Gt4 Buying Advice

[euangti-16]

hi ive been on this site for a bit but as an mr2 owner. sadly my mr2 gave up the fight and the head went on it in a puff of oily white smoke.

im now lookin for a celica GT4 gen 6 i belive the st205 version. ive got bout £4000 to spend i just want to know if this is a realistic budget or will i be buying into problems?

cheers for any advice

[dawesy]

it is a realistic budget but you are on the lower end tidy 205's fetch 4500-5000.

big things t look for, above an overall tidy and corrosion free car, are the front suspensin set up. any front to back movement in the front wheel when off the ground is a bad thing (this will manifest itself as a clunking from the front on the test drive)

clutch, make sure there is no slipping in any gear. a good test is 4th gear and hard acceleration from low speed. if it slips its engine out to do the clutch.

turbo there should be no smoke (may be black smoke when boosting it but thats overfueling which these cars do). after a spirited drive, leave the car idling for 5-10 mins, if it starts filling the street with smoke then walk away as the turbo seals are on their way out.

clunk from the rear when accelerating or letting off harshly means a rear diff mount. these arnt to bad to change but the part is about 90 quid.

try to get one with some service history, if buying a fresh import insist that it has the timing belt changed as a minimum regardless of milage. if they wont then knock off £200 to get it done.

thats about it.

there are a few ST-205 owners in scotland. try to take them round with you if possible

[euangti-16]

cheers ive seen a car in a garage near leeds, Keighley Trade Sports & Performance. phoned the guy he said it had full jap history which is good i presume but i cant read it so doesnt mean much.

the timin belt was changed @ 89,000kilometers cars got 79,000 miles totally standard hes puttin an mot n 6 months tax on it?

does this sound like a good deal?

has anyone had any dealings with this garage?

again any advice welcome

cheers.

[Hardy87]

Dont do it!!! I live near leeds and buying a car from them is not wise. They're reputation is appaling and the way they treat the cars is criminal, Ive once wentt with my dad to look at a skyline and they were bouncing cars of the rev limiters first thing on a winters morning, Ive also know a lad who bought a car from there and when he went back the following week to pick it up half the parts were missing. My advice is to stay well away!!

[Sketchy]

As said above Keighley don't have the best reputation. I'd stay away personally.

[dawesy]

yep good advice.

i have seen a decent ST-205 from there but it is very rare.

they are well renownd for selling sh*te

plus if it comes with full jap history i would be very surprised.

[euangti-16]

thanks for the heads up. its a long way to go for me in Scotland so best to know now rather than get there n be disapointed. mite just have 2 put up with a 1.2 clio till i find 1 :'( lol oh the joys!