New new new!, Close but no cigar Options

[Colbert]

Hey all, I am really interested in gettin a 6thgen celica, in fact i have been for a while and can now finally afford it!

Now I am lookin' to find it and have a couple questions, and I would really appreciate it if i could get some help on them!

1) common probs with 6thgens i should be ready for when i purchase the car.

2) Common probs I should be lookin for specifically buying it used from a dealer.

And any other input is great too!

Again I am new to the boards and well met to everyone!

[Andason]

[Hanyo]

when buying a used car from a dealer and ask if the car has been in an accident/ modifications.. if it has not be in any accidents the body line will be perfect. like gap from the hood to the fender will be equal on boths sided.. over spray?... look into each wheel well and see if there was rubbing, which is a sign of a car being lowered.. stuff like that..

look into the exhuast pipe and see if there is build up on the tip. go inside the car and see if there are any smells that are not normal..

there is more to check, but i dont want to type a report on your thread.

[blkGT]

there is some little stuff that goes wrong that makes me mad. like the sunroof bar breaking (several people have this problem) my weather stripping on the windows is tearing but nothing huge.

[Pali_playa]

carfax anyone?

[Andason]

also another thing when buying a car is that the interior is a telltale sign of how the car was treated

[Ricochet]

Well i've had mine for about a year now no problems yet. I mean nothing except for a lil oil burning, well that has to do with toyota, other than that its a great reliable car. Everything is still in good working order.

[Digndoug]

I would say look around the block to see if its leaking oil as well.. also if its stick.. find out if an when the clutch was replaced.. also timing belt.

[Negative]

One major problem at least with the 5S-FE and the 3S-GE are the valves making a lot of noise if the car had a previous driver who never warmed up the car. You know the kind of people who turn the key and back up within 1/2 a second of each other? These cars don't get oil to the top of the engine fast enough - especially if not using a check valve equipped oil filter.
You will definetly hear this with the hood open and the engine running.
Good luck.
By the way why does your profile list you as an owner of a '96 GT-Four if you are just now looking? Pretty ambitious if ask me - again good luck.

[saleeka]

apart from whats already mentioned, high milage 5s-fe's sometimes develop cracks in the headgasket... and suspention sway bar bushings can wear out... other than that they are way reliable

[Colbert]

yeah they definetly are reliable cars, one of the reasons why i like them so much, too bad they are so slow stock though

[wind]

[CelicaFanatic]

First off let me give you my opinion, if its salvage, the price is right, and the guy took it to a legit body shop i see no reason not to buy. i have a 1996 25th anniversery celica GT convertible black, its salvage, runs perfect, and it prolly runs better than clean titles. and theres no gaps between the doors, fenders, or hood. so if you see a car thats salvage dont hesitate to call. and mine will be up for sale soon =)