Celica GT Four, Reliable?

peas · Post by **peas** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 2:09 pm

I have a second hand box for sale if you're wanting to stock up on spares

And could also put you in touch with a ST165 thats up for sale.

Graphite · Post by **Graphite** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 4:16 pm

My advice is keep the car you have, i've been down this road before, your current car will go for years without needing to have a fortune spent on it you could get a decent gearbox for it for $500 probably (which is nothing compared to the cost of keeping a GT4 maintained etc).
If you buy a GT4 you will have a car that is alot more complicated to work on etc, alot more can go wrong it, every mechanic I know hates working on them.
If you must buy one then choose carefully, try and find an original one without any modifications at all with service history from when it came in NZ. It might take a while to find the ideal one, but it'll be worth the wait if you are that passionate about this model car.

Graphite · Post by **Graphite** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 4:22 pm

Why not an MR2 GT, has the same model engine as the GT4, but the car is lighter and more realiable (in my opinion) and uses less fuel (thanks to only being rwd and not 4x4)

OMG so shiny! · Post by **Dell'Orto** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 6:23 pm

Yes, you should buyan MR2, they're fantastic little cars.
This one in particular is a good example

viewtopic.php?t=34686&start=40&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

oldskool_rwd · Post by **oldskool_rwd** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 6:41 pm

use search on google :roll:

AJz · Post by **AJz** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 6:54 pm

Mmm, Boost wrote:Yes, you should buyan MR2, they're fantastic little cars.
This one in particular is a good example

viewtopic.php?t=34686&start=40&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

so subtle

Levin · Post by **Levin** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 8:22 pm

Well it looks as though my swap has fallen through.... I phoned up state insurance and the nice indian lady quite litteraly said "Hell no!" when i asked for a quote on the gt four. And after having done some research, I've decided that I cant afford to run one either :cry:

But I'm quite keen on the AE111 levin/trueno's. The look pretty nice, are faster, reliable, and cheap to run..... sounds perfect for me! Thanks for all the advice, from what i've read, the gt four sounds like a pretty unreliable car...

Cheers everyone....

Levin · Post by **Levin** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 9:00 pm

If anyone has/knows of a cheap(!) AE111 levin/trueno for sale, please let me know! And if anyone is keen on buying my AE101 Levin, please let me know also.

Email me at:

dfacta@gmail.com

BR0Z · Post by **BR0Z** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 9:07 pm

Well I'm sorry but I wil have to disagree on them being unreliable.

Am I biased - hell yes, I've had my RC for 4 years & done around 50k in it & it has been very reliable. All I have had to do is get the 6 Stacker (In dash) factory CD player repaired, new rear muffler, new head gasget, set of tyres, cv rubber boot replaced & last week a new battery (the original finally died). :lol:

I have done some mods :twisted:

to it & had it regularly serviced by a mechanic who hasn't had any problems working on it.

So in my experience it has been great.

Cheers, Mark

DCEIVD · Post by **DCEIVD** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 7:41 am

I have had 2 ST185 GT-Fours and currently on my second.... first one was 7 years ago when I was just a young'n - my first car at 18.... in retrospect cant say I had any more issues with that car than 3 out of 4 of my subaru's that I have had... most un-reliable car was an EP82 GT Startlet....

My current GT-Four is getting around 10.9ltrs per 100k give or take and all things considered thats pretty bloody good...

The 185 has to be easier to find some one to work on it than trying to find a decent subaru mechanic...

It seems to be the same old same old with many of the examples out there... not to much wrong with the cars(as such) its just that people seem to be have been slightly careless in their previous ownership and havn't looked after them as well as they should've.

But if you're after economy then dont buy anything with a turbo charged petrol motor IMO.

And reliability? Sheesh anythihg has to be better than a TT Legacy?

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 9:38 am

I think the problem is that these days gtfours are becoming cheap cars, and people are treating them as such, ie not looking after them as they should be. IMO this is the main cause of problems on gtfours

also everyone's idea of reliability is different, to me crunching syncros or minor oil leaks don't make a car unreliable, a reliable car is one that you can get into and drive every day without it just suddenly packing up on you on the motorway or something.

i mean I've broken a gt4 gearbox good and proper, but under the circumstances that it broke, it can hardly be suggested that it was due to it being "unreliable", infact I've heard of very few gt4 boxes breaking under normal use, except the odd occasion of people breaking shift forks etc by being way to rough with shifting.

but a gt4 is never going to be as cheap to maintain as a little 4cyl NA like a 20v

Leon · Post by **Leon** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:03 am

With an "older" (in other words not brand new) car, you're always the victim of a combination of common faults, and horrible things previous owners have done to the car.

Often, the more "doodads" a car has, the more likely something is to fail. So if you add in a turbo and a 4wd system, well you're adding moving parts. Moving parts wear out

If you want a car that isn't going to go wrong, you're probably stuck with buying a rock, or a piece of grass.

As you've discovered, the insurance company doesn't want you to get a GT4, so that pretty much seals your decision.

I've had two real lemons of cars, one a Cressida (all wiring, and then engine went phut), the second a Fiat Uno. The Cressida had all those things that go horribly wrong with 1980's wiring, and lots of neat features to break down. The Uno's one remaining working feature was a fan. Everything else electrical had failed! Live and learn

Usually though, you can't go past a Corolla for being low maintenance and grief. There's still Corolla's out there that will bite you in the bum though.

Hotgt4 · Post by **Hotgt4** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 9:00 pm

I can speak quite highly of the ST185. had mine for 5 years and apart from basic maintence, it hasn't cost overly much. Except for the grass donuts that cost me the power steering ram... :oops:

And the rebuild the gearbox requires due to hmm... quick shifts. These boxes AREN'T a quick shift style box.

Levin · Post by **Levin** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 7:56 pm

Well I think I can get insurance on a gt four.... but it would cost like 900 a year. Not good. So I'm looking for a AE111 Levin/Trueno, a bit like my car, but newer and (i hope) just as reliable.

I think i'll stick with NA power until im making my millions

ollieboy · Post by **ollieboy** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 11:15 pm

Leon wrote:I've had two real lemons of cars, one a Cressida (all wiring, and then engine went phut), the second a Fiat Uno.

That made me laugh so hard, my brother has a Fiat Uno that the starter motor broke 5 times in a week once, 3 months later its still not going.

If you want a cheap turbo car wait till one comes up at Turners auctions. Thats what I did, got a Mitsi Cordia 1.8 Turbo for $100 and freeboosted it for a while, it never broke down on me but I mean if I did need to replace bits I could have just chucked it away because I got it so cheap. Thats what I would do again if I wanted a Turbo car.

Just a thought anyway

RedMist · Post by **RedMist** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 6:10 am

ollieboy wrote:If you want a cheap turbo car wait till one comes up at Turners auctions. Thats what I did, got a Mitsi Cordia 1.8 Turbo for $100 and freeboosted it for a while, it never broke down on me but I mean if I did need to replace bits I could have just chucked it away because I got it so cheap. Thats what I would do again if I wanted a Turbo car.

Just a thought anyway

My father owned two in the 80's. The first car was a year old when bought, he owned it for a year and sold it with a blown turbo, no oil scraper rings. The second he owned from brand new and two years later it was on its second engine, had lost both 5th and 4th gears had a multitude of electrical faults and had blown both rear wheel bearings. All at a time when car warranties were one year!

ollieboy · Post by **ollieboy** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 10:16 am

RedMist wrote:
ollieboy wrote:If you want a cheap turbo car wait till one comes up at Turners auctions. Thats what I did, got a Mitsi Cordia 1.8 Turbo for $100 and freeboosted it for a while, it never broke down on me but I mean if I did need to replace bits I could have just chucked it away because I got it so cheap. Thats what I would do again if I wanted a Turbo car.

Just a thought anyway

My father owned two in the 80's. The first car was a year old when bought, he owned it for a year and sold it with a blown turbo, no oil scraper rings. The second he owned from brand new and two years later it was on its second engine, had lost both 5th and 4th gears had a multitude of electrical faults and had blown both rear wheel bearings. All at a time when car warranties were one year!

Yeah they are the crappest cars ever in terms of reliability but I guess I was just lucky getting one that didn't break all the time. It was freakin fast as well.

OMG so shiny! · Post by **Dell'Orto** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 6:48 pm

ollieboy wrote:
RedMist wrote:
ollieboy wrote:If you want a cheap turbo car wait till one comes up at Turners auctions. Thats what I did, got a Mitsi Cordia 1.8 Turbo for $100 and freeboosted it for a while, it never broke down on me but I mean if I did need to replace bits I could have just chucked it away because I got it so cheap. Thats what I would do again if I wanted a Turbo car.

Just a thought anyway

My father owned two in the 80's. The first car was a year old when bought, he owned it for a year and sold it with a blown turbo, no oil scraper rings. The second he owned from brand new and two years later it was on its second engine, had lost both 5th and 4th gears had a multitude of electrical faults and had blown both rear wheel bearings. All at a time when car warranties were one year!

Yeah they are the crappest cars ever in terms of reliability but I guess I was just lucky getting one that didn't break all the time. It was freakin fast as well.

Yeah, I bought one for $400 once, bar the fact it had a busted windscreen, missing two studs from the front wheel, and missing the bolt from the caliper, it was pretty solid....hellishly quick for an old thing, torque steer for Africa.
I was unlucky in the fact the oil feed to the turbo split, otherwise I would have gotten more than a months worth of thrashing out of it :lol:

ollieboy · Post by **ollieboy** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 9:46 pm

Mmm, Boost wrote:, torque steer for Africa.

Yeah man I hear you there, it was quite freaky at times when I first got the car and wasn't used to it.

CEvans · Post by **CEvans** » Mon Nov 21, 2005 5:34 am

GT4-SUM wrote:any 1 have a lightly modded ae111 to race cliff in his 185???? i wanna c if the is tru

id be keen on the strip tho just got intake and exuast mods no cold air box yet but its comeing.