Alternator got fried when rubber coolant hose running above started leaking at around 275000 km.
Clutch plate had to be replaced when I purchased the car.
Had a small oil leak around seals after I removed & painted the valve covers (red).
I paid for the car 2400 CAD in 2002. Right away - I had to get a clutch plate replacement (made noise; previous owner banged the s*tuffing out of it).
This car is excellent in terms of reliability and is quick as well.
Fun to drive; firm steering, most power at higher rpm's. Really pleasant on corners even though it's FWD; forgiving on the ball bearings. It's quiet on smooth roads, but on highways, it's inline 4 (4AGE) can become somewhat loud when approaching the torquey rpm range (6~7k).
Fuel economy is good, but if you want a good kick in the seats, add cold intake, MAF mod, fuel pressure regulator adjustment,... and start looking on ebay for 365 CC injectors.
Easy to mod (most MR2 engine mods will work here as MK1 MR2 uses the same engine).
My brother also bought a red 1990 GTS at 230000 km. Also an excellent car.
Update Nov 5/2004 329,990km.
The clutch went again after I got power happy and installed a few mods. The car is really excellent - it takes the abuse and keeps going - just threw in dynapak clutch kit and I hope this will last another 40-50,000k or so.
4AGE engine is excellent and very reliable; the base model is not powerful by any sport car standards (130hp/105lb@ft at the wheels) but it is relatively good for the light chasis of ae92. Installations and mods are rare (ebay, etc.) so most of the work is custom and time involving (no pain, no gain).
Quite a bit of space under the hood to work with after rearranging the intake / egr system.
The major downside of the car is that it is not RWD, but it handles well on straight as well as curvy roads.
Update Oct 7/2005 349,800km.
Just finished some body work on it w/refresher paint job.
Shocks are a bit spongy (I do lots of hard corner leaning w/70 lbs sub box in the trunk) and wipers suck - other than that... I was kinda hoping the car would finally collapse in or else I'll give in and get new KYB shocks for it..
I don't see many GT-S comments on here so I'll keep updating to see how much more my car can take. It's running like a charm still zipping right up to the red line.
Top speed on it recently was 193 km/hr with very little vibration - I am sure it'd go faster, but the last 15 km / hr take their time so need distance...
Thanks for the replies, people are reading it! lol.
I'm getting a '90 GT-S tonight, and although there is a lack of reviews on them, they sound great.
It's clean and I want to put an intake and exhaust on there as well.
Thanks for the tips.
It's good to hear from another GT-S driver! Please drop by and help to keep this thread going...
Another Update: October 11, 2006
It's up at 369,000 km. I got a second car just for RWD fun so I split mileage between GT-S and a s14-240sx.
My GT-S shocks need replacing - other than that - 5k syntec oil change + fuel injector cleaner, check windshield fluid / tire pressure every sometime and just keep on driving.
It's close to 380,000 km on it. I let it sit for a while and noticed it was hard to shift into some gears - it's fixed now (it was the shift arm pivot and links were bit loose).
Still needs suspension and definitely body work. Otherwise starts and runs smoothly even after sitting for most of the year.
Stock or aftermarket parts are hard to come by for GT-S models in Ontario - and new parts can easily outweigh the market value of the car.
It's coming back on the road this year (I was upgrading things on my nissan 240sx so I left it sitting for a while - please see the link on nissan at http://www.carsurvey.org/review_94733.html)
If I can find replacement shocks for it, it'll be my next project car...
April 20, 2008.
I was so sad to see it go today to scrap yard (parted the motor / etc.) - lesson learned: oil underspray is worth 50 bucks every 2 years...
Got too rusty and I could not find 4 struts that cost less than the car was worth : (: (: :(
Someday I want another one but in good cond to take care of it...
I got my GTS maybe 3 weeks ago. It's awesome, I love it.
Had some basic maintenance when I bought it because the previous owner didn't take to great care of it. I'm in college, so I'll be slowly modding it over the years. Very fun to drive. Glad I got it.
Yet another Corolla GT-S owner. I just got a 1990 Corolla GT-S because it was cheap and I wanted a run around car. I never knew much about the car until I bought it. It has been fun to drive and sweet around corners. This is my first Toyota as I have always driven Honda Civic and Accords. I will be getting some body work done on it this year, but I want to keep it as original as possible except for the engine.
I'm another 90 Corolla GTS owner. Just picked mine up 2 days ago, and wow is about all I can say. This car outdid all expectations I had for it. The shifting is so smooth, the power is not bad, and with some mods it will do better.
Anyone know what would cause some pretty bad shaking on pavement?
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