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As a company famous for its pragmatic approach to building solid, sensible cars for all people, Toyota has occasionally let its hair down – and the 86, launched in 2012, is a perfect example of the staid company's less conservative side.
Designed in partnership with fellow Japanese company Fuji Heavy Industries (who supplied the engine and driveline) and also sold as a Subaru BRZ, the 86 is unashamedly a car for the enthusiast on a budget.
The 86 GT starts at $26,180, while the 86 GTS Performance (apollo Blue) is priced at $42,900.
Spurred on by Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda (who declared himself a development driver!), the lithe, light, rear-drive 86 is a purist's dream – and enjoys legendary Toyota reliability to boot.
This vehicle is also known as The Toyota 86 is also known as Toyota FT86, Toyota GT86, Scion FR-S (2012–2016), Subaru BRZ in markets outside Australia..
The Toyota 86 doesn't have the nicest interior. As these images show, its touchscreen multimedia system feels like a third-party head unit, while the trim used on its dashboard isn't very well matched. Leather covers the steering wheel, gear selector and handbrake lever, but that doesn't distract from the cheap-looking centre stack.
The following Toyota 86 is available with four seats across the range. The GT variant comes with Black Fabric with Silver stitching seat trim. The GTS comes with Black leather accented front seats with Alcantara fabric inserts.
Buying the dealership’s paint protection certainly won’t do any harm, Sue, but it can be expensive as mark-ups are often huge for these products. You might do better with an aftermarket paint protection product from an independent specialist. But here’s the proposition I’d be putting to the dealer selling the car: If you can’t, in 2020, sell me a car that won’t fade or have its paint peel off, I fear we are wasting each other’s time. In fact, you could make the same argument for all those dealership add-ons, the upholstery protection, window tint and extended warranties.
Here’s another fact to consider: Regardless of whether you do or don’t buy the paint protection, the car’s finish is protected by the factory warranty just as the rest of the car is protected against faulty parts of poor assembly. Toyota even spells it out, saying that the factory warranty covers every part, panel or factory accessory. So you’ll only ever need the optional paint protection after the factory warranty has run out. Will a paint protection applied now be of any use five years – and a couple of hundred car-washes – down the track? That’s up to you.
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If you don’t want a convertible, which rules out the MX-5 as my easy first pick, then the 86 is the car for driving enjoyment on a reasonable budget. But don’t overlook its Subaru twin, the BRZ, which is my choice of the two. Both get The Tick, having shared our Car of the Year award.
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Wow, that is a major change of direction. Before you make such a change I would suggest you actually test drive each of the cars you're thinking of to see if they really suit you. The Mazda MX-5 is a two-seater and not very practical for instance. It's hard to advise you because we don't anything about what you want from the car you buy. If it was me I would probably buy the MX-5, I would have no problem with a two-seater.
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