Hi everyone,
I enjoy looking at old toyota markets and researching prices. Especially for iconic cars like the AE86, for example, or the MR2. These cars, or similar ones, have had a wide variety of model years.
What I’m wondering is, if you buy one of these, are maintenance costs more like you’re taking care of an exotic car, or more like a typical recent Toyota? As in for example, is it cheaper to maintain and keep an AE86, or a 2014 Corolla?
Are there any models or model years to avoid because parts are no longer available easily? Anything else to know about owning these things in terms of after-purchase costs?
but the thing is - an AE86 might be just as reliable as it was back then (whether “reliable” is by toyota’s standards back then, or contemporary manufacturers back then, or the toyotas of today) - but you still have to consider the decades of time acting on every single/component/service, and what you consider to be “reasonable” maintenance
“maintaining” an AE86 might mean having to replace rubber/polymer seals, bushings, balls, etc that will dry out/crack/disintegrate over time, which is reasonable given the age
it could also mean having to get panels of the car (or the whole thing) repainted to return it to its original color, which costs $$$, but also reasonable, given the skilled labor & time + cost of high quality paint
you might not like interior trim pieces having cracks, worn down, wrinkled, faded, turned sticky, etc - so you might have to find someone who does restoration on those
thats assuming the previous owner did their part in maintaining the car - not letting it sit for too long, keeping it garaged, keeping intervals, etc
just the other day, i saw a gorgeous AE86 (either paint restored or detailed) driving by - it mustve taken an incredible amt of time and/or $$ to get it to look that good - the car looked like it came off the production line yesterday, and the owner just had it professionally detailed
I’ve been lusting over a MX63/73 Cressida if I had the resources to do so - but many parts are NLA. RockAuto still has some bits but unlike old Mercedes, BMW and VW/Audi/Porsche you can’t get OES aftermarket easily - Bosch still makes older parts in Brazil/the Czech Republic/Poland/Hungary for older German cars. Denso and Aisin only makes what sells.
Key to a car like that is being plugged in to the community for parts, especially interior parts. Knowing what parts are swappable between other cars so you can explore the junkyard. Toyodiy is your best friend.
I had an MX36 and just made friends around the world for sourcing parts, even had someone in Japan that made a new batch of rear window seals because it was non existent. You just have to be resourceful.
The AE86 is going this way too, and ideally I’d like to grab one to slowly build up in the garage over the next 13 years until my kid is old enough to drive. Then when he can drive he can either drive it and be cool as hell, or he can sell it and have his college paid off.
Either way is win win to me because we will have been able to work together and enjoy it. I just picked up a 94 Land Cruiser so I’m struggling through getting that into good shape and taking my son with me offroading and camping. I’ve drivin too many fast cars and just need to slow down a bit before I get myself in trouble.
It’s all over the place. Depends. Find specifically what you want in terms of model and year then research it on Toyota forums.
A more unique car, other than body panels/glass/exterior might have 98% parts that came from, or were later used by other vehicles. But that 2% could bite you in the ass in cost or availability. You might need to get a shop to make parts for you.
Get an old fun/unique/car if you like learning, researching, and you don’t depend on 1 vehicle for your family/job/school. Also, if you have salty roads in winter plan on it costing you a lot more.
Aluminum gets brittle from heat Steel rusts Plastic gets brittle and snaps when you try to work on things. Vinyl cracks, though Toyotas is massively better than any other car I’ve known.
You might lookup production numbers. The more they made the more common, and cheaper, parts are likely to be.
Cheaper to maintain a 2014 Corolla from the perspective that parts are easily available and garages and dealership still know them. Also down time is a huge factor.
I have an AE86, it’s legendary for me but I know if things break fixing it can be a journey. Also you need to find a ‘good’ old car, and in the condition you want will be more expensive than the 2014 Corolla. ESP the AE86.
On the flipside I would say for project cars the Toyotas are great because overall durability, and parts compared to many other kinds of car are overall cheaper, and there is a large community out there.
Once you’re over 15 years old more or less you start to find that the only new parts you can buy anymore are mechanical components, and everything else is either coming off other cars or being refurbished. I’m vague here because pretense is important- sometimes a car keeps getting made somewhere else and it forms an extended market, sometimes a single part has been in 2-12 different models and it never goes out of production, sometimes a single model year has an exclusive part and if yours goes out, the vehicle is functionally totaled.
I have two old Toyotas, 2005 Sequoia and a 2005 Tundra. I’ve had to replace the back driver’s side wheel bearing twice in the Sequoia over the past 10 years. I replaced the Tundra’s same side, same wheel about 5 years ago. The Tundra just had a timing belt service because the water pump was bad and if you have to replace the water pump you might as well do the timing belt service since it’s timing belt driven. The Sequoia has about 225k miles and is the family vacation car…any place, any time…she’s ready to roll! Even after sitting weeks to months in the driveway, we drive other cars daily, it’s always ready!
So if the vehicle has had regular maintenance I’d say less expensive. Really if you don’t count the regular service I’ve only spent $2800 over 17 years and that was in wheel bearing repairs. I still haven’t learned why that same bearing on both failed, began roaring. I think the first bearing on the Sequoia was not properly installed because it “failed” again about 5 years later. The same shop did the Tundra’s bearing too and it’s been in 5 years exactly. No issues so far. I don’t think Toyota builds cars like they use to!
If you get one that was actually sold new where you live there’s a reasonable prospect that most parts are available. I have a Japanese-market car in Canada and for most non-unique parts I can just tell the parts guy it’s a 1995 Celica GT 2.2L or a 1995 MR2 2.0L Turbo and they’ll have it or be able to get it. If you’re handy with research then you can often find that Toyota used the same part on a ton of different cars which also makes things easier, especially buying on eBay or other sites.
Unfortunately body parts will be hard to come by and for some of these cars you’ll probably want a parts car. There will be a lot of stuff on its way out just due to age; an AE86 is around 40 years old so even a well-maintained one will have issues that a new-ish Toyota won’t. And since body parts, trim etc can be really tough to find if they’re damaged they are not that hard to total if you make an insurance claim.
The cars are usually super reliable for their time periods but it’s also worth remembering that (despite internet grumbling to the contrary) new cars tend to be more reliable, even if they’re more complex. In the 1960s a car was only expected to last 60k miles, 100k if you’re lucky. If a modern Toyota only lasted 100k it would be a fluke.
A friend of mine kept a 1973 J40 in near showroom condition and running like a top until 2017 when it “fell” off a cliff (that’s the only explanation he was able to get out of his son). Junk yard parts were never a problem, but some innovation was necessary for the interior and undercarriage.
bought an 09 Scion tc in 2016 for 10k with 60k miles on it…100k miles over the last 8 years and only had tires and plugs replaced…the manual tc’s are bulletproof