Service History On A St205...

[hashkibob]

hello everyone

ive been threatening to buy myself a gt4 (ST205) for a while now and have seen one that i am very interested in. its a jap import which has had 1 previous owner in this country. its done 44,000 miles which is great but apparently it dosnt have service history. i was just wondering how big an issue this is likely to be? i know theyre tough cars and this one comes with a 6-12 month warranty but id like to know what those of you more experienced with the cars think.

any help much appreciated

Tim

[GTForbes]

not many imports come with a service history, not that you can understand what it says even if you do get a service history.

check if the timing/cam belt has been dont as that can cost upwards of £200 for labour alone, also take it a test drive, listen for odd noises, usually if it's standard it should be a very smooth and quiet ride, and knocking or creaks should be found out and also make sure the steering doesn't wonder as that is a sign of worn suspension.

there are loads of sites that give you everything you could ever want to check before buying a four but unfortunately i have none of them to hand ATM, pretty sure someone will post them before i get back online

[celsteve]

With imports the service history doesn't really matter too much as the japanese equivalent of our MOT is very stringent and does cover the engine,so it's basically serviced at the same time. You don't find many that aren't in good nick

[mikeb]

First impressions count for a lot when you look over a car like this. Stuff like the condition of the paintwork, upholstery, steering wheel and gear knob are a good indicator of how much use the car has seen. They should give away a false mileage.

There is an excellent buyers guide on here:

www.st205.net

[richgt4]

Tim,

Get yourself over to www.GT4OC.net & you'll find all your answers on there :D

One kind member may be able to come along with you & look over the car for you if you ask nicley??

Cheers,

Rich :D

[hashkibob]

thanks for the advice everyone the buyers guide on st205.net will come in very handy. it would be cool if i could get someone more knowledgeable to come along with me to view it but due to unpredictable working hours it will be a last minute decision when i actually go to see it. anyway, heres hoping its a goodun!

[daktari]

thanks for the advice everyone   the buyers guide on st205.net will come in very handy. it would be cool if i could get someone more knowledgeable to come along with me to view it but due to unpredictable working hours it will be a last minute decision when i actually go to see it. anyway, heres hoping its a goodun!

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Dude.. I`m on the island. Be happy to help.

You have PM

[Sketchy]

Main things to check would be clutch, belts, superstrut suspension and turbo condition, pretty much everything else should be in good condition with that low mileage. Other than that check for platstic/misalined body panels which could indicate accident damage, rust should be pretty much none exsistant being that it's an import but that would also depend on how long its been in the country and how well its been treated here. Check under the car, take a torch .

As you've seen the guide on St205.net covers pretty much everything other than that just follow common sense, if you don't think you can remember everything take a little note book with things to check and how to check them and any questions you want to ask the seller. That was you can't forget something when you get wrapped up in the car. Which you will :P .

Also I would advise very strongly that you take someone else with you, preferrably someone who knows about fours.

I did when I was looking and it saved me from a buying a couple of doggy ones. It's far to easy to get really enthusiastic about the 205 especially after driving one. :D

[hashkibob]

yeah as i said i would be much happier if i had a four expert with me but im going well out of my way to see it and i dont really know anyone well enough to propose they spend a day trekking around with me. ill try not to get too carried away with the magic that im expecting!

[rizzlaking]

Hi i just wondered if you bought the GT4 in the end and how you got on with her, Bet your glad you went for something differant and not down the same road as all the scooby boys on the island there just too many of them.

I also have a ST205 there are only a rare few of us on the island it would be nice to see a few more around and peps to swap info with, any chance of posting some pics up here and i ll look out for ya :)

[hashkibob]

it went very well thanks, i put a deposit on it and am supposed to be picking it up next week. however, i found out yesterday that the island garages that sell super unleaded are soon to stop doing so. im not really happy running a jap import on normal unleaded and i am not in a position to pay for the remapping of the ecu to suit normal unleaded. i can still get my deposit back but today is my last chance so im at a loss for what to do right now...

[sotal]

it went very well thanks, i put a deposit on it and am supposed to be picking it up next week. however, i found out yesterday that the island garages that sell super unleaded are soon to stop doing so. im not really happy running a jap import on normal unleaded and i am not in a position to pay for the remapping of the ecu to suit normal unleaded. i can still get my deposit back but today is my last chance so im at a loss for what to do right now... 

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Better stock up! Have you asked Daktari if he know anything about this??

[Sketchy]

it went very well thanks, i put a deposit on it and am supposed to be picking it up next week. however, i found out yesterday that the island garages that sell super unleaded are soon to stop doing so. im not really happy running a jap import on normal unleaded and i am not in a position to pay for the remapping of the ecu to suit normal unleaded. i can still get my deposit back but today is my last chance so im at a loss for what to do right now... 

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Could always have a look round scrappies for a UK ECU. Runs on Normal Unleaded fine then. Or look for a none import.

[hashkibob]

yeah i did consider both options sketchy, does a uk ecu fit a jap car as a straight swap? ive not seen a uk gt4 that suits me in months of looking, theyre all modded, have high miles or have something else wrong with them that puts me off. ive not talked to daktari but im sure he will post on the subject soon!

[Sketchy]

yeah i did consider both options sketchy, does a uk ecu fit a jap car as a straight swap? ive not seen a uk gt4 that suits me in months of looking, theyre all modded, have high miles or have something else wrong with them that puts me off. ive not talked to daktari but im sure he will post on the subject soon!

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Should be a stright swap as theres no difference in aftermarket ecus between JDM or UK. They where all made in japan anyway. Only difference I'm aware of are the spec levels i.e. JDM have climate control and electric folding wing mirrors etc. The ecu is just mapped differently to take advantage of their higher octane fuel.

You can remap the standard toyota ecu as far as I'm aware so only other option would be to look into either getting an aftermarket ecu like the apexi power fc, or a **** load of octane booster. Personally I'd go for the power FC but then your talking around £500 for the ecu + mapping cost.

On the slighly more expensive side you could always invest in a ferry company and fuel tanker and come over to the main to get your fuel <_<

Know what you mean about finding a UK one though mine was a bit of a stroke of luck. Completely standard and well looked after only one of 2 decent uk versions I found over the 4 months I was looking. Millions of JDMs though. I asked at a couple of toyota dealers, the answer from one was "I've worked here for ten years and only seen one come up for sale on our court" The other one didn't know what car I was on about kept pointing at a 03 celica Tsport

As for the higher mileage so long as it's not stupidly high i.e. over 100,000 I wouldn't worry to much as it should mean that things like Clutch, superstrut etc should have been changed already and then you don't have to pay for that yourself.

Where as say a 60,000 mile car you gonna need to change the clutch and cambelt pretty much straight away and there's the looming threat of the fig8's/lower arms on the superstrut needing changing, which normally go some where between 60-80,000 depending on what sort of life the car has had. At about £400 a side just for parts

[celsteve]

Congrats on the new purchase, providing you decided to buy it! No Optimax on the island then? :(

So will running it on bog standard fuel actually do it any harm, or is it that you just wont get the maximum power available?

Where as say a 60,000 mile car you gonna need to change the clutch and cambelt pretty much straight away and there's the looming threat of the fig8's/lower arms on the superstrut needing changing, which normally go some where between 60-80,000 depending on what sort of life the car has had. At about £400 a side just for parts

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Right now, with a car on 53k and a whole load of other financial commitments, I did not need to hear that!

[hashkibob]

nope, once current supplies of super unleaded run out the island will only have normal unleaded and diesel. aside from losing power i believe the use of normal unleaded does gradually damage the engine and i hear will eventually result in it needing a partial re-build this may not be for 30 - 40k miles but i just cant bring myself to buy a car and know that im using fuel that will eventually kill it. most other import owners on the island are refusing to use normal unleaded and i believe some of them have even put their cars up for sale. im starting to think i might have to get out of this deal and look for a UK spec i think im jinxed or something, just my luck for this to happen 3 days after i buy an import car!!!

[celsteve]

:( That's real harsh, i don't know what I'd do in your situation. I suppose octane booster would end up costing loads if you're using it regularly. Nothing's ever simple is it?

[daktari]

I had heard rumours about super unleaded being phased out over here, but nothing concrete. On the upside, The manager of Sainsburys petrol station said that if enough interest was shown and the demand was high enough he would put in a request for a super unleaded supply. I`ll have to post on the local sites and get people motivated.

I don`t know what the long term effects would be on a JDM car but it certainly wouldn`t do much harm short term. &#33;Removed&#33; annoying though. :(

Rizzlaking is yours the black one or the Red one? :D Welcome to TOC by the way.

[sotal]

Could you not buy a few gallons of octane booster. Some people reckon it does better, doesn't go off as quick and ends up cheaper. Not sure though??

Just out of interest Martin, do you use Optimax/Super Unleaded in your Motorbikes or just regular??

[daktari]

Could you not buy a few gallons of octane booster. Some people reckon it does better, doesn't go off as quick and ends up cheaper. Not sure though??

Just out of interest Martin, do you use Optimax/Super Unleaded in your Motorbikes or just regular??

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Just the normal regular. The amount i use the bike and the road conditions over here don`t warrant super.

I was using super in the car, but again where it`s a uk car it`s not critical although it definately runs better on super.