Hi,

Just wanted to say hello, and thanks for running the 6G Forum, I'm pretty sure you'll hear from me quite a bit.

I bought my Gen 6 1.8ST AT200 from ebay for <£200. What a risk. Took a 1 way ticket 180 miles to the seller, drove the car 50 yards, and just knew it was a winner.

However, upon waiting for the registration document from VOSA/DVLA, got a letter to say it needed to go in for a Vehicle Identity Check and therefore it couldn't be put in my name and taxed, so it wasn't driveable.

Took it in today, and although it appeared to have been involved in a Category C (very serious) crash, the repairs had been carried out correctly and so here I am, finally 4 months later, proud as hell.

Ello

Ah government problems.... "If we can't tax it, it can't belong to you".

Welcome and enjoy!

Nice purchase, and welcome!

welcome. looks great. have fun enjoying it.

wait wtf, you got that on Ebay for less than 200 pounds?? or am I misreading that , that's still only $325 or so

Yes, £196.10, to be precise.

That's why I was a bit nervous. It has been to the moon though (186000 miles so far) but my wife has a 4 year old fiat with 70000 on the clock, and the Celica feels more like my Mums new BMW!

Very impressed with Build Quality.

To be honest, When looking for a cheap runabout, I'd been buying all kindsa nonsense, but then a light came on in my head! what have I always bought that always works? Toyotas! So it led me to this one.

The only thing not working is the windscreen washer jets... there's power going to the motor, but don't know what's either making the pump work, or blocking the screenwash... Other than that, and a bit of tidying up on the 17 year old fron bumper (paint peeling) it's in A1 condition. Staggering really.

Thanks everyone for the nice welcomes.

That's crazy, I paid over 10 times that and yours is probably in better condition that mine...

Anyways, welcome and nice car!

Well considering you didn't pay too much more than what you could scrap it for, not much to be nervous about. Anyhow, welcome!

What a steal!
Welcome and congratulations on that deal

Amazing Deal.. and welcome aboard..

Thanks guys,

After having it as a Daily Driver this past week, I've noticed a bit of a white smoke issue, usually at Traffic Lights after a bit of a run.

And it judders a bit in 3rd at low revs, so maybe I'm looking a timing issues/distributor and ignition work, and a potential head gasket for the smoke eh?

Ive learnt so much just in the last week being on here, mainly not to try supercharging the 7AFE without really REALLY knowing what the score is, But the first project after the timing and smoke troubleshoot has to be fitting a Honda CAI.

All the best and thanks for the warm welcomes.

How good do these cars handle for FWD 15yo cars?!!!

Ehh, white smoke I'd check the coolant and oil for cross contamination. If that seems kosher I'd do a compression test next. If that checks out stand behind the car and waft the smoke up to you with your hands to smell it, if it's coolant it'll have a sweet smell to it.

They're probably the best handling FWD car of their time, and one of the best ever made, especially with a good set of springs&struts or coil-overs. Most people automatically yell Integra but over here there was never a high performance model to compete with the Type R, or even the GS-R. So they wouldn't even touch the Celica.

Cheers Box,

Yeah, I lived in KY for about 5 years, never saw a single celica. Seems like everybody went straight to Acuras or Eclipses. Scions just started getting big before I left, I almost bought a TC come to think of it. Changed my mind and bought a VORTEC powered Chevy truck.

As for the white smoke, yep, it's a coolant smell. Why did it not cross my mind... you can't beat a bit of logic. So I guess we're looking head gasket (water getting in?) as opposed to valve seals (oil getting out?).

Will monitor fluid levels and wait for a decent weekend of weather.

thanks.

unless it's been overheated, then you may need a whole new head.
but for the regular 1.8L head you can probably get one from a salvage yard for less than $200