Buying A Carina

[ashley karyl]

Hello, this is my first posting here so I hope this is OK. Just over a week ago I was parked at a junction in my Renault Clio when I got hit from behind by a 4x4 Mercedes. The damage didn't look that bad at first but because the car was quite old it has been declared a write off by the insurers. The Clio was always a lot of fun to drive but it did bug me that it was in the garage every couple of months requiring some small repair and I had decided a while back that my next car would be Japanese and probably a Toyota.

I called a few dealers and eventually found one who mentioned a Carina 1.8CDX that a client of his wanted to sell privately and he was kind enough to put us in touch, so a meeting was aranged. The car is an N reg with 69,000 miles and two owners since new with full service history. The paintwork has a few minor scratches as you might expect in a car of this age but I was quite impressed with the way that the car just glided up the road and the owner seemed very willing to show me every aspect of the car with no visible faults that I could see.

The cam belt was changed at 60,000 miles and it all seems pretty good but I wanted to ask if there is anything particular that I should watch out for on a Carina? With Clios there was a long list of common problems such as risty rear wheel arches and my main reason for buying a Carina is because I want great reliability. Over the last year or so I have done very low mileage but that could change soon and I'd like to keep the car running as smoothly as possible. Everywhere I look the Carina seems to receive positive feedback, so are there any specfic issues to be concerned about?

Thanks in advance

Ashley

[Kev Mc]

Welcome to the club, I can't help you but I'd recommend posting in the Toyota Family forum as more people who know about Carina's will see it there.

[ashley karyl]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try there.

[cfc1]

My 1st Toyota was a K reg 1.6i.. just the baisic model. I had it 5 years with no major problems whatsover... the engine management light came on once.. turned out it was the lamda(sp) sensor.. but i quick clean up of the connection and a scoot with a wee bit of wd40 sorted it out.

Great family car.. very reliable, comfortable and drove as good as new.

[~Rach~]

Hey, I'll post here as well as in Family incase you dont read both

Things to look for on rinas are simple things like the electrics (drivers side window motor is a common problem), wheel bearings (so listen for knocking) and the damned lambda sensor (toyota will charge you £300 for the priviledge if you need it replaced).

As long as its had basic servicing done, it'll be fine :D

[ashley karyl]

The current owner is a retired RAF pilot who doesn't look like a boy racer so I am guessing that he would be unlikely to run around in a poorly maintained car. Everything we tried seemed to work properly first time around with no squeeks or rattles and part of my caution is owed to past experience with the Clio. There were a couple of things that I didn't check properly when buying like the heater and it turned out to be only semi functioning. Apart from that every two months something was going wrong and it was starting to look very expensive in terms of maintenance for a car that was doing such low mileage. At the end of the day I just don't think that cars from France and the UK etc are as reliable as a Toyota.

My father had a Corolla for twelve years from new and it drove brilliantly with very few problems, but one day it went in for its MOT and was failed because of bad rust underneath the car which was totally unexpected and it turned out that the repair bill made it economically unviable, so it was scrapped. Is this a common problem with Toyotas? I noticed that the one I saw had a few minor spots along the exhaust pipe etc but it looked pretty clean on the whole. Our local mechanic used to spray wax once a year underneath an old Mazda we had and that one has always been OK. I don't know why they never bothered to do the same with the Corolla.

[SMW]

I had a 94 1.6 gli Carina for a couple of years. No probelms apart from drivers electric window motor failed and Battery needed replacing. I got rid at 97 000 miles but I know the new owner and still see the car around - it looks almost new !

Personally I don't like the fake wood stuff in the CDX model but thats just cosmetic. I say go for it !

[ashley karyl]

I think that a walnut interior can look great inside a car when looking at something like a Jaguar with leather upholstery, but on most semi modern cars where its surrounded by plastic it does look like a slightly token gesture. On the whole I'd say that the interior has worn very well and I am glad that it has a more understated design than some Carina's I have seen. It does need a good clean though because the current owner has dogs and it looks like they sleep in the car!

You can see that the interior on the Carina is now beginning to look a little dated compared to brand new cars but its still very functional and I was impressed by the general level of comfort and reassuring build quality. I have been driving a Yaris this week as a rental and its a brilliant little car around town except that I can't understand why its got such a tiny rear window. I once drove an Avensis Estate and noticed that it also had a very small rear window with not much rear vision, so parking was tricky. Why are Toyota doing this?

[Kev Mc]

Things to look for on rinas are simple things like the electrics (drivers side window motor is a common problem)

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That's a good point, my mum's had a Carina for years & she's had no problems at all exceot for the driver's window which has had to be looked at a few times. Never anything major though & when you consider how many other parts a car has that could go wrong it's brilliant.

I have been driving a Yaris this week as a rental and its a brilliant little car around town except that I can't understand why its got such a tiny rear window. I once drove an Avensis Estate and noticed that it also had a very small rear window with not much rear vision, so parking was tricky. Why are Toyota doing this?

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I think the Yaris is because it is a small car, not sure about the others though. My mum's Carina (which is a Limited Edition that's the spitting image of an Avensis of the same age) has a spoiler on the boot & it makes reversing very difficult.

[Twincam.GTi]

ashley karyl 

My father had a Corolla for twelve years from new and it drove brilliantly with very few problems, but one day it went in for its MOT and was failed because of bad rust underneath the car which was totally unexpected and it turned out that the repair bill made it economically unviable, so it was scrapped. Is this a common problem with Toyotas?

This is normal with old Jap cars, mechanically they are brilliant, utterly reliable but their bodywork is generally desgraceful.

Also unlike an old British banger the metal is usually thinner/more recycled so thus harder to re-weld/tack a patch on for M.O.T etc.

So my advice is check that body Shell, boot floor, inner sills, inner wings and floor pan etc.

[ashley karyl]

That's interesting to know and sort of makes sense now that you explain it. At the time of that problem with the Corolla the mechanic said he could fix it, but he couldn't offer any guarantee that after 6 months the problem wouldn't be worse than before. The car in question was from 1988.

The Carina I have looked at is from November 96 and made in the UK, so I am hoping that its better in this regard. Certainly there was no sign of rust looking along the frame underneath and not a single bubble on the paintwork anywhere, so I am hoping it will be good. My guess is that the car has been kept in a garage all these years. I wonder when the Japanese cars started getting better in this regard? My old Clio from 92 is certainly not that great.

[ashley karyl]

Well today I picked up the Carina and I am really happy with everything so far. Its a real pleasure to drive and seems to have been well maintained.

The car is due for a service, so I'll book it in next week for a thorough check over and the last owner said its cambelt was changed ten thousand miles ago at 60,000 but going through the paper work this evening I couldn't see any receipts for that being done. I am wondering if a mechanic would be able to tell if it had been done recently or if I should just play it safe and get a new one put in there when the service is being done. The car is doing everything perfectly but I really want to keep it running smoothly so I don't think its worth running any risks.

It does feel good to be a Toyota owner!

[~Rach~]

Congratulations :D

You definitely wont regret it, fantastic cars

Theres quite a few carina guys down in your area too, so you wont be lonely

[ashley karyl]

Thanks Rach, I am really impressed so far and it feels a lot better to drive than many brand new cars I have tried. I can't really fault it and at this price its a steal.