98 Tercel, what to look for?

Going to look at a 98 Tercel for my son. 5 spd car with some mileage, but the body looks like new.

The kid says it burns some oil, but from his description, it doesn't sound like much. It passed the emission test a few months back.

Looking for a heads up from the Toyota experts on the board.

Tercel of that year usually have worn valve seals. It can be a cheap fix if you do it your self. The 5efe D.I.S motor is one of the best Yamaha designed heads yet. It being a 98 has me wondering how many miles it has because those engines usually have next to no problems at all. Very easy to work on very reliable great for a beginner tuner as well. If your decide to get the car you can hook up with an information overload at www.tercelonline.com we would be more than happy to help you out.

Not much to look for on these. Light(~2050lbs.), suprisingly good handling, excellent gas mileage. I had a '98 5spd coupe with 175k+ miles, beat the bag out of it daily, never had to fix much. All parts replaced within the first 20k miles of ownership were simply because never fixing anything was boring.

As long as the price is reasonable, snap it up ASAP.

Awesome. Thanks guys.

130k, the guy will probably take $1k for it. Prices on this stuff are higher up here.

http://www.autotrader.ca/used_cars_Cars_details/GUELPH_Ontario_1998_TOYOTA_TERCEL+CE_3106077.html?srcid=1523589&source=24&pgno=1&srt=70&CompanyID=&r=ontario&ad-attributes=photos,,

I think I have it narrowed down to this, or a 323

Since you're in Guelph, definitely look into

torontopaseoclub.com

which has lots of good info and nearby resources. I'm on there too occasionally.

A thousand bucks for a Tercel with 130 km and a decent body is a heck of a deal. Do it.

Oh, and don't overlook

tercelreference.com

which has lots of handy information and other neat stuff.

I haven't owned very many cars that didn't have at least 130K on them when I got them. That's not a lot of miles.

But if it burns oil...that's something to look into. A quart every 3000 miles is a lot different than a quart every 300 miles (check the gas and fill up the oil...).

Clem

Looked at the car tonight. I told him I'd take it. The body is like new. Not a spot on it. Runs great, and moved pretty good too. It has 15's with 245 35 15 (!?!) rubber, 4 snows on rims, newer Kenwood head unit, ipod, component speakers, and subwoofer with 1200W amp. Should have it home tomorrow.

Thanks guys.

245 snows? what the hell??

man, I only run 225 winters on my WRX. I gotta step up my game....

HOLY CRAP those are some huge tires for that car....

the tercel STD is a great car! http://www.everycarlisted.com/cars/toyota/tercel/1993/vin-jt2el46s4p0343913

I have to admit that the newer Tercel coupes look really good with the right wheels. The one your son snagged looks really good with those wheels also. I'm not too familiar with Tercels but aren't there some aftermarket goodies out there for them if you look in the right places?

Ultra Racing has strut braces & chassis braces available. Most of the "usual suspect" upgrades are mix-and-match Toyota stuff, such as from the Paseo or various sources of turbo goodness if that's your style. Toy Tuning in the UK seems to be the uber-source, but their site currently says it's down for maintenance.

I've owned two - a 94 and a 97. Both were kick-ass cars. Torquey engine, nice steering feel, a little floppy in the turns with the 165mm rubber, but 195's on 14s cleared that up.

Drive it until it explodes... which might be several hundred thousand more miles. The only thing I can tell you to watch for is front hub bearings. They don't fail a lot, but when they do they like to chew the hub. Replacing them quickly will mean just a bearing. Waiting a week means replacing the bearing and hub.

I hate em.

Just traded for the fourth one of my career that had a blown motor. I gave them a token $50 credit for it.
Towing it straight to the scrap yard.

Anyone know what kind of mileage these get? I've been looking for crx's and such to replace my completely rusted out 88 accord daily. I'm not having any luck finding a decent crx. The tercel seems like it could be a good candidate and would probably be easier to find one in decent shape.

old_ wrote: Anyone know what kind of mileage these get?

I averaged 35mpg mixed in my '98 with a very heavy right foot. My record was 47mpg on a highway trek to VT. Worst tank in my ownership was 29.

My 97 consistently got 35-ish on the highway. Never checked in-town

Mileage can get up to 40mpg + if you drive like those economy drivers. A guy with a Paseo is hitting 60mpg crazy I don't have the patience to drive like that.

So I've been driving this thing around for about a week now. I wanted to make sure it was OK before I let my son loose on it. At first I really hated it. It felt like a Geo Metro, but without all the personality. After a few days, though it started to grow on me. I could drive it daily... with a few mods.

Anyway, the reason for posting, do these normally have lousy brakes? The kid had the brakes done just before we bought it. I wondered if they used the bargain basement pads, or if they normally don't really like to stop at anything above in-town speeds?

suprf1y wrote: So I've been driving this thing around for about a week now. I wanted to make sure it was OK before I let my son loose on it. At first I really hated it. It felt like a Geo Metro, but without all the personality. After a few days, though it started to grow on me. I could drive it daily... with a few mods. Anyway, the reason for posting, do these normally have lousy brakes? The kid had the brakes done just before we bought it. I wondered if they used the bargain basement pads, or if they normally don't really like to stop at anything above in-town speeds?

TINY brakes... I'd flush the system, and look into some better pads. I'm sure it was bargain basement pads.

The braking on these isn't anything amazing, but pretty adequate for something this light.

Its true those brakes are very small. The entire brake and suspension system looks like it belongs on a go cart.

I must say for what it is, Im impressed. My sister has a 97' as a DD and she'll never be able to kill it - unless she forgets to check the oil because it has a small leak and only takes three quarts.

You can upgrade the brakes to a corolla setup. Going from 238mm rotor to 255mm with beefy calipers make you feel like you ran into a brick wall. Calipers brackets pads rotors and a 4mm spacer behind the rotor is needed. also the next upgrade for that up grade is twin pot calipers from a ff levin. But god luck getting your hands on those.

Also look into a 4efte engine 1.3 turbo engine with a ct9 @135hp. whiteline suspension and or even k sports. These cars have a distant cousin with the 4efte engine called the starlet. Most of all the parts for the JDM car will mate with the Tercels and Paseo's. Look on TmT www.tunemytoyota.com for a super break down on all the goods for these cars.

suprf1y said: 98 Tercel, what to look for?

Thanks for bringing this back.

I can answer my own question now. 98 Tercel, what to look for?

Another car.

This thing lasted 3 months before a rod knock developed. I asked my son if he wanted to fix it, and he said not a chance. After living with it for a few weeks, he hated it.