I just got back from living two years in Peru. Toyota HiAce's were the standard in public transportation there. I am now in the United States and I am thinking over the idea of buying a HiAce to drive here.

I have not been able to find any information about HiAce's in the U.S. Does anyone know if they are sold here? Would they be up to U.S. regulations as far as emissions and safety go? What is the average gas mileage of a HiAce from the '80's or 90's?

Thanks.

Hello,
In Canada, imports outside of North America need to be at least 15 yrs old, in the US I believe it is 25 yrs old, hence the reason you are having a hard time finding a HiAce.
Sorry to be the messenger of bad news.
Rob

The Hiace has never been sold in North America. To import a used vehicle to the states it has to be 25 years old. Somehow some people have gotten around this by buying imported used vehicles in Canada, and then getting them into the states. I don't know how. The change in the value of the dollar will make a difference to what you can get.

Fuel Efficiency is well documented in this forum, to give you a range, people get 9-14 l/100km on the highway depending on load, speed, transmission altitude and luck.

Whatever you do do not buy a 2.4L turbodiesel hiace. The head will crack.

Cheers,
Mark

The 2.4 and the 3.0 litre turbo diesels are both known for this issue. That's not to say they are a bad engine, it's just that people don't pay enough attention to the cooling system!
Secondly, it has been discovered that one of the main reasons that these vans crack heads is that the exhaust system is too small to efficiently draw heat away from the exhaust manifold (created by the turbo).

Once the factory (OEM) exhaust is removed and a 2" or larger system is plumbed all the way through, it eliminates this problem completely.