Faults:

My head gasket blew at 145000 kilometers.

The car hasn't been mistreated, so it was a complete shock.

Steering rubber failed, causing the rack to shift from left to right, depending on which side was loaded up.

General Comments:

The MKIII Supra is a great car, and for its age comes with plenty of features. Cruise control, power windows, mirrors, steering, air-con, and electric seats.

Depending on which way you look at the interior, it can seem dull or purposeful. I prefer the latter. The seats are quite good for a car of its era, as they are comfortable buckets; far and away better than any locally produced Holden or Ford of the time.

There are not many cars pre-1990 that give you as much bang for your buck either.

A bit sluggish off the mark (it is 1700kg). But once the turbo spools up, the mid range kick should see you pull in the Commodore that just got you at the lights. However it does lack the screaming top end grunt (stock) to be a V8 killer.

Handling is good, but it can become a bit floaty during high speed corners due to its weight up front.

It's probably too softly sprung, but that can be fixed by fitting some better dampers and springs.

Faults:

At 77,000 miles, the head gasket blew, causing my engine to overheat.

The stereo wiring burned out 2 days after I got the car from my mechanic.

It is a salvage title, so I expected some problems, but even so, the plastic underbody tray mysteriously fell off the car.

Coolant lines replaced at 83,000.

Rear seats worn terribly due to years of sun damage.

General Comments:

The gray cabin is augmented by all black dials, giving the car a great performance look.

The vehicle handles beautifully, but the progressive power steering can be difficult to handle at low speed. But once you get going, the car feels like a go-kart.

I did buy the car as a salvage, and have only had minor problems since the engine change. I have kept a close eye on the engine, since overheating is a major problem for these Supras, and have kept up with continuous oil changes and liquid flushes. It is an all around wonderful car, but the back seat should be deleted, or made larger.

The quietness of the cabin with the T-top on is impeccable, and hard to believe that it is a 1989. T-top off is louder, obviously, but wind draft is not too bad.

I have yet to put performance parts on my car, worrying if the ride, which is hard when the Toyota Electronically Modulated Suspension (T.E.M.S.) is in sport mode, would suffer if I changed the springs/shock assembly. As of this writing the car is virtually all stock, except for the new stereo.

I never liked Toyota much, but respect their vehicles, and particularly like only the MKIII generation Supras. I applaud the look of it, very 80's American, with the fastback look and flip up head-lights, very Firebird like.

You have to do maintenance often, but the extra elbow grease (I do maintenance myself) involved is well worth the driving pleasure.