1988 Toyota Celica GT review from North America
"I miss this car very, very much"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Replaced rebuilt catalytic converter with new one.
Replaced sunroof apparatus after students destroyed it.
Exhaust blew out in spectacular fashion (but would have been cheap to replace).
Rusted floor and sills (was able to patch floor but sills got away from me).
It was hit twice while it was parked, once in the new fender and once driver side destroyed - 1st time in parking lot at a garage, 2nd time someone backed into it from across the street!
General comments?
I became stupidly attached to this rusty old car immediately.
Started at -20 degree Celsius without a block heater.
Pop-up headlights always worked.
Sunroof worked and never leaked.
Fuel economy unreal, always double checking figures - up to 40 mpg in summer, over 30 mpg with updated A/C in stop'n'start Toronto highway traffic, made 4 trips between Ottawa and London on less than 1 tank of gas each way (over 700 km). Ran well even with bad converter.
Most mechanical work was done as preventative maintenance, only got as far as new fender on bodywork before I had to move to a place where I couldn't park it while saving up. Rust was a problem, but it was pretty decent for a 20-year old Canadian car, which I discovered had at least 10 previous owners!
Low miles, probably on a replacement engine, suspect it had been in front-end collision (like far too many Celicas!).
Most mechanical work was under $400, and most was done by regular garages - if I had the skills, a pretty easy car to work on yourself, certainly not dealer dependent. Getting a little tough to find parts - most people keep them now, or have written them off due to age and accidents.
Very, very easy car to drive, even with tractor-like stick shift. Moved tons of stuff with hatchback.
A 2004 Aveo is a very poor replacement - replaced the drive belt already at less than 68000 km, Celica I replaced belt and water pump as normal for-age work at about 128000 km. I wish Toyota had taken the Mazda MX5 Miata as model for continuing to build and sell a fun, reliable, inexpensive sporty little car, which in the Celica's case, can go camping or to the grocery store or cruise easily down the highway at 120 kph *cough* or so... did I mention it was even great in winter? - even more solid on snow tires, mass distribution on this low-sitting car was just about perfect! Sigh.
Recommended reviews
| Buy one, but check carefully for rust |
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| 1988 - Celica GT-Four 3S-GTE(2.0 DOHC turbo) Vastly expensive, yet well worth it! |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Yes |
| Model year | 1988 |
| Year of manufacture | 1987 |
| First year of ownership | 2005 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2008 |
| Engine and transmission | 3FSE, 1.8L(?) Manual |
| Performance marks | 8 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 7 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 7 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 6 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 8 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 125000 kilometres |
| Most recent distance | 130000 kilometres |
| Previous car | Honda Civic |
| Date of Entry | 20th May, 2009 |