Advice On Buying A Celica Gt4

[Godzilla_uk]

Hi,

Ive had a Toyota Corolla GLS for a few months now, but recently ive suddenly had a taste for somthing a wee bt more interesting... Ive always like the look of the older Celica's but i would appreciate some advice from owners..

I was looking at this car recently:

MAKE: Toyota

MODEL: Celica GT-Four

YEAR: 1997P

ENGINE SIZE: 2000cc Petrol Turbo

GEARS: 5 Speed Manual

COLOUR: White

FEATURES: 17" OZ alloys, Aftermarket rear spoiler, side skirts, and front spoiler. Kakimoto Racing Exhaust system from Cat back, CD player.

It about 8 Grand and is an import.

Would i would like to know is what are the ins and out with a Celica... How are they for reliability (my plan is to get a "stock", or near-stock one and possibily have somthing done with it). Any info on what to look out for when buying what can go wrong with them etc..

Also if anyone in Scotland knows the best place to source one, and best places to have maintenance done also

Im doing my own noseying about but to me this is a fairly big jump from bog standard car to fun :)

Anyhoos hope you guys can help

[GeorgeInDallas]

I'm new to this chat, but I've been driving for about 40 years. I own a 1995 Celica GT Convertible (red, of course) and it is without a doubt the finest car I've ever owned. I just turned over 100,000 miles and, in all that time, the only things I've replaced have been the Battery, brakes (at 95,000 miles) and one of the motors for raising and lowering the top. Tires, of course. I've changed the oil every 5,000 miles and taken it in for tune-ups/inspections only twice. It's a beautiful car and utterly reliable. I expect to be driving it for quite a long time.

Hope this helps you.

George in Dallas, Texas (USA)

[not to be confused with the other George from Texas... he's confused enough!!!]

[Godzilla_uk]

Thanks for the info, ive got a mate going up to the dealer with me on Wednesday, who is more in tune with fast cars and is going to help me out with the buying bit.

Only found one usefull site i tried http://www.gt4oc.net/ but couldnt find any guides...

This site appears to be out of date but it has a nice faq on GT4's and the guide has a good buyers guide, that im going to use as a checklist.. it applicable to any car, i suppose but its nice to have a list to go through when your "kicking tyres" :D

GT4 Faq site

If you go to the links page there theres a few sites to look at (some are dead tho...)

Anyhoo if my insurance co is reasonable with the quote, itll be bye-bye to the Corolla GLS :( nice car, gonna try and hold onto it as a work car . Ill update with some piccies if im lucky to get it..

Now off to find a sat nav system... :hokus-pokus:

[toyotass3]

stay clear of the gt4,what you need is a ss3,ill sell you one for 6150

[djdna2000]

info in my site in my signature :)

[Godzilla_uk]

Thanks!

I missed my chance on my first GT4 on my list, theres some happy person in Ireland had the car i wanted :( oh well seat cloth was worn out anyways..

Got a trip down South (im in Scotland) planned with two objectives, a GT4 and me mates wanting a Lancer :) should be a laugh.. When fortune favours me ill get a pic posted of the car :)

[Tom.B]

Good luck with the looking. Gt4s are sweet as m8 defo get one

[st202]

the car u mentioned the one they have in newera imports???

djna - man such a gr8 read, really helped enlighten me and made me want a st205 even more

[djdna2000]

djna - man such a gr8 read, really helped enlighten me and made me want a st205 even more

thx my friend, I've got a load more stuff to put on the site as I haven't updated it for ages (been moving house and other stuff), loads of tech info plus I've just fitted TRD coilovers, uprated antirollbars and some Cusco chassis stuff inc strut braces and lower subframe stiffener...