New Supra owner looking for help

Hi all

 

Just registered and feeling proud to be part of such a special group of people

 

I have just put a deposit down on a 1993 3.0 TT auto Supra. The car was imported last year but has no service history prior to the import. It's looking class from the outside but I'll be the first to admit that I know very little under the bonnet. I had a good look at the car, and have taken it for a test drive. It all seems OK, but it's obviously impossible to be sure.

 

I've read various posts on the forum, but I'd massively appreciate any comments or feedback on the following:

 

- the mileage on the car seems pretty low for it's age. I'm running a BIMTA mileage check which will hopefully give more of an insight into it's history as there is no documentation from it's time in Japan (I've been informed this is usually the case). Anyone had any experiences (positive or negative) of running BIMTA checks?

 

- apart from a couple of minor marks, the car's exterior is in excellent condition. The interior, however, isn't as impressive, but on a car this age I shouldn't complain I guess. The top of the gear stick is worn, as is the hand brake and steering wheel. There are two minor tears on the rear seats and also on the passenger door. Has anyone had any interior restoration done? Is this the sort of thing you can take to a local dealer perhaps? Judging from my dealings with Toyota in the past, I'm not holding my breath. I'm located on the south coast, so any firms people have used around the hampshire, sussex, surrey or kent area would be really useful.

 

- the odometer is still in kmh, but from what I have read conversion is not a prerequisite upon importation. I've been onto Superdials.com and found a kit for £20, which I presume I could just take to a mechanic to swap round. However, the dash will continue to record the mileage in kilometres, which I'd like to get changed. I've also heard the Japanese cars are limited to 112mph, so it would be good to know whether this is a straightforward change which any reputable mechanic could perform.

 

- ideally I'd like to run a vehicle inspection, but they can be quite expensive. I'm aware that spending the money now could well save me cash in the future, or even highlight any major problems with the car before I hand over my money. I've had a look on the web and the RAC offer a service for just over £300, and the AA affiliated DEKRA inspections are about £380, which is a fair chunk of money. There are other providers, such as Car Checkers, CSMA, VCS, as well as a host more. Anybody have any experience of using any of these companies, or any others who offer a nationwide service?

 

I think that's about it for now. Apologies if anything above is blatantly obvious, but I'm keen to learn as much as possible about the car before I go ahead and buy it. If anyone has any feedback or advice I'd really appreciate any comments.

 

Many thanks, and all the best,

 

Shanksy5

take it to one of the supra specialists on this forum for a check over.

 

pheonix for example.

ok, im out workin on mine at the mo, like many on here, but ill pop up a few pearls of wisdom

 

firstly, DONT bother with cheap convertors, you will experience problems with speed sensative steering etc. Thor do a top speed delimiter and convertor all in one, which, if i remember correctly, also makes the odometer count in miles (could be wrong). Thor also do some nice stainless dials which will read in mph.

 

car inspection could be a good idea, worthwhile in any case.

 

mileage wise, dont worry too much, however, your post had clues with regard to the worn gearnob and handbrake...in the main cars from Japan arent clocked as they are (again generally) a lot more honest than folk from the UK.

 

interior trim is so easy to replace, that its not worth going to Toyota, seats take minutes to remove (erm, with help )and likewise for the door cards and handbrake cover. In general you will find Toyota wont be of a lot of use! The club has a contact of Steve Manley at Inchcape Toyota, or PM 'Nic' on this Forum (Nic lives in Hong Kong, and can get most stock parts very cheap but with a longer wait for postage than Inchcape)

 

hope that answers some questions, im gonna pop back out and carry on now my fingers are warmer

Thor do a top speed delimiter and convertor all in one, which, if i remember correctly, also makes the odometer count in miles

Correct. The Thor DSC can be wired into the odometer if you want and it will then clock up in miles. But then you'll have a recorded mileage that is part in kilometers and part in miles - not ideal. I believe Lucifer (mkivstore.com) offers a service to get your Odo reprogrammed so the recorded mileage is all in miles.

What's the supposed mileage on this car then?

Call me a cynic, but I think it's just as likely if not more likely that a Jap import would be clocked - perhaps by the importer over here but all the same, it's quite likely.

A UK car might still get clocked, but it's not going to get clocked down to 40, 50 or 60,000 miles is it... yet one is supposed to believe a Jap imported car *of the same age* has done half the miles..

 

Anyhoo, hope the car is ok. I'd hope it to be cheap with tears in the seats and door cards.

Great. Many thanks guys. Your quick feedback is massively appreciated, and gives me a lot to go on. I'm sure I'll have a few more questions in the near future, but cheers for your help again.

 

Regarding your post Carl0s, the mileage is 62000km, about 39000 miles, which for a 13 year old car seems really low. I'm hoping the BIMTA check will confirm this - I can't help but be dubious though.

 

Tears was probably the wrong word (my bad), it's more like cigarette burns, but still something that I'd want to get restored. From looking around the forum, this shouldn't be a problem. What's more on my mind is the wear on the gearstick, handbrake and steering wheel - not sure if this is an indication of considerable use, or just simply the by product of an old car.

When i bought my soop at the start of the year it had 108000 km on it, the int an ext are imaculate, no wear on anything.

Hey Stupra

 

Yeah, that's what worries me a little then. I guess it just comes down to how much the car has been cared for. It's a shame though as the exterior is a vision of beauty, but don't let my girlfriend hear that :-)

 

cheers

Good luck with getting the int work done mate, hope it dont cost a fortune.

Hi shanksy5,

 

Welcome to the forum.

Any pics of the car?

 

Thor sorted my import with a SLD.

Highly recommend them.

When I bought my 1993 Supra about 3.5 years ago it had only done 68000km,so it's not unheard of getting a low milage 1993.I would not worry to much about it mate,enjoy your new purchase.

P.S welcome to the club.

Lets see some pics!

Pics are in pretty short supply at the minute I'm afraid. She needs some work to get her looking exactly how I want, but hopefully this gives you guys an idea. She's fairly basic at the moment, especially compared to some of the stunners I've seen....

 

cheers again gents

 

When I bought my 1993 Supra about 3.5 years ago it had only done 68000km,so it's not unheard of getting a low milage 1993.I would not worry to much about it mate,enjoy your new purchase.

P.S welcome to the club.

 

But it would be a 1997 car if you did that now..

 

edit: sorry Shanksy, I'm not meaning to say anything specifically about your car or it's mileage, just general discussion on mileage on 13yr old cars & low-mileage imports specifically

What's the supposed mileage on this car then?

Call me a cynic, but I think it's just as likely if not more likely that a Jap import would be clocked - perhaps by the importer over here but all the same, it's quite likely.

A UK car might still get clocked, but it's not going to get clocked down to 40, 50 or 60,000 miles is it... yet one is supposed to believe a Jap imported car *of the same age* has done half the miles..

 

Anyhoo, hope the car is ok. I'd hope it to be cheap with tears in the seats and door cards.

go over to japan then u will realise why and a lot of cars in japan have very high mileage

go over to japan then u will realise why and a lot of cars in japan have very high mileage

 

Realise why what?

No worries Carl0s, no need to apologise. I also have some reservations which is why I'm going to pay for a mileage report. We'll see what happens! :-)

Realise why what?

u saying i dont see why a jap will have less than a uk spec, lots of guys buy supras in the uk and use them for work, ie: travelling 400plus miles a week etc etc, aint like that in japan dude

u saying i dont see why a jap will have less than a uk spec, lots of guys buy supras in the uk and use them for work, ie: travelling 400plus miles a week etc etc, aint like that in japan dude

 

ah ok I see what you mean. I'm still not havin' it - the condition of the few Jap specs I have seen have been pretty poor.

ah ok I see what you mean. I'm still not havin' it - the condition of the few Jap specs I have seen have been pretty poor.

ah man sure ive seen things come off the boat that look like they took a shortcut through Baghdad!!! theres loadsa scrap over there but u can find some reeeaally mint babies too

sitting in a traffic jam is where its been for the past 13 years and 40k miles, mine came over with just under 50k and is a '94

Mine must have been someones pride an joy, i looked at a few soops before buying mine, an the km count was one of the highest, but it was the best nick outta the lot. I guess it all depends on how its been looked after, if its been loved, a car can hide its age, an if it hasn't, it can look a mess even after a couple of years.