Superb mechanical vehicle. No breakdowns at all. In 3 years I put 140k on the car. Never used warranty, never had to repair anything. I am still on original break and recently had them checked out. They are still at 50% !!!
It's a beast. Good gas mileage. VERY reliable.

They could have put a tad more power but then, that was not what I was looking for when i got the car. High wind noise on highway. Suspension does suck bad.

Nothing beats the reliability of this car. Nothing damm it, well maybe yomama is more reliable.

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-gas mileage
-above-average reliablilty

-low to the ground
-small interior
-weak driving position

Do not buy this car unless you have a laid-back (sucker) personality. The small size and weak driving position will practically drive you crazy-or turn you into a passive, fat slob like many of the people around. Especially in a town with non-stop traffic like Houston. The car also has required too many repairs. But the main thing is I just hate driving it. My Corolla, my first car, didn't feel bad to drive at all. I actually loved my Corolla. But I hate driving this car. I wasn't crazy about my Honda Accord either, but it beats this car by a long way. I loved driving my Bronco, although the gas mileage sucked. The gas mileage in this car is pretty good. I use it only to get from A to B and actually dread the idea of taking out a girl I like in it. I simply clash with the car (and don't want to get along with it). Also, I tried to sell this car, listed a good price, (it only has 67k miles), received no response, went down significantly on the price and still received almost no response. I feel like I am stuck with it. I find myself wishing I lived in a city like New York where I wouldn't even need a car. But I do choose this car over riding the bus in Houston.

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corolla beats the hell out of it.

Gas Mileage - I drive 120 miles a day to work and get 38 mph freeway. Durability usually associated with Toyota. Fairly easy to work on. Even with the four speed stick it is quiet on the Freeway.

Same comment as others concerning the vinyl seats, and poor design on the front shoulder seat belts. I don't know how Tercels were equipped as mine is the basic stripped model, just AC, rear defroster. The only gauge is the water temp. Could use full instrumentation and a tach.

The short time I've had this car I have enjoyed it. With the standard transmission (mine is a four-speed - could use a five) it is on the quick side, my son discovered that he could spin the tires on dry pavement (I could not do that with the 86 Sentra). Caution should be used on getting this car for a first time driver, the temptation to race (not as fast as some Hondas) could be there. As with most four cylinder cars the automatic slows it down, my son (19) has an 89 Tercel, same engine but with an automatic and it is slower.

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I've had a used 86 and 83 Sentra, which were both excellent cars. The 86 had a five speed and the 83 an automatic, both with the same size engine as the Tercel, however with the extra valves the Tercel has a little more power, compared to the 86 Sentra 5 speed. The Tercel has better cornering than the 83, because the Tercel has a stabilizer bar and the Sentra didn't.

Handles great in the snow, was never stuck (albeit with snow tires). Gets great gas mileage, averaging 4.6 litres/100km in city/highway driving. I could get over 700km per tank (on hwy) without refilling. Does not burn any oil (used 5W50 synthetic from the 2nd oil change on, with the oil changed every 6000km).

Too small fo more than 2 people.

Bought the car new and it had not broken down once in the 6+ years owned. It was an excellent car. It had the 5sp manual and probably because of that had good pick-up. It had no problems maintaining 145km/h (90mph) on the highway. No major components changed because of failure except for the water pump at 106000km (even then, it was only leaking coolant). Original battery/struts/shocks/etc. To a previous reviewer, this car had a techometer.

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Reliability, ease of ownership, MPG, and Drivability.

Inital HP, weak clutch, no tach on manual, no ac on base models, but almost all Toyota's are like that.

I have owned this car since 1997, and it has given me not one bit of trouble, i have abused this car on the autobahn, and even on the horrable streets of NYC. The only thing that i had to replace is the tires after blowing one out on an NY pothole, and i had to replace my rear shocks also anouther results of NY streets. To prove ho strong my car is i just recently turgo charged my car and it is still holding up great, and that weakness with HP is now off my list. The car drives great bothon boost and off, i also still get great MPG. 20mpg full throtle in the city, 25-30mpg @ around 85-90 mph on the highway. Also i have yet to experience wheel shake or car vibrations at high speeds, and i have driven my car until the speedometer was pointing all the way down. I also easily take my car up to the 100mph with my family in teh car and the only way that they know exactly how fast i am going is when they look at the speedo. I hope this review helps.

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96 civic, more HP but everyone has one.

This car is reliable, fuel efficient, and basically, indestructable. It is also very easy, and fun to drive. Our golden retriever loves her backseat throne, too. I have great confidence driving this car in the snow, and actually have more feeling for the road than I do in my 4x4 truck.

Not good as a big family car. Perfect for two adults and a dog.

Bought new in '94, and now has 100,000 miles on it. Fixed the a/c last year, but haven't had to do much more than that outside of the regular maintainance. I'm going to paint a killboard on the side, displaying 3 or 4 squirrels, 3 birds, a cat, and last week, a deer. I had to replace the light assembly for the side marker light on the right side, ($42.00), and pulled out the front quarter panel a bit. It looks pretty much the same, though. My wife and I are attached to this car, and call it the Tercedes.
A little rust visible now, but I will definately drive this car into the ground.

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inexpensive maintenance
reliable
fuel effecient

None

Inexpensive to own and maintain, reliable, fuel-effecient. I've had experience with many domestic cars which where always draining me on repair bills. I asked several mechanics and tow truck drivers what they think is a reliable car they replied "any 4-cylinder Toyota." I decided to go with a car entirely made in Japan. So far I've had nothing major to replace on my Tercel (knock on wood). The Tercel was in cherry condition when I bought it and I still keep it that way. It is a stripped down model no tach, no AC, no power steering, no passenger mirror. But it really does not bother me. My previous vehicles had AC which didnt work, so im used to not having AC. My other cars had problems with the power steering, so I decided to get a car without power steering. As for the tach I rarely used the tachs in my prevoius cars, I know when to shift by the sound of the engine. The Tercel may lack horsepower, in my case this is good... I've had many fast cars in my life which got me into trouble ;) Toyota stopped making Tercels in 1998. Toyota now makes the Echo which is very similar to the Tercel. All in all I love the Tercel, it is like a companion.

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domstic cars = always falling apart on me =(

Gas milage 40-65mpg, Good speed considering 93hp, Comfy, JUST AMAZING IN EVERY WAY

No tachometer

Considering the size, price range and type of car it is Great. First of all if someone is going to buy this car you have to realize that its not made to be a sports car to hold 5 250lbs football players. Its made to go from A-B, cheaply and reliably and comfortable. With these considerations this car is great. In this car I've beat civics, neons, cavilleris, sunfires and any saturn racing with stock parts.

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93 Grand am, 94 Hustler, 98 Sienna, 94 Astro Van, 01 Celica

Reliability. Great gas mileage - I am getting 45 MPG on interstate. Smooth ride for such a compact car. Engine is quiet and smooth.

No Power, sometimes frustrating. CE model doesn't have folding rear seats, limits the type of cargo that may be carried.

OK, it could have more power, but the car will make it up most hills in 4th gear (5 speed) without a problem. This is a very reliable car. Any Tercel owner that changes the oil regularly and doesn't do anything to punish the car should get 200,000 miles out of it. My father has a 1994 Tercel with 170,000 miles on it. He hasn't had a serious problem as of yet. The car only weighs about 2000 pounds, so the lack of horsepower isn't too bad unless you carry a bunch of passengers or cargo.

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I had a 1994 Honda Civic CX, to which I very much prefer the Tercel CE.

Great Dounts, Great Gas Mileage

Not enough hoes could get in

I rate this car a 5, because its the greatest car a person can own. It had great gas mileage. It could go 80mph on the interstate. It cut the most incredible donuts you could have ever seen. I miss my baby. It was finally put away in April 18, 2000 at around 5:13p.m. in a fatal car accident on Shannon Rd.

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None, there was no need, this was the best