Faults:

Shocks completely wore out (they were original!).

General Comments:

Initially this was my mom's car. Then my brother inherited it.

This thing has to be one of the most reliable mechanical objects made. My mother knows next to nothing about cars and my Dad doesn't do maintenance. As such she would only change the oil if I reminded her or did it myself. As I live across the country, that was maybe 2 times a year. The car was heavily neglected. Yet despite all of that the car never had a problem. And I mean NEVER. With exception of wiper blades, tires and brakes that's all it ever needed.

My brother inherited it with close to 250,000 miles and just like my Mom... does hardly any maintenance. He wound up moving across the country to live near me. First thing we did was change all of the fluids. Because at that point besides the oil NOTHING had ever been changed! Amazingly the engine coolant looked clean. The transmission fluid was the color of tar and was sticky, requiring a flush. He drove the car HARD for years. As in going up to the mountains, the desert, in snow storms and all. Eventually the shocks just completely gave up and the whole rear end would clunk over speed bumps. He was too poor to replace them at that point, so whenever I rode around with him it was like doing the Baja 500.

Overall my impressions of the car is that it's a really well-built machine. But it's also one of the least exciting cars I've ever driven. Well... maybe save for a Prius... Acceleration, handling, responsiveness and cornering were all kind of sluggish and uninspiring. They call these the "Buicks of Japan" and the name fits because they very much handle like a Buick. Interior fit and finish was notably better than other Toyotas. Complete with some actual real wood accents. Over the years some of the wood paneling started to de-laminate in the hot California sun.

But that aside, these cars are seriously underrated. Despite spending most of its life being neglected, it had over 320,000 miles before it was sold. And it was STILL running perfectly fine. If one of these were to be given regular scheduled maintenance, 500,000 miles would be easily obtainable.

Faults:

Let me think...

Starter - replaced the copper connections and plunger ($10).

Struts - replaced at 140k.

EGR valve - cleaned and didn't cause any problems at all.

Oxygen sensors.

EVAP solenoid.

General Comments:

Best car I have ever owned. I have towed a heavy motorcycle and an 18ft boat with my car. Driven cross country and I have put it through lots of abuse and this baby is still running strong.

If you own one, make sure to do your oil change on time because this is a sludge prone engine. If you maintain this car, it will run forever. Every time I drive this car, I forget that it is a more than 15 year old car. In fact it runs better than my new car.

I've still got the original alternator, starter, CV joints (including boots), water pump, timing belt, coolant hoses, all suspension parts (except struts)... this was unheard of before I owned this car.