Man I have been googling for videos like this as I have been driving my garage's loaners as they fix my porsche turbo. It is a great little car, direct, light and as you said, the gearbox is a joy. It's rusty, done 400k km and the mechanics have been using it as their shop bitch for years it looks like. I love it, I crave it.. Also I love that you, a fellow detailing and car guy, are maybe 20km away from me experiencing the same feelings for this underrated little gem.

To anyone who owns this car…. NEVER sell it!!! Mine would only start for me, with the right feel on the choke, and drove through any field I chose to avoid traffic. Sadly my rear suspension mounts rusted and I lost her 😭. I now drive a 300hp four wheel drive Seat Cupra station wagon and let me tell you, the Starlet is the only car I dream about.

I bought my starlet literally from an old lady in the village. It was 28 years old at the time and it ran but it didn't like it. I could feel it vibrate, I had to do some oil changes in the first month because it had been standing still for more than 10 years. It was outside so it's paint is worn and it has some rust spots. I currently have it 3 years and added another 50.000 km to it and it still runs. At first I had to nurse it and drive slow and break softly. But after a while it got used to driving again. Now my max speed in it is a 162 km/h (speedometer goes to 190). I have upgraded the sounds system for a modern one, upgraded the stock 8cm front speakers and added some sick ass rear 20cm speakers. I upgraded the seats to foldable race seats. Added sound panels and anti vibration panels. Replaced the steering wheel with a race wheel. Next up on the list are sway bars and coilovers which are currently ordered and getting made. I plan on putting in a turbo because kits are available and if it makes it to 40 years old (mines a 1992) then I will have a pro repaint it. If it isn't my daily driver anymore I will slap on bigger rims and a body kit to finish it but sadly I cannot do that for regular road use.

I got a JDM EP82 imported to the USA as a daily, its a 1993 model which is right before they detuned the 4EFE for emissions and it's a blast! 30 years old and starts right up in the -20 Fahrenheit winters we get. I wish it was a more popular car for people to import

They are used for slalom-racing - on curvy roads in the Black Forest you beat everybody. Because it corneres fast and easyly and is very easy to drive. It only starts shoving over the front wheels and you can steer it with throttle. Easy to drive, fast, great on corners and reliable - what do you want more?

P8 1995 automatic here, absolutely love it!

Ik kan me helemaal vinden in deze video! Heb vorig jaar een 1987 EP70 als mijn eerste auto gekocht en had niks beters kunnen wensen. Heerlijk simpel, geen afleidingen of gekke technologie die na 5 jaar stuk gaat. Luxe, veilig of comfortabel is het niet (zeker met maar 4 versnellingen), maar altijd is het tikken-lopen. Kost ook niks: goedkoop in aanschaf, zuinig, laag gewicht dus lage wegenbelasting, en onderdelen zijn spotgoedkoop. Hij zal het voorlopig ook nog wel even volhouden, aangezien er pas 93k km mee gereden is. Heb er genoeg gezien richting de 300k, dus nog 200 te gaan ;) p.s. de P8 is eigenlijk van de 4e generatie, de eerste Starlet was de Publica Starlet (P4) alleen is deze nooit in Europa verkocht.

Well, 4 months after my first comment I find myself posting again, as both an update and correction of my old comment if you will. Because, I bought a 1995 Toyota Starlet with 1.3 engine some 3 days ago and frankly, couldn't be happier. I managed to get a gem with low mileage and good body work, and that's great. but I would add some things that are not mentioned in the review that surprised me: its very comfortable, in both suspension and in seats. in fact, seats feel even more comfortable over time, and on longer trips, than they seem when you first sit in them. back windows open at a tilt and this allows a very cool breeze through the car, so I for one didnt feel the need for an airco. sure, some 3-door cars have this feature, but i've never had one that did before, so im super happy with it. its also very maintenance friendly, for example you can remove hand break cover to wash it. overall feel is one of quality. they didnt joke around building this car. mechanics is simple. toyota starlet is a gem of a car. we often end up equating price of something with value of something. toyota starlet is one of those cars that you pay little for but which gives you a lot of value through reliability, ruggedness, low running cost, accessible mechanics. this is especially important for people who, like me at the moment, dont have that much money, so we dont have much buffer or wiggle space. in such situations, having something practical that you can rely on and that gives you a lot while asking very little is just an asset you need. i just finished cleaning it and washing and polishing it. over coming months and year i look forward to ironing out all the bugs and quirks this car has, and sitting on it and seeing it's price go up. as for it's value? it's value to me is already astronomical! So thanks for reading. And i guess i can say: buy a Starlet while they're still around and reasonably priced. they're being sold into export left and right, so get yours while you can. You might find it dearer than you think.

i am 19 years old and my first car is a starlet ep81 1992 ,my dad bought it for me for 1000euro ,with 220.000km ,in the price are included new tires and a new battery ,for the next car i want to buy something more beatiful and rwd (i want to have a bit more fun),Iswore that i will never sell my starlet ,even my dad loves the starlet more than his hyundai elantra ,love your video

Great review, got pretty deep when comparing cars to friendships but I couldnt agree more. A couple of weeks ago I bought a beautiful white 97 Starlet with 114 k km in great shape and so far im loving it, driving it over 100 kmph starts to get me a little bit nervous tho haha.

I've had mine for 9 years now and by far the thing I love the most is just how satisfying it is to start. Intake - Compression - Start. Every time, 1 turn of the crank shaft, every time. These things are just too reliable.

We still have a lot of KP6* Starlets here in New Zealand. They are just as bulletproof but a lot more fun than these, being rear wheel drive

This review rules. So does the car. I guess. I want one now. Thank you!

Echt top auto heb er ook een p9 dan ben zelf bijna twee meter maar pas er net aan in rijdt goed en dat schakelen is echt nog prima voor zo oud bakkie. Vorige eigenaar is er nog mee naar Italië mee geweest.

Welke producten had je gebruikt om de lak terug te krijgen? Heb onlangs ook starlet gekocht!

Fully understand and agree

I love this Video.....For one Reason, I have a 1995 Toyota Starlet Jeans Edition.....❤

Yes. My Starlet EP70 is My Friend too

Well, in Indonesia, the price of this Starlet EP80 series has already gone up.

Is it worth to buy 1991 starlet four door at around 3k USD? Thanks

Fab !

bravo these tiny little japanese cars are the best ❤

Sadly I cannot find MK3 anywhere for sale (maybe we never got those in finland) starlet so I’ll buy MK4 But the closest match is EE90 corolla 3 door because it looks the same and it has the exact same motor and I’ve wrenched on my family’s EE90 it has almost same motor than the car on video (it is the carburetor variant) Replaced: -headgasket -timing belt -one pipe And I adjusted the carb and valves and did some basic maintenance and oh boy it ran like a dream, when only clutch is lifted the car goes moving without giving it some gas.

Super leuk filmpje! Ik heb een P9 en rij er ondertussen al 4 jaar mee. Heerlijke wagen en juist de eenvoud maakt het zo’n leuke auto. Denk je dat de p8 beter is dan de p9? Ik ben benieuwd 😊

Ik heb zelfde irritante kleur rood naar dan P9 met automaat(heerlijk) met ongeloofelijke 31k op de klok. Origineel nap km, toen altijd dealer onderhoeden en van 1e eigenaar. Hij staat nu op bijna 70k km. 3 jaar geleden als 2e auto erbij gekocht voor woon werkverkeer maar mijn vrouw geeft hem niet meer weg. Eigenlijk wil ik veiligere auto voor mijn vrouw omdat zij erin rijdt met kids. Maar zij wilt absoluut geen andere auto. Ik krijg nog altijd complimenten en elke apk krijg ik wel iemand die vraagt of hij te koop is. Antwoord weet je al.

i got a ep91 1996 love the car

At the moment I am restoring one with an auto box and with ac

Hi, i got same but i dont know if it’s better to put 95 or 98 fuel can you help ?

I love my P8 from 1990 too. I will never sell this little "Rennsemmel"... :)

i have a starlet from 1996. (the p9) and it drive still good, but is red and that slowly lost the red color. engine is ok. i not sell it!!

Innnnn thaaaa house...

i still cant swallow that a car as small as starlet would need a 1.3 liter engine.... i know i KNOW, there are 1,0 l starlets out there, but the vast majority is 1,3 so its koet to try to find one thats 1,0. 1,3 l its just too big for this size of car, in my opinion. that engine goes well in a Corolla, but that's a full size sedan. so if i wanna spend the gas money on a 1,3 l engine, id always go for something bigger than the Starlet.