Looking for a Caldina GTT

[Chickenman]

Most Toyota interiors are pretty average, I dunno what I'm comparing it too though, maybe my dad's old Valiant with it's wondrous fitment and attention to detail.

[Mr Revhead]

for crap interiours look to 80s GM cars or..... ma70 supras

[flygt4]

red velour ftw porno interior

[KiwiMR2]

FWIW I wouldn't touch a Legnum....we have imported several from ST to GDi to VR-4 & most have been a bit of a problem. To be honest we have just forked out $3200 for a gearbox rebuild on a 97 VR-4....trip tronic. The other $3k bill we paid out on was a 98 GDi triptronic gearbox. We had one VR-4 that we NEVER got rid of the AYC issue & sold it with the problem (spent around $600 with LE Alexander & they never worked out what it was)

All the rest have pretty much needed mega services to resolve badly running motors. Have had 1 VR-4 that didn't need anything & our 1ST ST-R we imported was good & still is running good.

Not saying they are all crap but they to tend to have issues.

Cheers
KiwiMR2

[flygt4]

i was put off the legnum by the fuel costs alone

if you must have a 2.5 turbo then the stagea is probly better. probly the easiest to modify too. just depends on if you like driving a hearse around.

[sergei]

from my experience of working for car importer for over 3 years, stay away from legnums or galants.

[bluemaumau]

stay away from legnums or galants.

amen, man those things are shit buckets

[slighty_sykotic]

* WRX (Reliability Issues, a bit too common)
* WRX STi (No luck finding a straight one within the budget)

I'd add theft to the bad points of those.

They are getting stolen more and more. (at least in palmerston area). 2 or 3 most weeks.

--Sykotic

[BZG Wagon]

I looked at a very tidy Black / Grey Caldina GTT yesterday. It was a '97, 100kms, lowered (but not low), alarm, standard mags & needs cambelt to be replaced. It also sounds like a bearing on the front right wheel might need replacing, but I would need to investigate further to find out exactly what the sound was.

The owner wants $12,500 firm, but considering the kays and the fact I need to fork out $500 for a new cambelt I fell its a bit overpriced. If it was $11k I would have bought it there and then. $11.5 I would probably stretch to but he wont come down to even that.

What do you guys think of the price (bearing in mind its very tidy)?

A mate of mine bought one 18 months ago for $13k. Same condition, 110kms.

[flygt4]

actually sounds like not too bad a price. try 12 cash
its a lot of car fot the money, and to think youd get a really tidy one for less than 12 is pretty optimistic. if you were deadset on a minter , get a facelift with 50-60k on it.

our gt has a squeaky noise on the front right, buit im pretty sure its just the brakes, as they have been noisy for ages. second option would be a wheel bearing as you say. ive heard a few with squeaky brakes so may pay to look into that.

i guess the main thing is that it should feel tight when you drive it. id still consider near 100km too much on one to be honest, as by the time you're done with it itll have at least 130-150km and be worth about $6.50 to resell. try find one with 70ish km, drive it for 2 years and sell it with 99,999km when the cambelt is due

[Alex B]

AJz got one with 120k down here on the toyota yard for 10, and he gets a warranty with that. I would keep looking if i was you.

[Jdawg]

You may also want to check out Turners car auctions
gt-t's on the block next week
http://www.turners.co.nz/TabId/188/vgui ... fault.aspx
http://www.turners.co.nz/TabId/188/vgui ... fault.aspx
http://www.turners.co.nz/TabId/188/vgui ... fault.aspx

[fivebob]

Not many people know this, but the cars were only produced in productions runs in either 1997 or 2000. So if you buy a 1999, it really a 1997 that sat on a dock or yard for two years.

I find this very hard to believe, given the Japanese principle of "Just in time" manufacturing, it makes no sense to build a car and have it sitting around for two years waiting for it to sell.

Storage costs big money in Japan, and it's not the sort of thing they would do. Even the last production runs of the SW20 were done on a monthly basis, and that's a lot less than the number of ST215Ws that were produced.

Also cars are registered by production date, so a '97 produced car couldn't be sold as a '99.

[Mr Revhead]

yup iv seen frame numbers relating to all years and months in that period.

as fivebob says, toyota is very into the just in time system.
so much so thats its a requirement of a franchise to follow the same philosophy, hence why we may sell 10 4afe cambelts a week, but only keep 3 on the shelf, as we can order from TNZ over night

[KiwiMR2]

:D

Most Toyota interiors are pretty average, I dunno what I'm comparing it too though, maybe my dad's old Valiant with it's wondrous fitment and attention to detail.

Crap interiors......I find Honda's to often have horible plastic interiors, Toyota's always seem tidy to me.

Cheers
KiwiMR2

[BZG Wagon]

Not many people know this, but the cars were only produced in productions runs in either 1997 or 2000. So if you buy a 1999, it really a 1997 that sat on a dock or yard for two years.

I find this very hard to believe, given the Japanese principle of "Just in time" manufacturing, it makes no sense to build a car and have it sitting around for two years waiting for it to sell.

Also cars are registered by production date, so a '97 produced car couldn't be sold as a '99.

I was going by:
http://english.auto.vl.ru/catalog/toyota/caldina/

I was told by someone at Winger Subaru something similar happened with legacy's. Some taking up to two years to hit the market.

However, I stand corrected .

[MasCam]

http://english.auto.vl.ru only lists things when there was a change in the spec i.e everytime they put out a new model or did a facelift.

Otherwise all of the caldina variants listed for that time would have to have been made in one month and not just the gtt's, that would be some feat and also very hard to judge your volumes.

Little japenese man. "I would like to buy caldina GT-T prease"

salesman. "velly solly, velly propular, all sold, you come back in year and a half"

Little japenese man. "fluck you, me buy subaru, hai"

[BlakJak]

Good thread!
Very useful info for the potential Caldina buyer... Cheers guys.

[AJz]

yea i got mine for 9.5K, 1 year mechanical, already had the gearbox replaced with that

139,000 when i bought it, in blue, manual, stock as a rock. from toyota themselves. id keep lookin aye you will notice that you can get different bits on them, some have 2 rear spoilers, others on, some have GT in the grill, others say caldina, some have a nudge bar.

im pretty sure the bit below was said prev but....
Facelifts have HID's and different taillights, different interiors, and white speedo cluster as opposed the blue on pre.

[gleem]

and there manifolds don't warp, id say keep looking as well i got my gtt for 9k 125,000km manual came lowered and with a turbo timer as well