There is an 89 litace for sale that I'm considering. It has a 2.0 diesel and 60,000 kms. It is a little smaller than the townace and the North America vans. Here in North America the litace almost never gets imported and I'm concerned about dependability and parts.
I have been looking at the townace and litace diesel reviews on carsurvey.org and it looks like they have a real problem with overheating (and then cracking their heads). It seems like a design flaw--the small engine compartment does not give much room for a rad and not much airflow for cooling. And as the liteace looks like the engine compartment might even be smaller than the townace.
Also i don't see any owners on carsurvey.org that have the heaps of miles that the North American van owners seem to put on them, and am wondering if they die an early death...
So I'm wondering if there are anyone overseas where these things are more regularly imported that have any advice on the dependability of these litaces. And any idea of parts availability. or any advice at all. They want $7500 Canadian which seems a little steep.
- (#616) derek, 10 Apr 05 22:20
Well, it's a 16 y.o vehicle with no history, not such a good start perhaps.
Lets see now. Liteace is *barely* smaller than townie, and mechanical parts interchange mostly. Most Jap imports leave Japan with 40-60k miles on, but before major money has to be spent on the "shaken" safety test.
If you read the archives here you'll note that with sensitive preventative maintenance fears of overheating can be reduced, and the likelyhood of such problems are again reduced if you can keep your speed down- in the UK we spend too much time hustling Townies up and down the motorway at 80mph, something they were never designed for...
- (#616) David Miller, 11 Apr 05 01:47
Im in nz. I notice on hot summer days it will overheat on hills or at speed (105km/hr plus), however just a few degrees C cooler at night is much better. I turn heater on and open window, temp returns to normal. In winter no problem, unless your a speeder. So, if where you live is flat and cold, no problem, the only issue is hot weather when you should be AWARE and ALERT enough to remember to turn on heater when you hit the mountains or start sitting on 120km/hr. Mines done 250,000km and runs beautiful and cheap on gas. Its a real shame toyota didnt place an adequate wind tunnel to the radiator.
- (#616) Frank, 11 Apr 05 17:40
I'd probably be hustling the liteace along our highwayshere too David, as well as up and down mountain passes, etc, so I am pretty concerned about the overheating.
I'm glad to hear how depandable your van has been through 250,000 kms too Frank.
It would seem that one could adapt a scoop onto the widtunnel or something, or add an intercooler, oil cooler or higher capacity rad to help...
Thanks so much for the advice. I am concerned aabout the age of the vehicle and thre fact that someone may have doctored the odometer. Also don't think they have a "shaken" test here in Canada, but a much less comprehensive inspection...
Are there any other problems that I should watch out for? Are people pretty happy with their liteaces?
- (#616) derek, 12 Apr 05 15:00
liteace run ok mine old mine 1990 yr not histoy but does the job bit tatty want a new one4
- (#616) liteace owner , 15 Apr 05 13:05
Have also a 89 Liteace 2.0 Diesel for over one year now.
Bought it with 114.000km and has now 131.000 on it.
Only the starter is changed.
Parts is also getting a problem here (Netherlands, Europe). Most of these vans go to Afrika. Export of used vans and 5door cars is big business here...
Parts as headlights, taillights and mirrors i found at eBay for spare.
With a little search i found also a new front window for about 20 Dollar.
You can better have it in stock if you want to drive your van for a longer time.
- (#616) Martin, 16 Apr 05 14:28