New shed- £700 Celica 190
New shed- £700 Celica 190
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Discussion

Tasmin200

Original Poster:

1,379 posts

215 months

Wednesday 7th November 2018
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Just bought this today and had it delivered home. It needs a fair bit of work but I took a punt on it as I've always fancied one and there's not much choice locally here in Scotland.

It's been sitting for four years so needs brakes rebuilt and hopefully just a service engine wise. I couldn't drive it as there's no MOT or exhaust on it. I think this is why it got laid up as they are expensive.

Sorry about the photos, my phone is a potato.




Buzypea

225 posts

167 months

Wednesday 7th November 2018
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Nice. I’ve always thought if I were to go “shedding”, that would be the car I would have.

Toyota reliability with sweet handling, good looks and a bit of poke. What’s not to like.

Andy665

4,159 posts

256 months

Wednesday 7th November 2018
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I had one for a while - massive history and immaculate but was on 126k

Performed great, great fun to drive, completely reliable - only negative was that it was really noisy on long journeys

Very underrated car

ZX10R NIN

30,462 posts

153 months

Wednesday 7th November 2018
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A 190 for £700 that seems a great buy.

Turn7

25,630 posts

249 months

Wednesday 7th November 2018
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Ive owned a 140 for the last 5 years as a daily....currently sitting on 135000...

I get it serviced by a good local Indy and have only had a few horror bills.

This year, the rear brake pins were deemed to be rusted beyond and it went in to have these replaced.Sadly, the whole handbrake backplate was found to be rusted beyond repair, and with new backplates being £400 per side from Toyota, some ingenuity was required. Cue a largish bill....c£600 inc service/MOT

Other than needing a new Rad two years ago and a battery last winter, its been the ulimate Jap relaibilty story.

Drives well, corners flat, doesnt understeer terribly and looks ok....

It IS however noisy and not that comfortable, we generally need a break evry two hours or so.

Rust is the biggest issue, and its getting a bit of a hold on the rear suspension now, and I did plan on outing it next spring...

But having now spunked my money on a Caterham, the Celica will have to make it to 200k......

Tasmin200

Original Poster:

1,379 posts

215 months

Wednesday 7th November 2018
quotequote all
ZX10R NIN said:
A 190 for £700 that seems a great buy.
I hope so but it was a gamble not being able to drive it and there is a bit of expensive work to do. I can do all the work myself so I'm hoping to fix it up on the cheap using used parts.

On the plus side there's no rust on the body and the interior looks like new.

Turn7

25,630 posts

249 months

Wednesday 7th November 2018
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Oh, and I can guarantee the boot struts wont work either..... biggrin

stew-STR160

8,020 posts

266 months

Thursday 8th November 2018
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I bought one a few years ago for £900.

Drove it around for a few months then took the engine out and stuck it into an MR2 smile

FoxtrotOscar1

716 posts

137 months

Thursday 8th November 2018
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What reg is it OP?

Tasmin200

Original Poster:

1,379 posts

215 months

Thursday 8th November 2018
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Turn7 said:
Oh, and I can guarantee the boot struts wont work either..... biggrin
Spot on correct! Just about lost my head yesterday.

Tasmin200

Original Poster:

1,379 posts

215 months

Thursday 8th November 2018
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FoxtrotOscar1 said:
What reg is it OP?
It's a 53 but had a private plate on it hence the non plate at the moment.

Fishy Dave

1,125 posts

273 months

Thursday 8th November 2018
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It looks like a T sport to me?

Nice choice, I had a high mileage 190 (150k), years ago for road and trackday duties and my wife owned a Sports M some time ago: https://www.pistonheads.com/regulars/ph-carpool/to...

smile

Tasmin200

Original Poster:

1,379 posts

215 months

Thursday 8th November 2018
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Yeah it's a T Sport, I'm not up on the model range really, but I had always wanted one that colour.

wjb

5,100 posts

159 months

Thursday 8th November 2018
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Very nice, hope you get it on the road with the minimum of fuss.

I used to drive a 140 which was a decent car imo, the 190 T-sport was the top UK spec till the GT, but I think the T-sport looks better with those wheels and without the big spoiler.

Good luck op.

C.A.R.

3,992 posts

216 months

Thursday 8th November 2018
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I loved my 190 back in the day, when all my friends were ploughing money into Integra Type Rs and old e36 325s this was a real peach, super reliable and super cheap whilst providing 90% the performance of the other cars.

Only thing with mine was the brakes - I did have one incident when the pedal went to the floor. They can be quite bad for rust too, mine was a combination of both! They fade easily and they're nothing particularly fancy. Proper (separate) handbrake though so great for er...those kind of shenanigans when it gets greasy or snows!

These also aren't great if you're quite tall, I'm only 5'11 but in the days when the hair product I used was to point it upwards it would rub the headlining even with the seat fully lowered...

Darkslider

3,084 posts

217 months

Thursday 8th November 2018
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Check the oil level religiously once you start using it, some of these use quite a bit so keep on top of it. With any luck yours will be one of the better engines though!

Tasmin200

Original Poster:

1,379 posts

215 months

Friday 9th November 2018
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I don't seem to have any bother with the headroom and I'm 6'2". I must have a short body or something!

I've been trying to find a secondhand exhaust today as a new one is about £500!

I think the first job I'll get stuck into is rebuilding the front brakes. They look rough as anything...Planning caliper rebuild, new pads and flexi hoses all round.

Turn7

25,630 posts

249 months

Friday 9th November 2018
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Rear box was about 220ish IIRC , some fast fit outfit.

gforceg

3,525 posts

207 months

Friday 9th November 2018
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A couple of you have mentioned this can be a bit noisy on a long run. Is that short gearing? Body or wind noise? A bit droney? Is it a 5 or 6 speed?

I can't imagine it would be a rough engine so I'd be interested to know what's the deal.
Thanks

406highlander

182 posts

161 months

Friday 9th November 2018
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They aren't particularly well noise-insulated, so tyre noise and wind noise is prevalent. You hear other cars around you a lot, too. The exhaust is raspy during acceleration but drones a fair bit at cruise. The suspension is fairly hard and the interior plastics are hard, and rattle a lot.

Not my car, it's my son's, but it is a fairly wearing car to drive long-distance. It's a sports car, not a grand tourer. That said, his example is an X-reg (from 2000) so it's now coming up for being 19 years old. His is the 140 HP model.

My previous car (owned at the same time as the Celica) was the Peugeot 406 Coupe, which was quieter, faster, and more comfortable. The cabin of the BMW E60 525i that I drive now is an even quieter place to sit than the 406 was. The Celica feels positively agricultural by comparison.

That said, it is an excellent fun thing to drive down twisty back-roads. It is *very* reliable. Decently-sized hatchback boot, too, so it's even fairly practical. I just wish some of the parts prices were lower.