1990 Toyota Carina GL 1.6 petrol from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Excellent, super reliable car

Faults:

CV joints after 230000 miles. Otherwise just general service items, including an exhaust after 160000 miles.

A few spots of rust on the roof after 21 years!

General Comments:

They just do not make cars like this anymore.

It starts on the button every time, and has never let me down since I bought it new 21 years ago. Absolutely excellent.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 28th March, 2011

26th May 2022, 18:32

That's value for money all right :)

1990 Toyota Carina II 2.0 GLi 2.0 16v from Netherlands

Summary:

Good and reliable car that can take a lot and gives a lot back

Faults:

Radiator leak, replaced with new radiator.

Engine is leaking some oil through the spark plug holes.

Engine is using oil (was treated badly by one of the previous owners)

Leather of the shifter knob came off.

Sun-visors were broken, replaced with sun-visors from a lancia dedra.

Rear-right shock-absorber is making a lot of noise.

Electric sunroof kept leaking and was sealed.

The dashboard has a lot of scratches etc. especially around the radio.

The rear-left electric window has a rusted guide rail en it isn't usable until I clean the rail.

The electric motors of the electric windows are not all working as good especially the one on the passenger side door.

Some rust on the hatchback, wheel arches en hood.

General Comments:

Good en extremely reliable car.

Pretty fast compared to what I had before.

Fuel consumption is not even that bad (the economy light makes sure of that) I average about 10 to 12 km per liter.

Even though it has seen a lot of abuse by previous owners it is still very reliable.

The layout of the dashboard isn't that good, especially the location of the radio behind the shifter.

It's the hatchback so a lot of room in the back.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 11th July, 2006

25th Nov 2008, 17:11

I consider my Toyota Carina II an extremely performing car, though I bought it 5 years ago as a used car it is still very reliable.

Once, I forgot to cover the radiator lid, the radiator water dried out after traveling several km - I thought I had burnt the engine. After I had allowed the engine to cool down for 40 minutes, I poured water in the radiator, my car still behaved as it never had problem; it has survived extreme driving conditions which other cars can never survive...

Adewumi Tayo (adetee7@yahoo.com) Nigeria.

1990 Toyota Carina GL 1.6 from Finland

Summary:

A very reliable car!

Faults:

The clutch had to be replaced before 200 000 km.

The exhaust pipes have been replaced rather often.

There was a minor carburetor problem few years ago.

The radiator and the gas tank seem to be a bit rusty by now.

General Comments:

In general, I've been very pleased with this car.

The engine seems to be still in a very good condition. However, corrosion can be a problem and I wonder what my car would look like had I not been careful in rust prevention.

In my opinion this car has also been quite comfortable and nice to drive. Fuel consumption could be worse; depends greatly on the driving style and general conditions of course, but at times it has consumed even less than 7 liters per hundred kilometers.

In all, I've been very happy with this car. The reliability has been astonishing.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 14th January, 2004

29th Nov 2004, 08:32

To update this entry I submitted in January: in summer I changed the radiator, generator and the rear end of the exhaust pipe. So during her fifteenth year my Carina has required a bit more care than before, but all these jobs were easy to do by myself and the car runs still great and reliable. Oh yes, almost forgot: the rear brakes were also serviced (but this I didn't try to do myself).

27th Aug 2005, 10:12

I also have one of these which I got in pristine condition for 400 quid, what a bargain! Of course, the best part of the bargain is that this thing just keeps on going without a hitch... best 400 quid I ever spent. I'm convinced that there is something special about the line of Toyota that came off production lines in the late 80s and early 90s... with the A4F 16v engine. They are really robust.

Very practical car too, with the hatch, it has as much space inside it as a large station wagon, yet still looks sporty as it sits a good 5-10% lower than the average car, and is very comfy to drive, with the lightest power steering I have ever felt... can steer it with one finger when it's stationary!

Up the japanese!

:)