Welcome back! For your consideration this Monday morning we have a pair of station wagons with remarkably few miles on their odometers. But first, let’s see how Friday ended up:
Huh, interesting. When I first saw the ads for those two cars, I was firmly on Team Buggatti. But the Maxi Taxi’s charms have grown on me, and now I think I might go that way instead. It’s just so ’70s it hurts. I can’t resist it.
Also, you might have noticed our polls have had a bit of a mid-cycle refresh, thanks to our own Matt Hardigree. Matt found a poll plug-in that works with WordPress instead of fighting it tooth-and-nail. It’s easier for me, and should be more reliable for you all. But today is the first time I’ve done it this way, so if anybody has any trouble with it, please let us know.
Now then: In the course of shopping for cars for this column, I get used to seeing cars with lots and lots of miles on the odometer. When I do find low-mileage cars, they’ve usually been sitting around wasting away for long periods of time. Today, however, I happened across two station wagons here in Portland that are both under 100,000 miles, and don’t appear to have been left to rot. Let’s check them out.
1990 Toyota Corolla All-Trac – $1,000
Engine/drivetrain: 1.6 liter inline 4, 4 speed automatic, full-time 4WD with lockable center diff
Location: Hillsboro, OR
Odometer reading: 73,827 miles
Runs/drives? Ad says so
I have to admit that when I first read this ad, I bristled at the seller using the term “vintage” to describe a car built in 1990. That’s the year I graduated high school. If this little Corolla wagon is vintage, then what does that make me?
(Don’t answer that.)
This Corolla has an ace up its sleeve when it comes to foul weather: full-time four-wheel-drive. For slippery conditions, the center differential can be locked via a button on the dash. Aside from that, it’s standard-issue Corolla: a 1.6 liter four, an overdrive automatic, and not a whole lot of excitement. But Corollas of this vintage are well-known for racking up the miles; this car is probably only about one-quarter of the way through its useful life.
Honestly, I’ve always thought these cars fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down, but they are practical. A small wagon with all four wheels driven, Japanese reliability, and good fuel economy? It works for Subaru. Maybe the Corolla All-Trac was just ahead of its time.
So why so cheap? It’s hard to say; the ad is very light on information. The seller says the car has a “great back story,” but then doesn’t tell that story. Once again, call for details, I guess. Or rather, text; anyone young enough to consider this car “vintage” doesn’t make or answer actual phone calls.
1993 Ford Taurus LX Wagon – $1,800
Engine/drivetrain: 3.0 or 3.8 liter V6, 4 speed automatic, FWD
Location: Portland, OR
Odometer reading: 96,700 miles
Runs/drives? Very well, according to the ad
For something a little bigger, a little more comfortable, we have this second-generation Ford Taurus. Still admittedly not the most exciting thing on four wheels, but it’s a good solid car. This ad is a little short on details as well; we’re not even told which of the two available engines this car has. Either way, it’s backed by a four-speed automatic, as in every ’93 Taurus except the SHO.
This Taurus has only 96,000 miles on the clock, remarkably low for a twenty-nine-year-old car. Those miles are spread out over only two owners, so it hasn’t been passed around. This instills some confidence in its condition; a car with this few miles and 20 owners would be a lot more suspect. Still, a close inspection is never a bad idea.
And it’s a wagon, a bodystyle that makes more sense to me every day. Fold down the seats, and you’ve got acres of nice flat foor to fill up. I do believe this car has a “way-back” seat as well, if you need it. It has a bunch of other options, including working air conditioning, and the most useful thing Ford put on a car in the ’90s: that little five digit keypad by the driver’s door handle. I always thought these were silly, until my wife bought an Explorer with one. Now I wish every car had one.
Condition-wise, it looks all right from what we can see. There is a little damage to the right corner of the front bumper, and what looks like it might be a shadow of rust along the bottom of a couple of doors, but it’s still presentable outside, and actually quite nice inside.
So there they are: a pair of wagons with not even 180,000 miles between them. One is considerably cheaper and has the advantage of 4WD, but the other feels, to me anyway, a bit more honest. What say you?
I voted Taurus because I liked my ’94 – handled better than my ’86 318. However the concerns about the transmission are valid. I’ve owned 4 Taurus/Sable and never had one fail. One I bought just after the dealer had spent $2K repairing the trans. $25 nylon part and $1995 labour. I paid $2K for the car.
An All Trac for $1k? That can’t be real.
I’m going to go with the cushy comfy Taurus here, because if I drive that Toyota in the salty snow where I would actually need that 4wd, it will dissolve within a couple of years, guaranteed.
Echoing the amaze-balls deal on that Corolla, that’s what I voted for. The Taurus doesn’t seem bad for the money either though. I think my next vacation needs to be out your way just for the seemingly spectacular Craigslist car specials – I never see anything approaching the value of either of these here in corn country.
I have extensive experience in both of these. We lived in the woods and my neighbour drove me to school in an almost identical Corolla wagon, great car for all weather.
My grandma had the Taurus wagon, I have memories of AM radio and general fear as she drove two footed under the speed limit down the highway (she hated that car because it went through brakes so quickly). It also had the turning radius of a container ship. No vote purely for past trauma.
I have to admit that when I first read this ad, I bristled at the seller using the term “vintage” to describe a car built in 1990. That’s the year I graduated high school. If this little Corolla wagon is vintage, then what does that make me?
I feel like society (or at least the Western world) has a collective hang-up about the millennium rolling over and the 1990s will always feel like ten years ago. Seeing players drafted into the NFL this year who were born in 2000 dealt psychic damage.
Speaking of the 1990s refusing to die, give me that Corolla.
Assuming a transaction where I get to look at the car first, the all track for me.
Not that I actually need 4wd just now but I keep planning on moving back to the northeast.
It’s half the price of the laptop I just bought!
I had a 1983 Tercel 4wd wagon, and a 1990 Corolla non-4wd wagon. Both were tragically slow. But the Tercel would go anywhere anytime, weather be damned.
Can confirm on the Tercel. Not “fast” by most folks standards but it still somehow managed to do 75+ through the Mojave with 220k+ on the clock, a cracked engine, no coolant, stuffed full of camping gear with more on the roof rack acting as as an open drag parachute.
Not my worst family camping trip.
I really like the Taurus but those transmissions were made of glass and at 96k it’s probably about to go into shrapnel mode.
A low mile, not rusty Corolla All-Trac for a grand? Sign me up for that one, for that price and with how clean that body seems to be, I wouldn’t even care if it didn’t run
My parents had four Tauri spread over three generations and the first three served them very well indeed. I like wagons, but I don’t really have any use for AWD. Ford it is.
I know my cause will lose today, but I just like the Taurus better – long and low, with consistent lines. They are very good haulers, too! That All-Trac is a KILLER deal, though, as long as it isn’t hiding something atrocious..
former alltrac owner has me pretty one sided on this. mine was more body putty and tiger hair than sheetmetal but damn did it get wherever i wanted to go… eventually
So close to having a “Breaking Bad” vs “Better Call Saul” contest! If only the Toyota was a Tercel! This exact model of Taurus was used in the first season of Saul, with Tuco’s abuela driving it.
After reading Mercedes Gambler story last week, that Corolla seems perfect (maybe too perfect?) for the next outing.
That thing is too nice to Gamble!
Shit, for less than two and a half grand, buy both. Flip the one you like least and you could have a free car.
I’m not seeing a link/control for the new poll. Might be something on my end blocking it. Anyone else having trouble?
Nope, worked great for me!
Yep, no voting button or link for me either, even with this site whitelisted (makes no difference if I simply pause my adblockers, regardless of browser).
I’d vote for the Toyota, if I could.
Re: the “vintage Corolla.”
My ’90 NA Miata is officially registered as a classic car in my home state this year, its first year of eligibility. The plate literally has a Model T on it. Yep, slippery computer-designed, electronically-controlled, airbag-equipped 90s cars are now officially considered classics. Weep ye and feel olde!
A few years back, a friend who had a late ’80s Mazda 626 asked me to replace a motor mount for him.
Sure, no problem I said. But my jaw dropped when he pulled into the garage and it had vintage plates…felt super old right then. But also in awe of his complete dedication to keeping that thing going.
(and repair was a breeze…so much work space under the hood!)
Had to go with the Corolla because if that ad is real and the car is as described it’s a screaming deal, but the Taurus is not a terrible choice either.
Taurus, because it runs. Especially if it does indeed have a third-row seat.
A manual would’ve swung my vote in the Corolla’s favor, though.
Fun fact; the Corolla brochure only showed the FWD wagon which had much more normal styling based on the sedans.
I really really like the Taurus in wagon form, but my neighbor had one which had the transmission fail, and I think that was a fairly common problem. On the other hand, my mother owned a Corolla wagon with the 4WD and she loved it because nothing could ever stop it and, as a nurse, she absolutely positively had to get there. We lived in snow belt Pennsylvania and that thing could clear a path for sled dogs.
But when she moved to Virginia, even though she had a valid Pennsylvania inspection the Virginians totaled it for rust….and yeah, they were right. She cried when she had to let it go.
So transmission problems or rust problems. Well, I don’t think rust is an issue here.
I went Corolla. I grew up in a Ford family, and we always had their wagons, but a Corolla of that age, if the body hasn’t rusted, is indestructible.
And there are JDM engine options if one wants to turn up the wick a little. Fast manual AWD wagon that doesn’t look fast? Yes please!
If I weren’t at work right now, I’d be on an Amtrak to Portland for that glorious Corolla AllTrac. And I’d be watching for cops on my tail all the way home, because that thing is a steal.
shutupandtakemymoney.gif
Corolla, duh
Also, you can always swap in a 3S-GTE 🙂
Fun fact: Toyota actually sold 2 different wagons at the same time, both of which made it here: the one pictured, which uses the same doors as a 4-door hatchback version we never got, and another wagon with regular wagon doors that was used on FWD Corolla wagons:
the FWD wagon:
https://imgur.com/9tmusCn
the 4-door hatch that shares the doors of the AWD wagon:
https://www.carspecs.us/photos/35b5b2def49868c5f07708a1b3ded32627316c05-2000.jpg
Had to pick the Corolla. I had a 1983 Tercel 4wd wagon, and a 1990 Corolla non-4wd wagon. Both were tragically slow. But the Tercel would go anywhere anytime, weather be damned, and the Corolla would go as long as it wasn’t snowing.
as long as it wasn’t snowing? But it’s 4WD it should go anywhere anytime!!!!!!!!
(sorry, I had to)
My 1990 Corolla wagon was the non-4WD one, and was miserable in snow. I shoveled hard and dug it out of my parking space. Got stuck immediately on snow outside my spot, and pushed it back in to wait a few days until the snow melted.
Did you have snow tires or chains?
oops I missed the non part, sorry 🙁