RC's 1987 Cargo
"Red Girl"

Brief History: I originally bought a 1986 five speed at the tail end of 1995. It was my first brand new vehicle. We kept her for six years and then my husband insisted on trading "up" to the previa . He never liked the short wheel base and never did get used to the first van. I missed that van every single day since it left..... and in 1999 when we opened our antique shop small business I searched for another one.

I found one with 165K on it, and that was starting to rust out. It wa s a 1986 LE, and ran great. We had so many business start up expenses that I was unable to get the body work done, and over that winter it REALLY started to disintegrate.

I felt literally guilty evry tien I looked at it. I sold it on Ebay to a guy in Houston who has a whole fleet of Toyota vans as delivery vehicles. He got the body work done,, and she won't rust any more down there.

I searched for another one through all sorts of sources, and eventually bought a 1987 cargo from an Autotrader ad. I had it shipped to Illinois from Ohio, which was really quite reasonable. I got a SHOCK when the van arrived, however; it was in terrible shape, and she ahad advertised "excellent." The windshield was literally falling out and flopping in the breeze and had rusted through to the dash.

I took her to small claims court and was awarded a good deal of money back. I now need to find an attorney in Ohio who can collect under the "sister act" that the two states have.

The van was rusted in all of the exact same places that the one I had just sold had been ! (rear windshield, door track, quarter panels, around windshield front strip) It wasn't in quite as severe shape as the first one, so I hurried to get the body work done. It was an expense I coudn't afford, but I managed it.

The guys who did the body work were great, except for one major problem that prevents me from ever going back to them for touch up. They re-sealed the windshield and in the process, cracked it approximately 12 inches across the vision field on the passenger side.... and Then said that I had dropped the van off with it already broken! Why would I order a severely cracked windshield to be resealed? not to mention, it's also against the law to drive like that.

The body shop gave me no satisfaction whatsoever and I had to threaten them with small claims court. They finally replaced it with a used windshield.

I also had to scare up all sorts of odd parts... a right side rear view mirror, factory antenna, inside back door panel, windshield moulding and she is still missing her headliner.

I have used junkyarddawg.com to scare up parts after exhausting local junkyards. One of the yard owners told me I won't have any luck finding parts because all of the vans are still on the road!

This van has a LOT of zippy speed and will easily travel over 80 mph. (of course I don't know that from first hand experience.. yeah, right!) My other van (which is on the sale page) is a 1987 LE and is comfort deluxe.. it feels "heavy" and has wide tires with chrome rims that hug the road. It's more on the line of a small Cadillac!

Now she's finished, and shining in her glory! I hope she lasts me the rest of my life... I sincerely hope to never have to buy another vehicle again, unless I find a low mileage five speed and want to adopt another challenge!

My next endeavor is to put in a good stereo system so I can use my talking books while on road trips. I regularly take her out for hundred mile trips. I would trust her farther, but don't have anywhere to go! Maybe we'll do that toyota van rally if it ever comes about.

I've had her for two years and will never be selling her.. as you can see, she's a running ad for my antique shop.