Hi, brand new here and was hoping I could get some input from you guys. I'm thinking about purchasing this '76 SR5. The guy wants $2500 bucks for it but I think it's a little steep. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I guess it depends how bad you want an ancient carbed Corolla. I'd certainly get it on a lift and check it out good before I paid that much... BUT those are not on every corner anymore.
not that steep for a good condition corolla, but if it is rotted out underneath , no car is worth anything no matter the age, and from the look of the body and behind the rear wheels where EVERY car rots, the undercarriage shouldnt be in bad shape at all, id offer him $2200 see what he says, if you want a look at what these cars can look like check out this link
Besides rust, the car could have heavy mechanical wear and tear if the current owner is a boy-racer; e.g loose steering from suspension and steering linkage wear, a rough engine idle or bearing rod knock from overrevving the engine, rear axle howling from burnouts and drifting, heavy clutch wear from popping the clutch and that sort of thing. If you want to buy a 30 year old Corolla without these kinds of serious mecghanical problems you should search for a grandma / grandpa owned one.
Ya gotta figure that any 30 year old car is going to have massive amounts of wear and need some major work. It's really unrealistic to think otherwise. It hasn't been stored in a vault. Very very few early Corollas were owned by "adults". They were popular cars with young people who may or may not have given them much care.
id have your local toyota dealer look it over....if theres little/no rust and the car is mechanicaly sound, id say its a fine deal for a classic corolla....you could even find minor flaws and maybe knock a few bills off the asking price if you so choose...however, if the car is going to need alot of mechanical and bodywork, talk them down or find another car in better shape...
Besides rust, the car could have heavy mechanical wear and tear if the current owner is a boy-racer; e.g loose steering from suspension and steering linkage wear, a rough engine idle or bearing rod knock from overrevving the engine, rear axle howling from burnouts and drifting, heavy clutch wear from popping the clutch and that sort of thing. If you want to buy a 30 year old Corolla without these kinds of serious mecghanical problems you should search for a grandma / grandpa owned one.
wow i thought i overthought things, if my dinky little 3E can overheat 3 times be run low on oil and take a daily beating still without a spun rod bearing and pushing 413k... its a bit of a unfair assumption to make that the car is driven by a "boy-racer", with the info provided in the first post you have no idea on the milage,auto/stick,who or what owned it... until you drive it no-one can know, I will agree with CorCamery though, if Funky314 doesnt have good mechanical knowledge, to send it off to a Toyota dealer for a looking over.
Ya gotta figure that any 30 year old car is going to have massive amounts of wear and need some major work. It's really unrealistic to think otherwise. It hasn't been stored in a vault. Very very few early Corollas were owned by "adults". They were popular cars with young people who may or may not have given them much care.
I own a bunch of 30-35 year old Toyotas for collector car investment purposes. I have found a consistent pattern that if the original owners bought their cars when they were middle aged and sold them when they were senior aged then the cars often don't have heavy mechanical or cosmetic wear. By age 40, the average owner is past the "need for speed" and "need to personalize and modify" their cars so their cars get driven relatively gently and are not hot rodded, hence they don't suffer massive amounts of wear compared to cars owned by the "I am invincible" and "my car is invincible" 16-35 year olds.
I'm sure those cars do exist but they are the exception rather than the rule. I'll agree that the wear would be much less on a vehicle that was senior owned (of any kind). Finding that car might be a chore. Most 10 year old cars have been through several owners...
Wow, You guys are hard. I remember that the 1976 Toyota Corolla was pre-Smog and had the much sought after golf-ball pistons. Well half a golf-ball. Now ask yourselfs why this is important. Well this was toyota way of boosting compression with a emission legal carb that passed all of the California standards. What you didn't realize is that this was a high compression piston and any addition of additional fuel turned this calm auto into a screamer. From a Old School guy that enjoyed the reality of a shocked owner of a German performance vehicle disappearing in my rear view mirror back in the between 1981-83 somewhere heading north on interstate 87. Peace
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