1987 Toyota Tercel Wagon 4 x 4 SR 5 from North America - Comments

Nothing has gone wrong with the car since I bought it in May 2003.

When I bought it it had many things wrong with it. The rack and pinion needs to be replaced. The Engine needs to be replaced. The rear brakes need a new hardware kit installed. The previous owner smashed the front up a little. It needs a front end alignment.

Nothing has gone wrong with the car since I bought it in May 2003.

I bought it non running/dead from a guy on a trip away from home. I towed it home on a trailer (225 miles) and got it running. It was pretty abused. It had 2 gallons of oil in the engine and had a dead battery. I discovered that it only ran on three cylinders. I finally got it started (don't want to bore you with all of the details). It smoked like crazy. I have been driving it on three cylinders for the last 4000 miles. I really like these cars. I use it to haul a car full of camping equipment into the woods with my wife and haul tools around with it. I have found that Toyota sells MOST of the parts for the car that make it go down the road. Right now with one cylinder dead it gets 25.4 miles to the gallon on the highway. I found that a bigger engine is available for the car out of a 1986 Toyota Corolla the 4AC. It has a little bigger bore, but everything else is compatible except the oil-pan, you need to keep your old one. By using this other engine you will gain 8 horses (from 62 to 70 horses.) That is a lot for this car. In 1987 the AC compressor used 12 horses and when you switch it in it acts like you are making the car do something it doesn't like. It is gutless. The AC works excellent. The 4 x 4 works great. Toyota Corp explained how the shifter works. You need to be going at least 5 mph and not over 75 mph when you shift it. You cannot shift it in or out of 4 wheel drive when the car is stopped. The car has tons of head room and the front seats are pretty comfortable. The back seats are a bit springy on rough roads. The car has excellent visibility.

This is an excellent review. These cars still should be made.

I just brought a 1987 auto.