1991 Toyota Celica GT 2.0i 16v 3S-GE from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Looks great, goes even better!

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong yet, and being a Toyota hopefully nothing will go wrong!

So far I've changed the oil and filter, air filter etc.

General Comments:

I bought this car from an auction simply because it stood out from all the other cars on the lot waiting to go through. I never intended to buy a Celica as I thought the running costs and insurance would be too high. I was wrong, I'm paying only £86 per year over what my Nissan Sunny was, and the economy from the DOHC engine seems great. The ride is quite hard, but I never expected it to be like a Jag in that respect, but handles great.

This is the 158bhp version which seems more than capable of hauling the car along at a swift pace.

My only gripe, is that its not really ideal for a DIY mechanic, serviceable items could be better located, and theres not a lot of room under the bonnet. The parts are not readily available in motor factors, and usually need to be ordered, or obtained from the dealer. Being a Toyota however should mean that parts won't need replacing that often!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 4th February, 2003

13th May 2003, 11:47

The Toyota Celica is not a hard car to fix. If you have somewhat a good knowledge about what you are doing, then it isn't hard. I have a '91 GT-S and I do everything by myself and I'm only 17. But yeah keep those Celicas rollin! Peace.

8th Jul 2003, 10:12

Just an addition to my original entry, car now has 117,000 miles, all I've done since is changed cam belt and fuel filter (not in the easiest place!!) Car really is superb, goes and handles really well, general feeling of solidity throughout car, super reliable, and very good fuel consumption (just returned from a weekend away to Edinburgh from South Wales, 900 mile round trip, and averaged 41 mpg!) Didn't even bother arranging breakdown cover as I'm so confident in its reliability!

1991 Toyota Celica GT 2.4L from North America

Summary:

The best used car you can buy

Faults:

My condenser for my air conditioning had to be replaced a couple years ago. I have had to replace the rotors for the brakes once.

General Comments:

The is an awesome car. It runs great and I would say it is the most reliable car out there. I have been careful to always service the car and it paid off. If I didn't want a four door car I would keep this until it died. I have a hatchback and it is amazing how much stuff you can put in this car. I drove to college across country with all my belongings. The cars idle is very quiet and my paint still looks good and everyone thinks this is a new car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 19th November, 2002

1991 Toyota Celica SX 2.2L EFI from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Performance, Handling what more do you want

Faults:

159,000Klm the manifold had a leak in it, It was replaced if custom extractors $570.

164,000Klm I hit something from underneath and broke the exhaust, Replaced by custom 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust $760.

170,000Klm Added performance air filter ($140) and made a insulated air intake box ($70).

174,000Klm Replaced coil, leads & spark plugs with MSD performance coil ($125), 8.5mm Bosch leads ($75) & Bosch iridium spark plugs ($80).

176,000Klm Replaced worn clutch with after-market heavy duty clutch kit ($450)

Plus custom short shifter.

180,000Klm Replaced worn shocks & springs with Monroe Nitrogen Shocks & 2" Super-low King Springs.

195,000Klm Replaced blown head gasket with 1mm metal head gasket.

General Comments:

As you can see I'm in love with this celica. Next I'll do the internals and add a TO3/TO4E Turbo.

This is a real man's car.

The handling is just that little not so good, but can be improved by better rear sway bar's.

The interior isn't so bad, well I don't really go for that stuff.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 19th May, 2002

3rd Dec 2003, 03:45

Celica's are good cars. Be careful not to drive it too hard. My Celica that I sold at 118000km needed a new engine. At acceleration from 60km to 100km, my engine block cracked as I was driving and thus my motor fell. Engine oil leaked out all over. Too find a new engine for this car is a slow and very long process. After 3 weeks and $2000 later, I had a new engine in it. It took forever to find an engine for a celica. Something to do with long and short motors. The engine was from a celica with roughly the same kilometres. Drove it for 3 weeks and lost total confidence in it. It did not sound normal. Sold it and bought a 2000 Holden Vectra 2.2 CD model. Have not looked back. Great car and 10/10 in every department, but the wallet!

30th Mar 2007, 07:23

CELICAS ROCK!!! I'm 16, bought my own Celica (1991) and fell in love with it. It isn't very modified. I use it as nice street car I can enjoy occasionally, although I have a Nissan Silvia S13 lined up for me soon...

21st Jan 2011, 12:56

You can improve your handling with KYB or other performance struts. To be honest, Monroe shocks and struts tend to leak and fail after a few months, that's probably why you feel your suspension the way it feels, and yes a larger sway bar helps a lot.

Try CUSCO performance sway bars and strut bars, they're a little expensive, but they work pretty well and will make your suspension nice and stiff. You'll be able to take corners and curves with no roll or sagging.

Also rims will help a lot, maybe some Rotas slipstreams will work. I prefer 16inch, they are a little bit less expensive than 17inch tires. Wrap those Rotas with Toyos Proxes 4 (205-45-16 or 205-40-16) don't know if 215-45-16 will work, have not tried it yet.