Advice on this car please

Hi people,

A car has popped up that i am considering, hadnt really been looking at any face lifts before, is it simply just the lights and dash that was different?

Here is his website with some pics

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~enzjmc/supra/index.htm

I'm, trying to work out if it has the UK brakes or not, cant really tell from the pics. His advert says the following:

1996 TOYOTA SUPRA 3.0 Turbo 3dr Auto Liftback,

Petrol, . TWIN TURBO. N reg Black Auto Import. Face lift model thus better looking dash and lights, Full Black leather interior and electric drivers seat, twin airbags, turbo gauge in dash as standard, Active spoiler above 60mph or manual activation, A/C, ABS, adjustable suspension lowered, SS exhaust, Split rim alloys. One Cat removed(have kept), Apexi Air filter(have origional). Remote central locking and cat 1 immobiliser. Turbo Timer. Full toyota service since I have owned. Toyota bodykit. Absolute gutted sale, but due to points(none in this car!!)and the need to carry stuff around. Amazing to drive and is very very very fast. Will put on new MOT and has 6mnths tax. 48000 miles approx. No canvassers please. No test drives given unless serious buyer. £11,000.

1 thing i noticed on 1 of the pics is that it still has a red fog light hanging down from the rear bumper, what exactly does this mean, that the rear lights havent been converted? Is this legal or a major issue to get sorted?

It also still has the standard stereo but it has been converted to recieved englisg channels, is it a major pain with these jap cars to then fit an uprated headunit?

I've called and arranged a viewing on saturday

Any thoughts or comments welcome

Thanks,

Christian

Looks clean I will say that...

The radio will have band expander installed, so it will work..

I would suggest taking someone who knows supra's up with you.

As far as the foglight, they took the lazy option really, UK law states the car must have a foglight, and most places just bolt one on the bottom. There is a way to convert one of the set of brakes lights to be the foglight with a relay and switch a little time..

Gav

I'd say the are UK brakes.

Yes, the rear light cluster hasn't been converted, but it's not difficult to do. And to have the light hanging down like that is legal.

The stereo is also easy to convert with an Autoleads pocket adapter allowing you to install a single DIN head unit. These can be purchased from Halfrauds. Do a search and you will be able to get the part number.

HTH

The fog light is totally legal and is what nornmally happens when a car goes for its SVA. The stereo is not an issue either as any "normal" stereo system will plug in. This one has had a band expander fitted so that it can pick up more of our radio chanels.

TBH, the car looks very nice and is very well priced too. If I were you I would definitely try to take along someone who is knowledgable about the marque and see what they say.

Thank you peeps, quick replies there. I've now test driven about 10 of these and have looked at many. I'm reasonably clued up with cars and would like to think i know what to check, saying that if anyone on here lives around loughborough and would fancy a check with me on saturday then that would be much appreciated (and will earn you a beer!) but if not i fully understand. I think it looks like it does have the UK brakes, he is gonna send me some pics tonight, but gudging by the wheels being 18's, the discs do seem quite big.

I thought that was the case with the fog light, just wanted to check. Going by his pics on the site, it seems gorgeous :-)

Car looks really nice.

Better getting the facelift car as the lights are much nicer and more modern looking, it's got full leather interior which is great.

Well priced aswell. Worth checking out the intercooler, mine isn't too good on my 97 car, you might be able to get something knocked off the price.

Merckx, thanks for the advice, is there any easy way to check the condition of the intercooler, can it be easily seen through the air vent? What am i actually looking for apart from bent fins?

But as you say, the condition looks fantastic.

Do you know when you get a certain feeling about a car, veen before you see it, well i've got it

o you know when you get a certain feeling about a car, veen before you see it, well i've got it

Dude, as sweet as the car may look, don't get blinded by 'I must have that one', make sure you check it carefully, hence the reason people suggest taking someone else who will be a little more objective.

Gav

Gav, yeah i know mate. No ones getting my money unless i'm totally happy. My girlfriend will be coming who has equally looked at all the ones i have, and isnt afraid of giving her 'personal' opinion My dad and brother are very good at this sort of thing, but, dont necassarily know the supe to well. I'm gonna go on saturday and see how i get on, i wont be buying it that day anyway so will have to travel again to make the final purchase, at which time i will definetly take someone else with me

i just sold an N reg mint condition for 9000k on the road, i suppose it has leather and its few months newer.

Look at it on a ramp before you buy. Get someone from a proper, professional body repair shop to look at it too, if you can't run to paying a Supra expert to look at it. I see some sad cases here, where people think they have bought an original paint, accident free specimen, when really they have a bodged up shed that's been rattled down a motorway crash barrier and repaired in someones back garden.

Why do people block out cars registrations? Alwyas seems a bit pointless to me.

Price seems very high too, it's a buyers market, I'd expect to pay around 8k for a 96 at the moment.

Hi Jurgen, i did see that one for sale, but at the time had no interest in the scooby so didnt want to look at it. From chatting to the guy i'm hoping to get a chunk off that price anyway, heres hoping anyway

Hi Chris, appreciate your comments. 8k seems very low for a 96 in the condition that this appears to be in, but, as you say, if its genuine that is. I know you come very recommended on here, is there anyone you would recommend looking at it (around the loughborough area), sorry, not sure where your based.

just for info Chassis plate s/b as follows

E-JZA80-ALP(Q or V)Z

2JZ-GTE...........2997

JZA80-(between) 0035000 & 0038500

202....FL20

A340E....A(almost certain)02 A or B (Preferably B)

A24-A26 ish (not important its just the car plant no.)

Here's a new intercooler, supplied by Chris Wilson.

Here are two showing signs of corrosion and falling apart, it can be easily seen on the right of the car through the bumper. You'll know when you see a bad one!

btw for what its worth, the car gives me all the right vibes too....

.....good luck with it.

Thanks Scooter, i will take that with me

Thanks merckx, that certainly doesnt look like what i want to see!

Thanks very much for everyone's help here!

Hi Jurgen, i did see that one for sale, but at the time had no interest in the scooby so didnt want to look at it. From chatting to the guy i'm hoping to get a chunk off that price anyway, heres hoping anyway

mine sold quick too like even if u get 500 off its a bonus as long as car is ok. looks good

Price seems very high too, it's a buyers market, I'd expect to pay around 8k for a 96 at the moment.

If you see any please let me know as I would buy 2 at that price - and I am being serious!

The facelift models came with the bigger brakes as standard.

The facelift models came with the bigger brakes as standard.

Not sure about that Nic, I went to see a black facelift a few months ago and it had the smaller brakes!

My facelift had the samller brakes aswell they were an option.

As for it being a facelift on an N 96 plate, didn't the facelifts come around in March '97, not '96?

There were some facelifts in 96. You may be getting confused with VVTi being introduced in Sep 97

I find it funny (ok probably the wrong word!) how theres never a certain rule that seems to apply to what car comes with what, seems a bit of a guessing game. I'm waiting for some pics on the brakes from him, i'll post them up as soon as i get them.

How do you tell if a car is an RZ or a GZ? I'm presuming this is a GZ due to the active spoiler and everything else it has but may be wrong

It also has a standard sub woofer as part of the stereo, do all the supes have this or were there different audio options?

Cheers...