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The Estima
Motoring Community cannot be held liable for any
damage to engines or cars; or for any personal
injury caused through following any advice, opinion
or recommendation shown on this website. The
decision to follow any such advice is solely your
own.
What
should you be looking for?
First of all, consider which model you want. Most
people start looking at Estimas because they like
the Previa but want a diesel engine, usually for the
better economy.
Well they are more
economical but not hugely so. In good condition, a
diesel-engined Estima will return around 5-8 mpg
more than a petrol-engined Previa - and can be run
on vegetable oil to save even more money but there
is a trade-off against performance.
Although the
diesel will still reach the magic "ton" and will
haul a caravan to well above the legal towing limit
of 60mph in the UK. Another reason for buying an
Estima is that most models are better equipped than
the UK spec'd. Previas so what is there to choose
from?
Body shells
There are two basic body shells: wide and narrow.
The Previa has the wide body shell and was also sold
in Australia as the Tarago and in Japan as the
Estima. Note that the Japanese wide body shell is
just badged Estima with no other words. The wide
body shell always comes with a petrol engine and in
some markets there is also a supercharged version.
The narrow body shell is the only one available
with the diesel engine but can also come with
the petrol engine. These narrow bodied cars were
only sold in Japan so are always grey imports and
are always badged as either Estima Emina or Estima
Lucida. There are no left-hand-drive Eminas or
Lucidas.
Roofs
Most cars have a twin moon roof which is a large
electrically powered sliding glass roof over the
second row of seats and a hinged glass roof over the
front seats but some have no sunroofs at all and
some have a higher roof again with the two glass
panels. This higher roof is known as the "Joyful
Canopy" option which gives greater headroom but
makes fitting roof bars more difficult as higher
brackets are needed.
Engines
The petrol engine is a four cylinder 2,438cc
unit putting out a maximum of 133bhp at 5,000rpm
giving a top speed of 108mph and a 0-60 time of 11·7
seconds. Fuel consumption is around 25mpg. With the
added supercharger, the output goes up to 160bhp
which raises the top speed to 112mph and lowers the
0-60 time to 11 seconds. The fuel consumption
penalty is very small, falling to 24mpg.
The diesel
engine is a four cylinder 2,184cc turbocharged
unit producing 101bhp at 4,200rpm which gives a top
speed of 100mph and a 0-60 time of 14·5 seconds.
Fuel consumption is around 30mpg. Both engines are
pretty reliable especially the petrol engine but the
diesel does have a reputation for cracked cylinder
heads which appear to be often due to an incorrect
cylinder head gasket having been fitted at some time
in the past. Nearly all Eminas and Lucidas have
the diesel engine.
Gearboxes
The choice is a four speed automatic with an
"overdrive" function and a five speed manual. The
overdrive on the automatic should normally be left
switched on and the warning light indicates that it
is switched off. First gear on the manual is
extremely low and there is quite a gap between first
and second. Both gearboxes are pretty reliable
especially the manual which is almost
indestructible. The automatic can suffer from the
usual slipping clutches and bands especially if the
transmission fluid is allowed to deteriorate and
although there is a heat exchanger in the radiator,
you may wish to consider adding an extra oil cooler
if you are considering towing with an automatic.
Both automatics and manuals come as either two-wheel
drive to the rear wheels or permanent four-wheel
drive via a limited slip transfer box. Around 90% of
Eminas and Lucidas are automatic.
Grades
The imported cars are graded as G, X, S, F or D.
G-grades are the most luxurious and also have
independent rear suspension. They have seven seats
with captains chairs in the middle row, climate
control as standard and better upholstery on the
third row seats. There is also a G-Luxury model with
alloy wheels as standard. Manual gearboxes were
dropped from the G-grade option list fairly early on
and consequently manual G-grades are very rare and
4-wheel-drive manual G-grades are extremely rare
indeed. The X-grade comes next and has eight seats
with a 2-1 split bench seat in the middle row and a
solid rear axle but again there is an X-Luxury model
with the climate control and there are X-Limited,
Aeras and Eluceo variants with extra trim. The
F-grade is more basic and few were imported into the
UK and as far as we know the very basic D-grade has
not been found in the UK. The S-grade is rather
unusual in having eight seats but independent rear
suspension and disc brakes with ABS all round. It
only comes with the petrol engine and appears to be
the "sports" version. They were dropped from the
range fairly early on and none have been found in
the UK.
Brakes
Apart from the S-grade, the brakes are disc front
and drum rear with an ABS and disc rear brake option
up to '95 when ABS and disc brakes all round became
standard.
Headlights
Only the '92-'94 Emina has four headlights, all
others having just two. There is a minor facelift to
the front end appearance of both the Emina and
Lucida in '95 and a major facelift to both models in
'97 so there are in fact six different front end
styles to the narrow bodied cars. All models have
so-called fog lights which only have 35 watt bulbs
in them and are not legal for use without the
headlights in the UK as they are too far from the
edge of the body shell. They are too high from the
ground to be effective as true fog lights anyway.
Options
There are so many options that it is impossible to
list them all but common ones are alloy wheels, a
Cool/Hot box below the centre of the dash which uses
the air conditioning system for its cooling
function, parking sonar and curtains which are
electrically operated in some cases. It is possible
to have a lower grade car with so many options that
it is better equipped than a higher grade car but
you only get the captains seats in the second row on
G-grades and you only get independent rear
suspension on G and S-grades.
Dealers, Private or Personal Import?
There are many sources of cars from local papers,
regional magazines, on-line auction sites and
dealers; so the important thing to do is to research
your potential vendor. Obviously with a private sale
you are on your own but you can check the feedback
of vendors on on-line auction sites and also see if
they have sold other cars and could be a dealer
masquerading as a private seller. If you are
considering buying from a dealer, see if you can
find any comments on the various dealers on-line or
contact the local Trading Standards department to
see if there are any known problems. If you can't
find exactly the car you want you could even
consider importing one yourself or via an agent. You
could save money but you may have the ESVA test and
registration to deal with unless an agent will do
all that for you. Importation is way outside the
scope of this guide so you will have to do your own
research I'm afraid. (Click
HERE for our own DIY
Importation guide.)
Inspection.
You can of course pay for an independent inspection
or you can do it yourself if you feel confident.
Japanese cars are generally very well built and
Toyotas are no exception but you will rarely find
them undersealed as salt is not used on Japanese
roads in the winter. However, despite this, they do
not usually suffer from rust problems so be
suspicious of one that does. Also have a look around
the car for containers of coolant which may indicate
regular topping up and look underneath the car for
patches of water, oil or fuel which can indicate a
leak. Now examine the coolant in the expansion tank
under the bonnet which should be clear red, green or
blue in colour. It's always best to see a car which
is cold as this will show any starting problems but
check to see if the tank is hot or cold and if it is
hot, remove the filler cap very carefully to avoid
getting scalded by boiling coolant. Now start the
engine and make sure no bubbles appear in the
coolant and that the level in the tank does not rise
suddenly. Don't forget to replace the cap! If the
tank is cold, start the engine and make sure it
turned over freely and that there is no excessive
steam from the exhaust. If you aren't used to
diesels, there is a warning light like a coil on the
dash and you should wait for this to go out before
starting - it only takes a second or two.
If those checks are OK, go for a test drive and get
the engine thoroughly hot - the temperature gauge
should reach the half-past-eight position fairly
quickly. If it does not, then it is possible that
the thermostat has been removed to mask a problem.
Early diesel cars have two turbo warning lights on
the rev counter and the green one should come on at
anything more than light throttle. Now find a long
hill, motorway or dual carriageway and put your foot
down and the temperature gauge shouldn't move at
all. If it rises above nine-o'clock there may be a
problem. The orange turbo warning light should not
come on. Check that the heater is working. If not,
there again may be a problem. Now stop the car, open
the bonnet and look again at the coolant in the
expansion tank and see if it is overflowing. If all
these checks are satisfactory then you can be fairly
confident that there is no problem with the head
gasket or the cylinder head itself although it is
possible to effect a more or less temporary repair
with the careful use of a crack sealant. If you
suspect this, look for copper particles in the
coolant.
While driving the car do all the checks you would
normally do on any prospective purchase as far as
the brakes, steering, electrical system, air
conditioning etc. are concerned but don't worry too
much if you hear a thumping sound from the footwell
when going over bumps. This is often described as
sounding like someone emptying a sack of potatoes
into the footwell and is just worn anti-roll bar
bushes which are very cheap and easy to replace. If
you are looking at a 4-wheel-drive version check
whether there are any undue noises or shuddering
when maneuvering at slow speed. A knocking noise on
tight lock is usually worn CV joints and a
shuddering or tendency to stop on tight lock is
usually a fault in the transfer box.
If you are looking at an automatic, ask the vendor
to show you the gearbox dip-stick so you can check
the colour of the fluid which should be clear and
red. If it is dirty and/or brown then it is an
indication of possible future gearbox problems. Also
on automatics, check that the handbrake operates
properly. Although it is very bad practice, some
drivers of automatics rely on the park function too
much and in consequence the handbrake can be
underused and it can tend to seize.
With the bonnet open, listen carefully for a
knocking or rattling sound. If it is there, get
someone to turn the steering slightly when the noise
may change. If so then it's probably worn SADS
couplings. Because the car is mid-engined, there is
an extension shaft from the front of the engine to
run the under-bonnet ancillaries. This is the
Secondary Accessory Drive Shaft or SADS for short
and has a flexible coupling at each end.
Check the tyres for the right load rating and, if
the car is a fresh import, check to see if they are
winter tyres which do sometimes get left on in
Japan and are not suitable for general use on UK
roads. Also check the sidewalls carefully as annual
mileages can be very low in Japan and the tyres
could be quite old.
Questions.
Ask when the cam belt (on diesel-engined models) was
last changed. It should be changed every 100,000Km
or five years whichever comes first. If in doubt,
allow a couple of hundred pounds for the work - more
for a garage that doesn't know the car and less for
a specialist - or a day of serious DIY. Japanese
cars often have quite low annual mileages but do the
usual checks for clocking anyway - steering wheel
too shiny or pedals too worn for the indicated
mileage or odometer digits not lined up properly.
Ask to see the original Japanese documentation as
the mileage (actually in kilometres) should be on
the Japanese auction inspection report which any
good dealer should have if the car is a fresh
import. In this document all cars have their mileage
verified but if the mileage can't be verified then
there will be a bold question mark instead. Each car
also gets graded to indicate its condition. Used
imports are generally 3 to 4·5, 3 being average and
4·5 being very near immaculate for a used car.
Grades O, A, R, ** or RA are all forms of accident
repair and a grade 1 can be a car with major
modifications. The report should also show the year
of the car but this will probably be the Japanese
dating system which is based on the reign of the
current emperor - 5 is 1993, 6 is 1994 etc. - You
can check the date you are given against the tabs on
the seat belts as these will be dated. Another
document which should be available is the Export
Certificate or at least the English translation as
the Japanese original should go to the DVLA when the
car is registered. If there is no paperwork but you
really like the car, you can get a check on the
mileage from BIMTA, the British Industry Motor Trade
Association. If the car isn't yet registered, do
make sure you get an ESVA test certificate if it is
less than 10 years old or you will not be able to
register it.
Buying
Guide © 2007 Paul Norton
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