Help with buying a Celica, Lookin at a 1996 ST, plez help decision Options

[Fealos]

Hi, I just had my car totalled by some stupid ass in a giant box truck, full of furniture, who ran a stop sign and blasted me going 50. His words were "There was a stop sign there?" What an idiot, huh? He told the cop that his air brakes went out. People are messed up, huh?

Even though I have stitches in my head and my knee is shattered, I was more pissed about my car which (athough you wouldn't recognize it) was a silver, manual Mazda 626 LX 2.5LV6.

I am lookin at a gold (kinda champagne colored) 1996 Celica ST coupe with 47k miles on it selling at $8000. It has an alarm, keyless entry, Cd player...
He says it is worth $11,000 according to blue book

Now I do want a sporty car, should I wait for a hatchback GT in a color I like better, or is this a good deal, and should I get this one and soup it up?

here is a link to the carsoup listing, with stats and a picture:
'96 Celica ST on carsoup

[hioctane]

Get a gt hatchback. If you get an st coupe, you will regret it later on. Sts are slow likes shIET!

[94blackst]

Thats actually a pretty decent price. How long to you want to wait? These cars are not all over the place, like other cars. Although, if you are used to having more power like your mazda v6, then you might want to find a GT, they are a little quicker than the ST

[Black97]

Is it a manual or auto? st manual's aren't like a whole lot slower than the auto gt's if you can shift, and they're lighter, plus the coupe makes it even lighter. But, I like the hatchback look more, so I'd wait but it sounds like a good deal otherwise.

[Fealos]

it is a manual, but what about the possibility of making it a bit quicker?
how much would it be to make it quicker?

[FallenHero]

I love my ST coupe to death, but if you are looking for a car to mod, get a hatch GT.

[Black97]

Depends on how much you wanna spend. Some of the other guys on this site could help you out more with this, but you could do intake, exhaust, take some of the stuff outta your car if you were willing to (back seat and stuff like that), turbo, engine swap. Engine swap's the most expensive but helps the most. I think it's around like 4,000-5,000 for hte 3sgte swap, but it's the best one.

[Benevolence]

I hope your filing a lawsuit, I know people who have had similiar situations happen to them with less damage down to them and get atleast 30,000 or more after lawyer fees.

[Black97]

QUOTE (Benevolence @ Mar 2, 2003 - 1:56 AM)

I hope your filing a lawsuit, I know people who have had similiar situations happen to them with less damage down to them and get atleast 30,000 or more after lawyer fees.

Wrong topic?

[Neipas09]

Hold out for a GT, i wish i would have.
But i still love my car to death since it's a 25th Anniversary Limited Edition and has Leather Interior.

[Black97]

I know, I wish I woulda held out a little longer cause now there's a black 97 gt or st (doens't say) around here with all the options and only a like 10k more miles than mine plus leather for only 9000. I got mine for 12250, and I really wanted leather, so I was kinda tempted to try and sell mine for around 10 at least cause I probably could, then just get that one and make 1000 back on it plus get the leather.

[Benevolence]

QUOTE (Black97 @ Mar 2, 2003 - 3:31 AM)

QUOTE (Benevolence @ Mar 2, 2003 - 1:56 AM) I hope your filing a lawsuit, I know people who have had similiar situations happen to them with less damage down to them and get atleast 30,000 or more after lawyer fees. Wrong topic?

maybe I should have added a little bit... you can buy a cheap 94 gt now and after you sue the bastard that hit you, you can get a TT supra or something nicer like that.

[Tony-94]

I would hold out for the GT. I mean, the ST still has the same great looks but it's performance can only be described as adequate where the GT is fast enough for most.

[Neipas09]

It's sad to know that the ST can be owned so bad by almost anything.

[Mage]

yeah, I own a 97 st coupe (very nearly the same kind you describe, sans cd player and with 95k miles) and I think you should get a hatchback gt. That price is decent, and it would be a great daily driver, but having a gt would make less of a headache if/when you do a 3sgte swap, and should make any possible awd conversion much more feasible(than a coupe anyways)

[Fealos]

what if I were to get the ST and put on an intake and an exhaust on there?
would that partly make up for the sluggy engine?

what about headers? I don't know what they are really, I have an idea, but what do they do and how much of a gain can they give? Also how much are they?

thanks for all your input!

Noah

[Guest_Matthew_*]

dude go to www.autotrader.com

seriously you can get a hell of a better deal on there. and lots more cars to choose from.

you can get a real nice celica gt for 8 grand

they have a few that are about 5 grand

that leaves room for intake, exhaust, new speakers, subs, cd player, whatever.

trust me and take the advice you will be happy that you did.