Ah, the 1997 Toyota Tercel 2 door model with of course a 5 speed stick shift. This was my first new car when I turned 19 years old. I was in the pizza delivery business, and broke as could be! I bought this car new on payments because I knew that I needed reliable transportation, and could not afford to have a car that would be breaking down with a bag full of pizzas in the back. I delivered all around downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to offices and homes throughout the late 1990’s.
I ran this poor car hard! It was my first stick shift, so you know I ground the gears quite often during the first 20,000 miles I put on it. Slamming on the gas and running the RPM’s high to take off at green lights was an hourly occurrence. Slamming on the brakes to avoid running red lights was also a daily part of my driving habits. The stick shift really came in handy when passing slow pokes when I was late on a delivery, and for slowing the car down much quicker than with the brakes alone. The upholstery was remarkably durable for such low cost car. I was in and out of my seat many times a day, and the seat fabric never frayed, or showed any significant signs of wear. The air conditioner always blew ice cold air even in the heat of summer. The paint on the car was great, I never washed the car, and even in the humid South Florida heat the paint never faded or blistered like other cars I had seen. cek ongkir API
The braking system was excellent. I avoided several accidents in the rain, during stop and go downtown traffic due to the good quality brake system that was on that car. I drove a total of 48,000 pizza delivery miles! 65,000 miles total before trading it in for a newer model, and I only changed the oil every 5000 miles, and replaced the tires once. The engine never gave me any trouble at all. The belts and hoses were still in good shape as well when I got rid of it.
Toyota did an excellent job when they designed this car, they should do commercials with people driving these cars under brutal conditions like delivery workers do. Bottom line, I would trust a Toyota with a stick shift anytime.