1992 Toyota Paseo | Retro Review

The Paseo was everywhere in the early 90's. Insurance premiums no doubt had a lot to do with why Toyota replaced the iconic Corrola GTS and FX-16 with this Tercel based effort...a moment of silence, please.
Show 1042 | Original Airdate 07-13-1991
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[@homogenized]

My dad had this exact car! Same color and everything. We used to go to the store together and play The Clash and REM tapes since he chose to get the radio lol. He passed suddenly in 2020 and I think about him a lot. Great to see his old car reviewed here. Brings back good memories.

[@klasseact6663]

May your Dad RIP and you'll always have those memories and the music is just a click away to remind you of him❗️

[@fabianbravo9652]

Rip memories stay forever

[@mariposamoreno]

🙏🏻

[@mariposamoreno]

🙏🏻

[@siguy3546]

Rest in peace to your father. This is something I dread having to relate to in the future.

[@Barbee2617]

I learned to drive a manual transmission in one of these. It was in auto tech class in high school. It had been donated to the school a few years previous by a local dealership. Dang I miss the 90’s early 2000’s.

[@peter455sd]

Another ultra-high quality,ultra durable,indestructible Toyota product that simply disappeared from the face of the earth

[@syd_jzx100]

Yet I still have mine in excellent condition. You never see these, especially in Australia.

[@NeonxNomad]

I have one, needs control arm bracket welded on. Still haven't stopped me from driving it cross country tho

[@sunshinez-2017]

@@syd_jzx100 yeah i isnt it over shadowed by starlet since they got the same engine not super sure im from the U.S

[@syd_jzx100]

@@sunshinez-2017 Starlet is a 4EFE which is a 1.3L, Paseo had the 5EFE which is a 1.5L.

[@wendyc1902]

​​@@NeonxNomad I have one too. Drive it daily. Get 30+ mpg and it has 158k miles White with denim blue cloth/tweed interior. The inside is built to last!!

[@chrisgnonya]

I had a 1993 Paseo in teal. It wasn't a sports car but it was a really fun 😜 little machine. I put 268 K on mine and it never broke down just brakes,tires and a clutch. I troll auto trader looking for one in decent condition 🤣

[@kz1000ps]

The ONLY dealership my town had was a small Toyota place and throughout the '90s they always one or two Paseos on their front line. I ALWAYS admired them and low key really wanted one (granted I was like 12 years old lol). Glad to hear yours has been trouble free!

[@MrMegatron85]

haha I had a teal one too. unfortunately my engine blew on the freeway at 3 in the morn. sometimes I feel bad thinking back on how badly I treated that car

[@aquarius8325]

One of my instructors in college had a teal one back in the early 00s. His daily commute was 70+ miles one way and it was his gas saver.

[@chrisgnonya]

@@aquarius8325 It got crazy good gas mileage, I drove from Phoenix to Albuquerque on a single tank of gas. I won't lie I was white knuckling it as the needle dropped to E but I made it 🤣

[@Laptops1781]

Drove one of these for 4 years. Super reliable. One of my favorite cars I ever owned. Used to put 5 young adults in this thing and go places. No idea why or how we did it 😅

[@vlajster]

Cool car! My neighbour still has one in purple metallic,mint condition. So crazy to see how actually small it is comparing to new cars

[@rickc7303]

The 1992 Paseo was the first new car I ever owned. 5 speed, manual, a/c, CD player and a manual sunroof. I put over 250K on it and basically just changed the oil every 4k or so. When I sold it 10 years later I still had the original clutch, original suspension, original alternator and radiator. Snapped the timing belt while shifting at about 175K, but no damage to the engine. I remember gas being about 99 cents a gallon from 1996 thru 1999, and it seemed $12 filled this up! I also always got 38 to 42 mpg with 90% highway driving. It was a wonderful car to drive, and even handled nicely in the snow due to the front wheel drive.

[@FH99]

A neighbor who used to live across the street from me had a red one when I was younger. It was a nice looking car.

[@444mopar]

Seems like just yesterday I used to see these things everywhere. I guess this is what getting old feels like.

[@georgewilkinson1068]

My mother loved the name Paseo. She was ready to drive to the dealership to buy one - until she actually saw one up close and personal. Still loved the name.

[@theKevronHarris]

The Toyota Paseo is known as the Toyota Cynos in Japan.

[@tkewrestler2662]

They were fun little cars, it is too bad there are so few if any options in this category of automobile.

[@nessuno5403]

Plenty in Japan! Just not exported

[@fabianbravo9652]

@@nessuno5403 Japan always have the good cars

[@melaninfuture]

This takes me back to the era when there were a lot of sporty coups that looked fast but weren’t quite there, and everyone was trying to squeeze any amount of horse power using after market products.

[@mr.c493]

I would love one of those right now. These Gad prices are nuts!! Plus is a 10 second car!! 😂but no oil and battery readouts!!

[@wendyc1902]

I get 30+ mpg with mine and it has 258k original miles. I have a 24 yr old Tahoe with 268k miles and I love to use the Paseo when I need to save gas! ⛽ The AC is out and we've had trouble finding a compressor, but other than that it's a great car. The interior is near perfect for 32 years old. Was definitely built to last!!

[@abckirov1929]

If you need to get John a gift for Christmas or birthday, get him gauges! He loves gauges, mostly oil and voltmeters.

[@nemonooit]

oil temp gauge i sort of understand, but voltmeter? who cares?

[@vermin1970]

I remember test driving a brand new Tercel before buying a Ford Probe. I needed to merge onto the freeway, on that hot summer day with my friend and a sales guy on the car, that thing just didn't want to move. I had the throttle on the floor almost the entire on ramp until I ran out of room and had to get over, the semi behind me had no interest in slowing down to let me in or give me room after I got over. I continued to hold the pedal on the floor while we all watched the grill get closer behind us until we finally hit around 75. That semi was speeding anyway but, needless to say, I did not end up buying that Tercel. That was, and remains, the most gutless car I ever drove.

[@GeeEm1313]

My parents almost got one, but deemed it too noisy and got a base Corolla instead.

[@castlewhore2007]

Try driving a 2016 Ford Fiesta hatch, we had one as a company car and lord help you if you ever cut off a semi 😂

[@wendyc1902]

The 5 speed Paseo isn't like that at all!

[@MarvinRader]

@@wendyc1902 Agreed, the manual transmissions were much faster. Actually any of these "econoboxes" of the time were much slower when they were the automatic, but pretty peppy when they had a manual transmission. I think newer cars with automatics (that is most cars today) have more HP, and improved transmissions so they don't feel so slow. But unless you have a hybrid, you rarely get 35 mpg like the Tercel, or Paseo. The HF version of the Honda CRX was even faster and got about 44 mpg. Never see anything like that made today.

[@itz_sebiii]

A “sporty” Tercel with 2 doors n I c E

[@foxtrot685]

I wanted one of these as a kid. And a Nissan pulsar nx

[@jacklo325]

Thanks for uploading this review! I miss my paseo, had it for 21 years with 360,000 miles on it. Light weight and great on gas. Please upload the 7th gen celica review!

[@courtneypuzzo2502]

some Toyotas of that time lasted a long time if well maintained my late Maternal Grandmothers 1990 Toyota Camry lasted nearly 15 years and 130,000 miles econoboxes of that era were well priced for what they were take a Ford Tempo LX 4 Dr Sedan of the same model year starting price was around $12,000 around $2,000 more than the Paseo and still 5K cheaper than the Camry which was 1 step up at midsized the LE trim that year retailed for $17,000 now for 2023 retails for $27,000 and is entry level trim top being XSE V6 which retails for $37,000 and more due to chip shortages had you told my late maternal grandmother that when we bought her her 2005 Camry she'd have laughed at you the retail price on the LE in 05 was $23,070 though we paid about $18,000 due to missing features etc.

[@dumpnchase]

This and Grand Am’s were all over my HS parking lot. Fun times

[@gojackets4894]

Fantastic review as always. Problem is that I never liked this particular car. It just didn't have a good look to it.

[@netrioter]

"Oriental"...hahaha. Does it come with egg roll?

[@blisterbrain]

I don't know why everyone gets so worked up over "oriental." It's a completely cromulent word that was never meant as a slur, and only recently been regarded as one. All it means is eastern, or from the east. Occidental is its opposite, western. Nobody gets upset when that word is used. They're about as anodyne a descriptor for people as you can get.

[@BroodallyHonest]

@@blisterbrain I guess, maybe because "Oriental" was another way of saying "slanty eyes". Asian, maybe is more inclusive of the rest of Asia like India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, etc.., and therefore more politically correct. Just a shot in the dark.

[@WinterInTheForest]

@@blisterbrain Was searching the comments for this, and if someone else didn't say it I was going to

[@stevend3753]

I’m hoping the Paseo comes back. I’d really like a Paseo GR.

[@syd_jzx100]

I kinda want to turn my Paseo into a Paseo GR. Going to turbo it and give it a fresh cost of paint.

[@48Boxer]

I remember all of the ads promoting the "100HP!!!" So funny at the time that was a decent number

[@skylancer-zer0205]

Its not bad for a car that weighs barely over a ton. Just over 20 lbs per horsepower which is adequate for daily driving.

[@48Boxer]

@@skylancer-zer0205 I agree. Kids these days have no idea. My first 3 cars were 100hp or less and still more fun than almost anything on the road today

[@polarcactuss3877]

I’m actually 16 and my grandad has one that hasn’t been driven in 8 years, I’ve washed it off and cleaned out the inside, is it worth a few hundred dollars to get it fixed? I like the look and I’m thinking about changing the color from the bright red to maybe a midnight purple or black.. I also heard that my insurance will skyrocket because not only am I 16 but it’s considered a sport coupe 🥲

[@mackchannel6348]

Flashback, summer 1991: A dealership salesperson tried hard to get me to settle for a Paseo or something similar when I wanted a Celica. We did battle for a month, and I ended up in a Celica ST--the base model. But in retrospect, a Paseo wouldn't have been a bad car per se. That 100hp was only pushing 2100lbs, which would have compared favorably to the Celica's 103hp pushing 2500lbs. However, the trauma of driving a reskinned Tercel would have been lasting. These were cheap looking cars comparatively; the anemic looking dashboard, the hard, cheap seats, and a spindly gearshift lever sticking up out of a plasticy-looking boot were off-putting.

[@jonathankleinow2073]

Do you remember what the price difference was? I know the Celica came with a driver side air bag standard in the U.S. starting in 1990, and a Celica GT would give you the hatchback to provide much more usable cargo space than you could get with either the Paseo or the Celica ST. I miss my '92 Celica GT. It was my second car, after the 1982 Chrysler LeBaron convertible. I bought it off my grandfather, then sold it to my great aunt when my son was born, since no car seat was going to fit in the sculpted leather rear seats. My uncle has it now, and every once in a while I entertain the idea of buying it off of him and restoring it, but he probably wants $5,000 for it at least.

[@mackchannel6348]

@@jonathankleinow2073 The Super Red ST I bought was just shy of $13,000, and yes, it did have the driver side air bag. The Paseo was about $10,000. The dealership didn't want to finance me at $13,000 but $10,000 worked in their calculator. The hatchback GT is the one you want--besides the cargo space the body styling was much better. The GT-S had even more horses. Or if you're one for high adventure, the AllTrac. $5000 isn't too bad if it's in good condition, but yeah, by the time you're done setting it right, you'll be another $5000 into it.

[@jacklo325]

Celica ST had 108 crank hp in the u.s. Also, the paseo seats are actually really comfortable and I had it from 1995 to 2016, not 1 rip on the cloth seat. I, too was looking at the gen 5 celica at the time, but can't justify the cost, so ended up with a new paseo.

[@mackchannel6348]

@@jacklo325 From a price point, the Paseo was a solid alternative, and I guess that's what was great about Toyota in that era: Options, from the Paseo up through the Celica and MR2 to the Supra and into the new Lexus offerings.

[@mackchannel6348]

@@jacklo325 Toyota did a great job offering options, from the Paseo to the MR2, Corolla and Celica, and on up to the Supra and beyond into the just launched Lexus line.

[@landyachtfan79]

"Paseo" means "A leisurely stroll/walk" in Spanish, & despite this Tercel-based econo-sport coupe's sexy looks, it sure lived up to its name as far as performance was concerned. Now, it certainly was respectable, mind you, but not as fast as one would have hoped.

[@patrickmichael3384]

All I remember about this Paseo is the ad campaign that was narrated by Jack Reilly (who also did ads for Shedd’s Spread Country Crock margarine as well as the voice of Stu Pickles of Nickelodeon’s Rugrats). R.I.P.

[@maxskullic9879]

I had a 95 paseo just like that, zippy little car with a 5sp that got 30mpg!

[@gooondie]

I saw a mint Paseo on the road the other day. Can’t remember the last time I saw one like that

[@user-iz3gv5vo6b]

The Corolla SR5, then the GTS was better than the Paseo. Toyota should have kept the Celica and sporty versions of the Corolla, rather than let the bean counters with GM mentality ruin it. I'm glad that Morizo is bringing it all back, and am looking forward to buying a GR Corolla.

[@GeeEm1313]

Nice grammar.

[@user-iz3gv5vo6b]

@@GeeEm1313 Grammarly thinks so.

[@23vicjoe]

"the Oriental automakers"... different times

[@fusnowtiger]

I had one in college. Really wasn’t horrible, even at 6’3”

[@100MrAlexX4707]

That car looks great

[@mitchkelleher7972]

My aunt bought one new. When she could somehow barely keep ahead of my FWD '84 Subaru GL on the highway, she didn't end up keeping it long.

[@carexpertandy]

Those non-motorized shoulder belts that buckle into the doors look very goofy, but not as much as door-mounted 3-point seat belts.

[@christopherhernandez78]

I think some of us need this.. a Sporty or performance economy car.

[@BStick3]

The 90's! That guy's rad challenge court shoes - straight off Agassi's feet 👍

[@sneakerfreak2002]

Id love 2 sniff his sneakers

[@DavidAndre657]

1/4 MILE: 17.9 SECONDS 78 MPH

[@VDPEFi]

This is the sort of car I would want to buy my daughter's for their first cars, sadly now even a fiesta is far too expensive and tedious because of the 'tech' that isn't needed, stick some abs on that and it would be brilliant

[@albear972]

LOL! 0:17 Those *Orientals* are clairvoyants.

[@7777LORENZO]

I have the 92 Brand new low mileage - never winter driven clean no rust -❤️❤️❤️❤️love that car

[@cgreenfield6655]

Highschool GF had a convertible one of these. Good memories in that thing.

[@ArmySigs]

The Paseo is a great source of parts for the Starlet. Seats, instrument cluster and motor are common items swapped over.

[@DavidAndre657]

FOR COMPARISON: NISSAN NX 2000 - ANTI-LOCK BRAKES - DRIVERS' SIDE AIR BAG IS STANDARD

[@jriley1992]

These looked cool

[@davidaubin3902]

4:05 John: BUT THE BEST PLACE TO KEEP YOUR CASSETTES IS IN THE BACK SEAT! BECAUSE YOU SURELY WON’T GET AN ADULT BACK THERE! LOL

[@jonathankleinow2073]

The 135 feet it took to bring it to a stop aren't quite as bad as the 143 feet the 1990 Celica took, but it's not off by much. I don't remember my '92 Celica being all that difficult to stop, but my only other experience at that point was in an '92 LeBaron convertible with rear drums.

[@JDMHaze]

2075IBS. sheesh thats light, I would think it would be a little faster with 100 hp

[@kevinbarry71]

A little bit misleading as that horsepower was only available when you revved it very high, this is in a time before variable valve timing

[@PSIJOE]

If you look at their comparison video with it up against the Saturn, geo storm, Hyundai, and Nissan, it actually runs a much quicker 0-60. It does 8.9 seconds in that video. I'm guessing this car is just a fluke.

[@gzuz4148]

My cousin has one of these with some Enkeis a detachable sterring wheel and turbo

[@bambammartin1556]

My first car given to me in high school. My neighbor accidentally ran it over with his lifted f250. Byebye paseo

[@seastruck5410]

I remember our family had this car and my mom liked to go fast and she crashed it one time ah good times I wanna own one again

[@DavidAndre657]

Show 1042 | Original Airdate 07-13-1991

[@arieljones4595]

If I recall, the 92 Civic Si was the same price. You would've had to have a head injury to buy a Paseo over the Civic Si.

[@EnterTheOcho]

The Air Tech Challenge IIs at 3:30 - wonderfully period correct. IYKYK

[@DavidAndre657]

MW HITS: -- PRICE -- STYLING -- OVERALL PERFORMANCE -- MILEAGE

[@2dfx]

stop

[@mega-hb4re]

Small , sporty and reliable

[@DavidAndre657]

GEO STORM - DRIVER'S SIDE AIR BAG - SIMILAR ENGINE & PERFORMANCE

[@jaygoldstein5449]

I had a 1992 Paseo. It was fun to drive in town, but definitely not a grand tourer. The front seats were terrible. The lack of lumbar support made long drives a torture. I stuffed padding into the seat backs, which helped a bit. Not a vehicle I would want to own again.

[@NotSoSouthern]

I had a 94 paseo... I also had an 89 pulsar... loved both. the pulsar had a hatchback that made munch more sense. toyota lost points for giving the paseo a trunk

[@McBeamer94]

The US version looked fugly from B-Pillar back. The EU version is much sleeker looking, with the lower rear windows and the more laid back roof line and taillights. And its front end looks better than the Hyundai Scoupe-styled one of this US version. A dark teal of these EUs rolls around where I live and it has survived the test of time, still being on its original hubcaps and with absolutely no scuffs or marks on its body. Some NX1600s (named 100NXs here) also roll around but their shape isn't as good.

[@jacklo325]

The EU model you are referring to must be the gen 2 cause EU, US, and Japanese gen 1 are all the same body design.

[@McBeamer94]

@@jacklo325 Yeah, I looked it up and you are correct, the car I'm describing is indeed the 2nd gen. Tbh, without excluding the fact that some 1st-gens may still be around in the EU, I never saw any 1st-gens anywhere in the EU.

[@marshalmagooo3899]

Owned one, it was actay a fun little car and they stlll are around. I wouldn't say it was a "replacement" for the AE92 but it was solid

[@dougsmith9571]

Reliable , sporty econocomuter . Like a CRX with rear jump seats for kids . It was pretty ok . For the early 90s 😊

[@davidleal7133]

Me and my dad put a jdm paseo motor in a Tercel and it was bad ass

[@DavidAndre657]

MORE MOTORWEEK RETRO REVIEWS ... ....................... JUST AROUND THE BEND

[@erich84502ify]

Wow affordable and fun

[@KLM817]

I remember these! A buddy of mine had a red one with the auto. Too bad Toyota didn't use the 2.2 liter that they put in the Camry of that time.

[@DavidAndre657]

MW SAFETY CHECK ✔ F - DRIVER SIDE AIR BAG F - PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG P - REAR SHOULDER BELTS F - ANTI-LOCK BRAKES

[@DavidAndre657]

BRAKING - 60 MPH: 135 FEET

[@teresamacnicol7967]

That was my car! Black with the sunroof. It came with a CD player. It turned heads then. The stero system was awesome. I got gas one day, and cranked out I Feel Fine by the Beatles. People were dancing. It was a fast little car. Due to some crashing by my son, it went bye bye. 👋

[@ramoncarter6585]

Sure haven't seen one of these since don't know when did like these little cars bet they were wonderful on gas seems the body look like a 2020s car now than of early 90s ride this and the '92 Camry at that time were some great looking cars in early 90s, look how good it was no body rolling back kind looks like the Tercel and does have '93 Corolla rear got see if these were assembled in Japan.

[@MrBlaze256]

How many cheap small sporty 2 door cars are available today? None

[@DavidAndre657]

MW MISSES: -- HORSEPOWER -- HEADROOM -- BRAKES

[@FiregemGaming]

I had a 97 paseo, although it was frying/leaking oil I wasn’t going to pay $850 for a Tercel motor (that’s just me swapping myself) ended up buying a Mazda protege for $600 instead lasted me 4 years

[@DavidAndre657]

EPA MILEAGE: 28 CITY 🏙 34 HIGHWAY 🛣

[@qmto]

I love the Paseo.

[@DavidAndre657]

BASE PRICE: $12,493 (1992) 💵 💵 💵 💵

[@zzhughesd]

These just didn’t sell back in the 90s in the UK. Never disliked the looks economy or reliability. EconoCoupe nomenclature we didn’t use lol

[@louisbabycos106]

Would love to have a restomodded one . A modern 1.5 turbo 4 power train perhaps with AWD with paddle shifted conventional 5 or 6 speed slush box.

[@jonathanchapman8070]

The stereo mix on this vid is surprisingly split

[@DavidAndre657]

MW '91 ROADTEST: 1992 TOYOTA PASEO

[@DavidAndre657]

1992 Toyota Paseo | Retro Review

[@rightlanehog3151]

Paseo means 'all show and no go' in Latin so I'll pass on the Paseo. :-)

[@xinonamiiumx]

"Let's get out ta here"

[@sutterpark]

My late father lease one and it may be great on gas but crapy in power and don't THINK it's no Porsche 911 Turbo either! It's like the Toyota 86 is now over then Paseo

[@SeaJay_Oceans]

Toyota Sports Car Looks on a Honda Civic budget... 100% Toyota Top Quality, never needs anything engineering... Flawless engine, wonderful mechanics.

[@HiFiInsider]

there is one for sale on Craigslist in my area.

[@GeeEm1313]

Ah man. He's wearing Andre Agassi's Nike Air Tech Challenge 2s.

[@sneakerfreak2002]

Id love 2 sniff his sneakers

[@IVR02]

We could really use small, fuel efficient cars like this, especially with our high gas prices. But of course, why would companies put effort into small, inexpensive cars when they can sell you another clunky, overpriced crossover?

[@user-is4tz2tp6b]

My Mom had this car 🙂when I was kid and it was a 5 speed.

[@mingotrd]

That’s a mini pre celica GT ‼️🔥😍

[@TheyCallMeSiku]

I just picked one up 2 weeks ago!

[@Andyface79]

I''d rather just have a Tercel. At least you can fit people into one.

[@4HBirtcher]

That’s a Toyota Tercel REPLACEMENT!

[@rabalajoie]

Looks that our modern cars are not that fuel efficient. That 1992 Paseo result: Combined 30mpg. The 2020 Yaris result: It gets to 35mpg. A little less HP would maybe help us get to 45-50mpg. Am I too mpg hungry?

[@DavidAndre657]

TEST MILEAGE: 30 MPG ⛽ ⛽ ⛽

[@wahoo124fromsoda3]

1:29 - after watching RegularCarReviews' video 😂

[@MiniH0p]

i got a 93' toyota paseo in the parking lot.. lets get outta here. i just dont know why you didn’t try the big mac, was it me?.. don’t you wanna know how succulent it can taste, how beautiful like can really be?

[@pxn748]

I wanted one of these bad when they first came out, but I couldn't fit in it and I'm only 5"11" I bought an Acura Legend coupe instead.

[@SimeonToko]

Perfect commuter or city car.