1993 Toyota Carina E GTi - ebay unseen acquisition!

[greengartside]

Hey folks,

 

So this is what I got up to today.

 

To sum up, I found a Carina E GTi on the 'bay quite cheaply - only problem was that it was 200 miles away in North Wales...

 

I decided to take a punt on it and following in the footsteps of SpottedLaurel, I bought a car sight unseen miles and miles away.

 

 

Here it is from the advert...looks good...

 

Got up at 4:30am, and grabbed some stuff - I was excited about going to see it but also nervous in case it turned out to be an absolute lemon...and the fact the Nissan has a noisy as hell gearbox and would it make the distance ok?? Only one way to find out!

 

Filled up with £40 of pez, grabbed some water and set off from Bury St. Edmunds at exactly 5am.

 

 

 

Blurred shot FTW!

 

I kept at a steady 80mph most of the time and also the fact it was lashing it down made me keep the speed quite low. I didn't fancy decimalising the gearbox before I got there.

 

By 7am I was at Telford Services just off the M54...time for a Starbucks (Frescato please) and a rest. Making good progress.

 

 

a half-hour break and I hit the road again, nothing untoward happening to car or driver, the 'box was still hanging in there and wasn't getting any worse

 

 

I rolled into Bagillt at 8:45am, and because the car dealers didn't open until 10am I decided to try and find the abandoned Black Fiesta XR2 at the garage further on down the road. I set off in the direction of Rhyl and drove through Mostyn where I expected it would be, but nothing. I almost gave up and turned around but then the garage came into view.

 

It's still there but it's been moved around the side of the garage, along with the silver Kia (?) 4x4 that was next to it. I was intending to take a snap but a very angry man stared me out from the house next door as I drove past I tried to do another snap coming back along the other way but he was still there in the window and gave me another dirty look, so I had to give up it is still there though and looks bloody knackered!

 

Got back into Bagillt at 9:30 and waited outside the car lot for the vendor to turn up.

 

 

I can see it from the gates and it looks very clean, so I had to play the waiting game. Vendor turns up at 10 and I have a look over the car. It's missing a headlamp washer trim and heater speed knob but apart from that it's all there. There was a handbook but no service history book. The Carina E badges are gone from the tailgate (I have replacements) but that was it. They didn't even bother looking at the Almera as it's just for scrap I was told.

 

So I took it down the road and it went very well, the handbrake sticks a little but it's all good. No fuel so the drive is limited to the High Street. I decide that it's good enough and a deal is done. I grab the stereo from the Almera and with a slightly fonde fairwell to it I set off in the Toyota.

 

 

First fill up of the day, £35 worth.

 

Journey back was very uneventful, the temperature gauge stayed exactly below half for the whole journey, still feels tight for 122,000 miles. Goes like a rocket, especially past 5k revs so it must be the high-powered 2.0??

 

Stopped at Telford Services again

 

 

 

 

Clean interior

 

 

 

Then got stuck in traffic on the M6, luckily Radio 2 and the travel reports kept me going (and sane) - the rain didn't help things and the wipers were as useless as Mike Brewer's grasp of the english language. Mercifully the rain stopped and it brightened up. Got back to Bury St. Edmunds at 3pm on the dot. First stop was Halfrauds to purchase some wiper blades and a connector for my fancy CD player. Next thing is to tax it as it runs out on Monday

 

All in all, a good purchase and it seems to have done well so far, it is a Toyota after all

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Nice work!!! Everyone loves a good shite collection mission. That looks like a rare and interesting motor, I would love a shot in it. Can I ask how much it cost?

[Cheggers]

Top job...nice car, good distance from home and no dramas.

[greengartside]

Cheers Bol I haven't seen a 5-dr GTi in yonks and there's hardly any for sale either. Well I got (amazingly) £95 for my Almera, so it cost £300 in all. Bargain!

[michiel]

Bargain indeed, nice one!

[Alexg]

Excellent, thats the most un-GTI looking GTI I have ever seen

[trigger]

Nice work matey! I enjoy a good road trip story, We used to run a 2.0D one of these as the reps car when i worked for Jayar Motor Factors, It was a right leggy heap with nearly 300k but it wasn't a bad drive, slow but comfy.

I thought i had a road test on the Carina E GTi but can't find it so have a photo of the one very first British built Carina E from the Heritage Museum at Gaydon.

 

1992 Toyota Carina E GLi by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

[greengartside]

Cheers Trig! Ah you used to work for Jayar? My mate's dad used to work there too.

 

My dad had a 1992 1.6 GLi in a bluey green that was a one-owner jobbie I think. I drove it once and decided that they were awesome after that. K212 PPV was the registration, not beed taxed since 2006..

[Bren]

Looks a bit of a sleeper - especially with those twin tailpipes.

 

Even considering its age, you can't go wrong with an old jap as long as it's been looked after.

[Cavcraft]

Nice work, you've had a right touch there at that money.

[CIH]

Wow I'd rock a GTI as a daily anyday of the week. It's the 150bhp motor but offical 0-60 was ~10 seconds which isn't too hot but whatever.

[KruJoe]

Nice little story. Are those wheels standard fitment? They have me thinking 'Camry'.

[greengartside]

Nice little story. Are those wheels standard fitment? They have me thinking 'Camry'.

 

Yeah they are the standard wheels as far as I know look good though!

[boobydoo]

Yes, I like these road trip stories too!

I think your pics have captured the utter dreariness of a rainy winters day in Britain perfectly!

 

It looks like it might be brown metallic? Always a few extra shite points for that on here!!

[eddyramrod]

Good work that man! Well done for getting a plainly knackered old shed all the way across the country, and home in what looks like a sweet family car. Keep these stories up chaps, I love 'em!

[Timewaster]

Cheers Trig! Ah you used to work for Jayar? My mate's dad used to work there too.

 

Off topic I know, but I used to work for FAB who supplied Jayar

[r.welfare]

Great write-up! Rare model, the GTI; Toyota came too late to the party really for the sporty family saloon market that the Cav SRI dominated for so many years. I think the lump is slightly detuned over the Celica and MR2 installation - those have 173bhp but my elderly Parkers indicates 155bhp for the Carina GTI. Should shift well, mind - my later Avensis has 149bhp and also goes very well when you get it over 3 grand on the tach. Temperature gauge reading sounds spot-on as well. These things are brilliant on fuel if you drive 'em right, i.e. light throttle but hold onto the revs. Something to do with the lean burn design.

[Shep Shepherd]

Seems like you've bagged a fantastic motor. Congratulations

[Lankytim]

Telford services isn't on the way to Balgillt!

[ProgRocker]

The Carina E looks alright. Love the colour!

 

Was the Almera really only worth 95 squid? Looked like a decent motor for an R reg.

[Lord Sterling]

Looks a great purchase you've got yourself there. I'vce always had a sneaking admiration for Carina Es. A mate of mine (from Telford incidently) had a Carina E given to him by his parents after they got a mobility 1st gen Renault Megane, the amount of abuse the Carina put up with is outstanding, it had a great stereo and the seating positions were just right. They really are good cars and certainly something on my 'wants' list. There are even still a few operating as Private Hire cabs around here in Birmingham.

 

Slightly weird question, but did the Almera have any of its OE floor mats?

[dollywobbler]

Nice. That has to be the Autoshite way - trade in a car for an older one!

 

Must be a great Q car with so much power and so little to hint at it.

[CreepingJesus]

Very nice, must be a proper rarity these days: they weren't exactly common when new.

Saw an M-plate 2.0D Carina E this morning, and an H-plate the other day. Thing is, they're all fairly tidy: I wonder if all the nasty ones have gone over the bridge?

[Spottedlaurel]

Great work GG! I'd love to see it in the metal, and compare it with the 1.8 Carina E we had and my current Camrys (less powerful, but possibly more torque?). I think the 1.8 engine was perhaps the weakest element of our Carina, otherwise I thought it looked good and was massive inside.

 

Wheels are different PCD between Carina and Camry I think, 5x100 vs 5x114.3 IIRC.

[greengartside]

Slightly weird question, but did the Almera have any of its OE floor mats?

 

Yes! It had the genuine Nissan ones installed. I was going to take them out as well...

 

SL - We will have to meet up and you can see the Carina for yourself, I'd like to see the Camry!

 

Lankytim - I was intending to go right up the M6 to Chester then across but I had got to Birmingham way too early, so I decided to go cross-country

 

The colour is down as Purple on the logbook, but it's a purpley-brown colour so deffo Autoshite colours!

[r.welfare]

These Carinas don't seem to rust, my next-door neighbour has a P-plate 2.0 CDX and he hasn't washed it in the two years he's had it, still not a spot of grot on the body; he paid I think £375 for it with 75k on the clock and one previous owner and has probably only serviced it once since...the 3S-FE is a very tough engine provided the cambelt is changed regularly, so given yours has no history that might be something to look into doing if it's a keeper.

[greengartside]

Mine's got a little bit of rust on the front arch, it's not too serious but I may chuck another wing on if it gets worse. All solid apart from that, a bit of the lacquer has come off the tailgate spoiler and left wing. It may be because it's spent all it's life near the coast, it never went out of the area in 17 years until yesterday!

 

Cambelt was changed recently and a full service done as well as far as I know.

[Cavcraft]

Telford services isn't on the way to Balgillt!

 

 

It can be if you come off the M6 for the M54, then A5/A483. Either whang up the A5 and over the top, or follow the A5 onto the A483 and pick up the A55 by Chester.

[greengartside]

Well first day of ownership is going well, only problems I can see are that the cooling fan comes on quite a lot (temp gauge stays below half when running) and just the little things like a missing headlamp washer trim and heater speed knob - has anyone got these they can sell me for a few bob? And does this model have an electric aerial?

[In The Pit]

I've always liked the Carina E I bought a L reg 1993 1.6 Xli at an auction for £850 in 2002 (a bargain as it was immaculate) kept it up til 2004, they are such a nice shape but sadly will become a very rare sight in around 5/6 years time.

 

They dont rust much atall the British build quality seems excellent they are much better than the previous Carina II that rusted fairly fast.