You are looking at a very rare car. Toyota only made this all wheel dive vehicle for about 5 years. It treated me very well for the many years I drove it but it has sat idle for a few years and need to make room in my driveway (and I had plans to restore it) She was running fine when I was driving it, except towards the end when going over mountain passes (it would decelerate badly for some reason). There are many new parts I put in this rig. Including a new clutch! I estimate there's at least $3,000-$5,000 new parts I put into this while I owned it. Anyways, I hope this post finds someone who appreciates this rad rig and will hopefully restore her. Serious offers only. No trades. Cheers.
It has a manual transmission (which I want to learn to drive) and 218K miles. I feel like everyone is going to call me dumb for spending $2K on this but the thing is…I already love it. And I’d rather pay extra for something I really fucking like, than save on something I’m not particularly excited about. Even after 6-7 years of being homeless I’m picky like this, and I feel like it’s worked for me. I’ll actually go spend money on clothes that fit me and are actually my style, which helps my self-esteem just a bit, etc.
I would avoid it. I would also only buy a car like this if it came with a decent warranty or you took it to a shop of your choice to get it inspected first. The most expensive and risky parts of a car are all internal and require a proper inspection. Alternatively if you got a fantastic deal from a trusted person that's trying to help you out (which must be distinguished from a charlatan telling you they're helping you out while ripping you off).
You have the right idea though imo. A Corolla with less than 150,000 miles is right in that price range and is the most likely thing to keep chugging along for years.