Looks like i'm picking up a 93 AWD Previa tomorrow, never really looked to hard at them but i need a family car and this nicely fills the bill (and i'm getting it on the cheap).
Current owner is an older guy (probably pushing 70) who has owned the van since 95.
So any info on them? Things i should look out for? Any quirks with the AWD models?
thanks!
Jacques
Mid-engine minivan FTW! Is this the factory supercharged version or no?
Negatory, looks like supercharged models werent offered till 94.
In my experience they are a nightmare to work on, crazy/bizzare/ugly yet cool star trek inspired dash, un-nerving to drive and tune-ups are a major pain. The owners of these things love them but the typical previa owner does not work on their own cars. Cant say I am fond of them 
I know I learned to drive in one. They handle awesome believe it or not. On ours though, the oil reservoir pump broke, so we had to check the oil automatically under the driver's seat. The throttle body would also get sticky and required periodic cleaning. Other than that it lasted well over 130K miles before we sold it. It did start to smoke a bit on start up at that point though. Nothing to do with my teenage driving abuse i'm sure 
CGLockRacer wrote: It did start to smoke a bit on start up...
I thought all Toyotas made before the Tundra did that... every single one I've owned does it.
I have a friend that's a mechanic at a Toyota dealership and he says.......are you ready for this?.....................that the Previa is the best vehicle Toyota has ever made. Yup, he's always trying to get me to buy one. Says they will go for 2 or 3 hundred thousand miles before anything goes wrong. Way over engineered. You may have a good score there, especially the AWD. If you can get past the weird styling, it's a good ride. Can I ask how much you paid for it and how many miles? And with all strange vehicles there is a bit of a cult following.
I don't know much other optional than AWD and superchargers spell fun, they were supposedly, when new, the worst in terms of driver's safety ever crash tested by the IIHS --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APLJcuUVrnw, and AWD iterations are terrifyingly fun offroad.
The only thing I ever see going wrong with them is the joints on the accessory drive shaft. If you're unaware, all the belt driven accessories are mounted under the hood and driven by a drive shaft coming off of the front of the engine. The joints are the rubber disk "guibo" style, like the ones popular on european cars. You can only buy the drive shaft as an assembly from the dealer, but I've managed to fix them using BMW or Mercedes parts before(can't remember which).
Remove drivetrain and install in 1994 Tercel, proceed to cry from hysteria.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_yvEfCaLDI
watch it for language in the begining..
Climbs up to 70 degree incline *
accessory drive is the ONLY failure item I'm familiar with on them. I've heard more than one person tell me they were one of the best toyotas ever.
I just realized the other day that these were RWD (if not AWD, that is) and I couldn't believe I hadn't figured this out earlier. So, of course, visions of V8 engine swaps danced in my head.
Clem
ClemSparks wrote: I just realized the other day that these were RWD (if not AWD, that is) and I couldn't believe I hadn't figured this out earlier. So, of course, visions of V8 engine swaps danced in my head.
They drift them over in Japan. It's epic.
Feedyurhed wrote: I have a friend that's a mechanic at a Toyota dealership and he says.......are you ready for this?.....................that the Previa is the best vehicle Toyota has ever made. Yup, he's always trying to get me to buy one. Says they will go for 2 or 3 hundred thousand miles before anything goes wrong. Way over engineered. You may have a good score there, especially the AWD. If you can get past the weird styling, it's a good ride. Can I ask how much you paid for it and how many miles? And with all strange vehicles there is a bit of a cult following.
It has 228,000 miles and i'm paying $1000. For whatever it's worth blue book lists a "good" condition one with as many miles for $2000. It seems to be in great shape other than some minor rust and non-working AC (oh no!).
thanks for all the replies!
Jacques
I am searching for a manual trans naturally aspirated rwd Previa right now. I have visions of either a Gen IV swap or a 32v Lexus V8. Of course, those visions usually just end up with my driving it until it needs tires or a belt or a good cleaning and then I'll sell it... But the vision is good.
I've always liked Previas.
Is there any way to fit a motorcycle into the back of one? I would consider buying one over a pickup later on down the road if it could.
I always liked those things. They looked like The Future when they came out, which is really all that mattered to my young brain at the time.
^^ A little low but those wheels are just about perfect
I don't think engine swaps are that easy to do though. The standard mill is transverse and laying on its side under the front seats. If I were going to do one I'd mount it in the back under a doghouse/firewall.
J
The exhaust header on those are simple awesome as well.
FWIW: other world markets got a 2nd gen. Previa, it wasn't as well liked as the 1st gen. As others have said, they last A VERRRY long time, And I think, for a minivan, the interior and exterior styling is pretty good. The 2nd gen. had that WAAAAY too boxy look that the current Chrysler vans have.
TR3only wrote: FWIW: other world markets got a 2nd gen. Previa, it wasn't as well liked as the 1st gen.
The 2nd gen was a front engined, front wheel drive. Kinda lost its allure.
93celicaGT2 wrote:ClemSparks wrote: I just realized the other day that these were RWD (if not AWD, that is) and I couldn't believe I hadn't figured this out earlier. So, of course, visions of V8 engine swaps danced in my head.They drift them over in Japan. It's epic.
I don't believe you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_meHP_ZrliU
They made them in a lot of different configurations. I've spent hrs wasting time finding disc brakes on the AWD just to realize that the stores only carried the 2wd disc brakes. This was regardless of them saying "it says it's for the AWD in the computer". Had to go to Toyota to find the right parts. That's around $100 per disc brake my friend. This applies to interior trim as well, it's not all the same.
Either than that the only thing mechanically I've encountered was the drive belts. They basically put the bulletproof 22r and truck trans in the car. But be aware that older toyota's tend to start having grounding issues and rotting engine harnesses. It's also common to break outer door handles on the sliding door.
These are actually very reliable and our AWD has some 250k miles on it. It will put rally cars to shame and handles quite well for being so big. My only complaint it it's lack of power and 85mph speed limit, but why would anyone need to drive a minivan that fast.
The safety issue: Toyota used the "overlap and sew together" seatbelt design method of controlling deceleration of the belted driver. During that crash test video the driver travels a looooong way forward as the sewn portion released before running into the airbag. Then the airbag equipped wheel came at the driver giving them a nice uppercut as it traveled towards the ceiling. I am cutting the threads and removing the overlap portion of the seatbelt to stop the driver from going so far. Deceleration will be greater, but you will have less chance of getting smashed in the face by a steering column that is being driven by the bumper of the car that slammed into you. Toyota did a good job of making the wheel go straight up instead of towards the seat, they just did a crap job of keeping you off of the wheel. A more ambitious person could insert a collapsible column section or another joint so the column just folds.
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