Buying 1995 UK spec

Hey guys,

I've been waiting for the best time to buy a UK spec for about 4 years now and I have finally decided that financially I'm in the right place.

I'm going to go see one this week and have had a look through the PDF's already (guide, model differences, what to check when buying).

I'm just wondering if any of you can give some advice on what you would consider 'red flags' when I'm either looking at it and/or reading through the immense amount of receipts that he has.

It looks like it's well taken care of which is ideal.

Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated. I plan on going down with the checklist and seeing how it goes, then if I like it I'll put down a deposit on it.

I'd like to get someone like the AA to come out and check it over as well but the AA only check cars up to 15 years old so if there is anyone else that I can get to check it then that would be appreciated too!

Thanks in advance!

Where abouts is the car? Have you got a link for an advert?

Sorry haha

North Lincolnshire

Link

Aah the magical 100k miles....

Buy on condition, get underneath it and look for rust. Im in Lincoln of you want someone to go have a look at it for you?

Have a read through here: http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/content.php?36-What-to-check-when-buying-a-Supra

Yeah it's done a few miles unfortunately

Well I won't put down a deposit until I've seen it in person for that exact reason pretty much. So rust underneath then, any particular place I should look out for or just in general?

Big Supes - Thanks yeah I read through that, it was very informative. I'm printing it off and taking it with me. The only thing is it was made quite a while ago so I just wanted to see if anyone had any ideas other than what's on there or if there's anything on there that would be a red flag nowadays.

No probs, just checking. Yeah, when it comes to UK cars, rust is the biggy as they have seen cold winters on salty UK roads.

BTW, I wouldn't let 100k put you off. Just make sure it's got service history. 100k is barely run-in.

Yeah it was the same deal with my 93 celica, and that was an import...

That's pretty much my train of thought too mate, it has full service history and two binders full of receipts and work so here's to hoping that's mostly preventative maintenance and other nice things!

Swampy - just realised I didn't reply to your offer to come with.. I'm going to see it with a friend from work who used to own an import TT so it might be a little intimidating with 3 guys coming to look at it. I'll bear it in mind though, thanks!

Is there a reason it has to be a UK car?

A club member is selling this facelift TT in a nicer colour for quite a lot less...

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?322974-Stock-Facelift-TT-Auto-in-Gunmetal

As for the UK spec, as has been mentioned rust is going to be the worst thing to look out for. Make sure you get the car up on a ramp and have a good look around. Any particularly thick areas of underseal around the sills then just walk away.

Hi, everything in the guide is spot as is service history , regular maintenance and a wad of invoice receipts for any work ever done , if there little history walk away.

100k miles is nothing for the car as it was over engineered in the first place. Check for rust in usual places arches, sills tailgate .

UK cars are much rarer and if not modded likely to prove a nice investment ovrr the next 5 to 10 years

Good luck

UK because of the spec differences and because it's rarer.

Good stuff, pretty much same places as my old celica then.

Thanks very much!

A few things extra that I had to do on mine:

Diff oil cooler in drivers rear arch, check for leaks.

Play some music if on original speakers they will be probably nearly dead.

Egr valve if not already blocked off, check for leaks.

Check for warped disks and sticky callipers.

Make sure all the dash lights come on then go off, watch out for dry solder joints.

Other that get it up on a ramp an check sub frames, brake lines and sills for rust. Check rubber pipes for stiffness and suspension if still on original. Also check the dashboard where it meets the screen if it's been in hot weather the dash will have started to warp. I'd also be checking for re spraying, strange parts ordered which could indicate accident damage. Also look when the cambelt was changed last as it's not cheap.

There's a long list of things to be thinking about when buying an old mkiv.

If they've not been replaced then i'd be concerned about the condition of

Diff cooler and pipework

Intercooler (cooling fins crumble to dust)

Water Radiator

Radiator cap (need to function correctly to allow coolant in and out of the system as it heats and cools)

A/C rad

Heater Matrix (leak)

Brake & fuel lines (rot)

Brake calipers (outer dirt seals perish letting dirt & moisture into the piston bore eventually causing pistons to seize)

Dampers

Suspension arms (lots have seized eccentric adjusters that won't come undone no matter how hard you try)

Engine hoses and any other rubber hoses on the car

Valve stem seals (go hard and leak oil into the bores, check on cold start up for blue/grey smoke)

Coil packs (crack and cause misfires)

Coil pack connectors (go brittle and fall apart causing missfires)

Cam cover seals (go hard and leak)

Cam cover link hoses

Crank pulley

Cam belt & tensioner

Aux belt & tensioner

Other things to have a close at

Front cross member that the rad sits on are prone to rotting

Bent seams on the floor where people have not jacked the car up properly and go rusty

Rust in all the usual places

Dash board separating around the air vent in front of the screen

Dash lights not working

Check heater blows hot

Check a/c blows cold

Check coolant level in rad and expansion tank and its condition

Check ATF level and condition

Check engine oil level and condition

Check fuel filter (some never get replaced)

Check if the brake fluids ever been changed.

All from previous experience with my UK spec and when looking at other mkiv's