Celica 190 T Sport

[coogy]

Hey all,

Bit of background - I used to have an Intergra Type R DC2 - Loved it. Really loved it but it died a painful death and I moved on. Last year I bought myself a Cooper S Works with a very tasty spec and its been great fun. Its had a few issues that i've sorted out but I'm looking to get rid to free up some cash to use elsewhere.

Now, the Celica (the 190 version) has caught my eye. I'm looking at realistically spending £3k max and I've grown fond of the creature comforts my MINI has along with the performance. I appreciate the Celica isn't in the same league as a proper hot hatch really, but i'm a fan of coupes and bonkers, high revving engines - god I miss my DC2, did I mention this?!

I can live with the looks of the thing, just. So really I'd like some information from anyone who has had one, driven one etc. Any good?

[Drive Blind]

whoever chose the gearbox ratios in these needs to be sacked

[gazchap]

What Gaz. says, basically.

If you're buying an early car (pre-facelift) check to make sure that the lift bolts have been replaced. If they haven't, or there's no record of it, check on the test run that the car goes into lift OK.

If they haven't been replaced and it goes into lift OK, budget for a few quid and about half an hour to an hour of time to fit new bolts (dead easy, if I can do it anyone can.)

If they have been replaced, great.

If it's a post-facelift car, you don't need to worry about it, but for the sake of a few quid may want to do it anyway.

[s m]

Could you get into the legendary TRD Sport M for the cash?
Seam welded, LSD, 200bhp ..... closer in ethos to the DC2 than the normal T190

[s m]

Gaz. said:

s m said:

Could you get into the legendary TRD Sport M for the cash?
Seam welded, LSD, 200bhp ..... closer in ethos to the DC2 than the normal T190

Not for £3k. The last one I saw for sale was about £8k and they hardly come up for sale that often either.

Ah, you're right, still a bit pricey according to the classifieds. Both in the 4k - 5k bracket still
Saw one about a year ago up for sale privately at about 4k which is why I wondered if they'd dipped lower since

[ambuletz]

There are a couple of threads on here about the 7th gen. general concensus is that you can't go wrong with a celica. Just avoid the pre-facelift ones that have the lower powered 140hp (with no lift) as they are known to use oil. However this shouldn't be an issue as long as you keep topping up the oil.

[PAULJ5555]

I bought a 03 Tsport 3 years ago. Mines a Facelift because of the oil problems on the pre-facelift.

It has nicer seats -2 tone leather stamped TSport.
Nicer Tsport wheels.
And Thunder Grey paint.

Make sure you get a sunroof (its a factory extra)

The engines are great and on the whole a very reliable car. 2+2 and a huge boot.

Watch out for the lift bolts being replaced, or do it yourself they cost about £4

The radiators corrode/leak and need replacing, Pig of a job I know I did mine 2 months ago. Its a common problem now the cars are a few years old.

Get it lowered (not slammed) just a small amount, you will notice the car stock looks too high around the wheel arches. I paid £300.

Oh yeah, mines for sale now in the classifieds, http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/4111475.htm

Edited by PAULJ5555 on Monday 6th August 13:00

[graham22]

Lift bolts are the obvious check & make sure the dash lights don't dim occasionally - this will indicate an ECU problem.

Take one for a good drive to make sure you're still happy with the revvy nature. I had a Celica 190 replacing an Impreza. I had a CRX VTEC before so was happy with making a car rev. Replaced the Celica with an Ibiza Cupra 20VT, just felt the VVTL-i engine was hard work for every day driving vs modern turbo motors. The revvy engine was really at odds with a Corolla T-Sport I owned for a short while.

Still think the lines of the Celica are great though, shame there was never a GT4 gen7.