New Toyotashite for me

[CortinaDave]

Skoda sold on sunday to a bloke who flew over from LATVIA to get it - and is now driving it back there. Seemingly it is worth three times as much there so he plans to sell it for profit. Fair enough - I pad £300 and sold him it for a grand.Not bad although I did have to put up with a quite spectacular number of ebay idiots while it was for sale.

 

So left with the Primera - but having sat for a few weeks it now has no brakes whatsoever - All the fludi has gone and topping it up made no difference - pedal straight to the floor - so sadly its heading for the weighbridge. Between the brakes problem and the fact it needs a new downpipe, and the tax is out - plus i needed back on the road urgently, it made more sense to buy something else

 

One 1994 Celica 2.0GT - years MOT, a bit of rent, lots of history and 89k , with expensive looking ned alloys and new tyres, and a DAB radio. Goes like stink and is very tidy for an L reg car. mine for £450 which i didnt think was too shabby.

 

It was literally a case of - need to buy something today and it was the most respectable cheapo I could find - but I really quite like it!

 

 

 

 

 

Other than headlights which like to shine into the sky rather than on the road theres not much wrong with it - any thoughts on these?

[barefoot]

Although I know nothing, I like the look of them & particularly fancy a convertible.

I shall use you as my test-dummy & watch carefully how you get on over the next few months before buying.

[dollywobbler]

Looks good! When I rush out with money to desperately buy a car, I always end up with something shit. That looks very smart. I'm surprised at how cheap Toyota sports cars are - even MR2s are giveaway cash.

[HillmanImp]

I keep thinking how cheap these are but then you realise how old they are and think, maybe not. They still look great IMO. Never driven one (except for on Sega Rally - probably no the same) but could see myself in one at some point, or an MR2. Evne the Mk2 MR2s are growing on me now.

 

There was that lovely G reg one (2 types before IIRC), up in Gretna on Retro Rides recently. For the money it looked like a steal. Was not selling though. Crackers.

[dollywobbler]

I keep thinking how cheap these are but then you realise how old they are and think, maybe not.

 

Eh? They're not exactly ancient history. I struggle to comprehend how cheap these are when you see what people will pay for a Mazda MX-5 or even a Rover Tomcat for a slightly fairer comparison. I know Celicas are 'boring' FWD but it still seems a lot of car for the cash for me.

[Craig the Princess]

I keep thinking how cheap these are but then you realise how old they are and think, maybe not.

 

Eh? They're not exactly ancient history. I struggle to comprehend how cheap these are when you see what people will pay for a Mazda MX-5 or even a Rover Tomcat for a slightly fairer comparison. I know Celicas are 'boring' FWD but it still seems a lot of car for the cash for me.

 

I take your point on MX-5 but Tomcats are still worth pennies. Mine cost £100 (needed £200 spend on the brakes though) two years ago.

 

Love the Celica by the way, that looks like a great buy. Very clean inside and under the bonnet as well by the looks.

[dollywobbler]

My mistake. Thought the Tomcat must have become collectable or something as I've not seen one for ages!

[Craig the Princess]

My mistake. Thought the Tomcat must have become collectable or something as I've not seen one for ages!

 

Finding a non barried one is a challenge, maybe they are worth more. That said there was a Turbo one in Classic Car Weekly with MoT for ages for only about £500

[HillmanImp]

I keep thinking how cheap these are but then you realise how old they are and think, maybe not.

 

Eh? They're not exactly ancient history. I struggle to comprehend how cheap these are when you see what people will pay for a Mazda MX-5 or even a Rover Tomcat for a slightly fairer comparison. I know Celicas are 'boring' FWD but it still seems a lot of car for the cash for me.

 

I mean that I always think of them as a lot newer. I cant believe how old they are, I think they have held their looks well. Money wise, they are probably holding their value (not) as well as a similar age Prelude and are (quite rightly) faring somewhat better than a Probe. If they were 10 years older the prices would probably be creeping upwards, they are probably starting to reach their bottom price now?

 

MX5s dont seem to go for much more, I know you have your dreamers putting them up for ££££ but in reality they seem to only go for a couple of hundred extra. Not been looking at the Rovers, forgot they existed. Are they popular? That surprises me as I cant remember them being that popular when they were new except with wideboys.

[Craig the Princess]

Are they popular? That surprises me as I cant remember them being that popular when they were new except with wideboys.

 

Don't know, I think they have a bit of a following (mainly the modding types though).

A non-turbo 2 litre is plenty quick enough, handles quite well and is decent on fuel.

[barrett]

WTF is a Rover Tomcat?

[wuvvum]

WTF is a Rover Tomcat?

An R8 coupé.

[Spottedlaurel]

On the basis of the Camrys of this era which I know well, I imagine this will be a quality bit of kit which should prove to be a satisfying and enjoyable drive. Being a sporty car I know there’s more scope for abuse and neglect, but Toyota were building stuff to a high standard at this time.

[OwdChina]

I was given one of this ilk by someone who wanted it shifting off his front lawn. It'd been there for years but started first time with jump leads. Wasn't sure what i was gonna do with it, but after having it in the air on the ramps and seeing it was bloody good underneath, as well as totally rot free topside i decided it was worth saving. I popped it into a mates lockup for safe keeping, that was about 4 yrs ago.

 

 

It needed discs and pads allround, a windscreen, a bloody good clean inside (there was mushrooms growing in the rear footwells) and a few minor odds & sods.

 

 

 

Fast forward to last June and my friend needed his lockup back, not unreasonable seeing as how i'd had a car in it rent free for yonks. The planned repairs were nowhere in sight with me being abroad most of the time, so on the evil bay it went.

 

 

 

 

Sold it for just over 200 quid, however the guys who bought it had no intention of breaking or restoring it. Time is money etc etc etc and they where just interested in the weight.

It got fed into the gobbler as was............fuckers.

 

 

Hindsight, if i'd known this i'd rather see it go to the oval.

[CIH]

My mistake. Thought the Tomcat must have become collectable or something as I've not seen one for ages!

 

I see Toyotas less than 5 years old and all the bushes are fooked, all the bolots seized and all the bolts seized in the bushes etc etc. I'd expect a 10 year old Toyota to be absolutly shot underneath.

[sporty-shite]

I had this one a while ago, which I rescued from the bridge.

 

 

Failed test on a bit of welding, a couple of lights and rear control arm bushes. Problem was, the bushes were only listed by the dealer, and then you had to buy the full arm! About £130 a side IIRC. Got polybushes off Coggers from NoSkool/R-R.

 

Other than that, it was ace. It went like stink and was supa-reliable, if a bit battered. I'd have another one, no hesitation. Only sold this because I'd bought the 635 off Pete.

[Negative Creep]

Friend of mine runs a garage and swears by the Celica. Another mate has a GT4 which is rather quick, but always breaking. And costing a lot of money.