Celica's with 100k+ miles

Flibbles said:
I think I'll have to go and test drive one of these famed MX5's... :p

Seeing as you know your stuff on them (I assume!) what should I look out for on examples in the £1500 region?
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Well I've only had mine since November & there's members on here that could write books on them. :p
The thing to do is join http://www.mx5nutz.com/forum/ & do plenty of reading, Just like here the main questions have been asked & answered a thousand times & there is all the info & more you'll ever need on 5's there.
The other main reason to join is I've not seen any 5's half as good as the ones for sale in the For sale section there. 1500 quid would get you a real decent Mk1 & I mean a real decent one & you can check the car/seller/poster out.

Generally speaking you want a Mk1 Eunos that has been imported as recent as poss & the one main thing to look for is rust around the sills & rear arches. A Eunos is higher spec & won't have been on our winter roads as long. Don't worry about insurance as there are a few companys specialising in Classic Import Modded Insurance & it's cheap if you limit the mileage or are old like me. They are bullet proof all round really so the thing to look out for is shoddy mods, cheap tyres, cheap coil overs, plastic tat stuck on it.
If you buy from a respected seller/member on Nutz though you won't have all these worrys as the cars are well sorted & the write ups are how you want them & then you can check back post history for who & when the work was done etc.

Just go to Nutz though as like I said there's all the info you'll ever need. :cool:
 
Well im still running my celica W reg year 2000, hitting about 128000 miles now. Funnily enough im looking to sell it soon too! Cant fault it at all though, have had it nearly 5 years now and has handled my daily commute without a hitch. My one does go through a bit of oil but i wouldnt say it drinks it though, i always keep an eye on the level and top up when i need to. Still a great looking car and does not look dated despite its age. The engine is solid, in a way i dont want to sell it but i need something more practical (given i already have a 350z!).

I personally couldnt recommend it enough, they are solid cars and known for their reliability!
 
If you buy a celica 140 before 2002 then you need to ask if its had its engine rebuilt as the original engines in them had severe oil issues.

All other gen-7 celicas (of that shape) are fine, i'm surprised you cant find one for under 2k. I sold mine with its rebuilt engine and only 10k on the rebuild for 2k
 
Just to back up all of the above, the 1zz pre 2003 (and some 2002 but very late) is fairly likely to suffer oval bore which leads to the car using oil. In the celica the car will still run for a long time with the issue so long as you keep a very careful eye on oil levels but effectively the unit is buggered at this point and needs rebuilt.

There are loads of them out there with the problem, given how slow the car is with the 140 it's really not worth buying a non VVTLi (unless you're prepared to throw a grand at a very average £2k car for a rebuild.)

The MR2 has bigger issues as the precats end up breaking up when they devlop the issue. If you've ever seen these things (ceramic honeycomb) then it's fairly obvious why little pieces being ingested isn't a good thing.

I had a 2001 mr2 and it was fine, but you are taking a risk.
 
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Unless you are after a Celica. There are many Corolla T-Sports available in your budget. Same engine as the Celica but in a hatch. You might even have change for some coilovers.
 
+1 for the corolla t-sport. more understated than celica and a power to weight ratio better than a golf gti or bmw 330i not bad for a 1.8 corolla!
If i sound over enthused its because i own one.
 
OP is asking about a coupe and people suggesting a hatchback, don't get me wrong I'm sure the corolla is fine but its not going to be the same driving experience and the celica was actually very nice to drive

My main complaint if I ever had one was the length of the doors, being as long as they are any time your in a car park you cant open them so wide and getting out isn't all that graceful

I do miss my celica though, even thought about buying it back or buying another but then I remember how little power it felt like it had after driving a 350z
 
A guy I work with has just sold his 2004 140bhp celica. Said it was a great in terms of comfort, reliability and economy but about as inspiring a drive as his previous mondeo.
 
n3vrmind said:
OP is asking about a coupe and people suggesting a hatchback, don't get me wrong I'm sure the corolla is fine but its not going to be the same driving experience and the celica was actually very nice to drive

My main complaint if I ever had one was the length of the doors, being as long as they are any time your in a car park you cant open them so wide and getting out isn't all that graceful

I do miss my celica though, even thought about buying it back or buying another but then I remember how little power it felt like it had after driving a 350z
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The Corolla has the same engine, gearbox and similar suspension setup to the Celica so how is not a viable alternative?
 
n3vrmind said:
OP is asking about a coupe and people suggesting a hatchback, don't get me wrong I'm sure the corolla is fine but its not going to be the same driving experience and the celica was actually very nice to drive

My main complaint if I ever had one was the length of the doors, being as long as they are any time your in a car park you cant open them so wide and getting out isn't all that graceful

I do miss my celica though, even thought about buying it back or buying another but then I remember how little power it felt like it had after driving a 350z
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If you're going to diss other people's suggestion's at least get your facts right!
The celica isn't a coupe and neither is the puma .
 
My point was the op never mentioned coupe as part of his requirements and as the Celica and the puma are both hatchbacks then why not suggest the corolla .
Is an mx5 a coupe? Lol
 
Is a corrado, z3 coupe, z4 coupe, ? All technically hatchbacks but I would still call them a coupe as is a celica or puma.

I do know what you're saying but it seems like the op is after a coupe type shape rather than a normal 3 or 5 door hatch.
 
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