Carina 212 Ti

Gehan Anavaratne · October 5, 2018

Hi Members,

Have anyone had good/bad experience with this car (Carina 212 Ti ) and also the current market for yom 1997.

Twin Turbo · October 5, 2018

Hi and Welcome to AL,.

The 212 was not from 97'

Yes the car you're asking of set new standards in Jap motoring until it was replaced with an, uglier replacement.

Keep in mind this generation of car is more than 2 decades old and you're not getting a spring chicken,..

Good luck finding a usable example,..

TT.

Edited October 5, 2018 by Twin Turbo

aamarakoon · October 6, 2018

The 210 DID start in 1996. So yes there are 212 from 1996-2001. You are talking about the pre-face lift. Face lift started in 1998.

I had a 97 212 for 5 years (2007-2012). Had no issues except for routine maintenance. But of course now the model is quite old so finding a good specimen is gonna be a problem. Have seen well kept ones rarely even now. Good luck hunting.

dev89 · October 9, 2018

Currently I'm using a carina ( AT212 1997 ) for more than 3 years. Never had an issue in the middle of the road up to now. Once overheated due to a bad radiator hose. Whatever the car you buy, you have to maintain and repair on time. Had to overhaul engine, replaced steering rack, changed the radiator, replaced some suspension parts. Car is now is a great condition and worth the money.

Sadik · October 10, 2018

Yep, had one for two years and parted reluctantly. I think the starting model year was 1996,. So virtually you get three variants if i am not mistaken. AT 211(Si) was 1.8Ltr , AT212 Ti-1.5 Ltr and AT210 GTwas 1.6Ltr which was the more preppier version of the 03. By 1998/99 they did a facelift to the model which is fondly referred in Sri Lanka as the "honeycomb" model. I personally still feel that the AT2xx series was one of the sexiest to come out of the Toyota JDM main stream sedans apart from Mark 2s and chasers.

It has a 5AFE engine for 1.5 Litre , but i dont think it had VVTi, Mine was not doing fuel well (9 per litre) being a 1.5. But i've heard the Si was the most preferred with decent pulling power coupled with good fuel figures. And also a better trim. I think there was a variant called My Road , which had good kit.

Its a heavy car mind you , but good road grip and much better handling for me than the allion. Conventional gear box so, def you will feel it has more pulling than the 240. Suspension also felt better than the 240 , with good space. Ground clearance was a bit of b*tch.

These cars are very old now. Even when i was looking for one in 2010, i came across many examples which were mishandled, and changed many hands. So, its good if you can get a car which is decently maintained. Actually i havent heard of many faults in the Carina as against more modern 260's or so.

Do a good check on the car before you buy. Those days vehicles used to come to SL even after running almost 50K kms in Japan. So, you'd be lucky to have a car below 200K. Look for a Si if you can despite the price premium. Will be more exciting to drive.

Its a car i still stare when one passes me. the 212 was my first proper Jap sedan.

aamarakoon · October 10, 2018

1 hour ago, Sadik said:

Yep, had one for two years and parted reluctantly. I think the starting model year was 1996,. So virtually you get three variants if i am not mistaken. AT 211(Si) was 1.8Ltr , AT212 Ti-1.5 Ltr and AT210 GTwas 1.6Ltr which was the more preppier version of the 03. By 1998/99 they did a facelift to the model which is fondly referred in Sri Lanka as the "honeycomb" model. I personally still feel that the AT2xx series was one of the sexiest to come out of the Toyota JDM main stream sedans apart from Mark 2s and chasers.

It has a 5AFE engine for 1.5 Litre , but i dont think it had VVTi, Mine was not doing fuel well (9 per litre) being a 1.5. But i've heard the Si was the most preferred with decent pulling power coupled with good fuel figures. And also a better trim. I think there was a variant called My Road , which had good kit.

Its a heavy car mind you , but good road grip and much better handling for me than the allion. Conventional gear box so, def you will feel it has more pulling than the 240. Suspension also felt better than the 240 , with good space. Ground clearance was a bit of b*tch.

These cars are very old now. Even when i was looking for one in 2010, i came across many examples which were mishandled, and changed many hands. So, its good if you can get a car which is decently maintained. Actually i havent heard of many faults in the Carina as against more modern 260's or so.

Totally agree. I also had an Allion afterwards. I too preferred the Carina over it. You are right on fuel figures.