Friend was about to buy a Tercel, until he found out a Corolla wasn’t much more. He was happy with it for 10+ years.
I’m not sure what’s up with those mushy Corolla brakes you’re talking about
I had a 1995 Corolla for years. I did all my own work. I did a brake flush every 2 years, cut the rotors once, never had to cut the drums, always used genuine Toyota brake pads.
Those brakes bit hard, and I mean it in a good way. The pedal always had a good feel to it
I never had to do a master, by the way
Perhaps those mushy Corolla brakes you mentioned were due to overdue brake fluid, leaking wheel cylinders, glazed brakes, shoes out of adjustment, a bad brake master, etc.
No offense, but I find it humorous to hear somebody say the Tercel was driver focused
That is not how I would describe a Tercel
Another thing I tend to disagree with . . . calling an Echo a roomy car. Headroom maybe, but that’s about it. Look at the size of the thing
If you want roomy, you need midsize or better
"You need a mid size or better"
Absolutley . The Yaris version of these city cars does have good room for 4 adults…but at what expense…very little luggage room. That pretty much negates longer trips and is why they most all come as a hatchback. Two people with luggage with the rear seat down work OK. Like all cars, they have gotten wider then the Terkel and Echo to accomodate our fat asteroids. I actually like the Yaris…till you get to 40 mph. Then, everything about it is exposed from lack of power to crappy transmission to poor cruising ease and merging. Midsize cars have it all…and they get nearly the same highway mileage as a Yaris. Every time we rent a car for local use we rent a Yaris then only use it for town trips. That’s all they are good for. But, four adults and 105 hp…that’s punishment.
@db4690, have you driven vehicles with 4 wheel disc brakes such as the Miata or Celica? You simply breath on the pedal and retardation begins. The pedal is stiff like a rock right from the top of the travel. With the corolla and pretty much any Toyota after the millennium, you press on the first inch or two of the brake pedal and there’s very little bite. Sure it gets a little stiffer and bites linearly afterward, but that’s not the way it is suppose to be. A good brake pedal would allow you to simply touch it then ease on it, not starts to bite half way down
So the Echo is no stretch limo, but my knees were not jammed against the front seat back like the would in a 92 Corolla that we replaced
Whether or not the Tercel was driver focused, that’s a personal opinion. But had a good time driving that particular example, just because everything respond predictably to my inputs
@chunkyazian I am a professional mechanic, as you may have forgotten
I’ve driven thousands of vehicles with 4 wheel disc brakes over the years. Cars, vans, trucks, of all sizes and classes. Fast, slow, heavy, light, short, long, wide, narrow, etc.
And I find them to be . . . for the most part . . . FAR superior to disc/drum setups
And when they’re not great, it’s usually . . . there are exceptions . . . due to the fact that the brake system needs maintenance and/or repairs
Well, I’m glad that you like the Tercel so much. Like I said, my 1994 Tercel is a spare car, and still gets used a few times a week. But when I’m driving it, I’m not thinking what a responsive car it is. For me, it is basic transportation
Rocher, I bought my current Tercel in 1997. It has 90,000 miles on it and is still a great car!!! I maintain it properly and hope to have it another 10 years or so. Aside from the scrapes/dents it has accumulated over the years in this City - it still looks pretty good too. I would not trade it for anything!
Before this car, I bought a 1984 Toyota Tercel and it was stolen in 1997 (this the current car). I was very upset about that but I bought a new Tercel based on the performance I had with my previous one (no problems).
Buy it and take care of it. I don’t think you’ll be sorry.
Tercel is a very great car and always read a good feedback on this. As long as you keep the car in good condition and well maintained it will be a good choice.
I’ve always liked the Tercel, but it was exactly what it was designed to be… a basic, very inexpensive to own & operate, economy car. Capable of transporting four adults (young, limber, thin adults) from point A to point B while still leaving cash for hamburgers and French fries. Cars today that try to fill that void face too many regulatory mandates to be able to do so and still be profitable to produce. They try to compensate by adding “slick features” to justify the price, but the features only boost the price further. It’s been quite a few years since a car was produced that could tick those boxes like the Tercel did.
@mountainbike Yes, my son was given a 5 year old Tercel by his mother in law to serve as a second car. Their main vehicle was a 2004 Mazda3. It served them well as a grocery getter until a few years ago it was demolished in a crash. It was essentially bullet-proof.
Years ago the German Auto Club (ADAC) and the consumer association of that country settled once and for all what were the most reliable cars on German roads. The answer, causing much ‘ANGST’ , were the lowly Mazda 323 and the Toyota Tercel, 2 Japanese econo-boxes, with road manners beneath the contempt of the average German driver.
Whenever I travel in developing countries I find these basic cars are the mainstay of family transportation and taxis.
If you want a basic econobox, I vote for the Geo Metro! I have a 1994 and am impressed with it for what it is.
It is as basic as the come. A manual transmission, crank windows, 3 cylinder engine, and the like but I love the car. I got mine a few years ago and it just runs like a top. It had been neglected and needed lots of work including a new engine which I installed myself without a hoist. Since then it has been pretty much trouble free and starts and runs great in weather from -15 F to 110 F. I run synthetic oil now that I have a good running engine.
Two things you need to look out for. RUST. These cars RUST bad. The other is that they were a cheap car to start so people viewed them as a throwaway and didn’t change the oil or do anything else for that matter. The engines have pretty tight tolerances and don’t like it if you let the oil get dirty or use too heavy of a weight of oil. They are prone to sticky lifters, burned valves, and stuck rings if you don’t take care of them. If you treat them well, they treat you well. I run a European spec synthetic in mine as that is what the gurus on these cars suggest and drive it everywhere for work without issues.
I get 55 mpg and get to deduct mileage on my taxes. That is a surefire win. It isn’t a race car but can do the speed limit and I can maintain speed on long uphill grades. If someone pulls out to pass on an uphill, you can forget regaining speed until it flattens out. Get a 5 speed as the automatics are a joke if you ask me.