askin for problems. You must take care of the truck and the truck will take care of you, which means you have to do regular maintenance (all cars need regular maintenance).

9th Sep 2014, 17:20

Your piston rings went bad like all engines do eventually. This happened to mine, and we rebuilt the engine and it runs great!

1st Jun 2019, 20:11

I agree. And regular maintenance is essential. I bought my 85 pickup new for $5,284, changed the oil every two years, and it runs fine.

1985 Toyota Pickup 2.4 cc Inline 4 cylinder. from North America

Summary:

Abused for 170K, and still going

Faults:

Windshield washers went out at 160000 miles. Then again at 161000 after I had it "fixed".

Piston rings on cylinder 3 gave out, around 165000 miles so the oil consumption skyrocketed to 1 quart per 300 miles.

Starter motor died at 170034 miles.

General Comments:

This truck was my first vehicle so I have nothing to compare it to. But from my point of view, it was peppy, and very solid off road.

The lack of power steering was a bit of a bummer because I had 32 inch tires on it so turning at low speeds was a chore, especially for a little runt like me.

I really liked this truck, even though it was old, it felt very solid and had very few rattles and unusual noises.

I give it a high reliability rating because I believe that it would have gone 300000 miles if it wasn't a High School student car for 17 years. 4 people learned how to drive stick on it, myself included, and it had been in 2 wrecks previously. When I had it, 4 people hit it in the parking lot within 2 years.

The only thing I didn't like, was the gas mileage. I averaged 16, but got 25 for the high, and 9 for the low. (4WD, and towing in the snow.)

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 2nd November, 2004