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?
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.