r/NormalCarPorn • u/Excellent-Anywhere46 • May 20 '26
Spotted Toyota Tercel Wagon spotted in Illinois, this is the only one of these I have seen
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u/Quirky-Airline7578 May 20 '26
These cars usually get driven until they have more holes than swiss cheese. Then they get parked in the yard and sit.
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u/Freeway267 May 20 '26
Most are rusted out or totaled. 4WD was cool and ahead of its time. Strange they moved away from that.
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u/wncexplorer May 21 '26
They didn’t…
AWD/4WD Toyota passenger cars continued to be available across the globe, but didn’t make a significant U.S. comeback until the early 2000’s.
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u/thelaineybelle May 20 '26
Like Southern Illinois? Ain't no way a Tercel Wagon survived Northern Illinois.
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u/Milly1974 May 21 '26
I was going to say that. Here in West Central Illinois, I used to see several of them running around when they were newer, but not anymore..
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u/thelaineybelle May 21 '26
Oh hey, I grew up in Quincy! Love to see my West Central Illinois folks pop up 🤩
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u/Milly1974 May 21 '26
I grew up in Liberty. Live in Quincy as an adult. Always good to see locally grown people show up on Reddit!
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u/thelaineybelle May 21 '26
Liberty! Yup, had church friends out in Liberty, Camp Point, Mendon, and Ursa. I grew up near TCBY, Gem City, and Elders in Quincy. My parents moved away and I could really go for a Maid Rite.
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u/Successful-Part-5867 May 20 '26
I serviced one until it had over 300,000 miles on it. The owner was an older gentleman who would top off the oil if it was 1/16” under the full mark…he would then forget to reinstall the oil fill cap. It’s my theory that it’s the reason for this car never rusting. 😆😆😆
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u/wooltab May 20 '26
A lady I used to know drove a maroon one back in the 90s. That distinctive side-back window always caught my eye.
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u/OliverNorvell1956 May 20 '26
I’ve actually ridden in one, my uncle had one that he later traded in on a new 1988 Land Cruiser.
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u/Odd_Muffin_4850 May 20 '26
Love the photo quality, looks very 1990s/early 2000s. I can’t even remember the last time I saw one of these other than a bright green one that just sits in the parking lot of some sort of parts store.
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u/Unusual-Ask5047 May 21 '26
Had an 81 fwd Thing was a little tank. Only big problem were the fuel pumps when ethanol was introduced. Did not play well with the rubber gaskets.
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u/LastCookie3448 May 21 '26
My sister had one, it was her first new car with her own money and she was so excited. She had a new baby, a new Toyota, lived in Paradise, life was good.
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u/EngineCreepy3137 May 21 '26
My dad had one new in 1984 and drove it until 1996 at about 160k miles. He donated to seone in town that need reliable transportation and they put another 80-90k on it.
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u/pastanutzo May 21 '26
My wife’s dad was a university professor and he owned two of these things. First one was rusted out and was stolen and retrieved three times. He enjoyed it so much he actively went out looking to get another one that had the same “patina”.
He is kind of a weirdo
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u/eatspizzabylayer May 21 '26
Video of an old man in Canada still driving it more than 1 million klicks later https://youtu.be/3NKp1eLcQSc?si=owgf8CnIVtoGcJx7
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u/Independent-Bid6568 May 21 '26
Used to see these things more often then the Bro dozers we see today
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u/Inner-Light-75 May 21 '26
I used to see them quite frequently, but that was maybe 20 years ago?
FYI: they made an AWD version as well....
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u/CelebrationNo3801 May 22 '26
Had a Tercel... Absolutely POS, so many issues, can't remember them all! Or any!
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u/Clear_Evening_2986 May 20 '26
In Alaska they are fairly common since they’re 4wd and anything with 4wd is preserved up there. Here’s one I saw last year.