Bad dealers and service people will ruin a companies reputation .
Bad dealers and service people will ruin a companies reputation
Oh I wish that were true. Only a bad reputation for the informed…but unfortunately the vast majority of the car buying public is NOT well informed…and they know it.
mountainbike
I’ve heard that Toyota cars from the early and mid 1980s were prone to rusting out
Mine didn’t, at least not anymore than the competitors, but I’m unfamiliar with the stats overall.
My '86 van never formed any serious rust, my '89 pickup was the most rust resistant vehicle I’d ever owned until my current car, an '05 Scion. The Scion has stayed amazing rust free, even underneath. I got lucky on this one.
The worst vehicle I’ve ever owned from a rust perspective was definitely the '79 Toyota pickup. Too bad too, 'cause the drivetrain was bulletproof. My '91 Camry had some rot holes underneath after 14 years, but still not to the level of being unsafe.
I had a customer with an '82? Toyota pickup. Even here in the rust-free Northwest by 2000 it was falling apart though the drivetrain was still sound. Every time you slammed the door you lost a little more of the truck.
mountainbike
my late father had a 1983 Toyota van, I believe the same body style as yours
It lived its whole life in Germany, which does have some snow. I’m not sure how much road salt was being used . . . if any . . . at the time
He kept it for 12 years, and there were no rust problems, but the engine was getting tired at the end 
He kept it for 12 years, and there were no rust problems, but the engine was getting tired at the end
And you didn’t offer to pop that puppy out of there and rebuild it? 
I don’t miss working on those. Though the Previa was worse.
Around the time he got rid of it, was the 1st or 2nd year of my apprenticeship
I wasn’t “feeling up to it” :trollface:
Seem to remember the engine was behind the front seats 
You had to tilt up the driver’s seat just to check and add oil. But you could barely see the engine through there.
I have fond memories of that van. My kids were little, we bought it in anticipation of my daughter, and there was lots of room inside. It was super easy to change a diaper on the carpeted engine cover inside, and that was always nice and warm to do so. I did, however, have to make some custom tools to replace the oil filter from above. That engine was not easy to work on.
It also drive like a bus, with the driver’s seat just forward of the front axle. I had to learn to turn later.