Toyota 86 review long-term – update 4
if you’re going to enjoy any car you need to trust it. Â You need to be able to rely on the car to be there when you need it. Â Otherwise, plans go awry, people get let down, things don’t get done.
Reliability first, fun second.
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As my Toyota 86 has just rolled past 52,000km I thought I’d report on the reliability to date. Â Why 52 and not 50? Â The car was bought as a dealer-demo with 1200km on the clock, so that’s 50,000 of my kilometers! Â And things started badly, because shortly after delivery the car had an complete engine swap to rectify an idling problem. Â Toyota actually wanted to the engine for diagnosis which is why they swapped it, as distinct from the usual method of replacing specific components. Â But with that done, here’s a complete list of problems with the car between 2000 and 52,000km:
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Yep, nothing at all. Â And my car gets well and truly used…it’s probably in the top 10 most used daily-driver 86s for grassroots motorsports in the country. Â Trackdays, autocrosses, drifts…this car’s Sunday does not start with a loving polish then a parade to the coffee shop (but only if not raining). Â Instead, it’s more likely to be loaded with gear, have stickers slapped on the side and driven hard on some track. Â Yet it just works, every day, every time. Â Where others have got their cars up on jacks between sessions skinning knuckles as they pull parts off, I’m sipping coffee, chatting with mates.
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Now it’s true not everyone will be in to motorsports. Â But the point is that if the 86 can stand up to that sort of full-throttle, tyre squealing driving then chances are your 86 is going to be just fine for daily driving. Â Sure makes me smile at the end of a hard day.Â
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I should also mention that my car has had more changes of fluids like oil, brake, and differentials that some cars have had tanks of petrol. Â The more you use a car and the harder the use, the greater the maintenance cost and you either pay up front to prevent, or pay double later to fix. Â Â I’ve gone through four sets of brakes and five sets of tyres, so the consumable cost is high, but such is the price of fun!
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