Whatever happened to the sporty $14k japanese car

[saymyname]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: saymyname
My '89 Celica in college refused to die. I had that thing duct taped together in the end and it was leaking every fluid it had, the exaust was shot, the tires were falling apart, and it must have been in a dozen accidents, etc...

It held on until right before I graduated. Such a trooper!

I had exactly the same experience with an '89 Celica. Then I upgraded.

Still...what a car. Sold it at 240k. The power steering was 100% gone, both the driver's side and trunk locks were thrashed (someone broke in), there was a huge crack in the windshield, it was rusted through in multiple places (I used a hot glue gun to partially seal the sunroof, and I would use trash bags to cover my seat and collect the rain every night), but that thing still ran...

Any car that can live for two decades in a state that salts its roads is :thumbsup:

Power steering! HA! I used to have to refill the power steering fluid every other day. I finally gave up and just considered driving the car a work out.

My favorite part was the air intake though. The whole tube going to the air filter disintigrated one day when I changing the filter so I went to the junkyard and picked up a whole bunch of tubes from different cars and duct taped them together. I only had to change the duct tape once after a few years.

No rust problems out here and although the windshield on that thing would crack every year I would get it replaced after every accident. That car cracks me up now that I think about it. I'm not even sure it was running on all 4 cylindars when it died.

 

[Shawn]

Text

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Originally posted by: amdforever2
The point ladies and gentleman is that japan has nothing to complete price wise with:

Focus ZX3
Cobalt
Sunfire
2 door ion
neon


and if one of you says thats because japan quality warrants a $5000 or more premium....ill hang myself

Every one of those cars are utter garbage. Go hang yourself.

 

[fallensight]

blame ford and all the suckers buying the v6 mustangs. That is about the only 'sporty' car that is still sold for under 30k anymore.

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: fallensight
blame ford and all the suckers buying the v6 mustangs. That is about the only 'sporty' car that is still sold for under 30k anymore.

What about the Pontiac Grand Prix?

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman
The extra couple-hundred pounds on the Celica gave you two back seats and a trunk big enough to carry more than a purse...

but it still doesn't drive like an MX5. Regardless, different class of cars. Who needs a back seat when you're autocrossing

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Originally posted by: shortylickens

Originally posted by: fallensight
blame ford and all the suckers buying the v6 mustangs. That is about the only 'sporty' car that is still sold for under 30k anymore.

What about the Pontiac Grand Prix?

The Pontiac Grand Prix was never a sporty car.

 

[iversonyin]

Originally posted by: n30
I love the look of 3rd generation Celicas. I'm sad that Toyota discontinued the line

Now I have to get a supercharged TC

Overpriced. Better off with a Civic Si

 

[Lucky]

Originally posted by: amdforever2
The point ladies and gentleman is that japan has nothing to complete price wise with:

Focus ZX3
Cobalt
Sunfire
2 door ion
neon


and if one of you says thats because japan quality warrants a $5000 or more premium....ill hang myself

Uh, Scion tC? Probably cheaper with comparable options.

And yes, the tC is fat. But every car has gotten fat since the mid 80-s. Increased safety regulations have made every car bloated. But it's got decent torgue and is mildly fun out of the box. And I'm still going strong with no mechanical issues after 50K/2 years.

 

[Lucky]

Originally posted by: iversonyin

Originally posted by: n30
I love the look of 3rd generation Celicas. I'm sad that Toyota discontinued the line

Now I have to get a supercharged TC

Overpriced. Better off with a Civic Si

That's debatable. Just like every civic before it, the Si's torque is still relatively low, while it's horsepower is still made at the top end.

I don't know how it's overpriced. Their prices are virtually identical with you equip the tc with the supercharger. The si does have the advantage of a six speed and an LSD, but you can get the power on an automatic with the tC.

 

[amdforever2]

Civic Si and tC

is that all japan has been reduced to?

 

[iversonyin]

Originally posted by: AnonymouseUser

Originally posted by: amdforever2
The point ladies and gentleman is that japan has nothing to complete price wise with:

Focus ZX3
Cobalt
Sunfire
2 door ion
neon


and if one of you says thats because japan quality warrants a $5000 or more premium....ill hang myself

Every one of those cars are utter garbage. Go hang yourself.

I second that. Unless you are bargain hunter, you really dont want to own any of these cars. The ride is rubbish and the resale value...well lets not even go there.

I would pay $3-4k over to get Japanese competitors... Mazda3, Civic, Sentra, TC

Those cars only sell because they offer something like 0% apr for 3 years or $2000 cash back. Still I would take a used japanese on that type of budget.

 

[iversonyin]

Originally posted by: Lucky

Originally posted by: iversonyin

Originally posted by: n30
I love the look of 3rd generation Celicas. I'm sad that Toyota discontinued the line

Now I have to get a supercharged TC

Overpriced. Better off with a Civic Si

That's debatable. Just like every civic before it, the Si's torque is still relatively low, while it's horsepower is still made at the top end.

I don't know how it's overpriced. Their prices are virtually identical with you equip the tc with the supercharger. The si does have the advantage of a six speed and an LSD, but you can get the power on an automatic with the tC.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Followup/articleId=108776

According to this, thats $3k premium over the Si (assume you get the Si for $23k). Its overpriced.

And if its torque that you want, you would probably shop around for a V6 Mustang

 

[Ryan]

The Prelude cost $22K-26K from 1997-2003, depending on what model you chose. Not only that, but the previous Prelude topped out in the mid 20's too.

 

[Vic]

Considering Asia's ongoing dominance in the sport compact market, I think the OP is on crack.

A footnote though: the Scion tC is the Celica replacement, and a return to the design and market that made the Celica popular in the first place, unlike the wildly unconventional later Celica designs. As to the "fat and torquey" complaints about the tC, consider that an '85 Celica GTS with a 22R-E made 112 bhp @ 4200 rpm and 142 lb-ft @ 3400 rpm and did a 10 second 0-60.

 

[Lucky]

Originally posted by: iversonyin

Originally posted by: Lucky

Originally posted by: iversonyin

Originally posted by: n30
I love the look of 3rd generation Celicas. I'm sad that Toyota discontinued the line

Now I have to get a supercharged TC

Overpriced. Better off with a Civic Si

That's debatable. Just like every civic before it, the Si's torque is still relatively low, while it's horsepower is still made at the top end.

I don't know how it's overpriced. Their prices are virtually identical with you equip the tc with the supercharger. The si does have the advantage of a six speed and an LSD, but you can get the power on an automatic with the tC.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Followup/articleId=108776

According to this, thats $3k premium over the Si (assume you get the Si for $23k). Its overpriced.

And if its torque that you want, you would probably shop around for a V6 Mustang

I have NO idea what that site is you linked to, but the prices are whacked. They include a bunch of optional crap. Tc = 16.5+4K for the supercharger. I got my numbers straight from the edmunds.com comparison sheets.