new here, few questions

[SoooopRa!]

hey all, i'm new here and this is my first post and just had a few questions. i'll be buying a new car soon and am looking at an older car as my daily driver. i won't be taking it to the track or racing it hard either. i don't want to spend more than $2000 or so, that way i won't have to pay collision insurance, just reliability.

i've been looking at mkiii supras and love the look of them, and the fact that they're toyota's and they can handle a lot of miles. so here are my few questions:
1. i know that one of the main problems with the supras are the headgaskets. if i buy a supra that has already had the headgasket replaced, can i expect to have to replace it again or should the new one last for a long time? are there any other precatuions i should look for before buying?

2. would it be wise to look for one with about 100K miles? are supras reliable for how old of a car they are? i don't want to end up putting thousands into fixing it.

3. if i do indeed buy a supra, what should do to it to ensure it will run for a long time? change all the hoses and tubes under the hood, how much would that cost? change all the oil and fluids under the hood?

thanks a lot!

[mrnickleye]

Look in the FAQs section for "buying a new supra"

And other threads too. These cars have their problems, and you should find the 'best' one possible.

[Isphius]

Yes, They are very reliable cars. Very reliable, Even if they are 20 years old or not. The problem wasnt with the headgasket itself, But that the bolts werent torqued down enough to make up for the different expansion and contraction of the aluminum(head) mated to the iron(block). If you buy one, And the hg is still good (search for BHG symptoms), All you have to do is take the valve covers off and retorque the head bolts to about 90 ft lbs or so. But this isnt recomended, Because the bolts can break. If you want to replace it, The whole gasket kit is 135$. I would say go for it. And then get some arp head studs, Because they are much stronger and make Getting the head on really easy without moving the gasket surface around too much. Aside from headgaskets, These cars have no major mechanical problems that are commmon to most cars. Little things break thou, and are easy to fix, Like the power steering rack leaks fluid, Thermlostats go bad(any car thou), The horn and speedo will stop working, And the interior dome lights start lose their ground and go out. There is also a few people on here with battery ground problems, But i dont think they are very common. If you buy the car, Just do all the maintainance parts at once, like fluids, oils, brakes, shocks, vaccum hoses, new battery, New battery cables, retorque/redo headgasket(kind of optional, If its not blown), And it will be good for many many miles. My na was pretty beat up and abused by me and previous owners, But i took care of it maintainance wise and nothing went wrong on the car in 10 months and 11k+ (~175k - ~186k)miles.

[SoooopRa!]

thanks again for the replies. i found out about this site a week or so ago and have pretty much been stalking it to find tons of info! did searches and what not too.

Originally Posted by Isphius

If you buy the car, Just do all the maintainance parts at once, like fluids, oils, brakes, shocks, vaccum hoses, new battery, New battery cables, retorque/redo headgasket(kind of optional, If its not blown), And it will be good for many many miles.

estimated, how much would all that cost? i don't want to drop a ton of cash into a supra if i indeed buy one. i just want the car to be my daily driver for a few years.

[SoooopRa!]

sorry, i didn't see the faq and sticky threads up top. that answered a lot of my questions!

i was just browsing supramania and came across this thread: http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25509
i'm really scared to buy a supra now, even if i find a good one that fits the price and requirements. i'm afraid of ending up putting more into it than i payed for it, and i don't want that. just want to buy one, change all the fluids, change all the tubing under the hood, and thats about it. and i want to keep all of that under $2000-$2500 including buying the car. is that possible? if not, got any other suggestions for other daily drivers for around two grand? thanks and sorry if i'm being a pain in the butt!

[SoooopRa!]

bump, need suggestions

[Murd]

Originally Posted by SoooopRa!

sorry, i didn't see the faq and sticky threads up top. that answered a lot of my questions!

i was just browsing supramania and came across this thread: http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25509
i'm really scared to buy a supra now, even if i find a good one that fits the price and requirements. i'm afraid of ending up putting more into it than i payed for it, and i don't want that. just want to buy one, change all the fluids, change all the tubing under the hood, and thats about it. and i want to keep all of that under $2000-$2500 including buying the car. is that possible? if not, got any other suggestions for other daily drivers for around two grand? thanks and sorry if i'm being a pain in the butt!

Almost any car you buy in that price range is going to have problems that need fixing within the first year. On my 88 I've replaced the EGR valve, had all the intake and exhaust seals redone, new cat, full tune up, ball joint, and I have barely had it a full year now. I STILL need to fix the engine leak, replace the bushings, get the alignment done after all the steering components are replaced/checked out. It all depends on if it's a car you WANT to spend money on. You could get a toyota tercel or some other box car for 2k and still spend money on it.