Buyers Guide

[Ken555]

My wife wants to buy a 1994 (M) Celica 2.0 GT. We've had a look at one we quite like and it seems to drive perfectly, the electrics all work, there are no fluid leaks, and it has a FSH.

What else should I look for ? Any known weak points ?

Thanks

Ken

[GT4 BOOSTER]

no weak points as such , check the abs works first though if it has it , some take the bulb outa the dash .a knocking may come from the rear , thats the rear anti roll bar bushes £12 to fix and easy job.make sure the clutch is fine cos replacement is expensive £ 300 to £ 400 , front calipers can seize and cause wobble through the steering wheel due to warped discs.basically check for crash damage and over spray under the wheel arches and lipped paint around the rubber window seals and such like.

make sure its a 3sge engine and not a 3sfe .the 3sge is 173 bhp and 3sfe is only 140 ish if its power you want , as its very noticiable.

other than that go ahead you wont be dissappointed , parts are quite expensive too , spark plugs £40 a set if they are platinum.but its all worth it excellent motor car is it like mine here the red 1 ????

[Ken555]

no weak points as such

Sounds good

check the abs works...front calipers can seize

Checked, the car pulls up straight from 60 to zero with full abs working and no hands on the wheel.

make sure its a 3sge engine

Looking at the posts on this, from what I remember there was no lamda? sensor on the front of the manifold, and the radiator had only the one fan, so should be 3sge ?

parts are quite expensive

I run a , well modified, 300 bhp JDM Impreza myself, so quite used to the costs of parts :(

Looks like this:-

Bodywork is clean, only bad points are a few marks on the door cards and central arm rest, and new nanking tyres all around.

[GT4 BOOSTER]

my car is a 95 3sge and it has a lambda , but yes the radiator is half the size and 1 fan i also have nankangs all round i find them more than adequate

[Ken555]

As far as I can remember it looks like above, I remember checking the dipstick next to the plate and it had no visible sensor at the front.

like this :-

it defiantly had a thin radiator with a single fan, is this a sure sign? (The car is about 75 miles away so can't check easily)

[GT4 BOOSTER]

the top engine is the 3sge , the lambda sensor is underneath the engine on the front pipe about 12" up from the cat .

[chocka]

look on the cam belt cover - it tells you what engine is fitted

[GT4 BOOSTER]

nowt on mine chocka its plain black

[chocka]

This is very similar to a previous post? maybe your label has fallen off? its on my gen5 and was on my old gen4

[Ken555]

Thanks for all the help, B) looks like I'll be trying to cut a deal with the garage about this car. Must admit I'm quite taken with it myself, swapping from commuting in the wifes Fiat Seicento to it will be fun. It's also a lot more refined in traffic than my own car.

I suspect it won't be too long before she wants more power. So expect to see me back asking more questions on here.

[GT4 BOOSTER]

maybe its a uk model and they dont put stickers on .

[Ken555]

See this thread for details