I bought two supras in two days!
Last time I saw an MKIII in town was about 4-5 years ago. Hadn't thought about them since.
Two months ago I cut through one of the unseedy side streets of downtown, saw a white turbo MKIII in a grassy lot with a big orange sticker on it. Miles ~145k. Four flat tires, busted out rear window, rough interior (it was unlocked!), but no obvious rust or signs it had been wrecked. Plates had been renewed 6 months ago. Orange sticker was a tow threat by the city. Mechanic from the garage across the street appeared and told me the engine was blown and the owner couldn't afford to fix it. Visited again a couple of days later and this time found some guys hanging around who knew the owner. Got her phone number (she lived in another town). She said everything was working great on the car when the engine went. She would think about selling it, but she never returned my calls. So there it sits, wasting away...
But the white car caused me to do some research. Found out Supras were in my price range (took 20 years). Found a red one (nonturbo) on Auto Trader for $1000, only 35 miles from me. Called him. He said right after he placed the ad, the car wouldn't start for the first buyer that came out to look at it. I told him I didn't care if it started. He said he would take $500 for it today. We went out, and he had it running. Interior was in very nice shape. Paint was shot. Odometer wasn't working, so it probably had 180k miles on it. Brake caliper was locking up. Holes in muffler. Motor sounded good. We bought it, and he delivered it to my barn on a flatbed.
The very next day my husband saw a dark blue 87 (nonturbo) on a residential street near his office. He stopped and asked the kid if the car was for sale. He said probably, and gave my husband his parents number. We called. The car had been purchased from the neighbor for the son to drive, and he didn't want to drive it (???). They had it for several years and only put a few hundred miles on it. Interior was perfect, everything worked but the sony stereo LCD display was burned out. Motor hummed, only had synthetic oil in it. All original, 124k miles. This was one I could drive immediately so we bought it for $2500. Probably too much, because I immediately spent another $500 on repairs. It needed a new brake caliper and throttle position sensor. Found a bad belt in one of the tires that causes it to pull, but plan to rotate it to the rear. Bought a second brake caliper for the front, and the old one will go on the red supra in the barn.
Still waiting to see if the white supra gets towed - one of my clients is the contracted tow company for the city. If it sits on their lot for 60 days they will sell it.
Will be selling the red one as soon as hubby fixes the caliper and puts the new muffler on. With a little tweaking, engine starts everytime. We won't be selling it for $500
tracy
supraX2