crasster wrote:
Still love the Toyota line. Love our 4 cylinder.... But many people like the V-6. Super reliable - a snap to drive.
We bought
THIS 1983 Toyota/Mirage carbureted 2.4L 4-cylinder brand new in the fall of 1983 for $12,225 and owned it for 24 years. It yielded a fraction over 20mpg, trip averaging. It had a 4 speed manual transmission, no a/c of either kind and no power steering. It had no bathroom, no stove or oven, no plumbing other than a windshield washer pump that ran water from a carry-on water jug. The gray water drained onto the street. The fridge was a built-in ice box that went through ice daily so I cut it out from the back side of the cabinet and we placed a nice ice chest behind the fridge door. I called our RVing "Hardshell Tenting".
We bought it when we became parents at age 25 and it served us well until knocking on age 50. The final straw was in 2006, driving through South Dakota in 117 degree heat. We drove with the windows up and wet towels on our heads. My wife with MS was on the edge of passing out.
I sold it in 2007 for $7600. We lost $4625 in 24 years. It was well loved by us and the kids, but we really did need to upgrade if we were going to continue with these types of vacations. Funny that my wife always says we should have kept it. I think she forgets easy :)
