That price seems very high.

But Toyota's in my experience with a 1989 Carina II that I ran from 150k to 250k, and still going strong, after 19 years on the road, is they are very good for reliability, quality of build, and pure long life!   My carbed 1.6 was still doing 120 mph on the motorway, with the engine needing only basic servicing, and very little loss of oil.  Even the bodywork showed very little signs of rust.  The most expensive maintenance I did on her was replace all the main brake pipes which I bought for £120 and fitted in a few hours.

So although I cannot answer you direct on the Toyota model your friend is interested in, these cars in general are very worth buying for long term use

The celica like all modern toyota`s are very well built and bloody reliable
The only down point i can remember about the celica is poor vision out the back window 

Turbo trouble and if rear wheel steer.....avoid.

Auto boxes on the imports are a bit rough and they like eating suspecsion components.

Try to avoid the imports, you would be amazed what parts are not standard uk items on the,

Had two Toyotas. Both bomb proof even though red lined every day I had them. Uncanny feeling of being attached to horizon by huge elastic band.
No faults. Total reliability. Only normal service items. First one I had did 160K on original discs & exhaust and was still going strong when i sold it. (Wish I'd kept it) Auto boxes advanced. When I look back Main dealer servicing expensive though, but standards high.
Embarrasingly my friends 20 year old Carina sounds better and runs smoother than my 2.2 Omega. (vauxhall told me engine noise was "normal for that model @ 10,000 miles )
As others have already said, I would avoid imports even if very cheap as surprising amount of parts different and often difficult to source. Insurance more expensive. Service history in japanese and almost impossible to confirm. Resale more difficult.
Celica you mention looks superb on the right rims, only drawback if pushing on is front wheel drive. Engine is sweet though, jointly developed with Yamaha.

Oh BTW, the Celica does seem to handle quite well. The Prelude was also FWD and although its width helped it was a really well planted car that gripped the road well so wouldnt have any qualms about an FWD "sports" car in that respect (yes I know that everyone favours RWD but we're only talking what 140 bhp here with no vtec/turbo) As for the negativity about"grey imports" I speak from experience when I say that that is 99% bullsh*t stemming from what people like Quentin Wilson have said in the past and dealers/garages trying to screw you out of more money. Like everything else in life its all about knowing where to go and a perusal of forums and mags like "Japanese Performance" should see you right.

mars wrote on 14. Dec 2009 at 20:13:


I used to redline my 2.0 Omega and that never broke.

Towing on the A30 through Devon and Cornwall red line at 70 in second that is hard on it - it survived OK

Forget the Celica, buy a Calibra and upgrade the suspension