1990 Toyota Tercel Coupe review from North America

Awful paint job.

Trunk leaks during heavy rain.

All plastics on vehicle very brittle, not designed to last.

Burns/leaks oil- a quart about every 3k miles.

OEM carpets are worn through.

(150k) tune-up and thermostat when bought.

(160k) rear brakes replaced.

(180k) front brakes replaced.

(200k) new tires.

(220k) tune-up and oxygen sensor.

I have a ram pickup that gets 15 mpg, which is good for the 5.9L Magnum considering that it should be only getting 13mpg on highway, at the most. It has power, comfort, electronic everything, plenty of room. all of which the Toyota doesn't have.

I bought this car to save on gas. It has done very well. It has all the gas economics of the newer vehicles without the new price tag. I get roughly 31-33mpg on high octane. I use high octane because it diesels after turning it off when using low octane... even though the Toyota manual tells you to use regular. Nevertheless I still get high gas mileage for the higher gas price.

It doesn't have A/C, so I live life around 60-70 mph.

I am a do it yourselfer, therefore I get farther on my dollar. I couldn;t imagine spending 100 dollars on a tune-up and oil change, or even a 100 on brakes.

In my experience, I've owned just as many domestics as foreign vehicles. Prices to repair them are roughly the same. If anything, the domestics are easier to work on. The engine bays are larger as opposed to this Toyota... very cramped.

In my experience, everyone raves that domestics, for instance F.ix O.r R.epair D.aily's, are what they live up to be, breaking down... often. In contrast, this Toyota has broken down as often as any other car that I've owned: (4) Nissans, (1) Mazda, (2) Dodges, (2) Toyotas, (5) Fords, (1) Mercury, (1) Hyundai, (1) Saturn. I just believe that people don't know how/when/care to service their vehicles, and then expect them to run forever. I've owned and maintained all of these vehicles, and ended up selling them all to family. All of which are STILL running past 100k, 150k and 200k miles. mMny people are just plain apathetic.

Overall, I would have to say that this Toyota is very economical, a lunchbox on wheels, ugly, gets you from A to B with minimal performance, and is still running past 200k.