2239
by ErickC
122,174 on the 81, 138,003 on the 82. The 81 had 55,000 on it when I got it, and I think the 82 had 112,000. They both saw heavy use on frequent short trips. Obviously, both cars dealt with some brutal winters.
The 82 would have probably gotten lots more miles on it if the rear control arms didn't rust out, which is the Achilles' heel for the first-generation Tercel. Moisture collects in the spring pocket, so the edges of the pocket corrode and the coil spring punches right through. The same thing happened to the 81 later on, but we were able to temporarily weld on a metal plate to keep it all together while I continued the nearly futile search for replacements, something I hadn't thought of when it happened the first time (and the 82 was so rusted out at that point that you couldn't even jack it up without crunchy noises). I ended up finding replacement parts by searching for doors, reasoning that any car with its doors still attached was probably complete enough to still have rear control arms.
Total_douche, MSW, LICSW (lulz)