banpei
Site Admin
Joined: 15 Aug 2004
Posts: 7504
Location: Hilversum
1982 Toyota Carina
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 Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:56 pm Post subject: AE86 Buying FAQ |
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AE86 Buying FAQ
This FAQ is in ongoing progress, so if you have some suggestions for this FAQ just send me (or any other mod/admin) a pm. Everything placed in this topic will be moved to a different topic.
Q: I want to buy a hachi. What should I beware of? What pitfalls will I find?
A: First of all: beware of rust! These cars are prone to rust in wet countries. Standard rule in the EU is: in southern countries the cars are probably less rusty. Repairing body panels is probably the most costly repairs on your car since original body panels are scarce and uprated body panels are available but cost a lot in shipping. Also respraying your car will cost some.
Most rust can be found on the back of the front fenders and the front of the back fenders. If the rust in that area is worse it may damage your beams supporting the floorpan and behind the rear wheels next to the gastank and the inner fenders.
Also check under the windshield: it's a nasty spot which (if not cracked already) may break your windshield and to fix this it requires to remove your windshield which can be quite costly. Some replacement windows don't fit so be prepared to receive the wrong window.
Also look in the boot and behind the rear seat: on wheel casings inside the boot and behind the rear seats can rust be found, if it is there prepare yourself for some patch-welding which is not expensive but might make your mot fail if you don't repair it properly.
Second: the diff may whine, especially when not being placed properly and driven hard (e.g. drifted). It isn't really very bad for the functioning of the car, but the whine is just plain annoying. This is also a quite expensive repair and you can easialy buy the wrong replacement parts since the rear axle of the early models (Zenki) differ from the later models (Kouki).
Third: leaks. After twenty years rubber stips and sealings are getting old and can leak on nasty spots and also leakage due to rust is bad. A few spots to check are: rubber strip around the boot, side windows (rear). Also a bad spot (as mentioned in "rust") is under the windshield: it might leak from there on to your feet which will make your carpets smelly. 
Engine and transmission should be fine in most cases: they last atleast 250000km and are pretty indestructable. 
Q: I want to import a hachi
A: Great! Most excellent examples can be imported from sunny places. Also the Japanese models tend to be very well looked after since their MOT is like the worst around, so a lot will look like they rolled out of the factory.
Just be prepared to pay a lot of money to import a car, an example for a Dutch import from Poland:
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Oke, guys. I have a list of all costs of importing an AE86.
- Price you pay for the ae86
- Transport (done by ourself)
- Parts/repair invoices of fixing the car for MOT (done by ourself)
- RDW Mot, costs about 135 euro
- If you fail the Mot you could arange a second appointment for 25euro (within 8 weeks its 25 euro).
- Customs (doane) who wants the bpm (import tax) is about 282 euro.
Pay direct by the RDW and you get your registration papers within 5 days.
- New license plates (unknown price, I must wait 5 days)
If your check by the RDW failed and you can't repair it within 8 weeks or can't make a appointment with the rdw you must pay the whole price again: 135 euro...
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400 euros might not sound as much, but for a Japanese import expect to pay more since you need to change the headlights as well and this example is without the "extras" bpm for devices as Airco and Powersteering. Also the transport is killing, just expect to pay a few hundred extra for shipment from Japan.
Some sites for importing cars from Japan:
http://www.bestjapancar.com/
http://www.kaizousha.com (seems to be down at the moment:( )
Also keep in mind some local laws may prevent you from importing the car. In Hungary and Cyprus it is not allowed to import a car older than 5 year. In Denmark the import taxes are killing, eventhough the car is from the EU. In Holland it is very difficult to import a car which never was sold initially in Holland so importing a Skyline takes a more difficult test along with a higher import price. Just check your local import laws.
Q: How can I identify the car as an ae86?
A: Various ways. First way is easy: if the car is a Corolla and a 1.6, look under the car and if you see a prop-shaft going to the rear it is probably a hachi.
Well, you have to understand that you can't buy any 1985 1.6 corolla and suppose it is an ae86. There are also ae80, ee80 and ae82 models as well, but they look (very) different from the ae86. And of course you have the pre-ae86 models like the TE71 which is also a 1.6, but the engine is (mostly) a 2TG (there are actually some AE71s driving around).
The easiest is checking under the hood: there should be a in-line placed engine. This engine can either be a 3A, 4AC or a 4AGE. 3A is a 1.5 engine and both 4A engines are 1.6 liter.
You can also see the modelnumber on the vin plate which is located on the firewall (back of the enginebay) of the car. The modelnumber is the startnumber of the serialnumber of the car. In this topic you can see an example of it:
http://www.aeu86.org/viewtopic.php?t=704
It should say either ae85, ae86 or ae88. ae88 is the US GTS version, ae86 can also be the US SR5 version (has rearaxle drumbrakes and no lsd, just like the ae85, but a 4AC engine instead of the 3A engine)
You can also find the cassiscode in the liscense.
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Sailor Hachi says: "hachini kawatte oshiokiyo" (In the name of the hachi: I'll punish you!)
1982 - TA60 Carina 4dr sedan - family cruiser
2004 - AEU86 dot ORG - daily domain
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