So of course I'm on the hunt, I've contacted Mustang Imports out of Armstrong BC. I have been in contact with them regularly for many parts and concerns and they have been much help to me over the last year and a half of owning a 'Carib' Alltrac. I usually dealt with Ryo for parts, who is a Japanese Canadian, which obviously is a huge asset in that situation. Barry the overall owner of the company called today in regards to me looking for a new car...

He didn't have great news for me. He said its pretty easy to find an automatic, but the sunroof is rare, and the 5 speed is even more rare. He said these Carib's have been coming out of Japan for $10,000 or more when they are fully loaded 5 speeds. I'm obviously not willing to pay that, its just financially not feasible, and value for money in my opinion starts degrading enormously after $9000 depending on how low the kms are. Of course they usually come out of Japan with 50,000-100,000km.

Anyway, I might end up importing a nice automagic, and having my 5 speed transmission (currently in the smashmobile) taken out, rebuilt, and placed into the new Carib. I would have to get the automagic for a very reasonable price to make this possible.

I've also spotted a nice Carib on the internet I might scoop for under $4000. Of course, this forum will be the first to know, because you're the only other people that like this car, my real life friends and family make fun and question my decisions! =P

**EDIT** I have a Nissan Sentra rental right now, bleh =( such a plain car, no personality. Nice and easy to get in and out of though for my sore ribs, thats a bonus. Might upgrade to an Altima if the rental period looks like its gonna be short and treat myself a little. =)

Hopefully you can find a 5 speed with all the options... maybe through another source?  You never know   Are the North American versions harder to come by?  The left-hand drive models I mean.

Quoted from dylangumby

its pretty easy to find an automatic, but the sunroof is rare, and the 5 speed is even more rare.

I would agree. I have one of these 5-speed with the sunroof, and I have only seen two All-Tracs in real life with sunroofs.  As far as 5-speed, I wouldn't drive anything else.  Beside having a stick shift is a crude form of theft insurance; the Internet is filled with stories of car thieves foiled by their inability to drive stick shift.  The downside is that you can get roped into driving a stick-shift car or truck for others because few people know how to do so.

Quoted from dylangumby

Anyway, I might end up importing a nice automagic, and having my 5 speed transmission (currently in the smashmobile) taken out, rebuilt, and placed into the new Carib. I would have to get the automagic for a very reasonable price to make this possible.

  Now that sounds like a plan.

Quoted from dylangumby

Of course, this forum will be the first to know, because you're the only other people that like this car, my real life friends and family make fun and question my decisions! =P

  Probably because like the rest of modern society, they think that the only cars worth owning are contemporary ones.  But "contemporary" is a moving target: a never-ending Sisyphean endeavor of "keeping up" with their neighbors, co-workers, and friends, and rivals by always owning a late-model car.

Someone once described my All-Trac as a midget station wagon because it is so short and stubby at the rear.

Quoted from datsa

Someone once described my All-Trac as a midget station wagon because it is so short and stubby at the rear.

They've never seen a Honda Civic "wagovan," which has much less space behind the rear seats than our beloved wagons!  I was actually on the hunt for a Civic wagon ('88-'91) when I found my All-Trac; besides the Subaru wagons (which I was also looking at), there are some rare models of the Civic wagon with RT4WD (real-time 4WD).  But, from what I've heard, that drivetrain isn't as durable as our All-Trac/4WDs.

The Civic wagons are somewhat rare as well.  But I've seen several more of them "in the wild" than I have All-Tracs.

Quoted from Rogue

the Civic wagon with RT4WD (real-time 4WD).  But, from what I've heard, that drivetrain isn't as durable as our All-Trac/4WDs.

One of my former coworkers owned one of those Civic 4WD wagons, but I've lost track of her, so I don't know if she is still driving it.

On the note of people making fun of our old wagons, when these wagons came out -- as with all the other cars of that era -- people thought they were contemporary.  So what has changed: our societal tastes in what is considered "cool," "modern," etc. People make fun of old cars but are reticent to acknowledge that the "contemporary" cars they buy today will be old after not too much time.  

I really like the look of some Audi wagons, but they're out of my price range for sure. I also like the look of many Subaru's, but mostly post-1992 for Subaru's. Where as, Toyota wagons are kinda uglier to me after 1995. Dunno why! =)

I went and had a look/test drive of this wagon today; http://calgary.kijiji.ca/c-car.....n-W0QQAdIdZ256227762

It shifts nice, the clutch is much, much newer than mine. I had to have my pedal pressed nearly to the floor to shift my old green one. It has the ugly writing on the side, but it will be removed if I get my way! hahah =)

Its remarkably nice outside, no rust in the wheel wells or on the rear gate. It has a little work to be done inside, its dirty and it has some cracked plastic on the driver's door etc. Overall, I'm planning on buying it ASAP, hopefully I'll have the money by the end of the week, and TADA! Its much cheaper than importing another one, and the shape its in is a pretty good balance for that. I was kinda spoiled with my car I think. No DiffLock or Heightadjust on this one. =(

It definitely needs maintenance, because as smooth as it runs, its kinda lagging in the "balls" area even more than my green one was, but I think a good tune up will solve that. The exhaust smells beautiful, like... a tiny hint of water vapour in the smell and absolutely nothing else. You can quote me on this; I was excited by the smell of the exhaust! =D

So, what does that mean for your parts pickers? I'll post in the other thread! hahah

Hey Dylan, I believe that your new carib may have the diff lock on the dash between the steering wheel and the center console near where your left knee would go. At least that is what we have in Australia for post 1989 models that have the round Toyota logo on the grill, it seems to be a push/pull lever. is there a way you could remove the height control suspension off the green? although your right hand front strut looks pretty mashed. I'm hoping you will get a lot of parts off your old car. What do those words on the new carib say? I'm in Japan right now and English is often used as a decoration on cars and can be quite random at times - I just saw a Daihatsu Naked with "special magical gear" written on the back!. Maybe have a car stripping party at your house with a keg and a bbq especially if you can keep the trans/engine and all your replacement parts you will be set for a while. also as many small pieces as possible!
Hope you are healing well..

That Carib looks great!  Congrats on finding one so soon   Lucky you that it has no rust... does it have an undercoating to prevent rust?  I think most recently-made cars do (my All-Trac does for sure).  I wonder if someone had the undercoating redone so that the rust stayed away.

A car stripping party sounds like a good idea as DownUnder said.  Get some friends over who know a thing or two about turning wrenches...

They might have done another undercoat Rogue, because I'm surprised at the utter LACK of rust even on the struts etc, none in the corners of the door even.

Car stripping party might happen, most of my friends are inclined to buy new vehicles with a warranty, so we'll see.

Theres a small part of my brain tugging at me to NOT buy this car, and wait until I'm healed and have better funding to import the exact car I want with low kms, put a 4AGZE in it with proper suspension, rather than buying this thing and slowly changing it over time. Obviously part of me see's my old Carib in the alley everytime I park and I want to be back in it. So, its a battle right now.

I spotted a big Subaru Forester L wagon for a decent price that would make a good "Inbetween"...

I'm pretty torn at this point, I start physio tomorrow to really assess how injured I am, and how long its going to take to recover. The results of that will weigh on this decision too!

I think it  sounds pretty good for the price Dylan, and if you change your mind down the track and sell onwards you wouldn't loose to much money. it has the 5speed and the sunroof and is possibly $6,000 cheaper than a "new" imported one. I've been looking at Carib sprinters while I am working here in Japan and there is perhaps 6 AE95's for sale in the country that I can see easily with a manual transmission. The height control system that you are missing out on tends to be a little troublesome anyway with age.. I'm not sure what else that car is missing? I'm looking at getting a cruise control fitted to my wagon back in Australia while I am over here to bring it up to a modern standard.

Also, your friends don't have to have much mechanical inclination to turn some bolts and remove some screws. getting the engine/ tranny out might be hard without a hoist.. I'm not sure but it might be easier to drop the whole front subframe? can someone confirm? Good luck and get well soon mate.

Hey Dylan,
I don't see that add anymore. Did you buy it? there was one in Edmonton that I was eyeing too - also a 5 speed, also now gone.  

Yeah its on hold for me. The reasonable financial option is to buy the Carib because I have all the spare engine parts I just dropped into the old one, so I will indeed be buying it! Another week before I get any money from Insurance though. =(

This rental is eating up my savings@ $35/day. Bleh!

Quoted from dylangumby

This rental is eating up my savings@ $35/day. Bleh!

I almost said, the other guy's insurance should pay for that... but then I remembered...   I think I had to pay for a car rental for a while before the other guy's insurance would pay for it because they dragged their feet with processing claims.  Hopefully your rental costs will be considered in the lawsuit.

Anyways... congrats on landing another Carib so soon!  How have you been doing?

Yeah, luckily I had a bunch of money saved up from when I was working 60hrs a week for most of the year. ... but its disappearing fast! Rental, physio is $80 a session twice a week. I'm very confident I'll get it all paid back from the lawsuit, like I said, there a few witnesses that saw him go around a stopped car to run a red light. Its just that our legal system is slow, I might not have a court date for months.

Anyway, not trying to complain, honestly I'm in very good spirits, physio is working well I'm noticing huge improvements even though some of the sessions are basically torture that I'm paying for! hahahah I won't lie, I almost cried the other day... she was digging around in my armpit/ribs and stretching my arm, it tested my pain threshold to say the least, and it hurt like hell all day after that, BUT, the next day, WOW. I'm a big fan of physio and massage, I think for a lot of society's common ailments its a much better solution than any pills or surgery, and its working well for me!

So, over all very well thank you for asking! Still happy to be alive every time I look at that car! I can't wait to get a copy of the picture that was in the paper to show you guys! Its the firemen, with the Hilti sawzall going at the hinges of the old wagon. EXCELLENT picture, should have a high quality copy this week to scan! =D

I'll be ready to turn some small bolts later this week if the weather co-operates I think!

So far its warm but still pretty snowy out back and I'm not adventurous enough yet.

I do however, have a 1991 Sprinter Carib with a 4A-FHE parked in my garage right now! =D It was a good drive home, it got much better gas mileage on the drive home than the old one. It seems to have a little less low end torque and a little more high end power. So starts are smoother and don't throw me back, but, it accelerated better up hills when cruising at 110km/h (55mph) and seemed to be at slightly lower RPMs for the entire 4hr drive home. I don't like the big leather shift knob either, but I can switch that easy! =)

It was dark with barely any moon but I had the sunroof "shade" open the entire time so I could look up every now and then and smile! hahahah I frigg'in love sunroofs for some reason!

Its dirty because of the warm weather and sloppy roads here from all the melting snow, so I'm gonna wait to take pics.

A few of the immediate ups;
-Sunroof!! =D
-Front map light
-Built in fog lights in the headlight assembly
-Working low and high beams (old one only had low, bad ground I think, never found out)
-Working low on the heater
-Larger style dash cluster with voltage, oil pressure etc. I also like the clock style and location better for dark highway driving, its farther out of my view
-Couldn't find any rust
-Factory Toyota road flare on the passenger side! hahah seriously!

Noticeable Downs;
-Broken corner light mount, and the same corner light has moisture inside so I suspect its compromised. hopefully repairable
-Kinda miss the low end torque in my 90% city driving I think
-Rear wiper moves but the arm barely makes contact (old arm is destroyed) hopefully repairable with a new spring or something
-The stereo friggin sucks, barely loud enough on the highway
-Rattle in the dash cluster
-Whistle from right rear door

Overall, very happy, and smiling as I drove on the snow today and didn't spin at all... Ahhhhhh relief, traction!!