Is It Worth Keeping?

[R-C-M]

I've just had a a 1990 Toyota Carina 1.6GL passed down to me by my dad. Since I'm carless, and the insurance comes up relatively cheap, I was going to keep it.

Thing is, It's done over 120,000 miles. And according the invoice from the last service, the next one's going to be very costly (New cam-belt, possible new drive belt & shock absorber & new disk brakes), added to that the fact that it's still on it's original transmission, gearbox & engine :S

It's in fantastic condition, but it's probably not worth more than 4/500 quid.

So I'm wondering if this is a sign of things to come, and whether I should bother spending money on it if it's not going to last much longer.

Money-wise, is it worth me keeping? Am I going to have to constantly feed it expensive parts in the years to come, or is it going to be fine for parts after this?

Am I going to be better off buying a newer car that won't need so many expensive services?

Also, how long would you say I've got left from the engine/transmission?

Advice from experienced owners that have been in this position (with any model of Toyota really) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance :D

[guglielmo]

It's up to you really...

I'd say it's worth keeping as a runaround. As long as it's been looked after, had the oil/coolant kept right and changed regularly and not been driven hard from cold, the engine should be fine at 120k.

As for the cambelt, I think you will have a 4AFE engine which, like the 4AGE, should be non-interference so you could run it until the cambelt snapped and may not damage anything. The 60k recommendations err on the side of caution; I know plenty of AW11 drivers (mk1 MR2) who leave the belt alone until (if) it breaks!

As for service parts like discs, pads, filters etc, you don't have to buy Toyota. Find a motor factor that does ADL Blueprint bits and you're getting the same quality of parts at a much lower price.

If you look after it, it will last a good few years yet and will likely be very reliable and economical to run. I'd say if it's been looked after and is in good condition (no rust underneath etc) it's well worth keeping.

Hope this helps.

[jamesholden]

Also, how long would you say I've got left from the engine/transmission?

About another 250,000 I would say.

CarinaII's were the main stay of Taxi fleets along with Nissan Bluebirds for years, one of my friends dad used to work for a Taxi company and they had one that had done over 420,000 miles on the same engine and gearbox.

Everything else will go on the car long before the engine and gearbox.

I wouldn't bother spending £400 on it as there not worth that much anymore, another friend of mine just bought a 2.0 Exec auto one witk 88k on it for £300 off eBay, so I would just run it to the ground then scrap it, maybe do an oil change on it yourself but don't spend a huge amount, leave the cam-belt, if it snaps and knackers the engine then it does, but you won't have lost anything as the car is worth less than the major service.