TOYOTA STARLET

[Dan England]

This doesn't have much to do with tractors but I am searching for a radiator for a 1982 Toyota Starlet. We purchased the car in 82 and it had 1500 miles on it. It has remained in our family since that time, being passed to any family member who needed an extra vehicle at the time. It now has about 300,000 miles and the motor is as smooth as a sewing machine. The radiator is beyond repair and I had decided to sell the car for junk. But, it gets 40+ MPG and if the gas price exceeds $3.00 per gallon I may reconsider and put it back in driving shape again. I am looking for a used radiator and will appreciate your help in finding one. Dan

[johnbron]

Dan if you have wrecking yards locally give some a call and most all of them have a nation wide network with others and can find one if available within an hour.

[Dan England]

JB: I checked through a salvage yard a couple of months ago. They didn't come up with any on their nation-wide check. I believe the Starlet was produced only during the years 1981 and 1982. Probably a limited number were sold in U.S. and apparently the only application for the radiator is the Starlet. So, there is not enough demand to induce a company to do an aftermarket radiator. I will check back with a salvage yard soon but I am hoping that someone on this forum might know of a non-running Starlet. Thanks for your interest. Dan

[Jim Becker]

I tried typing TOYOTA STARLET RADIATOR into google and came up with a number of hits. There are aftermarket radiators starting not much over $100. No idea of the quality, but likely at least as good as anything used.

[Dan England]

Thanks, Jim. I will give that a try Dan

[Dan England]

Jim: I did the Google search and located the source for a radiator. I will place an order an put the Starlet in running order again. It resembles, in appearance, GW's scruffy tractor. But, with the high price of gas, I can sell it at well above junk price if I don't want to keep and drive it. Thanks, Dan

[Brent]

Dan,

Toyota's run forever, especially the ones made in the 80's. I still have an 82 Celica which I bought new. Gave it to my son when I was done with it and he drove it up until last year. It has 480,000 miles on it and still runs like a top. I had two clutches and a radiator put in it and that's all. No other major repairs. It's retired to the barn but I still use it to pick up the mail. Hate to get rid of it, especially with the price of gas now. Maybe one of the grand kids will think it's neet and fix it up. Wouldn't take much.

[Dan England]

Brent: I will probably place my order for the radiator tomorrow. With the price of gas now above $2.50 and will probably continue to increase, it makes no sense to junk a car which gets around 40 mpg. I think it is in good driving condition other than the radiator. It is an ugly vehicle but gets prettier each time they bump the price of gas another five or ten cents. Dan