Your experience with your 4th gen...

It's been a hard road...but I've put a lot more time and love into the car than money...so I'm happy overall .... And she's still runnin and I've beat on her like CRAZY..haha...

 

Ive been through a journey with mine, its pretty well taught me everything I know about cars. I learned a lot of new skills and I think its payed off. She only ever needed to get brake and fuel lines replaced, new used alternator and a few oil changes. Never any problems besides that, started first time, every time

Ive run out of thing to do to it these days, so Ive decided to start a new project to keep me busy, now in the market for a 1970-83 corolla or Datsun 510, so if anyone knows someone selling let me know!

 

Run out of things to do to it?

You're just not thinking hard enough then....haha

 

I've purchased 5 Celicas over the past 8 years. I'd say my cars have been very good to excellent but that's mostly b/c I'm extremely picky. If anything is sketchy, I won't hesitate to walk. Most importantly, I size up the owner as well as the car.

Mostly common problems and regular maintenance items such as:
-PS high pressure line
-no-start problem
-intermittent heater problem
-CV axle replacement
-wheel bearings (165 owners, you know what I mean!)
-power window regulator
-power window switch
-alternator failure
-battery failure
-brakes

All in all, I've found them to be very reliable cars for me. Remember, these cars are 20+years old, things are gonna break and need repair!

 

hmm, what i've done: (mind you i bought my car sitting and dead, then brought it back to life)
- rad
- alternators (gone through 2)
- crank pulley
- headlight motors
- new battery
- lotsss of body work
- hvac still needs to be repaired
- searched high and low for a replacement alternator belt since i removed the a/c

I can't say i didn't expect this stuff to happen my car is almost 20 yrs old but at the end of the day its worth it, if i can manage to keep mine alive on a high school student salary (luckily all labour was done for free) I think most of the 4th geners can do it.

 

If our wives allow it hahaha....I'm more interested in saving up for a house than putting money into my car though....

 

well i have just passed the 8 month mark. normally i go through cars every six months. either breaks down or i get bored of it. but i gotta tell ya, it isnt just the car that makes me fall in love with it everytime i see it, its you guys as well. i know its corney as hell, but it is true. there is a select few of us out there that appreciate what we have even though it isnt as new as we would like it to be, or we arent able to find as many aftermarket parts, or because the engine we use is only used and 2 other models that only sold for about 10 years here in the us. but the love for these cars is spread all over the world. guys from aus, nsw, canada, mexico, europe, phillipines, i mean its just crazy. if you have ever experienced other forums like club4ag or toyotacressida.net, they are good forums full of knowledge and write ups, ideas. but everybody sort of has this mindset that theirs is the coolest and everyone else sux and is below them. here in this forum, everyone is equal, no matter the condition, model, or crazy things you do to it. this is my second family right here. we dont always get along, but when it comes down to it, we all got love for the same thing, and each other. i dont think any other forums are like this at all. but enough of the emotional stuff. in 8 months i have only had one or two problems. a little flux in the circuitry when my rear tail light burn out light flashed on and off on the dash, and my ac taking a little time to cool down. my car isnt perfect, it isnt superfast and my girlfriend hates it. but when i sit in there and i take turns at 50mph, and hear my tires screech and i havent rolled the body at all, i mean its a great feeling. i have an "S" turn that i take every day home from work, and its the best part of my day. dont tell my girlfriend, butt it really is. adrenline is pumping, just shifting through the gears, no other car has done that for me. my ae92 corolla gt-s came close, but it had 15 less horses and didnt scream. i need to replace a few things here and there. my interior is getting bad, to my standards, but i want to wrap it all in leather and i want to repaint the car, lower it, rims, an exhaust, tranny mod so i can get the obx headers on there. i look forward to all of this. yeah it s astruggle to find the parts but if everything was there for you already, it wouldnt be as much fun. waiting for the kill is all part of the thrilll when hunting. you dont just go blasting whatevers out there. oh and another reasong why i love these cars, is the gas milage. it aint superb but it beats 20mpg. so i am content. only thing i am reall pissed about is that i lost my faceplate to my stereo, and i do not want to tear the nterior out again. so lame. why toyota? why?

 

Sr5punk, "sniff" you made me cry :cry:
Hehe, seriously, I agree with you: this site rocks! You guys are the best. I visit 2 sites daily b/c they are superior: this one and www.alltrac.net

 

Mephtar: if your down for a project and a road trip I saw this on TN http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showt ... p?t=253305

 

damn if it was only closer :'( thanks for posting it tho!

 

np, that price is pretty good to even when you take into consideration how much work it needs.

 

oh i fergot to mention the damn door windows. i hate that design. just the glass, no frame to go around it. always problems with these kinds. but you cant win them all.!

 

whoa nice thread

so far ive had to do
bottom end bearings
seals
ps line
rust -everyone has it somewhere
and all the other random bits ive fixed up

mines done around 168,000 kms now

this is my 1st car i still thought about buying a mr2 quite a bit
but then i keep doing stuff to my car so it shows i still want it
went and saw her at the panel beaters today gettting the rust done
i get this from this , jeeze we couldnt start her even with jumper leads, just kept ticking over and heres me trying not laugh laugh and thinking bloody car
then i get we were cautious when we noticed a red led lighting up when we turned it off but after it started it went away , heres me again laughing
tells the guy its a special intake light , hes like right , thats good to know
ive been without her since wednesday and of course i miss her
but i still love driving her and etc
im currently bidding on some super low king springs on net so hopefuly i win them

with me and this forums i cant help but visit , ill look at everything that lights up unread even if it doesnt apply me to and ill try to help out even giving a bump to show someone has looked at a topic ,

all of you on here a great , telling me not to buy jamex springs lol well i used your advice and paid more for kings, cheers guys

im proud that i have my st162.com decal and im the only one over here that i know of that has one.

ill be updating my members page with piccies soon , non car port ones lol

but yeah im on the same level as sr5 with this forum you guys rock so yeah thanks

hopefully its readable ^^

 

I bought I real good 165 when I got mine, and If Had left it stock, the only repair work would have been just regular maintanence.

Like all cars out there, bad examples can be money and time pits.

i think I have now replaced the Head gasket 3 times in 1 year, as well as swapping over two different cylinder heads.

I agree the PAS steering is a pain, as are wheel bearings, plus the glass and window motors. But on the whole the engines are pretty tough, the electrics rarely go wrong in my experience, 1 relay in 4 years, and if you keep on top of the body work, they are just like any other mid 80s car for rust.

Try as much to do things yourself, if you can, not only do you feel better, once you have done the work, but you gain a better understanding of your car.

Mounts are a pain in the ass to change, but do able for the home DIYer.

Worse case, there is always the help from the Forum.

 

Over the past 7 years ive owned 6 4th gens and 8 celicas all together. My first, an 86 GT coupe was a trooper. I put that car through hell seeing as it was my first car. I sold it to put money into my 88 GTS. I had some problems with the GTS. I bought it with a bad tranny and good motor. Swapped tranny with a 3sfe tranny and it got destroyed in 2 weeks. Bought a low mile tranny of ebay and never had a problem with it again until i was selling it and a guy who test drove it blew the head gasket. Finally fixed it and got her running again. Meanwhile i had purchased a non running 89 GTS and an 86 GT Hatch and a 87 St coupe that was wrecked. Used all of them for parts, until my White 88 Trac came along with no motor tranny or title for 50 bucks. It sat dormant for a year until i sold the GTS and bought the RED 88 Trac i have now. I stripped the white 88 for parts and had her crushed, sadly it was beyond saving. Last summer while building the red trac i bought an 89 GTS coupe with a bad motor. I swapped the motor for a JDM one and threw some fresh paint on it. I now have 2 celicas. Red 88 trac thats finally running decently and the 89 GTS. These are my absolute favorite cars. I Live for the 4th gen, i can pick one out of a crowd at a 100 yards now. Other than the normal problems of having a 20 year old car, BEST DAMN CAR MADE!!!