Toyota Celica as a motorway driver?

[MSJW]

I'm looking into getting a toyota celica as my only car. My drive to work consists of 70 miles per day purely on the motorway. These coupes are relatively affordable at 2.5k and I've heard they're pretty good on fuel consumption returning just under 40mpg. It seems they drink a fair bit of oil every few thousand miles which could get costly. Other than this I think they look great and am very tempted to purchase one.

Has anyone had any experiences with this car for long journeys or any other experiences which may put me off them?

Thanks

[Clamjouster]

I owned a Gen 7 Celica 190 for several years. I never used it day in day out on motorway journeys but when I did go on long journeys I never had any complaints but I suspect doing it all the time might get a bit tiresome as the suspension set up was all about B road enjoyment. Fully laden on a long run it would achieve the high 30s mpg.

[forzaminardi]

I drove regularly between Edinburgh and Glasgow in mine for some time. The fuel consumption is good considering the nature and age of the car (mine was a VVTi-L with 190bhp, the 140s may be even better) but not to the level of a dieselly hatchback, especially a modern one. I've read various mentions of the oil issue which I think was common among early 140 cars, but mine had no problems. As always with the internet, the 'bad things' get coverage while the majority of owners with no problems don't speak up.

The car, in my experience, is fine for the motorway. It has comfortable seats, the ride is fine and generally it's a pleasant car to drive. Again, compared to a modern car it might feel a bit old, but for the price I don't think there's a better all-round car.

[entropy]

If its the 140 then you're looking at 40-44mpg depending on how quick you drive.

70mph is under 2900 rpm, 75/3200, 80/3500

In the 190 its 70/3500

[MSJW]

Great thank you both for your comments. For the price I could get a diesel hatchback but the ones available in this price bracket either have really high mileage or are very small in size similair to my past ford ka.

[AGee]

I've got a 140 variant (for sale actually). The oil issue you speak of is on the pre 2003 140's (mine is an '03).

Mine regularly does 400 miles plus to a £60 tank (@135.9) which I can't moan at. The aircon on them is amazing too.

They are deceptively big, and quite comfortable.

PM me if you want more info on them! It amazed me how cheap you can get them, I paid sub £2k with 78k on the clock, FTSH although it's got scabby wheels (common on Toyota of this age) and a few car park dogs and scratches...

[MSJW]

Thats interesting that the 140 is that much more efficient. From what I've been reading people have been saying to go for the larger variant, but if the fuel economy is better with less horse's then it looks like a 140 is on the books.

[MSJW]

AGee said:

I've got a 140 variant (for sale actually). The oil issue you speak of is on the pre 2003 140's (mine is an '03).

PM me if you want more info on them

Thanks for this. I'd really appreciate any additional info you have on the celicas in general to smarten me up a bit. From what you're saying an 03 plate 140 would be best for my purposes.

[AGee]

I've read (but can't confirm) that unless you're ragging it the 190 isn't much different. The 140 loves to rev but I just potter around in mine! I had an MR2 of similar vintage and engine and that was better again on fuel, but also a lot more fun, however there is very little space to be had!

I'm only selling due to moving further away from work and wanting a boring diesesel estate that I can steal the engine out of next year for my project car, otherwise she ticks the boxes nicely!

[entropy]

And that's about it.

I brought mine a few years ago with over 100k miles on it. Normal maintence ie. new brake discs and pads and new rear spring.

[Grahamr123]

I have the 190 T sport, Its pretty good on motorway. Only real complaint is the road noise, but I have the larger 17" alloys which may contribute to that.
Its pretty solid in all conditions.
Only problem is that its not great in lots of stop start traffic because of the high revvy engine.

[Clamjouster]

MSJW said:

Thats interesting that the 140 is that much more efficient. From what I've been reading people have been saying to go for the larger variant, but if the fuel economy is better with less horse's then it looks like a 140 is on the books.

Go for the 190, you will regret it if you don't. There's a good reason Lotus use its VVTLI in the Exige.

[blank]

As mentioned above, gear ratios on the 190 are terrible for motorway use.

[forzaminardi]

Clamjouster said:

MSJW said:

Thats interesting that the 140 is that much more efficient. From what I've been reading people have been saying to go for the larger variant, but if the fuel economy is better with less horse's then it looks like a 140 is on the books.

Go for the 190, you will regret it if you don't. There's a good reason Lotus use its VVTLI in the Exige.

Agreed, the performance of the 190 more than make up for whatever higher fuel consumption and insurance it costs. You'll be cheating yourself of you go for a 140 version.

[MSJW]

forzaminardi said:

Agreed, the performance of the 190 more than make up for whatever higher fuel consumption and insurance it costs. You'll be cheating yourself of you go for a 140 version.

Just when I thought my mind had been made up...

Tbh I'm kind of cheating myself in getting a coupe above a diesel fiesta in yerms of money I'll be laying out with fuel. If the 140 model gives noticeable better fuel economy then I might pick one of those over the other.

Now this might be a naive question, but how do you know which celica is the 140 or 190?

[Grahamr123]

MSJW said:

Just when I thought my mind had been made up...

Tbh I'm kind of cheating myself in getting a coupe above a diesel fiesta in yerms of money I'll be laying out with fuel. If the 140 model gives noticeable better fuel economy then I might pick one of those over the other.

Now this might be a naive question, but how do you know which celica is the 140 or 190?

The 140 is called VVTi. The 190 is called either VVTI-190 for the pre 02 models or the facelift version is called the T sport, which has the VVTLI engine. L standing for Lift.

[Clamjouster]

There are many subtle things that identify the more powerful version but most such as spoiler and 17 inch wheels could've been extras on 140s when bought new.

Rule of thumb is if it has a red Toyota badge on the rear plus 190 or TSport badge then it's got the better engine. Most conclusive is the engine cover which has VVTLI written on it.

[MSJW]

Clamjouster said:

There are many subtle things that identify the more powerful version but most such as spoiler and 17 inch wheels could've been extras on 140s when bought new.

Rule of thumb is if it has a red Toyota badge on the rear plus 190 or TSport badge then it's got the better engine. Most conclusive is the engine cover which has VVTLI written on it.

Brilliant. Thank you very much. All of this info has been really useful and made it clear that the celica is the car for me.

[Riknos]

Slightly off topic, always liked the Gen 7 Celica, although when I first started looking 7 years ago, I went for the gen 6 GT4 instead due to the power.

But at the price the Gen 7 is at now, it seems tempting.

I'm possibly going to need a car for my wife if / when she learns to drive a manual.

Now I'm thinking I get rid of the S2000 and swap it for a Celica AND a mk3 MR2? Or is that just silly as it's the exact same engine in both cars (if you go for the 140 Celica anyway)

[forzaminardi]

MSJW said:

Just when I thought my mind had been made up...

Tbh I'm kind of cheating myself in getting a coupe above a diesel fiesta in yerms of money I'll be laying out with fuel. If the 140 model gives noticeable better fuel economy then I might pick one of those over the other.

Now this might be a naive question, but how do you know which celica is the 140 or 190?

I'm always looking at Celicas on Autotrader as for the money you can't do much worse, and I've noticed a few 140s being advertised as "T-sports", I'd like to think because the detail of the models aren't all that well-known by mainstream dealers. In particular there were a number of 140 special editions with upgraded interiors that are sometimes sold as T-Sports, and I've even seen some that are clearly 140 but with 'fake' T-sport badges on the back. So be careful. If in doubt you should be able to tell by lifting the bonnet, where if I recall correctly, the engine has VVTLi stamped on it. And finally, behind the wheel you should be able to tell the difference by how the car drives.