Toyota Levin Ae111

[tranced]

hi, i am currently looking for a new car. really keen to get another toyota, and want to try something from the corolla lineup. my dad had a really old, bright orange corolla we used to call "the clockwork orange". it was awesome, it just wouldnt die. until a firetuck ran over it. doh.

 

so anyway looking through various corollas, the japanese imported, late 90's levins have caught my eye. i really like the way they look! i could probably afford to get one locally or have it imported, HOWEVER... being a student i definately couldnt afford to keep pumping money into the thing to keep it running.

 

so I'm wondering, am i about to make a huge mistake and fall into an endless money pit? i have done alot of reading and it seems the superstrut suspension would be quite costly to replace... also the wheel bearings and CV's i hear are unique and probably rare/expensive. but then again its a toyota corolla right? it should be fairly reliable right?

 

i have always bought very boring automatic v6 cars and i would like to try something fun/exciting before i get too old and decrepit. and i really like the looks of the levin... but i wonder if i would end up regretting buying one?

[Hiro Protagonist]

If you're worried about the suspension there are non-Superstut models around, in which case they essentially use the same suspension as the locally-delivered models (technically all Corollas after the AE102 are imported)

[tranced]

i don't think i will worry about it too much... if its superstrut, cool i have good suspension. if its not, oh well i have easy to replace suspension. thats what they call win/win isnt it :) but yeah the superstrut sounds pretty cool anyway, it would be kind of a shame to get one without it?

 

if i go look at one.. what should i look for/listen for? what sort of funky move should i do in a test drive to figure out if its used or abused?? about all i know would be to test the steering at full lock for the CV groan, and maybe try braking lightly at decent speed to see if the discs are warped? thats about the extent of my car knowledge :)

 

is there any point in the cars life where some major thing has to be done, like at 150,000 km you have to replace everything or anything like that???

 

sorry for all the questions, but i don't really know jack about cars and never had any interest in knowing until very recently...

 

**edit** more reading... the limited slip differential that these cars might have is the viscous type correct? so on a car with high km's it would probably be no longer working as intended? still driveable but no longer a LSD?

Edited July 29, 2010 by tranced

[KDoG]

There is a $hit load of these in NZ. They are a very fast/ reliable car and always come back for more!. I was once told but, they love a floggin but if ya baby too much thats when ya get problems?? not sure if true but hey a 1.6L puting out around 120KW+ or just over 100kw per litre..... how many standard 8's put out 100kw per litre??? HSV have like 6.2l and 320kw? 429BHP 69BHP per litre! So the AE111 are pretty highly strung aye... (thats the black top) I'm pretty sure ya can get any parts you need from NZ. I have a couple of mates who work at toyota in NZ ones in parts [email protected] and its Chris (Toph) and tell him Kyle or Dog sent ya, and a couple of mechanics there too.

[ke70dave]

how did you come up with 100kw/Litre?

 

120kw/1.6L = 75kw/L?

 

and whats with this "if you baby the car it gives problems"....

 

hmm....

 

ive no experience with the corolla in question, but its a corolla so its no doubt bullet proof. and the blacktop 4age is a proven engine for power and reliability.

 

listen for clicking noises on acceleration to check the CV wear, and make sure the CV boots arent cracked, as if they have been letting dirt in there, the CV's may be on their way out.

 

also you can get CV joints rebuilt, rather than buying new ones. mate with a 32 GTR had to get his done, not cheap, but do-able.

[KDoG]

how did you come up with 100kw/Litre?

 

120kw/1.6L = 75kw/L?

 

well i ment 100BHP 75KW= 100BHP.....

the Black Top 20-Valve 4A-GELU had a quoted rating of 121KW = 163BHP alot of pep!! even though it is thought Toyota gave this a prety "optimistic" power output

 

and whats with this "if you baby the car it gives problems"....

I'm not too sure why i was told this but it was from a prety good source....

[tranced]

thanks for all the great advice so far! (keep it comin)

 

in regards to kilometers on the odometer... i mean you would want to buy one with as few as possible... but at what point would you go... no thanks.

 

100,000km? 150,000km? 250,000km??

 

it probably depends on how it was driven for it lifetime but should i have a cutoff point... i want it to run for 4 years with no major dramas, after that i could probably afford to buy a new one of rebuild the whole thing.. i drive about 10,000-15,000 km per year.

[clubby2084]

Too few kilometers is not necessarily a good thing.

Jap imports come here with minimal kilometers on the clock.

Although the vehicle has a low amount of kilometers, the question is how many hours has the engine done ?.

Japanese traffic being what it is, an engine can be idling for very long periods to travel a short distance.

 

I would say look for one with over 100 thousand on the clock. If anything was to go wrong it would have by now.

Find one with between 100 and 150 thousand kilometers on it and you'll have a very good car for years

 

Although they are not a ADM model they were imported in such numbers there are parts available (Cars, half cuts and engines).

My next door neighbor had one (with the super-strut suspension) and apart from routine maintenance he spent nothing on it.

Edited August 1, 2010 by clubby2084

[tranced]

very good point! brilliant advice there, thanks :( there is absolutely NONE for sale in WA that i can find at the moment! is importing one a BAD idea?

[tranced]

well i found one, single car for sale :( 1997 trueno BZ-R with 136,000 k's on the clock. i would be the first aussie owner (its from a car dealer) and he wants $11,000 for it. i was kinda hoping for a 1999 model with around 100,000kms, and its not the ideal colour! interior is a bit worn as well. sounds like a good deal or not?

[altezzaclub]

My son has had a '95 Levin BZG for years- he left it in my brother's barn in NZ when he moved over here!

 

It burns oil, not enough to see smoke but you have to add oil between changes, the same as I have to do in the Altezza. It comes with the "over 100bhp/litre" plan!

 

Other than that it has been completely trouble-free for the 5years he's owned it. I think his cousin is selling it for him now. Its got 160,000km on.

 

I drove for a month when I went back on holiday- I'm not a FWD fan at all but it was pretty good as far as they go. Stuck well, didn't roll, loved to rev and was quick and light. It's worth less than $4000 in NZ. (AND that's in NZ$)

Edited August 4, 2010 by altezzaclub

[LittleRedSpirit]

Id have one for a daily. A lot of the time people literally cannot give the parts away once they buy a motor or halfcut and do a rwd conversion.

 

You will easily be able to find cooling system parts, looms and ecus, gaskets thanks to castle hill toyota and the like. Also starter motors go pretty cheap. They can't be used in rwd. Go for it man. Get the ae111 superstrut. Its not a powerful car but it punches well above its weight is fun thanks to the revs and handling. Well i havent actually driven one as I prefer rwd but Ive been using the motors out of them for some time now and Id say it will be awesome if its on a stock ecu in a fwd car as toyota intended. Will be as reliable as any other corolla, maybe better. Like all Toyota motors of this era they make a lot of sludge out of tired oil so make sure its had its servicing done and if thats fine you can't lose. It takes under 50000 klms to sludge up a motor with infrequent changes.

[tranced]

how do u check this with an imported car? this ones straight from japan with 136,000 km on the clock. the service history, even if it had one would be in japanese right :dance:

[altezzaclub]

Very few cars going into NZ have a service history- The Japanese auction people just toss everything out of the car apparently. When you're paying so little for a newish car it just doesn't matter.

 

There are stacks of stories about cars running for 5years in Japan and not getting an oil change because to them they are running it into the ground.

 

...and you're right, it would be in Japanese.

[tranced]

so its just luck? i am getting a condition report from an independant person so hopefully i can avoid any nasty suprises ! fingers crossed...