Faults:

The thermostat was replaced around 100k. I bought one at Pep Boys and replaced the bad one in five minutes.

I think I replaced the alternator or fuel pump around 150k; don't remember which, but those things go when the car gets up there.

Rear louver broke in the middle. I think that was due to a big bump.

The sunroof leaked but was tolerable.

Spent $400 on struts around 150k.

General Comments:

This car ran great! I gave it an "8" for performance because I was comparing it to a BMW 320i which I liked too.

I never had any major problems with my Celica in the (roughly) 200 thousand miles I drove it. I changed the oil and rotated the tires. But I loved to drive it on back roads. A rear seat passenger once exclaimed as we banked this sweet curve; "it feels like we're in a Porsche". The car hugs nicely, and the rack and pinion was accurate and stable.

Faults:

Right after buying it in 1991, it wouldn't run. Turns out, the carburetor had been sitting for 3 years and the carb was all gummed up. Sprayed in a little carb cleaner and the car hasn't stopped running since.

General Comments:

This is the only vehicle that I've owned where every time I've ever went to drive it, I was smiling ear to ear.

Fun car!

My `82 Celica is a responsive little car that handles extremely well. When turning, I can easily break the back wheels loose, drift the rear end around and with a little acceleration, pull out straight.

The driver seat messes with my mind -- it makes me feel like the car loves me back! Conforms to my body and hugs me tight.

I made the mistake of selling my Celica after college (I bought an image concious, luxury `92 Camary XLE with gold package - which is an excellent car, too), quickly, however, I realized how mistaken I was to sell the Celica. It took me almost 8 years to buy my Celica back.

My Celica was not in good condition when I bought it back, the guy trashed the interior and dinged up parts of the body -- fortunately not badly. Up until now, I've been cleaning it up little by little.

At the same time, over the past 5 years, I've been meaning to buy a new car. But I've test driven many of the new cars on the market and I don't get that "grin" and "feel" that I'm looking for. I can't think of any car/truck/SUV that I like better than my Celica. So, I've made arrangements for my Celica to be restored back to new condition over the next year and I plan to make it my daily driver when finished.

I'm dropping some serious money into it and my friends and family think I'm nuts but I'm at a point in my life that I don't care what anyone thinks about the car I'm driving; all that matters is that I enjoy my ride. I can drop $30,000 into a new, flashy car that leaves me feeling "ho hum" or $12,000 into a car I know I'll enjoy driving every time I'm in it.

That saying..."Life is about the journey not about the destination", in my case, I'm taking the trip as far as I can in my Celica!

Faults:

Bought it with a blown engine, frankensteined a new one out of various 22R's/RE's that were lying around my brother's shop (he's a Toyota mechanic).

Body's in decent shape considering it's an '82, but I'm currently waging the War on Rust. Planning on winning it this summer when I redo the body.

Hatch is made out of Bondo.

Doesn't like to stay in first gear. You have to hold it in place until you're ready to shift.

Front windshield wipers quit working on me.

Rear wiper is lacking a control switch... there is just a peice of plastic where one should be, leading me to believe that the interior (or at least the dash) had been redone at one point.

Rear defrost doesn't work.

Lumbar pump doesn't work (it's a hand pump... how cool is that!).

Front right fender lost a bolt, and is now just flapping around (see War on Rust above).

Driver side door doesn't open all the way.

Various trim pieces in the hatch don't seem to be fitting as well as they ought to.

General Comments:

A few minor issues aside, this is still my favorite car out of all the ones I've owned. My previous car was a '96 Corolla LE, which I sold to my grandma when I started university because I couldn't afford to make the payments anymore. Anyway, I was looking for a cheap old car to drive around while I was in university, when my brother (who works at Toyota) bought this one with a blown engine and a parts car for $1000. So I bought it off him and we put an engine together for it, and it's been a blast to drive ever since. The first time I drove it after getting it put together I almost missed my turn, and cranked the wheel at 50km/h to make it, and I was amazed at how easy the car took it. This car gives you a lot of confidence in handling, and even at 170km/h the ride is very stable and quite effortless. I've had complete strangers walk up to me and offer me $5000 for it! The handling is amazing, which is saying a lot considering the rear springs are sagging. My '82 Celica GT seems to be more like an '83 Celica GT-S in terms of body stying, with seriously wide tires and fender flares that as far as my research could dig up weren't offered on the '82, so I think whoever owned the car before me did some "frankensteining" of his own. There is also evidence of this in the interior. The seats are some of the most comfortable I've seen in a car, and you can even adjust the sides of them to hold you snuggly in place. And the headrests...gasp...even support your head!

All in all, this has been my favorite car owned to date, and even though I might buy another car in the future, I wouldn't dream of selling this one.

BTW, the flip forward headlights on the 82-83's...pure genius. Very unique, and it's a shame that they went to the pop up headlights for the 84-85 years.