2008 Toyota Yaris M/T - Good deal or money pit?

[weebl]

My daughter recently became motivated to finish learning to drive, and wants to get her own car. This particular one came up in conversation, when she was talking with a friend of hers, the mom has an old car that's been parked for about a year, which she just wants gone: the mentioned 2008 Toyota Yaris with manual transmission.

She wants $1,000 for it. Absolutely unheard of if all is okay. It's a 5-door hatchback, and has around 230,000 km (144,000 miles), body in good shape for the year, minor rusting. Interior looks excellent. She bought it second hand, used it as her daily commuter, then wanted to get a new car. She apparently tried justifying the new car, asking her mechanic how much life is left on the Yaris, to which he said you'd literally have to beat on it for a long time before it would die. She got her new car anyway, and has had this in the driveway, not moving it at all for nearly a year.

Issue that she's disclosed is there seems to be a parasitic draw, not an issue if started and driven daily, but if left to sit for 3+ days, it will need a boost.

We had a look last week, and boosted it to start it up, but coulnd't take it anywhere as the registration recently expired. After the boost, the RPMs at idle seemed a bit low (500), and then eventually it quit. Boosting again and starting, RPMs seemed to be normal, around 800 to 900 at idle.

We returned this afternoon to drive it after she re-registered it for this purpose. Except things didn't go quite so smoothly.

Low-ish idle RPM again.

I took the parking brake off, and put it into first, but the shifter felt like it didn't actually go all the way in. Not sure if this was just an oddity of this car, I slowly let out the clutch and revved, but it seemed like I wasn't in gear at all. No clutch bite. I tried a few times, still no luck. Then it stalled, while in neutral if I remember it right. I also got the sense the car was "stuck", and thinking that's what it was, we all tried pushing it. No luck.

I figured the brakes weren't releasing, and thought we could try again with my daughter and her friend's mom pushing while I tried to get it moving. No luck in first. But doing a second gear start got the car free. So we thought we would try a text drive, and maybe have luck with first after getting it moving.

We made it down the alley, to an intersection with another alley, I tried first, but no luck, but nearly stalled, not with a gear engaged at all. I revved it up a bit to keep from stalling, tried to get it going in first, and with the mom pushing to help, it seemed like it barely grabbed first, though I couldn't feel it in the clutch at all.

We circled around, with me keeping it in second the rest of the way and I decided to abort the test drive and bring it back. Reverse was okay into the driveway.

We could hear the brakes chirping as we drove, likely they rusted in place.

I know we are going to be dealing with at the least, a new battery, tracing a parasitic draw, new rear shoes, and probably drums as well. This stuff isn't too bad. But my concern is the difficulty with first. Could this be something caused by sitting idle so long? Synchros gone for first? Or is this some common issue on these transmissions?

Don't want to pass up on it if this is a steal, but I don't want to buy it if it's a money pit.

Still need to do the rest of the due diligence anyway (CarFax/lien search), and I need a mechanical inspection report in order to get the insurance company to cover it due to the age.

Thoughts?

 

[dishdude]

Problem with stalling, transmission issues, brake issues and a parasitic draw? And it's a 15 year old Yaris? Hard pass.

 

[atikovi]

Don't cars in Canada have to pass an inspection to drive on the road? That could cost more than the sale price in repairs. Did you at least look underneath to make sure it won't break in half from rust? A barely drivable car is worth barely more than scrap value. Offer $500 or walk.

 

[weebl]

Don't cars in Canada have to pass an inspection to drive on the road? That could cost more than the sale price in repairs. Did you at least look underneath to make sure it won't break in half from rust? A barely drivable car is worth barely more than scrap value. Offer $500 or walk.

Depends on the province.

In Alberta where I am, any vehicle older than a couple of years or so (I forget what, but must be relatively new), being registered for the first time coming in from another province requires an inspection, as does any car from outside the country.

Within Alberta, if the last registration was in the province, then no inspection is required.

Insurance companies do ask for a much more basic inspection report on older cars before they will insure them, though.

 

[weebl]

Problem with stalling, transmission issues, brake issues and a parasitic draw? And it's a 15 year old Yaris? Hard pass.

My initial reaction, but my daughter seems to really like this car (or the thought of it at least), so I figured I would give it a fair shake, in case I am missing something obvious for the biggest issue that is due to an easy to fix problem. Realistically, I know this isn't likely.

 

[PimTac]

It sound like it needs to be driven longer. The battery being run down caused the computer to lose its settings

It would be worth the chance if it’s sound structurally and mechanically. New battery and check for that draw.

It needs to be driven.

 

[meep]

Low idle is probably relatively straight forward. Parasitic draw usually isn’t too hard to pinpoint. 1st gear could be costly to fix or just a quirk to live with. Could be as easy as a shifter cable or as bad as an internal hard part, which is unlikely. Synchro issue would have grinding. Offer 500? Have a mechanic inspect it for real?

 

[IndyIan]

Sounds like shifter cables or maybe shifter bushings? I just drove my buddies 2000 something Echo with the 5 spd and the shifter was a bit vague as well and barely grabbed 1st when pushing up pretty hard. Solid little cars though usually. Should be worth fixing up if it had basic maintenance over the years.

 

[Cdn17Sport6MT]

Be aware, of course, that you'd really need to drive it as it warms up, to assess whether any of the synchro's (I'm thinking 2nd gear synchro, primarily) is knackered, worn. I'm saying this aside from the issue of the funny feel getting-in to first gear. If the car was driven in AB, in winter, you can bet that the first to second shift was gravelly (first few shifts of the day) in a typical AB winter morning. If it's gravelly, it's hard on the dog ring(s)/synchro sleeves... and so it really merits checking the gearbox for shift feel, synchro action. Also, the shift effort would be high... and the force required at the gear lever could have exacerbated gear shift cable issues/wear/stretch(?). In 'real cold climes, think about starting off in second (presuming a bit of a downhill start) for the first few starts of the day.

I've always felt that as a daily, in a cold clime, an A/T is the most practical (for most folks).

 

[slacktide_bitog]

That is a great price for a running Toyota. Any car that price will have problems.

 

[joegreen]

I would get it. As long as the body is not falling apart and it used to be a daily driver a year a go i think it just needs to be used. I guess figure if it doesnt work out you can always sell it for what you bought it for or use the issues to haggle the price down.

 

[Oillover]

I also wouldn't hesitate on the purchase.
I grew up on the Canaidian prairies and recall how hard sitting in the elements can be on a vehicle.

This particular car will certainly need some work to get it running correctly (brakes, probably shocks/struts, all fluids replaced and in terms of the shifter issue, I'm wiling to bet it's just a linkage issue).
The good news, is that all parts are relatively easy to obtain and easy to replace.
In terms of inspection, something that old in AB will need a mechanical inspection before most insurance companies will insure it (I had to do a similar process with a 91 Corolla I purchased).

 

[michaelluscher]

If it's not rusted through, and the engine isn't knocking, I'd buy it for $1000

I've paid more for less

 

[DemoFly]

For $1000 CAD? I'd obviously buy it, but I'm a mechanic

Even then, you could give it to an indie mechanic, say "fix everything" worst case transmission swap + new clutch, and only be in it $4000CAD or less.

 

[CharBaby]

I get it, it's cheap transportation and it's a Toyota. And I'm not trying to shame you so forgive me.

As a father, this is how my mind works...
Think about that cold winter night when your daughter is all alone and her car won't start in an empty parking lot or it stalls in the middle of an area where she looses cell service even momentarily. Is this the car you want your daughter to be driving?

 

[bullwinkle]

That's the same drivetrain as the xB in my sig, they're hard to kill-we had abused xAs in the company fleet that made it to 200,000 miles easily. I would sweet talk an indy mechanic to get it up on the lift & check the shift cables/linkage, it's probably sticky from rust. The low idle will go away/get relearned once you get a better, preferably bigger battery (& fix the parasitic draw if there even is one). Make sure you check all the important parts of the body for rust (although my '05 shows virtually none even being outside it's whole life). What's $1000 CAD? Around $600 US? Sounds like it's probably worth the risk if the rust underneath isn't bad.

 

[SureshR]

That's the same drivetrain as the xB in my sig, they're hard to kill-we had abused xAs in the company fleet that made it to 200,000 miles easily. I would sweet talk an indy mechanic to get it up on the lift & check the shift cables/linkage, it's probably sticky from rust. The low idle will go away/get relearned once you get a better, preferably bigger battery (& fix the parasitic draw if there even is one). Make sure you check all the important parts of the body for rust (although my '05 shows virtually none even being outside it's whole life). What's $1000 CAD? Around $600 US? Sounds like it's probably worth the risk if the rust underneath isn't bad.

Parasitic draw in a manual, I'd just check the starter motor and then the alternator, if replacing the battery doesn't make it go away.

Like others said, change all the filters and fluids in there - full drain and refill, give it a set of new brake pads and discs, grease everything that needs to be greased. Then put it on a ramp to check the suspension bushes, shocks and such. Nothing in an old toyota is going to go badly and unfixably wrong.

 

[Tdbo]

As long as the body is solid, go for it.

 

[javacontour]

Parasitic draw or a bum battery that simply self-discharges?
For C$1000, it's probably worth taking a chance on.
As others have noted, probably a bunch of small things. Bushing for the shifter, a new battery. Run it long enough to learn adaptive values.
That is, if the body is just surface rust. I'd at least want to get it up on a lift to see how it looks underneath given it's age and in the Great White North

 

[tessaseveride]

Honestly sounds like a lot of easy fixes. $1000 vehicle is a bargain nowadays and this seems like a great way to get your daughter into understanding basic maintenance and gaining some responsibility.

The low idle issue from your description sounds like a sticking throttle body. I've had multiple vehicles with gunked up throttle bodies die on me idling while diagnosing other problems. If it's a possibility, I would just pull the intake and take a look at or clean up the throttle body with some aerosol, take it on another test drive, and go from there. Low idle can cause a lot of the issues that you're experiencing.

Definitely not a money pit if you ask me.