Model: Toyota Townace
Year: 1989
Mileage: 240,000KM (149,000 miles)
Tax: End of December
MOT: Mid April
Location: Edinburgh
Price: £600
Contact details: joobny@gmail.com, 07841038779
It was imported in 1997 and has MOT until April and the tax lasts until the end of December. I think it has had 4 or 5 previous owners - will check and update.
I saw this wee bus for sale as it was about to run out of tax at the end of December 2010. I spent some time in New Zealand where my friend had one and I had to have it.
It's packed with hilarious little features that make everyone fall in love with it.
It has a hot/cold/ice box in front of the gear stick, including the original ice tray. As a test on our drive home from Newcastle we bought a McDonalds cheese burger and shoved it in the hot box. Two hours later when we got home to Edinburgh the burger was as hot as it was when we bought it... delicious...?
Also equipped are electric curtains, with controls behind the gear stick. There are six curtains in total, three of which work. The rear side curtains work perfectly, and one of the rear window curtains works.
It also has a "skylight roof" which loosely translates to six sunroofs. All of them have intact sliding blinds - the front two and the middle two have mechanisms to pop them open. The middle two are also fully removable, for those summer days when your mates fancy hanging out the roof.
There are five seats in the back which can be arranged in various different ways. Normal for driving where the seats all face the front, lounge mode for lounging where the seats all face each other and sleep mode for sleeping where all the seats lie flat to form a bed. The rear-most seats can also be folded up to the sides when they are laid flat, to create a massive space in the back for transporting stuff.
If you want to listen to the radio you better like Radio 2, because that's the only station that it can tune in to. Something to do with it being an import. I always listen to my ipod through the tape deck anyway.
The bus comes equipped with fully working TEMS - Toyota Electronic Modulated Suspension. This adjusts the suspension stiffness depending on how you're driving. When you brake, the suspension stiffens up to prevent body roll, but when you're cruising around the suspension stays soft for a comfortable ride.
You better be good at maths, because the speedometer still reads in KM/H, so if you want to do 30, do 50! and if you want to do 60, do 100!
The owner before my used to have a television fitted in the back. In one of the rear ash trays he fitted a voltmeter so you can monitor the voltage of the battery as you faff about with the electrics while chilling out.
Of the few that are left trundling about, most are diesel 4WD automatics. But this one is RWD, petrol with manual transmission and a limited slip diff, which made it hilarious to drive in the snow we had not so long ago.
In March of this year, me and two of my mates drove it round Scotland. We did 1400km (almost 1000 miles) in just 6 days on some of the most treacherous roads Scotland has to offer, and it didn't skip a beat. You can read a full write-up of the trip here:
retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=100464&page=1
We also made the trip to AwesomeFest in it, another 600ish mile roundtrip with no issues whatsoever.
It also has a tow bar fitted with twin electrics if you have anything that needs towed.
A couple of further details:
When I bought the bus the starter motor was gubbed so it didn't always start first time but it drove without any issues from Newcastle to Edinburgh. When I got it home, I took the starter off and had it refurbished by a local guy that does starters and alternators.
Since re-fitting it has started first time every time without any issues.
For its MOT at the beginning of 2010 the owner at the time replaced the rear two shock absorbers at the pricely sum of £700 with receipt to prove.
Mid-april this year I submitted the bus for its MOT and it went straight through with the only advisories being tires. It has since had 4 new tires fitted.
The interior is absolutely immaculate. I have no idea how it has kept so well over its 22 years of use but it's pretty astounding to say the least.
The exterior has a couple of cracks and scrapes but nothing major. I've plastered stickers down each side which are starting to look a bit tatty - take them off and replace them with something else. The drivers side stickers are covering up some primer where somebody clearly tried their hand at painting.
The power steering belt used to squeal on full lock so I replaced it with a new one. I have noticed a very slight slipping from the clutch - when we drove down to AwesomeFest it slipped once or twice in fifth gear at motorway speeds when accelerating to overtake. This is the only time I've noticed it slipping though and I've been driving it daily ever since - so it should have a fair amount of life left in it!
Being an import it's also nice and solid underneath - no rust issues at all.
I have lots of receipts and bits of paperwork for the bus, including some Japanese history and the original manual - albeit in Japanese. Just before going to AwesomeFest at the end of July, I replaced the oil, filter, air filter and plugs.
And I guess that's it... I'm sure I've probably forgotten about some of its little gadgets but I'll update if I remember anything else. I've had great summers use out of this and now want to buy something to skid next year while they're cheap. If you've got something of this description I may be interested in a swap!
Year: 1989
Mileage: 240,000KM (149,000 miles)
Tax: End of December
MOT: Mid April
Location: Edinburgh
Price: £600
Contact details: joobny@gmail.com, 07841038779
It was imported in 1997 and has MOT until April and the tax lasts until the end of December. I think it has had 4 or 5 previous owners - will check and update.
I saw this wee bus for sale as it was about to run out of tax at the end of December 2010. I spent some time in New Zealand where my friend had one and I had to have it.
It's packed with hilarious little features that make everyone fall in love with it.
It has a hot/cold/ice box in front of the gear stick, including the original ice tray. As a test on our drive home from Newcastle we bought a McDonalds cheese burger and shoved it in the hot box. Two hours later when we got home to Edinburgh the burger was as hot as it was when we bought it... delicious...?
Also equipped are electric curtains, with controls behind the gear stick. There are six curtains in total, three of which work. The rear side curtains work perfectly, and one of the rear window curtains works.
It also has a "skylight roof" which loosely translates to six sunroofs. All of them have intact sliding blinds - the front two and the middle two have mechanisms to pop them open. The middle two are also fully removable, for those summer days when your mates fancy hanging out the roof.
There are five seats in the back which can be arranged in various different ways. Normal for driving where the seats all face the front, lounge mode for lounging where the seats all face each other and sleep mode for sleeping where all the seats lie flat to form a bed. The rear-most seats can also be folded up to the sides when they are laid flat, to create a massive space in the back for transporting stuff.
If you want to listen to the radio you better like Radio 2, because that's the only station that it can tune in to. Something to do with it being an import. I always listen to my ipod through the tape deck anyway.
The bus comes equipped with fully working TEMS - Toyota Electronic Modulated Suspension. This adjusts the suspension stiffness depending on how you're driving. When you brake, the suspension stiffens up to prevent body roll, but when you're cruising around the suspension stays soft for a comfortable ride.
You better be good at maths, because the speedometer still reads in KM/H, so if you want to do 30, do 50! and if you want to do 60, do 100!
The owner before my used to have a television fitted in the back. In one of the rear ash trays he fitted a voltmeter so you can monitor the voltage of the battery as you faff about with the electrics while chilling out.
Of the few that are left trundling about, most are diesel 4WD automatics. But this one is RWD, petrol with manual transmission and a limited slip diff, which made it hilarious to drive in the snow we had not so long ago.
In March of this year, me and two of my mates drove it round Scotland. We did 1400km (almost 1000 miles) in just 6 days on some of the most treacherous roads Scotland has to offer, and it didn't skip a beat. You can read a full write-up of the trip here:
retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=100464&page=1
We also made the trip to AwesomeFest in it, another 600ish mile roundtrip with no issues whatsoever.
It also has a tow bar fitted with twin electrics if you have anything that needs towed.
A couple of further details:
When I bought the bus the starter motor was gubbed so it didn't always start first time but it drove without any issues from Newcastle to Edinburgh. When I got it home, I took the starter off and had it refurbished by a local guy that does starters and alternators.
Since re-fitting it has started first time every time without any issues.
For its MOT at the beginning of 2010 the owner at the time replaced the rear two shock absorbers at the pricely sum of £700 with receipt to prove.
Mid-april this year I submitted the bus for its MOT and it went straight through with the only advisories being tires. It has since had 4 new tires fitted.
The interior is absolutely immaculate. I have no idea how it has kept so well over its 22 years of use but it's pretty astounding to say the least.
The exterior has a couple of cracks and scrapes but nothing major. I've plastered stickers down each side which are starting to look a bit tatty - take them off and replace them with something else. The drivers side stickers are covering up some primer where somebody clearly tried their hand at painting.
The power steering belt used to squeal on full lock so I replaced it with a new one. I have noticed a very slight slipping from the clutch - when we drove down to AwesomeFest it slipped once or twice in fifth gear at motorway speeds when accelerating to overtake. This is the only time I've noticed it slipping though and I've been driving it daily ever since - so it should have a fair amount of life left in it!
Being an import it's also nice and solid underneath - no rust issues at all.
I have lots of receipts and bits of paperwork for the bus, including some Japanese history and the original manual - albeit in Japanese. Just before going to AwesomeFest at the end of July, I replaced the oil, filter, air filter and plugs.
And I guess that's it... I'm sure I've probably forgotten about some of its little gadgets but I'll update if I remember anything else. I've had great summers use out of this and now want to buy something to skid next year while they're cheap. If you've got something of this description I may be interested in a swap!
What sort of MPG have you managed to squeeze out of it?
