1988 Turbo AllTrac 3SGTE, Is this vehicle expensive to maintain? Options

[jackkasper]

Someone told me that if you had to replace the clutch in this car you would have to pull the motor out. The Toyota dealer said this was a good car to get and get rid of. What gives?

[bloodMoney]

^^^ Correct. I've tried pulling just the transaxle out to replace the clutch in mine and found that it is much easier to pull the engine out of the car. It may just be me though, b/c I also found it easier to pull the engine set out of my 6g to replace the clutch as well.

Seeing as how I currently own 2 alltracs and 2 GTs I've got plenty of experience pulling the engines out of these cars. It took me 2.5 hours to get the motor out of the 6g a few weeks ago and it takes about the same to get the motors out of my ATs despite lacking in the space department. lol

EDIT: As far as maintenance goes, its like any 20 year old car, things will need to get fixed. If you buy one that has NO rust, expect to be replacing suspension components, engine mounts, etc. Lucky for me, I bought mine from a friend that spent the previous 5 years going through the car and taking care of most of that stuff.

Long story short, if you find one that has been well maintained and keep up on the regular maintenance, it'll be as reliable as any other Toyota.

My 88 AT was my buddy's DD for ~5 years w/obsessive maintenance and ran perfectly (until he popped the motor and sold it to me)
My 90 AT has been the wifey's DD for the last 3 years with a JDM 3s swap. (this car is rusting apart, but we picked up the '88 so that I can do a full rebuild on the '90)

This post has been edited by bloodMoney: Jan 18, 2011 - 12:56 PM