Sunday, January 9, 2011

Toyota Cressida - Most Reliable Car Ever?

If you were to ask your mechanic his opinion on this topic, he (or she) would likely agree. This rear wheel drive luxury sedan was built to last, and the existing Cressidas are a testament to the quality Toyota put into this particular model. The Cressida was manufactured from 1976 to 1992 so there's lots of them out there, but you'll find that most owners won't part with them.

These cars look great slammed with some deep dish wheels
Very clean indeed.
A beautiful example of a dropped wagon
Drifting Cressida from speedhunters.com
If I was fortunate enough to find a fourth generation (1988-1992) with a manual transmission, I'd buy it today. Heck, I'd probably even do the manual transmission swap myself. Maintenance costs are low, insurance is equally cheap, and it featured the Toyota 7M-GE 3.0L engine which outputted 190 horsepower and 185 lbs/ft of torque. Not to mention, many of the parts including suspension and brakes were modified versions of the Supra's parts.

In summary, if you get the chance to buy one of these and it's in good condition, do it! They're usually no more than $1500 and you'll definitely get your money's worth. Where else are you going to find a rear wheel drive luxury sedan with incredible reliability at that price? The only vehicle that might compare is the AE86 which is even more rare, and even if you could find one of those it would probably be in poor condition. Has anyone had the good fortune of owning a Cressida? If so, please riddle me with tales of ownership...

35 comments:

  1. This would be great as a first car :D

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  2. gotta put some paper in though or it just looks like ass..you`ll look like a ho :)

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  3. I can attest to that. My father inlaw had one for years.

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  4. Im gonna be looking for one of these now. haha

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  5. i would love to have one for some fun times on the snow, i currently got a lancer gts 2010 loving it but i wish it had more power to er :(

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  6. I really wished they built cars to last now.

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  7. Man, thing looks baller even by todays standards

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  8. Though some of their styling may look ass horrible, Toyotas don't mess around when it comes to reliability. Very solid cars.

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  9. All the ones i've seen are covered in rust and bad bumper stickers. Nothing as pimping as the ones above.

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  10. These cars were awesome. Had one as my first car. Couldn't believe it had so much torque. And it really felt like it was built like a tank.

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  11. If toyotas are known for anything its how reliable they are! Great post!

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  12. That car would keep running long after the body rusted off the frame lol.

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  13. As a fan of fast 80's/90's sedans (I have an old school Taurus SHO) I would totally rock one of these. I've always had a soft spot for the Cressida.

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  14. reliable is what I am looking for, but it doesn't look quite next gen now does it?
    On the other hand with a price like that I'll be sure to buy this.

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  15. Toyota was very prone to develop rust in the old days. But they were much cheaper than the European and American cars.

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  16. good to know, I'm in the market for a reliable old car, since my current old car is shitty as hell.

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  17. Looks like a great car, very reliable indeed

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  18. Hmm... I guess I'd rather walk :P haha

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  19. Those rims may have cost more than the car... The body reminds me of old school BMWs

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  20. I love the old boats like this. Back when cars were made with METAL.

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  21. I think all Toyotas are reliable, you see tons of old Toyotas on the road because they simply last.

    Is it just a coincidence that the advertisement under the post is "Das Auto"?

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  22. This reminds me of GTO (Anime, not Pontiac), where the Vice Principle just got a new Cressida, but it keeps getting wrecked.
    Then he gets another.
    And the cycle continues.

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  23. i have a 1990 cressida xl station wagon and i love it ! its done less then 200,000km and i am seriously thinking about putting a 2jz-gte supra engine in it and turnung it into a skidder . i love my car !

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  24. Im actually trading my MR2 for an slammed 87 cressida with the rare quad headlight swap on deep SSR's!!! Its actually the second picture posted here after the guy from SS owned it!!! Im sooo pumped!!

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  25. I own an 1987 Cressida (MX73) Currently swapping out the 5M for a 1UZ-FE. This has to be one of my favorite cars. It's built solid, fun to drive, and very plush interior.

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  26. I'm currently on my second Cressida. My first one was written off by a speeding motorist who t-boned me. That was the Grande. She was a little diamond. Not a hitch, she was 1991 Cressida Grande. I recently just bought a near mint condition 1989 Cressida GLX. 123000KM. It was an old lady's car. Everything about this car is immaculate right down to the upholstery. The only downfall to this car is I don't like the immobilizer. It won't shut off sometimes, car no go. Cressida's are definitely a dime in a dozen. Lovely cars.

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  27. This was the car of choice for most Saudi and Mid Eastern working class families. Although Toyota officially halted its production in 1992, they somehow kept coming to the region until 1996.

    Solid cars, a bit ugly and thanks to its customer base a bit uncool as well.

    I was looking for information about a very rare model which appeared in 1988. It's called Grande GTX and people say it can keep up with a Porsche. May be an exaggeration but I saw one taking off so quickly a police car couldn't even catch its dust.

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