I had a low mileage, gold on gold, stick-shift hatchback as my first car a few years ago and, though I've move onward and upward, I remember the little bugger fondly. The tercel hatchback can haul a suprising amount of cargo, but when fully loaded it gets pretty sluggish. With a manual transmission, this light-weight car can be really fun to zip around the hills in with economy tires a-squealing! The low gearing and light-weight allow its 80hp to give plenty of acceleration up to about 50mph with only the driver on board. It can be a lot of fun to drive a slow car fast!

Reality check: there are plenty of downsides to this bare-bones vehicle: crashworthiness is very poor, freeway noise is high, no warning if you leave your headlights on (bit me more than once), no power accessories, worn out-parts by now.

Today, a 1984 tercel should be dirt-cheap to buy, and normal running costs would be about as low as you could get - but it's age means that you should probably treat it as a disposable car since any serious repair would not be worth the investment. If you don't care about power accessories, don't travel on high-speed roads, and can't afford anything newer - then it could work for you, but considering the safety aspect I'd get something newer and better.
Amount Paid (US$): 3,000
Condition: Used
Model Year: 1984