2001 Toyota Celica 190 1.8 vvtli from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Not the ultimate driving machine, but a thoroughly capable coupe with performance to spare

Faults:

Front tyres are starting to show wear after only 1800 miles.

General Comments:

This car can be driven sedately and smoothly, but it's a real tiger once you reach the 6200rpm mark. I'd imagine once I get to grips with keeping her `on the boil' she'll leave most things behind.

However this car is not for everybody; the driving position is semi-horizontal, the rear seats are cramped, and the 17" alloys mean you feel every bump on the road.

There is also a lot of road noise from the Pirelli P0s that came on the car.

The Celica 190 turns heads everywhere it goes and handles great for a FWD, just be prepared for the torque steer every time you approach the power band.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 24th November, 2001

6th Oct 2005, 04:32

Has the gearbox failed yet? Or the suspension gone out of alignment all by itself? Or the wheels gone oval?

Mine (bought new and serviced on the button by the main dealer every time) was a disaster, and spent a total of 4 weeks in the (excellent) dealership in its first two years. I was almost grateful when it got stolen! The engine was fine, but pretty much everything else broke, failed, fell off, became misaligned or went haywire in some way.

The worrying part was that all of the repairs involved fitting uprated or modified parts, including the gearbox! This tells me not only was the car not developed thoroughly, but that lots of other people had suffered similar problems to me.

After this I will never buy a car from the first year of production. I'm sure I could go out and buy a new 190 today that would be absolutely fine, but that's due to the unpaid development work carried out by the first lot of owners. It's the last time I'm going to be one of those!

A happy RX-8 owner (carefully bought a year after the model was first launched!)

2001 Toyota Celica GT 1.8 from North America

Summary:

This car is more than I expected it to be.

Faults:

So far nothing has gone wrong with the car.

General Comments:

The car handles great.

I love this car, it always turns heads where ever I go.

But I do have some complaints about it.

Rear visibility is horrible. I feel like I'm going run people over when I back up. Kind of scary...

I hate the stock CD player. My god, it's so ugly!!!

The interior is different, but I like it.

Rear seats really really small. Probably only suitable for little kids. That's not a problem if the car isn't being used to transport people.

Also insurance is cheaper than a GT-S, else I would have gone with the GT-S.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 28th September, 2001

2001 Toyota Celica GT from North America

Summary:

Not a very well built model

Faults:

Since we purchased the car we have had nothing but problems. First they forgot to remove the rubber stoppers that go between the the springs and the frame for shipping resulting in front end problems. They were found and removed at 2,600 miles. The car vibrates, shakes and pulls. Dealer says this is normal.

Second the air conditioning started blowing white smoke into the passenger compartment. The dealer said there were leaks and they corrected them. It has started happening again 2,500 miles later.

The sunroof won't open all the way.

Brakes squeak and make a rubbing noise, dealer says this is normal.

Interior pieces fall off repeatedly.

General Comments:

The Toyota dealer service department is almost impossible to deal with. We thought Toyota was a very well built car, now I will most likely never buy another Toyota again.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 9th September, 2001

1st Nov 2001, 12:33

Don't TAKE THE CAR TO THE DEALER if they are staying stupid things like 'its normal.' It's pretty obvious that a new car like the Celica is not going to have problems like that that are 'normal.' Take it to a reliable mechanic, find out the REAL problem, and then confront the dealer about it with a written estimate so that you can get it covered under warranty.

2001 Toyota Celica GT 1.8L VVT-i from North America

Summary:

A great looking and economical sports car

Faults:

No major problems.

Minor interior noises.

Sluggish until the second cam profile.

Cloth seats are very delicate.

Air conditioning vents are difficult to manipulate to the desired, comfortable position.

General Comments:

Even though it's not as fast as a GT-S, the GT is quick and nimble.

The Celica has very great handling.

No large after-market support yet.

Great looking car. I get so many positive comments at car shows and from the ladies.

The orange dash display can get annoying.

The double din setup for the CD player/radio is not my favorite type.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 8th August, 2001

13th Aug 2001, 13:13

One thing I've noticed from the early 90's is that the Celica's rarely have aftermarket support. While you do find one here and there (nopi.com) aftermarket kits & parts are brutally expensive as compared to the Civics & Integras.

A couple pros of this though are: it keeps up the "goodwill" of the car, you're not surrounded by testosterone-excessed teenagers looking to race, and the car turns heads with the factory body styling.

A couple cons of this are: Toyota has to develop expensive bodykits themselves because they know the aftermarket people won't do it right away (and so you pay Toyota $$ for it), so when you find aftermarket parts etc, they are costly. Lastly, it's hard to convince people to give the car a try or to buy one, because it's expensive to own if you plan on making modifications.

Take care and good luck!