7th generation Celica's, Your opinions Options

[williamsg4]

Hi, does anyone have an opinion on Celica's from year 2000 to 2005?? I'm thinking of getting one in the near future and i was wondering if anyone had driven or owned one.

[Kwanza26]

All of the people who are "claiming" 7th gens have problems are talking out of their asses. ALL CARS will have problems when they are DRIVEN LIKE CRAP. 7th gens are fine cars, significantly better in terms of performance, handling, fuel economy AND reliability compared to their 6th gen counterparts. Why are the 6gc people here such haters?

FIRST OFF... people's claims. The ONLY reliability claim that has any merit is the lift-bolt issue, which was repaired by 2002 and Toyota did issue a repair notice to all Dealers to replace the bolts at no cost if they have failed. This only happens to cars that have been throughly abused and doesn't happen often to regularly driven cars. Regardless... bolts cost a few cents... replacing them takes 10 minutes if you're half way competent...

SECOND... tranny issues. This is a crap claim. ALL CARS with ****TY DRIVERS can potentially mis-shift and kill a tranny or an engine... especially on motors that can spin near 9000 rpms. The Toyota C60 (7th gen Celica GTS 6 speed) is essentially the same tranny as the C160 (JDM AE111 Levin/Trueno) which is essentially the same tranny as the Toyota C50/C52/C54/C56 (5 speed manual on more cars than I care to count). This tranny has been in production since the mid 80's and is still being used in the new Yaris and Corollas... so what does that say about the reliability of this tranny? No tranny will last very long if you abuse it, but these are definitely some of the better.

Now... that aside... why all of the hate for the 7th gen? It's still a Celica! Is it because the performance engine works like Honda VTEC? You can't claim "torque"... go look at some dynos! Both GT and GTS regularly put down 110-120 ftlbs of torque at the wheels. The 6th gen GT beats this yes... by around 10 ft lbs... however it only beats it under 4500 rpms. The 7th gen GTS makes peak torque at freakin 6000+ rpms. In terms of racing and acceleration... 110-120 ftlbs of torque at 6000 rpms will move a car significantly faster than 120-130 ftlbs at 4500 rpms. When the numbers are this small, the typical stuck up "torque" argument is complete fallacy. If you're going to argue torque... at least be honest about it. 6gc GT makes more torque for stop-go driving (it'll feel faster around town at low speeds). Not for performance high-spirited driving. The 7gc Celicas (namely the GTS) make more torque for high-spirited driving... but can feel flat in terms of daily driving because the motor makes a very flat torque curve.

That's all. Those are the technical facts. Pick something you like and you will enjoy. Most of the people here haven't driven a big variety of cars to their max, or even near it, so they can only spill out the "gospel truth". Not facts.