1996 Toyota Carina ED-V FWD, PW, PL, PS, PM, Automatic · 25,900 mi

Available from stock, no wait for shipping from Japan: a 1996 Toyota Carina ED-V FWD, PW, PL, PS, PM, Automatic, wearing Black Onyx. The gearbox is automatic. The chassis plate reads ST200-7036410.

On paper

• Year: 1996
• Make: Toyota
• Model: Carina ED-V FWD, PW, PL, PS, PM, Automatic
• Chassis code: ST20
• Transmission: Automatic
• Odometer: 25,900
• Engine: 4S-FE
• Colour: Black Onyx
• Chassis number: ST200-7036410
• Body type: Sedan / Sports
• Stock reference: BUC76545

The ST200 Carina ED, in context

The Carina ED is a four-door hardtop — a saloon with frameless door glass and no B-pillar above the waistline — which was a distinctly Japanese body style of the period. The ST200 generation of 1993 uses Toyota S-series four-cylinder engines and front-wheel drive, and the model was sold in Japan only.

Recorded mileage is 25,900, which works out at roughly 41,700 km on the original kilometre scale.

What it is for

Japanese-market saloons and coupes of this period were built to a domestic specification that never crossed to North America: different engines, different trim, different equipment, and in many cases a model that was simply never offered elsewhere. That is the reason to import one rather than buy a local equivalent — there is no local equivalent.

Between $8,000 and $12,000 the Japanese import market offers cars that have no domestic equivalent at any price — engines, trims and models that simply were not exported. That is the whole value proposition in this band.

Buying this one

Built in 1996, it sits the far side of the 25-year federal import cut-off. Import documentation and titling are handled at our end, and we ship nationwide. Listed at $8,995 — tell us it is the one and we will take it off the market.