Milage

[daktari]

Incidentally My cars done 125K now and apart from a slight gearbox noise (It`s in another thread somewhere) The car is spot on. Engine is as sweet as. And considering the laughable road conditions over here there are no nasty rattles or squeeks. Toyota build quality is A1 mate.

[Calisto]

As most have said, have a good listen to the condition of the engine right now and make your descision based on that. The 3SGE and 3SGTE engines are pretty tough, mines sitting at 175,000 miles.

←

But you must remember to put oil in it.

*makes mental note to self.

[daktari]

As most have said, have a good listen to the condition of the engine right now and make your descision based on that. The 3SGE and 3SGTE engines are pretty tough, mines sitting at 175,000 miles.

←

But you must remember to put oil in it.

*makes mental note to self.

←

Or at least check it Eh?

[Calisto]

oh yeah that to lol. heh heh

[mikeb]

A looked after 3s-ge engine should be good mechanically for at least 200k miles, an abused one ought to do 150k miles. Having said that, seals perish and gaskets can fail, giving you oil leaks etc. The head gaskets are prone to leaking oil from the oil feed to the cylinder head. Mine started weeping oil below 50k miles. Replacing the head gasket is as much work as doing anything to the top end of the engine. This is the same for all cars of this age/mileage though. To an extent it just comes down to luck.

Make sure to find out when the cam belt was last replaced, and get it done asap if you buy a car with unkown history. Apart from that, regular oil changes are all you should be looking for.

Approaching 100k miles you should be aware of needing a replacement clutch, if it has not been done already. All depends on how it was driven by the previous owners. I believe it is quite an expensive job. Also CV joints can start to knock, but the celica is usually pretty good on them.

Gearboxes in the ST202 are pretty much bomb proof, and electrical faults are pretty rare on toyotas.

Personally, I would wait until you can afford to buy a car privately and sell your own privately as well.

[andrewl41]

To give an idea as to possible price ranges, I just bought my 1997 GT, Full Toyota Service History 84K Miles and in That Blue/Purple colour and paid £4000 with 12 Months MOT privatly. It's absolutely mint in all areas appart for some wear on the gear knob :) and low front tyres.

It runs perfectly and sounds fine but I've got it booked in for a service and check over just incase. I'd like know of any problems now, rather than finding out at 90 mph one day in the near future.

This is imo one car that you have little chance of buying a dud of so private has to be the way to go!