1986 Toyota Celica GT-S from North America - Comments

The car died due to a catastrophic oil leak which I did not notice (I hadn't driven the car for a few weeks prior) had happened.

The power steering belt was creating some noise during tight turns.

Sometimes the car would immediately die after it started, for unknown reasons.

The alternator went out shortly after I bought the car, though it was quite easy to replace.

The transmission was hard to shift into reverse, although not a major problem.

The tail lights kept on burning out for unknown reasons, and the license plate lights were out... though someone had used the wrong screws to install them, and were therefore impossible to replace again.

The front struts were worn out from day one, and the car would bottom out on even the slightest of dips.

The Celica was extremely sporty. It handled high-revving without a hitch, and felt like a true performance car.

Handling, even without the front struts, was excellent. It held corners like nothing else, and remained steady at speeds of over 100 MPH.

Gas mileage wasn't bad, considering the car that it was. The Celica is surprisingly economical for a little sports coupe.

The interior was extremely comfortable for the front two passengers, and rather cramped for those unlucky enough to find themselves in the back seat. However, the seats folded down to make quite a bit of extra cargo room.

The Celica was a pure joy to drive... it responded flawlessly, always had plenty of power, and was loaded with all the options, at a very reasonable price. Despite it dying on me, it was truly a great car, and I'd buy another in a heartbeat.

Hey, we have the same car. And ours bottoms out all the time too, however the struts have been replaced, and it still bottoms out. any suggestions?

I know the problems with your car because I have two of them. see the problem with the oil leak comes from the gaskets, which you'll need to replace. they tend to get worn out easily. and with the tailights, the problem is that all toyotas around late 80's develop this problem when wrong screws and in wrong holes. so switch the screws and get a new panel in the trunk behind the tailights. this car performs excellent, but when years go by problems come up like tailights, oil leak, that sound with the powersteering, dying and running out of battery just like nothing. everyone always say its the alternator, the fuel filter, or that this car is a junk. no its not. the 3sge can even beat hondas top of the lines si. for any more info of fixing this car contact me at therealg85@hotmail.com.

I had the problem with the car bottoming out all the time over the slightest bumps. Changed struts 3-4 times with little or no help. Finally, replaced the springs, and problem was solved. Now feels and handles great over bumps, corners. No more changing struts all the time!