1994 Toyota Tercel 2 door from North America

Summary:

I would buy another one if available!!!

Faults:

The car started using oil at 100,000 miles.

Timing belt blew at 80,000 miles.

General Comments:

This car is probably the best car ever built. It has been abused (by me) and still runs like a top.

It sat out in the sun for a whole summer and the paint took a beating.

The mileage is probably about 40 MPG, and it costs under $25.00 per month for gas.

For a commuting car, it takes a beating every day through city traffic and has never been in a wreck. It is the most dependable car ever made.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 18th June, 2013

1994 Toyota Tercel from North America

Summary:

This car has never, ever let me down

Faults:

Nothing!

Just make sure you keep up on your oil changes. I can notice it not running as well if I'm late on one.

Also, be extra careful not to get into an accident... this car is teeny tiny. It would hurt. A lot.

General Comments:

This car is really reliable - I've never had a problem with it starting.

New tires are CHEAP.

I can fill up the tank for $20 and have it last me for two weeks - for a college student, that's AMAZING.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 15th November, 2010

1994 Toyota Tercel 1.3 from Egypt

Summary:

Great

Faults:

- After many years of driving in Egypt (with lots of inappropriately paved roads), the suspension became weak.

- The A/C takes some time to be effective during the hot days.

General Comments:

- This car is one of the best economic cars ever built.

- Power assisted steering is really smooth.

- Using the A/C didn't cause any noticeable change in the motor efficiency.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 3rd September, 2010

1994 Toyota Tercel Base 1.5L from North America

Summary:

The Tercel has been a solid little car for us!

Faults:

Started using oil at 100,000 miles.

Dome light never worked right.

General Comments:

Cheap to feed, gets an honest 35 mpg no matter how hard you flog it.

Never left us stranded, no breakdowns, no major problems.

Ours is the base model. No luxury, just dependable transportation.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 16th October, 2009

1994 Toyota Tercel DX 1.5 I4 from North America

Summary:

This is a great car for anyone who wants a cheap, reliable, small car

Faults:

The seats have gone to crap, which is typical for any car with almost 300,000 miles on it.

The CV joints need to be replaced.

Replaced the clutch.

Replaced the engine (I'm not sure at how many miles).

Replaced the struts.

The current engine leaks a lot of oil, and somewhere there is a gas leak.

General Comments:

The seats aren't very comfy, however the headliner is still in good shape.

There is no power steering, which is not that bad until you get into the parking ramp, or parking lot for that matter.

The car handles pretty well.

The gas mileage is phenomenal, I got 42 mpg on one tank once, I drove 55 on the highway and slowly took off at stop signs. But I probably averaged 30-35 mpg most of the time.

I cannot kill this car. Everybody says that, but I'm in high school and I got this car for free from my uncle's friend. I hoped it would last me one summer, but I've had it for over a year. Sometimes after school my friends and I do burnouts in it to annoy the principal. We would also drive the car through mud, ramp it over snow mounds. It will not die.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 22nd March, 2009

1994 Toyota Tercel 1.3 liter carb from Costa Rica

Summary:

Good quality and reliability

Faults:

Seats wear faster than my previous Corolla.

Minor engine rebuilt at 170000.

Besides that just normal maintenance.

General Comments:

This is modeled as 1995 but in fact it is a 1994 late sold and re-badged I may say.

The engine is the same as my old Corolla but somehow it feels less powerful.

This car is smaller than the Corolla but as good and reliable as only Toyota can make their cars.

My wife also has a Tercel 1994 and she's in love with that car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 1st September, 2008

1994 Toyota Tercel 1.5L I4 from North America

Summary:

Cheap, reliable, and efficient, but definitely not a luxury car

Faults:

Engine burns oil (about 1 Qt per 700 miles)

The vinyl seat upholstery is cracked and falling apart.

Air conditioning doesn't work (broken when I bought the car, was told it would cost around $300 to fix)

Air bag light is on (also on when I bought it, and would also apparently take $300 to fix)

Exhaust pipe rusted through between engine and muffler (95,000 miles).

Spark plugs became fouled at about 130,000 miles (at least 50,000 on that set of plugs)

Radiator corroded and slowly leaking (135,000 miles)

Clutch started slipping and was replaced around 110,000 miles.

Heater can't keep the cabin very warm when it's below about 10F/-12C (average winter around here).

General Comments:

As long as you check the oil and coolant levels, it's been more reliable than most lower-mileage (newer and older year) cars I've driven. The things that've failed on me are mainly because it's an old car, and the only preventative or routine maintenance I've ever done since buying it is change the oil and oil filter every few thousand miles. Rusting exhaust systems are fairly common in this area, with the snow and salt in the winter; spark plugs should at least be checked and gapped more often than 50,000 miles; and when they say to use distilled water when diluting antifreeze, there's a reason for it, and I ignored it; two people learned to drive a manual transmission on this car, and the clutch was near the end of it's life to begin with, so I'm not surprised it wore out (They're not cheap to replace, however. Definitely something to keep in mind).

Starts within two or three revolutions every time, even when it's so cold you can't shift because the transmission fluid's gelled up (I've always parked outside, and there's no engine block heater or heavy-duty battery or starter).

Performance is decent at slower speeds. Above 45 MPH the acceleration starts to drop off; while it can get to 85 on a long, flat road, that last 20 may take a few minutes. Definitely not for road trips, or busy highways.

The cabin is very loud when driving; there's probably no sound insulation, or if there is it's completely ineffective. I tend to wear earplugs or headphones when I'm driving more than a few minutes, or else I'll get a headache from it.

Handling is fairly good for a car this size and speed, although power steering would be helpful.

I wouldn't go offroading in it, but it'll handle a Minnesota winter just fine if you're in the cities. Although that would depend some on how good the snowplows are in your area; roads get plowed relatively quickly in my area, so it's rare that I have to drive in more than an inch of snow. The only time I've gotten stuck anywhere is when I intentionally drove into the 7" unplowed snow at my employer's parking lot to see how far I'd get (about ten feet), and a few minutes with a shovel got me out. Anti-lock brakes would be nice, but they're hardly necessary, and as I understand most Tercels don't have them anyways.

Avoid the vinyl seats. Once they start to crack, they go quickly, and I'm sure any vinyl this old will have cracks in it, or will very soon.

Don't pretend that you can fit people in the back seat. You can't. Not full grown adults with legs, at least. The front seats are fairly roomy, however. Trunk space is adequate, if you can fit your cargo through the smallish opening.

The engine's not too difficult to work on for oil and filter changes and such, although whoever positioned the oil filter exactly where it is has my undying hatred. You simply cannot fit a standard strap-type filter wrench in that space. You need one of those sockets that goes over the end of the filter and plugs into a ratchet, and even then it's a tight fit.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 31st December, 2007