1993 Toyota Tercel LX from North America - Comments

Oil pan disintegrated

Rust was present after first year owned. (Had to argue with dealership to repair.)

Gas cap door lever and trunk open lever seized with rust.

Muffler rusted out.

Gas smell prevalent in interior of car from early on.

Oil valve seized open and replaced (twice) as it was going through large amounts of oil.

Alternator replaced at 17500km

Low oil indicator light does not come on until almost completely devoid of oil.

Oil is (black) after only a few kilometers.

Lastly, one of the pistons is ruined hence copious amounts of black exhaust and it is going through a top up of oil ever two days.

I thought I could keep this car for a long time as I am very diligent in upkeep for it.

I was very frustrated at dragging this car into the garage ever couple of weeks.

I will unload this lemon and get a car of another make. For the record, Toyota Tercel's are NOT reliable. I am very disappointed with this make and model of car.

I had the same trouble with my 89 tercel. Everyone gets a LEMON once in a while. I have a 94 tercel I bought new. It has 240 000 km. on it. No problems so far.

It seems you got the worst Tercel ever made. Tercels are one of the most reliable cars ever made. In the 80's rust is usually what ended their life, but mine went for 300 000 km before someone slashed all four tires and I scrapped it rather than replacing them, the rust had made the car ridiculously ugly and noisy (air leaks). It did drive great until that day though.

It is apparent that if you let the oil level get low enough to have the light illuminate, you aren't keen on keep up, maybe the car is a lemon due to you. The alternator sounds fishy, I have a 93 tercel and have an amazing amount of miles. I'm at the point where I don't know if I will ever get a new car in the fear this one may run forever, it seems you are one of a kind or at least one of few. Problems are usually anything, but prevalent when it comes to tercels.

I'm also scared of trading this car in, I feel it will last forever too. All I've changed are the CV joints because I hit a bump hard with 80 mph impact. The Tercel you are talking about is not the Tercel I own. My Tercel has 195,000 miles PLUS. The miles keep racking up and it just feels that the car is getting better and better not worst. I even learned how to drive stick with this car (so I abused the clutch and all that other good stuff a lot of times) Now I drive this car as if new.