Faults:

Bent wheel rim and wheel bearing from hitting a pothole.

Repaired small rust spots in the front fenders.

Replaced timing belt and water pump (routine maintenance).

Small leak from power steering pump.

A/C stopped working 2 months after purchase.

General Comments:

The absolute best "beater" car I have ever owned. Having to visit many job sites around the city for work, I wanted a cheap car that I would not care about destroying. I was admittedly a bit apprehensive about driving a thirty year old car, but the price was very good, the mileage was low, and it was almost rust free.

After putting over 20,000 km on it in the first 5 months, I ended up loving the car. Other than the usual routine maintenance (oil changes, timing belt, water pump, muffler, and tune-up) I never needed to do any work. The car never left me stranded, and started immediately even on the coldest winter days. That being said, it would probably not be the best car if you do a lot of highway driving or enjoy quick performance. Acceleration was very slow and driving on the highway could be pretty noisy. Still worth it for the sheer reliability.

Faults:

Totaled 3 times by other drivers, even though it's painted bright yellow. I've fixed it myself each time.

New clutch and throw-out bearing once.

New timing belt twice.

New blower motor once, new blower relay once.

New water pump twice.

New starter once.

New power steering pump once.

New struts and shocks twice.

New shoes and pads and wheel cylinders twice.

Getting new rear wheel bearings soon.

General Comments:

This car is just fun. Bought for 500 bucks ten years ago, I have to put about 3 or 4 hundred in it per year. I reviewed it back when I got it on this site. I'm reviewing it again to let you all know, this car is still running 10 years later.

It's love now, and if and when something finally goes wrong with this car that I can't fix, or I finally can't scrounge or make parts for it, or it just finally burns to the ground, I'll just flop down on the street and cry my head off.

Coming up on 300000 miles soon, but I'm not worried. If Toyota still made cars like this, sticking accelerators would be mentioned only along with the phrase, "but I still think that car's great!"

Faults:

General maintenance done as infrequently as possible, still ran like a top.

Valve cover gasket replaced.

CV boots replaced.

Not much else.

General Comments:

The little econobox that could. Second-hand car from my dad who owned it since new. Taught at least 5 people to drive stick with one clutch replacement in its life. Would go 100mph in fourth gear (but not fifth), do E-brake slides, and gave a level of handling confidence that encouraged the driver to put into hill sides with reckless abandon. I would often run things over for fun. Things like park benches, cones, trash cans, things it had no right to be able to crush. Ah, the folly of youth. And it still ran just as well as when it only had 100,000 miles and took my siblings and I to school safely and reliably everyday. Was convinced this car would never die until someone pulled an illegal u-turn in front of me and put a end to its proud career.

I bought another one.

Faults:

I bought this car as a replacement vehicle for a 2005 Suzuki Aerio (that I forced Suzuki Canada to repurchase) because it was the biggest piece of crap that I had ever owned. The toyota is 20 yrs older and has given me far less problems than the Suzuki every did...and it was brand new!!!

General Comments:

While it is carburated and rather gutless...Its reliability more than compensates for these minor short-comings. I would strongly recommend buying a 20yr old Toyota over a new Suzuki any day.