Some advice required for a first time Supra buyer

Hi everyone,

a few months back I posted my first thread, saying that I was away to buy my dream car in the next few months.

So a few months have passed and i'm now actively seeking a Supra! (i'm absolutely delighted!) But I need some advice in regards to a car that I've got a chance of buying.

it's a 1994 UK spec car, really good condition and unmodified. Now here's my sticking point, the milage... I know the car is almost 20 years old, but I wanted to ask the question just to be safe.

The milage is 110,000 miles.

The price is a little over £8k from a friend of a friend.

I'd really appreciate some advice as to whether this is a fair price considering the milage.

Thanks for any advice, I really appreciate it.

Auto or manual?

110k is barely ran in mate i bought my second supra with 120k on it and still pulls like a train i wouldnt be worried about the mileage at all as long as its clean and been cared for.

sorry, it's an auto

thanks tony tt.

I've also heard that as cars age they lose power and performance, i reckon that for a car from the 70's fair enough but surely not a car like a Supra?

IMO it would have to be VERY nice for £8k...

An 8k auto agreed it would have to be very nice. I paid 8k for mine and love it. Some cars lose power with age mate but i wouldnt say a supra is one of them. Simple mods will take the stock TT to 400hp no problem at all the horses are still in the stable id say. Do you have any pics of the car bud? Might help

Yeah i figured as much in regards to the power.

Sorry I don't have any pictures of the car, it is immaculate - but I'm just not sure about the milage in regards to the price...

It's the UK spec i'm after, but i can't find any atm for less than £8k, apart from one with 180,000 miles!!!

Theres a buyers guide on the homepage mate have a look at that. If the cars as nice as you say and you are happy with it thats the main thing. Is the friend of a friend on the forum?

Heres the Buyers guide http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?67644-What-to-check-when-buying-a-Supra

Has mentioned mileage ain't much of a problem with these engine as long as its well maintained.

I wouldn't worry about mileage, my old Supra had 90k on it & my current one 25k, the old one felt just as tight!

Main thing would be to ensure the car has been looked after, evidence of work & knowledge from the current owner.

thanks for the replies,

i had a look at the guide and it did comfort me a fair bit... i mean the car is 18 years old so 110,000 miles over 18 years is 6000 miles a year which is not much at all!

In terms of ensuring the car has been looked after, would that be stuff like Full Service History?

thanks for the replies,

 

i had a look at the guide and it did comfort me a fair bit... i mean the car is 18 years old so 110,000 miles over 18 years is 6000 miles a year which is not much at all!

 

In terms of ensuring the car has been looked after, would that be stuff like Full Service History?

On a UK Spec, yes. Should get a lot of history with it if it's been looked after.

Good luck with buying it.

Finding out what parts have been replaced is a must, as good as the supra is they dont go on

forever.

My Uk spec at a similar milage needed, new heater matrix, radiator, air con rad, diff cooler rad, intercooler,

valve stem seals, front & rear brake caliper rebuild, new suspension arms due to seized eccentric adjusters,

new shock absorbers, new alarm.

Engine wise its fine and is on original turbo's and at 1.25 bar is over 400 hp and runs sweetly, auto gearbox works

perfectly.

Its now at 134,000 miles and running very nicely but recently needed a new front cross member due to rot, this is getting to be a common problem, also brake and fuel lines will be nearing the time they need replacing.

thanks for the replies,

 

i had a look at the guide and it did comfort me a fair bit... i mean the car is 18 years old so 110,000 miles over 18 years is 6000 miles a year which is not much at all!

 

In terms of ensuring the car has been looked after, would that be stuff like Full Service History?

To a certain extent, do not rely on history too much for a number of reasons. Some people are blinded by this.

When you see the car, ensure that the owner hasn't switched it on so then you can see the car from a cold start. When you do start it from cold get someone round the back to see if any smoke comes out on cold start. Blueish smoke or puff's of smoke would indicate value stems need replacing, which are fairly cheap to buy but the labour costs are expensive.

Ensure you give the car a good look over, check engine is idling and smooth in terms of both driveability and performance. The engine, gearbox & performance should be spot on, it should pull very strong & change gears very smoothly, the gearbox should be outstanding from start to finish (they are a great gearbox). Check the underneath properly, being a UK Spec it has seen 18 years of salt on the roads, as Dunk mentioned above this could lead to rust of brake pipes, cross members, and other items which may need replacing. Suspension components are not cheap new.

Good luck, they are superb cars, age doesn't have a thing on them

Not wishing to be funny but history is a huge thing on these cars, knowing whats been replaced on this car is a

massive factor to its value as its on the verge of probably needing quite a bit of work inc parts unless they have

already been replaced.

Quite a few items will be very hard to check even on a ramp so you would rely on the cars history to tell you

exactly whats what, its not a guarantee the car will go on faultlessly but without it you are taking a potenially

huge expensive risk.

It only takes 5 seconds max to burn off any oil thats leaked via the valve stem seals, how can you ensure its

not been run ?

Not everyone is that honest knowing that its going to be between £500-£1000 to replace them.

I know the car is almost 20 years old -

 

The milage is 110,000 miles.

5500 miles a year? its been abused to hell! avoid!

Seriously though my LS400 has a 1UZ thats done over a quarter of a million miles, thats enough to go to the moon, and the 1JZ in my MKiii supe was still pulling like a train at 20 years old, Im pretty sure that a 2JZ would do just as well and like people have said 110k is not a lot

If you do decide not to go for it tho mind passing the details on im looking for one too

If you get a spare moment can you add it to the uk spec register. Link is in my sig or it's in the members section.

Agree with what's been said its all about the history with these cars otherwise you could be buying a money pit and not the good type.

My Uk spec at a similar milage needed, new heater matrix, radiator, air con rad, diff cooler rad, intercooler,

valve stem seals, front & rear brake caliper rebuild, new suspension arms due to seized eccentric adjusters,

new shock absorbers, new alarm.

OUCH......Hope that wasnt all in one sitting

OUCH......Hope that wasnt all in one sitting

It's ok dunks loaded

OUCH......Hope that wasnt all in one sitting

No not in one go thankfully

Since my car sneaked past the 100k mark its been one thing after another, this is to be expected

after the car reached 15 years old and is now 18 years old.

My car has been cherised by me for over 12 years so its not down to lack of maintainance or love

Its also flown through every mot with zero advisories so dont be fooled just because yours passed

there isn't anything wrong with it.

Heater matrix is impossible to check, ac rad and water rad are hard to properly inspect, brake caliper

outer seals are also very difficult to inspect and if one has a hole in it or splits it wont be long before

you need to strip and rebuild the caliper, eccentric toe and camber adjusters are also very hard to check

their not seized until you actually try to adjust them.

SMIC also needs more than just a look through the hole in the bumper, mine looked fine until you

touched the fins, they literally crumbled and turned to dust.

Just to add my cars not been driven on salted road gritted rds either, well not in the last 12 years.

The front cross member is also not easy to properly check, mine was only spotted due to taking the

rad and an ac rad out which sit on the cross member, the rot was underneath them.

I've already mentioned the valve stem seals and how easy it is to con a buyer that their fine, trust

me if the cars 15 + yrs old and done 100k + they wont be, mine only smoked for a couple of seconds

but when we did the seals they were scrap and rock hard.

Same goes for the cam cover seals, unless they've been replaced they will also be on the verge of

failing due to them going rock hard, cross pipes on the cam covers also go rock hard along with

coil pack clips dissintergrating.

Buy one without history and take your chances, i personally would rather see how the car has been

maintained along with what parts have been replaced due to age and milage.

I'd pop and see the one at R A Motors on ebay (Item number: 280846170050)

Looks nice and with a good history, would at least help to compare to the friend of a freinds one condition wise.

Where about in grampian are you? Im sure 1 of us local lads would easy come along and have a look at the car for you if you wanted. There is a team beard meet on the 8th of april, 8.30pm in union square (2nd floor), There will be 3 supra's there (5 speed TT, 6 speed TT bpu and an auto TT bpu)

I'd pop and see the one at R A Motors on ebay (Item number: 280846170050)

 

Looks nice and with a good history, would at least help to compare to the friend of a freinds one condition wise.

Bad experiences with RA motors in the past. Drove 400+ miles to view a car that was described as "mint" and it was far from it, accident damage and in terrible shape. The rest of the stock at the time wasnt anything special either.

Just be aware.

I wouldn't buy a car based on service history. Receipts for items replaced are far more important.

I rang a Toyota dealer a while ago to ask what fluids they recommended, the sales bloke put me onto their workshop manager who told me that they just put in whatever they can get cheapest from halfords over the road. He was honest but it was not what I was expecting. Does a service book full of stamps really mean anything?

I would rather judge the car on the previous owner and his knowledge of the car.