Toyota wagons

[Boosted_162]

My dad told me tonight hes looking for a new car. He's wanting a wagon, preferbly 2L and under. A couple of options i saw was a Caldina, Corolla wagon and Altezza Gita. I saw some 2L Altezza Gita's on trademe, and thought they were quite nice. What motors? I doubt they are BEAMS 3SGE, so id assume the motors a 1GFE? What are they like on gas? Good at towing? If i could convince him to buy the 3L one, what are the 2JZGEs like on gas?

And what other Toyota wagons are out there that are good? Not so much on a budget, but i doubt he'd spend more than $15-$20k

Cheers

[Mr Revhead]

whats he want the wagon for?
gita is a nice car, but if hes wanting a LOT of space, they arent that big in the rear.

corolla wagon... its a corolla, so itll go forever.

caldina.... basicly a corona, so apart from the typical S series leaks itll go forever

[Boosted_162]

He just occasionally carries around a bit of gear...tools, boating gear etc. He currently has a ford telstar wagon, which is a good size just its had its day..

Do any of the new corolla wagons come in 4WD? He said that would be nice, but not essential. And what are they like for headroom? Hes over 6ft.

[snwtoy]

He just occasionally carries around a bit of gear...tools, boating gear etc. He currently has a ford telstar wagon, which is a good size just its had its day..

Do any of the new corolla wagons come in 4WD? He said that would be nice, but not essential. And what are they like for headroom? Hes over 6ft.

Caldina comes in 4wd (gtt) and if you drive it like a nana it's bloody good on gas. Any caldina will be a huge improvement over a telstar wagon. Have driven a couple of them and they're so gutless they feel like they're going backward.

[Boosted_162]

He just occasionally carries around a bit of gear...tools, boating gear etc. He currently has a ford telstar wagon, which is a good size just its had its day..

Do any of the new corolla wagons come in 4WD? He said that would be nice, but not essential. And what are they like for headroom? Hes over 6ft.

Caldina comes in 4wd (gtt) and if you drive it like a nana it's bloody good on gas. Any caldina will be a huge improvement over a telstar wagon. Have driven a couple of them and they're so gutless they feel like they're going backward.

His one is a supercharged diesel one, it actually doesnt go half bad! Torquey as hell. I mentioned a GTT, he isnt too keen on one, he doesnt really need the power, so i mentioned a GT (but they are only auto arent they?) And are the GTTs that bad on gas?

[snwtoy]

It's all relative really. GTT is better than an auto 1.8 turbo lancer, but nowhere near a 1.6l charade.

[Urban-Cruiser]

There is the Carib Z Touring wagon; 4wd, 5 speed or auto, 1.8L, 7afe and about 88kw (118hp).
Not too bad of a car. Used to drive one a while back a few times. It was auto, but had a bit of pick up. Even had the tail out when doing a sharp u-turn too

[rolla_fxgt]

aren't there non turbo caldina's that are 4wd? like some of the lower spec models? Cause i imagine they wouldn't be bad for towing & have decent space

[andyztouring]

The current shape Corollas do come in 4WD in Japan,some have come here,My dad has a Corolla Fielder 1.8S ,(2wd) very nice car to drive etc,look around as there are some 4WDs for sale.BTW dads Fielder is for sale.

[flygt4]

caldina gt ftw.
also there is a lower spec model with a non beams 3sge that is in 4wd. as far as i am aware they only come in auto tho.

the boot of the caldina is a decent size, with the back seats folded up ive taken more rubbish to the tip than the guy with a huge trailer next to me had, and i only paid for a carload

also has the advantage of 4wd, 500-600km to a tank, reasonable amount of power, and getting quite cheap now if you hunt around. workmate just imported a facelift caldina, non gt tho, for 11k with 50km.

the 2L gitas are supposed to be pretty rubbish, smooth engine but quite gutless.

[Disinfo]

the boot of the caldina is a decent size, with the back seats folded up ive taken more rubbish to the tip than the guy with a huge trailer next to me had, and i only paid for a carload

This is the main problem with the Altezza wagon - the boot simply isn't big enough.

Caldinas GTTs are great, but you do pay a premium for them - I ended up with an Avenir GT4 instead and saved quite a bit.

[Punter]

You can get manual 3SFE 4WD caldinas would be a pretty solid car.

[Snoozin]

Caldina ZT ftw, dad's got one, it a freakin awesome wagon IMO. Has a brilliant chassis, loads of space, revvy as engine.... surely one could be picked up for under $20k.

If you don't mind the Will VS-esque looks of it.

[BlakJak]

The current shape Corollas do come in 4WD in Japan,some have come here,My dad has a Corolla Fielder 1.8S ,(2wd) very nice car to drive etc,look around as there are some 4WDs for sale.BTW dads Fielder is for sale.

Good to see all the experts overlooking the various Caldina models...

Theres a whole series of Caldina, I think its the TZ and TZ-G that are NA 4WD... IIRC TZ is 3SFE, TZ-G is 3SGE. I couldn't afford a GT-T when I got mine, so I went TZ-G and kept the higher-power NA engine on a 4WD chassis. Its an ST195 (96) which as you can see, is in the same chassis series as many other common/popular Toyotas (Corona ST161 etc, Celica ST162/ST165, Celica ST18x, Celica/Curren ST20x, newer (~98-) Caldinas are ST21x) [and this is where my knowledge stops].

Revvy is right, the 3S just needs you to keep a slight eye on it, but theyre basically bulletproof. Ive had no major engine problems in the 3 years ive had mine, just the usual maintenance (boots, shocks, tyres).

If you can find it in a manual, highly reccomended, however. I have an Auto and find it underpowered on launch, but your average driver might not care about it (I had a Gt4 Celica, so I did notice... !). Its optimal power level is 4200rpm from memory, which is somewhere you're not at very often.

If you want a Toyota wagon in the 2L Class you're looking at Caldina or Camry, in the 1600 class you'd be in the Corolla (Carib)... If I didn't want the better torque rating of the 2L, i'd have gotten a BZ-Touring Carib...

[Boosted_162]

We havent completely overlooked Caldina's . At the moment its a pick between a Caldina and Altezza Gita. Hes gunna find one of each and have a drive and see how he likes them. Altho the Caldina's are mostly the ST215 shape, but the basic ones (altho we did look at a few nice GT ones)

Hes not fussed at performance one bit . It could be as slow as the titanic and he wouldnt complain