New Family Member...2007 Yaris RS

[06YarisRS]

I found another Yaris and couldn't help myself. At $1000.00 CAD, it was too hard to turn down. My son and I will do the repairs (opportunity to teach him car repair) and we'll either flip it and he can have the money or we will really take our time, and in 5 years he can have it for his first car. Probably the former.

Another option is to swap the manual into my car (with an upgraded clutch) and put the auto into the red 3-door.

It's a 2007 RS 3-door 5-speed. It has 260000 kms on it and drives like new. Once again, I'm blown away by Toyota quality. Engine is extremely smooth and quiet and the shifts are prefect. The oil is fresh and topped up. For a RS model, it's quite stripped with no A/C, manual window cranks etc. But the interior is in exceptional shape. I plan to swap the seats form this car into mine as they are in pristine condition. Mine are in great shape, but these are better.

Issues and Repairs to be done:

The car failed inspection because of significant rust near the rear suspension. This does not affect the structure at all. The owner was kind enough to let me put the car up on jackstands and poke around. There is a large hole (probably 4" in diameter) where the rear axle bushing attaches. The thick part of the metal that holds the axle bushing in place is rock solid on both sides of the bushing. I could not budge the axle at this point even with a big pry bar. It's just the thinner metal a little inboard of that that rotted. It should be relatively easy to patch that with my welder and some metal strips, fiberglass over it or grind the welds down, prime and paint or bedliner.

Other issues are:

rear key lock mechanism stuck - should be an easy fix as I've done a few. Remove, disassemble the lock tumbler, clean and grease.

Fuel door cable broken - about $38.00 for a new one or a used one from scrapyard.

Small exhaust leak, but there is actually a bolt missing from the flange where the manifold connects to the midpipe. The manifold itself looks pretty good, but if not, I have another one in perfect shape that I got from a southern US car.

Car is missing driver's door catch. Will get one from a scrapyard. New is around $100.00.

The driver's seat slider mechanism appears to be frozen. May just need to be freed up or the latch mechanism replaced.

Needs rear brake shoes and kit.

Needs two front tires.

Some rust bubbling on one rear wheel well and a little peeling clear coat here and there. I will do the body work and blend paint then clear coat. If I can't get a really good match, I'll spray the whole car.

The car had been been rustproofed and it's obvious as the rocker panels, lower door skin folds and rocker pinch weld seams are completely solid as are the strut towers, entire engine bay and the underbody. Typically, rustproofing never made it into the cavity areas of the rear subframe area. Fortunately, a lot of the metal here is thick and reinforced.