Faults:

Clutch master cylinder failed at 100,000 miles. Replaced with new master cylinder at dealer.

Front and rear windshield seals degraded, and caused car interior leaks during rain storms. Fixed by owner with silicone sealant.

Heavy blue smoke at cold start-up at 112,000 miles due to worn cam seals.

Repaired by dealer.

General Comments:

This is a very reliable car -- this is my fifth Toyota -- my sixth car will be Toyota, too.

Faults:

Water pump at 120,000 miles, clear coat from paint on roof started to "burn" and come apart. This car has been waxed every 3 months starting in 1993 and seems to be a "Tercel problem". Replaced original radiator at 198,500 miles. Plastic driver's seat tore in 1998 "Tercel Problem".

General Comments:

Car may lack horsepower, but is inexpensive to maintain.

Faults:

O rings went bad at 120,000.

Threw a rod soon after o rings went out :)

Interior seems to be made of the cheapest vinyl available.

Timing belt died at 150,000 miles (after a total rebuild of the engine at 120,000 miles)

General Comments:

This car suffers first from massive amounts of oil loss, even after 2, yes 2 total engine rebuilds.

The engine is seriously underpowered, over revs even at normal highway speeds.

The road noise is unbearable.

There are only 2 redeeming qualities, 1. the seats are very comfortable, can recline 180 degrees (usefull when the car dies on you on the freeway, and you have to wait for a tow truck)

2. the fuel economy is amazing, could drive 500 miles on a tank and a half.

General Comments:

This car has the 1500cc motor which is notorious for wearing out quickly. Therefore it burns oil and I must add a half a quart or more every time I put gas in it.

It is very economic and gets about 40 miles per gallon.

This car's performance isn't very good. The small motor doesn't produce much power and air conditioner takes a noticeable amount of power away from the car. This causes problems when someone is harassing you on the highway and you're trying to get away.

The tires on the car aren't very wide, so handling isn't very good. The car isn't a real dream to drive on winding roads.

The car's small size makes it very light and very quick to maneuver. It's very easy to park. It's easy to turn even without power steering. It's light enough that three regular people can very easily lift up the back end and move it.

The seats are not uncomfortable, but I can think of seats that are more comfortable. However, the interior is black so the car is a living hell during our hot and humid summers even with the air conditioning.

Faults:

Five years and 121000 kilometres into the ownership of the Tercel it started going through oil at a rate of one litre per week. The dealer did all the repair work (rings, seals, gaskets, oil pan, etc...) under the 5-year/120000 km. warranty even though the warranty had recently expired. The dealer even fixed a problem with the transmission that I didn't even know I had under warranty while they did the engine work for the oil problem. They even gave me a Corolla to drive for the three days they had my car at no charge!!!

My only complaint about this car is the fact that the brakes squeaked from day one. In the eight years that I have owned the Tercel the dealer has done four complete brake jobs at no charge to try to get rid of the noise, but to this day it still persists.

General Comments:

I love this car and you can't beat Toyota for quality and service. My Tercel is eight years old and she still runs like a brand new car.

I admit that I abused my poor Tercel and did not get it serviced regularly, yet the dealership did the work under warranty anyhow - even after the warranty had expired!!! Try to get that kind of service and commitment out of any of the North American auto makers.