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  • sobe_death

    Oct. 9, 2009 12:45 a.m. sobe_death New Reader

    Has anyone ever owned one?

    I'm looking at picking up a parts/people/gear hauler and have just come across the revered(?) Toyota Previa van. I knew they were rwd already, but the real magic happened when I found out they came in an All-Trac version. With a supercharger. With a 5 speed. and there is one nearby for sale for next to nothing! This could now double as a rally-x beater. The evil wheels are turning.

    Aside from the wonky 75 degree 4 cylinder with weird spark plug access is there anything to look out for?

  • mtn

    Oct. 9, 2009 1:10 a.m. mtn SuperDork

    I've heard people on this board say that Toyota mechanics say they were/are the best vehicle ever built by Toyota.

  • fastbmw

    Oct. 9, 2009 1:20 a.m. fastbmw New Reader

    My father in law is a Toyota Mechanic and has a Previa (though sadly it's not the 4wd supercharged one). It's got almost 400k kms on it and runs great. Besides basic maintence, that thing has never been apart.

  • Jay

    Oct. 9, 2009 3:36 a.m. Jay Dork

    I love the looks of those things, but I didn't think the 5-speed was only available with RWD N/A. Could be wrong though. Engine access for basic maintenence is done by tilting away the driver's seat. Not too bad, but I'd imagine doing anything more involved means dropping the motor.

  • Oct. 9, 2009 7:09 a.m. warpedredneck New Reader

    mechanically they were great vehicles, idont think i would argue about being the best that toyota produced, the only thing wonky that i ever ran into was the wires 2inches away from the tps broke, other than that it was always normal run of the mill repairs

  • Oct. 9, 2009 7:13 a.m. spitfirebill Dork

    A coworker had one and said it was a tank. I think he sold it only because it had a lot of miles on it.

  • 16vCorey

    Oct. 9, 2009 7:28 a.m. 16vCorey SuperDork

    In my experience the only common (and slightly expensive) repair is the accessory drive shaft. It's got the "guibo" style joints on it, and they fail. Toyota only sells the shaft as a complete assembly, and it's expensive. There's probably a cheaper aftermarket repair out there by now. Last time I fixed one I found a drive shaft on the shelf at a local salvage yard off of a BMW or Mercedes (I can't remember) that had the right size joint, and swapped joints. They're pressed on pretty well, but they will come off. I've actually got two friends that have them, and even though I'm the "car guy/mechanic" of my friend group, I've yet to hear from either one with car related problems. Well, I did put brake pads on one of them once.

  • dlmater

    Oct. 9, 2009 8:16 a.m. dlmater New Reader

    We had one years ago. Not the supercharged or awd version though. Put close to 200K miles on it and never had any problems. To this day, probably the best car we have ever owned with respect to quality and reliability. Still like the looks of the van. The engine location frees up some extra room in the interior as well.

  • mad_machine

    Oct. 9, 2009 9:17 a.m. mad_machine UberDork

    I always thought they were pretty cool, There is one for sale locally to me. I had no clue you could have them with manual or AWD options

  • Rusty_Rabbit84

    Oct. 9, 2009 9:20 a.m. Rusty_Rabbit84 Dork

    i always liked the Toyota Van from the 80s, the one that has your legs in the crumple zone...

  • TJ

    Oct. 9, 2009 10:06 a.m. TJ HalfDork

    Rusty_Rabbit84 wrote:

    i always liked the Toyota Van from the 80s, the one that has your legs in the crumple zone...

    If I'm going to sit in front or on top of the front wheels while driving I want a VW bus.

    Of those crazy 80's Japanese vans it was hard to tell the Toyota from the Nissan from the Mitsu....it's like they all came out of the same ugly factory.

  • 16vCorey

    Oct. 9, 2009 10:45 a.m. 16vCorey SuperDork

    TJ wrote:

    Rusty_Rabbit84 wrote:

    i always liked the Toyota Van from the 80s, the one that has your legs in the crumple zone...

    If I'm going to sit in front or on top of the front wheels while driving I want a VW bus.

    Of those crazy 80's Japanese vans it was hard to tell the Toyota from the Nissan from the Mitsu....it's like they all came out of the same ugly factory.

    My mom had two of those 80's Toyota vans. So ugly, but so much fun to drive. Since you sit above/in front of the front wheels, it's a totally different feeling doing donuts in one. I suggest everyone here try it at least once.

  • sobe_death

    Oct. 9, 2009 10:47 a.m. sobe_death New Reader

    Haha^^ I think that Mitsu actually sold the chassis to Toyota for that little wedge van. I think they were called "Star Wagons" and had a 4G64 in them.

    What about an old A100?

  • Rusty_Rabbit84

    Oct. 9, 2009 10:55 a.m. Rusty_Rabbit84 Dork

    i call them the "Fish Van", always wanted to do a 4AGZE swap into one

  • Dr. Hess

    Oct. 9, 2009 11:08 a.m. Dr. Hess PowerDork

    I wanted to take one of those 80's vans, paint it white if it wasn't already (I think 90% are white to start with), put some Star Trek logos on it, "NCC-1701/7" and "Galileo" on the door. Either that or paint "Project D" on the door.

  • NYG95GA

    Oct. 9, 2009 11:12 a.m. NYG95GA SuperDork

    Does kinda look like an Enterprise shuttle.

  • Kentetsu

    Oct. 9, 2009 11:12 a.m. Kentetsu New Reader

    I always buy Toyotas for my wife, that way I never have to work on her vehicles. :)

    We've had an automatic supercharged Previea ('94) for a couple of years now, its got about 150,000 miles on it. Just like all the other Yotas we've owned, it has been problem free. Comfortable ride, decent power, and a lot more interior room than you would ever believe just by looking at it from the outside. Nice vehicle overall.

    Our favorite van though, was an early '90s Mazda MPV. V-6 engine and 4 wheel drive, and it would cruise comfortably at 90 mph on the freeway. Too bad the trannys were junk. :(

  • Travis_K

    Oct. 9, 2009 11:13 a.m. Travis_K HalfDork

    sobe_death wrote:

    Haha^^ I think that Mitsu actually sold the chassis to Toyota for that little wedge van. I think they were called "Star Wagons" and had a 4G64 in them.

    They arent the same as the mitsubishi ones. I know someone who used to have 2 of them, and he ended up hitting the back of a semi truck in one of them going like 30 mph, and was not hurt at all. The van was actually even fixed and sold to someone who was probably going to keep driving it. Both of the ones he had were 5 speed 4wd with low range. Very rare. I did see a burned previa in the junkyard once, but other than that i havent heard anything bad about them.

  • Rusty_Rabbit84

    Oct. 9, 2009 11:14 a.m. Rusty_Rabbit84 Dork

    YUP.

  • integraguy

    Oct. 9, 2009 2:20 p.m. integraguy HalfDork

    There are/were, 2 of these for sale here in the past month...one has 140K, the other 180K on the clock.. Priced under 2K on Craigs. The good thing about Previas, as far as I'm concerned, is that NO ONE looks at them as a potential "hot rod" project....so they don't get modded to death as they pass 100K.

    IF, you find/found, a AWD/S/C 5 speed....it would be extremely rare.

  • Dr. Hess

    Oct. 9, 2009 2:31 p.m. Dr. Hess PowerDork

    I'd kinda like to have one, as I said. I'd kinda like to have a twin turbo Supra, MR2T, Panda AE86, Lancer Evo, Exige SC and an Evora too, but you get to the point where you run out of garage or driveway space for these things, and at 8 cars/trucks and 2 bikes now, I'm about there. I think I could talk Dr.Linda into the van, though. So the dogs can ride along. Yeah, that's it....

  • Mazdax605

    Oct. 10, 2009 9:35 a.m. Mazdax605 Reader

    There is a Mitsubishi version of this van(not S/C,manual,or AWD however) on craigslist in CA right now. It looks like a good deal for a cool van see it here:

    http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/cto/1375600360.html

    Chris

  • nderwater

    Oct. 10, 2009 10:01 p.m. nderwater Reader

    The crash tests of these are pretty nuts. Apparently the front wheel will even break through into the drivers footwell in some of them.

  • donalson

    Oct. 10, 2009 10:37 p.m. donalson UltraDork

    there was a vid of a mistu van like that doing insane drag strip times... even had the ladder on top lol...

    as i recall the toyota vans have an 88" wheelbase... super short... they where real common when I lived in panama (country) always thought they where impressive at fitting a lot of people for a relatively small package

    recall a friend of mine talking about tossing a 7mgte into one and how fun that would be haha...

  • mad_machine

    Oct. 10, 2009 11:02 p.m. mad_machine UberDork

    They do look fun. And I remember looking at them when they were new. Neat vans in the vain of the Vw Bus and Vanagon

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