Should I wait to buy a Toyota Celica?

DomTom

I've taken a fancy for the celica for a year now, but couldn't afford a good one. Now I can, but would rather keep the savings for the remainder of my uni life (2 years at the end of this one).

I'm gutted that they've stopped producing the celica, and as years go by, their condition are likely to deteriorate and good buys harder to find. at least thats my point of view. Should I spend £4 to 8k on a good new-ish low mileage premium pack celica now, or wait till I finish university?

j4g3d

Surely thats your decision and nobody elses?

Do you really need a car? if yes then get one if no then why spend all your money on 1 car? in 2 years time you will find a good condition one for £1000+ cheaper.

lincroft1710

As you're at uni I'm presuming you're under 25, maybe even under 21 - so insurance is going to be high on cars like Celicas.

AdrianHi

Your attraction to the Celica will be replaced by some other car in time. Like may be the 2010 Celica that will be on the market by the end of the year
As said, insurance costs - ouch!
Toyota ceased building sporty cars for a while because there was only a market for sensible cars while the economy is in tatters. Some new head chap at Toyota has recently said "no more boring cars" so chin up :rotfl:

Boring I know but in the context of your whole life time the sensible thing to do is make sure life an uni is funded so you get the qualifications you need to buy a new Toyota Celica one day... and pay for houses and family ... but you tend not to think of that sort of thing when your under 22, but then why should you

jaydeeuk1

If you can afford it - ie buy outright, inc insurance (I'd imagine around £1000 or more if you don't have a car currently and under age of 25 and going for a base spec 1.8) as well as another £500 or so for maintenance and servicing for the year, then why not. I spent most of my cash on drink and girls. Sports car would have been cheaper!

d77_2

Celica's are great cars, I'll be selling mine in a couple of months. All I would say is get a quote on insurance first.

If you're going for a 7th Generation celica (the last, boxy looking one), make sure it is a face lift model (after autumn 2002) as the early Gen 7's had engine problems, which were easy to sort out if you caught them before they happened, but if it did happen it was new engine time.

There are 2 models, the 140 and the 190. The 140 will be cheaper on insurance, but maybe not as much as you'd think. The 190, is the "lift" engine, which is the Gen 7 Celica version of Honda's V-Tech.

If you're after more advice, check out Celica-Club co uk (I can't post links yet, but I'm sure you can work it out) as they're a very helpful bunch.

TheChicken

have you tried the celica club for advice? membership is free and i have been there a good while - https://www.celica-club.co.uk

bosseyed

I went through a phase wanting a new Celica, and I tried a variety of different ones in various flavours - 140, 190, sports pack etc etc. I found the insurance quotes to be quite high, but if you can afford it go for the 190 as I found the 140 to be a bit flat - certainly didn't have the oomph to go with the looks. Thye handle really well though.

In the end I went the other way and bought a 1994 import Celica GT (6th gen shape, twin headlights version), which, frankly was a phenominal car and I found it to be a far more enjoyable drive than the new model. Plus for its age, it was very well specced and bomb proof. I put 50k miles on it in 2 years and the only problem I had was a new CV boot on the nearside. Plus you can pick up a decent one for £1k and under. Don't go import though if you want cheaper insurance!