The Short Version
- Most Sprinter Caribs are 4×100 with a 54 mm bore — the AE95, the AE111 and the AE114.
- The AE115 is 5×100. Five holes, same 100 mm circle. We confirmed it ourselves on the factory page.
- The rim is identical either way: 14×5.5J at +45 on 185/65R14. Nothing in the size tells you which hub you have.
- So “any Carib wheel fits any Carib” is wrong, and it is wrong in a way no listing will warn you about.
The Five-Lug Carib
This is the most unusual thing we have found in a while, so we checked it ourselves rather than taking it on trust. The factory page for the GF-AE115G, 4WD 1.8 Z Touring reads: PCD 100 mm, 5 holes, hub bore under investigation.
Five holes on a 100 mm circle. That is a real Toyota pattern — it turns up on some early RAV4s — but it is rare, and finding it on one grade of a Corolla wagon while every other grade of the same car is four-lug is genuinely odd.
The AE115 is the flagship: four-wheel drive, the 1.8-litre 7A-FE, the Z Touring grade and up. Toyota evidently gave it a different hub along with the bigger engine. Every other Carib we checked — the first-generation AE95, the two-wheel-drive AE111 and the 1.6-litre four-wheel-drive AE114 — is 4×100 with a 54 mm bore.
Factory Specification
| Generation | Chassis | Period | Grade | Wheel | PCD / Holes / Bore |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st (4WD only) | E-AE95G | 1988–1991 | 4WD 1.6 AV-2 | 13×5J +39, 165SR13 | 100 / 4 / 54 |
| 2nd | GF-AE111G | 1999.04–2002.08 | 2WD 1.6 BZ Touring | 14×5.5J +45, 185/60R14 | 100 / 4 / 54 |
| 2nd | GF-AE114G | 1999.04–2002.08 | 4WD 1.6 S Touring | 14×5.5J +45, 185/65R14 | 100 / 4 / 54 |
| 2nd | GF-AE115G | 1999.04–2002.08 | 4WD 1.8 Z Touring | 14×5.5J +45, 185/65R14 | 100 / 5 / under investigation |
Look at the last two rows. Same rim, same offset, same tyre, different hole count. If you buy a set of Carib wheels described by size, you have no way of knowing which hub they came from.
How to Tell Which You Have
Count the studs. That is it. There is no shortcut through the chassis code unless you know it exactly — AE114 is four, AE115 is five — and there is nothing in the wheel dimensions that distinguishes them.
If you are buying wheels for a Carib and the seller cannot tell you the hole count from a photograph, do not buy.
The First Generation Was 4WD Only
Worth a note because it affects what you are looking at. The AE95 Carib has no two-wheel-drive version — the database’s own model index confirms it, and it is consistent with the car’s whole purpose. Four-wheel drive was the reason the Carib existed.
The second generation added two-wheel-drive grades, which is where the AE111 comes in.
Relationship to the Levin
The four-lug Caribs share their 4×100 / 54 mm figures with the AE101 and AE111 Levin and Trueno, which we cover in a separate guide. So Levin wheels fit an AE111 or AE114 Carib.
They do not fit an AE115. Nothing four-lug does.
Sizing
14×5.5J at +45 is a modest starting point on a wagon that is often used as one. The sensible window is 15×6J to 15×6.5J at +38 to +45, keeping load rating in mind — a Carib gets loaded, and a light wheel made for a Levin is not necessarily the right choice.
For the AE115 specifically, the 5×100 pattern narrows your options considerably. It is shared with some Toyota and Subaru applications, so the pool is not empty, but it is much smaller than 4×100.
Importing
The AE95 ran 1988–1991 and is fully eligible. The second-generation cars ran to August 2002, so those built through August 2001 are eligible now, with the last year following through to 2027.
What We Could Not Verify
- AE115 hub bore. Marked “under investigation” in the factory database.
- Cross-confirmation of the AE115 five-lug finding against a second database. We opened the factory page ourselves; we did not find a second independent source.
- AE95 grade variation beyond the AV-2. The index lists AV-3 and RV Spirit grades with both 13×5J and 13×5.5J options; we opened one page.