Toyota builds cars really well. No question about that. And well-built cars make great used cars. But nothing is eternal, and even Toyota products must eventually succumb to their accumulated years and miles. How far gone is too far gone to be worth the effort? That’s what we’re investigating today.
We were in agreement about yesterday’s choices: the VW Scirocco is the better candidate to fix up. It’s mechanically simpler, in better cosmetic shape, and it has a known problem that isn’t even all that hard to fix. Hell, it isn’t even an in-tank fuel pump. Twelve-year-old-me will always pine for a Dodge Shelby Charger, but that’s not the right one to start with.
Now, about rust: Yeah, I don’t like it either. But I have dealt with it in the past, and unless I want to only buy cars in other parts of the country and bring them here to Michigan (possible, but a giant hassle), I imagine I’ll have to deal with it in the future. And anyway, we’re not talking about the Peter Iredale here. The seller of that Charger wouldn’t have bothered putting new brakes, struts, and a gas tank on a car that’s structurally compromised. I’ve patched floors before (the wrong way, with rivets) and I’m willing to learn how to patch them the right way, with welding, on the right car.
Last week, I mentioned a scruffy old Toyota Corolla I bought a few years back for $500. My wife reminded me, when she read about it, that I spent about another grand on it bringing it up to snuff. Did that make it less of a good deal? A bit, yeah, but it still ended up costing me way less to drive than it would have to keep commuting in my truck, when you factor in gas and insurance. The insurance on the Toyota was actually a bit less than the multi-car discount it invoked, so adding it to the policy actually made it cheaper. And 30 MPG versus 13 is easy math.
The trouble is that even shitty, beat-up Toyotas are often overpriced. I doubt any running $500 Corollas even exist anymore, outside of family-and-friends deals. Even the two examples I’m about to show you, two of Toyota’s finest, feel overpriced to me at two grand in their current condition. But maybe I’m wrong, and you’ll think one of them is a great deal. Let’s check them out and see.
1996 Toyota Previa SC All-Trac – $2,000
Engine/drivetrain: Supercharged 2.4-liter OHC inline 4, four-speed automatic, AWD
Location: Kitsap County, WA
Odometer reading: 300,000 miles (but says “odometer broken”)
Operational status: Runs and drives well
I have to give Toyota credit for the Previa. The Japanese giant answered the minivan call with the weird Hiace, which was sold here simply as the “Van,” a cab-over-engine design completely unlike the Chrysler design that would eventually take over the market. It doubled down on the weirdness with the Van’s successor, the egg-shaped Previa. Not everybody understood these vans, but those who did absolutely loved them. The seller of this van says its their third Previa. That’s pretty good customer loyalty for a vehicle that hasn’t been sold here in twenty-nine years.
The Previa’s stubby hood opens, but don’t expect to find the engine under there. All you’ll find are places to check the fluids, the air filter, and if I remember right, the fuse box. The engine is under the driver’s seat, accessed through a hatch in the floor. Two engines were available in the Previa in the US: a 2.4-liter four, and a supercharged version of the same. This one has the supercharger, as well as Toyota’s All-Trac all-wheel-drive system. It has a lot of miles, but the engine was replaced two years ago, and the seller says it runs and drives great.
So we have a high-mileage but good-running Toyota van; how is this a project, you ask? Well, the interior is “somewhat rough,” according to the seller, and it needs a bunch of smallish repairs. The HVAC fan only runs on high speed, for one thing. It also needs a new windshield, and the side window in the sliding door is held in place by what looks like gaffer’s tape. The seller says the hardware is broken. It’s also dirty and beat-up inside. A good cleaning would give you a better idea of just how rough it is.
Outside, it’s got dents and scrapes all over, but no serious damage that I can see. The headlights are foggy, but that’s no surprise on a car this age. Ordinarily, I’d suggest you just replace them, but these don’t seem easy to find, so you might have to try to polish them. This thing will never be pretty, but with some work, it could be a little more presentable.
1998 Lexus LS 400 – $2,000
Engine/drivetrain: 4.0-liter DOHC V8, five-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Vancouver, WA
Odometer reading: 170,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
It’s still weird to me to hear a car this new referred to as a classic. It’s like hearing Nirvana on the “classic rock” station. I mean, yeah, okay, but it’s jarring. The LS 400 definitely qualifies, though; this car has earned its place in automotive history, and if there’s a pantheon of luxury sedans, it has a seat there. So much so that even one that has suffered as much of a beating as this ends up in an auction yard instead of a junkyard. Nobody wants to give up on a car this freaking good.
The LS 400 is powered by a 4.0-liter V8 that runs smoothly enough to perform a really impressive trick you may remember from the ads. That silky-smooth engine drives the rear wheels through an automatic transmission, which had gained a fifth gear by the time this one was built. The seller says it runs and drives really well, despite how it looks on the outside. They just picked it up from an auction and don’t have time to fix it up like they planned.
The seller says the interior is “not too bad,” but it doesn’t look great. I think it’s mostly just dirty, but the glovebox door is on the floor, and there’s glass all over the rear seat from a broken window. Hopefully it hasn’t been parked outside in the rain with that window missing, otherwise the cleanup will be a lot worse.
The mangled left front corner shown in the first photo is sadly not the only damage; the right side rear door took a hit too, and it looks like the dent may extend into the rear quarter panel. You can probably replace the fender, hood, doors, and bumper with junkyard parts (if you can find one in a junkyard), but the other damage may have to stay. These are going to be prized classics someday, but that probably won’t include this one. It is still an awfully nice driving car, though.
Toyota, and by extension Lexus, means something in the used car market. They’re the brands that most buyers consider a sure thing, and most of the time, they are. And if these two cars were clean and low-mileage, they’d be commanding a whole lot more money. As they sit, they’re both still good-running, reliable cars. But are these two really still worth a couple grand in their current condition? And which one is more worth it? That’s what you have to decide.
One of my close friends in Colorado had Previa All-Trac, a perfect vehicle for travelling to the Rocky Mountains and flat lands. So, Previa for me!
The twin of this Previa is listed here:
https://www.craigslist.org/view/d/san-francisco-previa/4bTcAgE7QieTUFkyBbn9uH
The seller claims it is “like new”… with a rusted roof, scratched up bumpers and dirty, discolored wheels. $3500 for this one, with no info about mileage or much else.
Safety ceases to be a factor when the otherwise-theoretically-safer option needs me to strip out the interior to vacuum out broken glass and likely deal with the effects of significant water ingress. Ease of short-term maintenance may not even be as obvious as it was from the factory, if that hood doesn’t open and close properly.
A younger version of me would’ve happily gambled on the Lexus, but the Previa, with a set of snow tires, would be perfect for Just Getting Around Town in a New England winter – with a steep hill involved on the way to/from home – and of course I’d throw a tarp down sometimes for dump runs and brush hauling year-’round, and it’d be an interesting occasional CR-V’s-in-the-shop car too.
The Previa is both weird and rare enough that I feel I would be doing a solid in the eyes of the car gods by showing it some love.
If I want an LS 400, I’ll just buy a nice one; there are plenty out there. But I think I’d rather have the gorgeous SC 400.
Previa!
Trashed Lexus versus surprisingly nice Previa? How is this even a competition.
Still adapting to post-COVID inflationary prices though. My brain tells me the egg van is $1000 obo, and the luxury demo derby car is $500 on a very good day.
If I didn’t already have a perfectly running Lexus as a project car I’d legitimately consider buying the Previa. This would take a lot of work but I’d love to see what engine can be swapped into there, but I think your main limiting factor will end up being what can mate up to the transmission, how much torque the transmission can handle, or what transmission can get swapped in preserving the AWD. Undecided if I’d like to go the direction of a Delica “overland” build with chunkier tires, or the Ford Supervan route and turn it into a track van. Either way the back of it would be built out as a mini camper.
That ls400 is too far gone. Methed out for sure. Previa I guess it is the one to have. Those like to pop head gaskets from time so definitely inspecting the coolant and oil before any trip.
Do they drug sniff auction cars? Because that Lexus screams 4th owner recovered theft and likely having a meth pipe stuffed down the seats.
Previa every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Sad that you couldn’t get the supercharged version in a stick shift, but I’ll take the better engine over the maybe-better transmission in one. Plus you can say you drive a rare, mid-engined, supercharged vehicle. That’s always fun.
you left out AWD. You can say you drive a rare, mid-engined, supercharged, AWD vehicle. according to my just now google search AI result this is the only such thing:
supercharged engine, mid-engine layout, and all-wheel drive (AWD) does not exist in automotive history, though the famous Toyota Previa minivan accidentally fits every single one of those criteria. [1]
(the link is to Motorbiscuit which links DeMuro, so I’ve attached this warning.)
I have an LS400 of this generation and love it. I voted for the Previa. That Lexus is going to be parted out.
The Previa and LS400 are cars that have always been fairly high on my lust list. I haven’t driven either one myself, but I’ve ridden in both multiple times, hence the long-term lust.
Realistically, I’m not in the mood for ANY project cars, since all three of my current cars need various sort of attention, but if I had to pick one of these to add to my fleet, it’d be the Previa no question, even if it didn’t have AWD or the supercharged engine. They don’t get great MPG, but I’m not routinely travelling interstates, so buh! I’d get the interior thoroughly cleaned, have the most vital maintenance items attended to, remove the back two rows of seats, and then just enjoy it.
Previa for me. I have more use for a cool van than a cool sedan.
I’ll take the LS400 and just look at the rear end, despite the restraining order.
These are both bucket list cars. SC All-Trac Previa is so much weird goodness. The LS though. In that condition I picture running down the road blasting tunes loud enough to drown out the extra wind noise from all that body damage. Control arms and shocks if needed, fresh alignment and good tires, fix anything that bugs me… that’s some good RWD V8 right there.
Whew I’m not so sure I’d want to work on either of these. I like the van but the engine under the seat seems like a pain. Gimme the LS 400.
I’ll take the Previa. Far more useful, especially with the AWD. Plus, if I want to get rid of it I can probably sell it for a tidy profit in CO.
I was so ready to easily vote Previa, (and I ultimately did), but those LS400’s are nice, and I would love to be driving that around. But so much work on the outside makes me concerned for the mechanicals.
Yep. It looks like it took a few hits during the high-speed police chase. Replacing the easily replaceable parts would not fix everything it needs. It might be impossible to ever get it aligned properly again.
It would be a good parts car, though. And 170K is just getting broken in, as long as at least some maintenance has been done to it.