Are AE86's reliable?

[..MeZ..]

Are AE86's reliable as in, when you first got it did you have to replace head gaskets or broken cylinder valves, things like that? Are they easy to maintain on the road? The reason im asking this is because as you guys know i want to buy an eight six but my parents rekon that it will cost me more to get it on the road........Around May-June i rekon i will of had enough saved up to be in the market for one and when i put this by my parents they reply and say that there unreliable because there a 20 year old car................just wanting to know your honest thoughts

cheers MeZ

[dr1ft-pig]

save more money, wait a bit longer and buy 1 with a 16v 4age in it.... mine never broke down....

[Micknofx]

4ac's I've found are reliable almost to a fault. They'll run like absolute shit for ages and ages. Never had any issues with my GE either though I have taken better care of it.

[Levin-less :(]

depends what you do with it really, but thats like every other car

[Bustin_86]

Ive never ever EVER had my 86 break down on me, but then again i didn't drive it every day. My friends sprinter only ever broke because of incessant abuse. My personal opinion is that they are a very reliable car http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forums/emoticons/smile.gif

[rthy]

keep it standard and take car of it and it will last forever*


















*pending

[lo_rolla]

I drive mine to work every day and thrash it every night. Hasn't missed a beat. Starts first try every try, doesn't use oil, reasonable on fuel...

Pretty comfortable and I don't have to carry passengers.

[Dish]

Had mine for 9 or so months and haven't had a problem. Mine's got a bigport 4age.

[us_ae86]

Come on fellas. let's be honest here. The 86's will run for ever and ever. But when it comes to reliability?.... You will be constantly be repairing one thing or another. Just when you get everything running good, something will break. You fix it, then a month or 2, if not days later, something else will break. It's just a fact in the 86 life. That's why it is known as the endless money pit. But when it all comes to dependability after ALL problems have been fixed? Then yes, these cars are more than worth it and will last what seems to be a lifetime. It's the fun factor really that makes it worth it in the end. It took me literally MONTHS and MONTHS to tidy up my car to run not only for the longevity, but for the performance as well. But it was all worth it with out a doubt. The key is, when purchasing, is to look for any and all repairs that have been completed recently and what has or hasn't been done. ASK FOR RECIEPTS! Make sure to take your time in this process as well. Don't just jump into a buy in a hurry without a thourough inspection to check for those repairs and/or problems, because you might be getting more than what you bargained for. USE CAUTION!! and most importantly YOUR BRAIN.
-Chris-

[..MeZ..]

cheers for the replys guys.....................Chris what soughta problems were u taking care of? were they major as in car wise and money wise?

[HYPNTK]

mate 2 types of 2c from me coz you asked ok...

#1 Its a TOYOTA, nuff said.

#2 Its your money you worked for by the sounds of it so you get what you want and parents will respect that anyway...they were young once too (oh and you can't lose money on an 86 if you leave it standard coz they are gaining value if anything not depreciating)

[us_ae86]

cheers for the replys guys.....................Chris what soughta problems were u taking care of? were they major as in car wise and money wise?[/b]
It was car mechanicalities and monyalities http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forums/emoticons/tongue.gif But most of all TIME. It'll just jump out and bite you in the ass.
Something is going to break and you are going to have to fix it. As to contradict what R2 was saying.. There is no easy daily driving with these cars. When you get behind the wheel, there's no stopping the ineavidable.... You are going to drift it like you stole it. The temptation and the pressure to do so in these mechanically masterminded machines will blow you over the top and you will have absolutely no control. There will be no chance in saying NO to taking a turn at an accellerated rate with the ass end flailing wildly to the side with billowing massess of pillowlike smoke visible only by your rearview mirror. All is great. All is awesome. You are having the greatest time of your life.......... Then it hits you...... You payed absolutely no attention to the police lights flashing promiscuously behind you. There goes your license. http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forums/emoticons/smile.gif Have a nice day!
-Chris-

[selk]

arent hachi's weakness their rear axles ?

[jdmcoupe]

STOCK yes... modifyed something all ways fucks up

[mattysshop]

regular maintenance... fix any probs as soon as they are seen etc etc.. should be fine...

[noodles]

lets be realistic. if its your first car, you will drive it into the ground.

it has taken me 3 or 4 cars to get on top of regular maintenance but once you start that up, surprise surprise, things stop fcuking up as regularly.

[Hen is a total nutcase]

Yes, they are reliable.

Yes, you will still spend all your spare time fixing/upgrading things.

Also to get it on the road will probably take a fair bit of work/money (unsure of QLD regs though so it may be different for you). Just shitty little things you'd expect from a 20yr old car like replacing tierods/rack ends, bushes, wheel bearings, diff oil seals, uni joints or any number of other things.

Hen

[..MeZ..]

LOL chris......... ohk thanks guys this isnt enough to deter (spelling?) me from getting one all i need is to convice my parents.......so that i can get it before i get my p's and do sum mods http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forums/emoticons/biggrin.gif

cheers MeZ

[wooley]

ive had mine for 2 weeks and done two water pumps. and a belt http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forums/emoticons/rant.gif

[TRD_86]

buy a shitty daily and get a sprinter for a bit of fun, that way u have the best of both worlds.

rule is: if u flog any car, it will break

[corolla_kid]

me, working in a mechanical worksop, have customers come in and ask me, i have all these problems with my car - the steering wheel wobbles, the suspension is rough and it feels liek you're hitting a wall everythime you go over a bumo and the whole interior rattles and this and that, you look outside and they have a 1998 subaru rx imreza wagone with 19" wheels and 35 seires profile rubber, two 12 subs in the boot and he wonders why after time everything rattles, and his shocks fuck up every 25,000km

How do i fix my car once and for all? - the answer - return it back to standard!

so the moral of my story is, if you want a reliable car, look after it and think about what your doing to your car before yo do it, leave it standard, the impreza cam out with 16 wheels for a reason, most people who bought them new wanted a drivable car, They spent all this time and money figuring out what shocks to use and wheel/try combo's and the your average joe picks up a 10yr old one and fucks around with superlows on std shocks and rolls on 19's and wonder wheyu it is rough and handes crap, i know a little irelavent to 8-6, but if you want somehting reliable, A: get something modern, B: dont fuck with it

Get an AE86, you'll kick yourslef for years to come if you dont.

[HYPNTK]

Get an AE86, you'll kick yourslef for years to come if you dont.[/b]

thats gold son

[..MeZ..]

lol thanks for the info corolla kid!

[rxbenny]

can you maintain the car on your own?

and do you have an income stream or will your parents be subsidising?

what your parents are saying is it 24 years old are you crazy wanting to spend that sort of cash on a car that age.

buy an ae71 deck it out with hot gear, then buy ae86 ad transplant all the stuff

[Arch]

sprinters are junk

when you drive em hard everyday shit always breaks, if its not one thing its something else.

the days where absolutely everything works are few and far between

if yours isnt the same, you are either very lucky or just not driving hard enough http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forums/emoticons/tongue.gif

[James86]

if u want somthing reliable and cheap get a daihatsu charade, i gave mine 2 years of absolute hell and i can count on 1 hand how many things i had to replace and when it did need fixing it was only ever off the road for 2 days max and parts were cheap as chips and available from every auto parts place there was.

the downside was it had no a/c, it was very very slow. but hey it got me around and copped alot of shit.

with the ae86 its quicker, more fun, worth modding but parts arent available from my local sprint auto parts and they aint cheap either. Ive also had to replace more stuff on my 86 in a month than what i did with 2 years of owning the charade. Its off the road a fair bit and i catch the bus to work more than i drive.

so yea if you need a reliable car thats gonna be easy/cheap to fix and run look at somthing more common and newer.

my 2c

[..MeZ..]

what types of things are happening to ur sprinter that its off the road a fair bit james?

[corolla_kid]

^^^ well i didnt buy an eightysix and ive been kicking myslef for years - personal experience http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forums/emoticons/tongue.gif

[James86]

what types of things are happening to ur sprinter that its off the road a fair bit james?[/b]

mauinly small things, some are due to me upgrading parts aswell.

clutch slave cylinder went
master cylinder went
battery died
broken a few things

just general things that need replacing on a car thats 20+years old.
although there small things there days off the road and cost money.