Buying Advice

[Pasty]

Been looking at a Y plate Celica 190 (UK) with 18K on the clock.....

Imaculate condition...(but with a few small chips on the front bumper I think these come as standard with Gen 7 Celica's)

The garage wants 14K this will include 12 months MOT/TAX/Warrenty (For what it's worth) and half tank of fuel.....

Is this a decent price.

[GT4 BOOSTER]

dont you fancy a gt4 or supra over the no so fast gen 7 celica ?

[SMW]

Not a fan of the G7 myself - as already mentioned I would go Supra on that money but hey each to their own. Bet it's blue (am I right ?)

Anyway -

Parkers have a price for 30 000 miles so obvioulsy you need to up this a bit as you only have half that.

Cost New ('01)

£ 20480

Dealer Retail

£ 11990

Private Good

£ 11665

Private Poor

£ 9920

Part Exchange

£ 11010

[JohnnyC]

Seems a little steep to me.

Traded in my 140bhp Gen7 - I know, only 140bhp, but it had EVERYTHING on - premium pack & dynamic pack, so cost around £20K.

It went up on the forecourt for £12,995 I seem to remember.

But all this was a year and a half ago (the car was a 2001 X plate, just a month older and it would've been a Y plate, and had only 22K miles).

[mikeb]

dont you fancy a gt4 or supra over the no so fast gen 7 celica ?

←

The gen 7 is a very different animal to a GT4 or supra. The latter are proper 'grand tourers', but the gen 7 is more small sports than GT. I know the GT4 and supra are faster, but they are also heavier and less nimble in the corners than a gen 7. Becuase of this, and 10 years worth of engine development, the gen 7 will do about 40 mpg on a run, a GT4 will get about 30 mpg, and a supra will just about get 20. I would love a supra (and I've been looking at some), but I don't think I can afford the fuel bills at 16k miles a year.

Another thing to compare is reliability. An 18k mile gen 7 ought to be healthy for a long time (apart from lift bolts :cough:). A supra for that money is going to be 10 years old, and likely to have done >80k miles. I know modern cars don't corrode like old ones, but your still going to be waiting for radiators, intercoolers, diff coolers, dampers, PAS pumps, brake/fuel lines, and of course turbos, to need replacing.

14k for a 190 sounds a lot. The manufacturers 3 year warranty will be out, I don't know how good a dealers warranty would be in reality. I would say 12 to 12.5k would be more realistic. If you go for it, ask them to change the 'lift bolts' for the revised ones (remind them that if they let go and wreck the engine, they will be paying under the warranty).

[Pasty]

The car is red and I have bought it...... :D

Good deal on my trade in (Subaru legacy 2.0turbo 4wd) and £750 trade in....

He wouldn't change the lift bolts... said this it wasn't worth it ??? Will this be a problem? should I get them changed with Mr T? how much is that likely to be?

Oh so many questions.... I feel like such a novice....

[GT4 BOOSTER]

lift bolts were apparently too soft and were snapping , mr.t is replacing them with a new kind tougher bolts.

[Mandy]

What are the lift bolts and when were the new ones fitted as standard

[GT4 BOOSTER]

bolts that lift the cams to open and shut the valves faster which gives you the extra power at high revs. mandy. as a guess i'd say only now are they going in as standard.

[mikeb]

I'm not sure exactly when they started fitting the revised lift bolts. I am pretty sure that when they stopped calling it the '190' and named it the t-sport instead, they were done (is that the 'facelift' gen 7?). So, all t-sports should be OK. Possibly, the late 190's will have them as well.

It's quite a straight forward job to change them. Toyota shouldn't charge more than a hour or so for labour, and the bolts cost pence. I think I have seen instructions on the web for how to DIY.

The new ones have more material on them, so they should last a lot longer before they wear down to the point that they shear.