MK3 supra... is this worth making an offer ??
 

Hi all,

This is my first time at this forum and I have read the exhaustive guide to buy used supras. I have included the description of the car I am looking at and may be planning to get.

Since this is going to be my first and only car for say about 1.5 years from now I was concerned about the miles this guy has on the car. Also he has smoking troubles and a significant front right quarter panel damage. I believe these would be bargain points for me.

HERE IS THE AD THE OWNER PUT ON THE INTERNET.....I HAVE NOT YET DRIVEN THE CAR..HE IS ASKING $2600


This is a great looking and awesome running Naturally Aspirated 5 speed 1986.5 Toyota Supra Hardtop.

The good

• The cars has approximately 183K miles, and it drives and runs great.
• Transmission shifts smoothly, and clutch feels good.
• The interior is blue cloth, and the seats are in great condition.
• I just put in a new Pioneer stereo and a bazooka sub w/ AMP.
• Power windows, power seats, power mirrors and power lumbar support work well.
• New battery and alternator installed within the last month
• The car comes with 18" TSW wheels which are in great shape. I also have the original 16” wheels I can include if you would like them
• The vehicle was lowered on Tanabe Springs and Tokico Blue shocks. One of the rear shocks was recently replaced with a brand new one. I have a spare one in case you need it.
• The exhaust system is custom, and it has a deep clean sound.
• The head gasket is fine and the engine runs great!
• Brakes were changed about 9 months ago

The not so good (but not really that bad)

• The white paint looks OK, but it’s a little bit faded in the bumpers and the spoiler
• It has a dent in the front right quarter panel, but I have fixed it a little bit, and it now looks OK. It’s nothing major, but if you want perfection, a new quarter panel is about $150.00-$200.00 painted.
• Car smokes a little bit at startup, but it goes away after about 1 minute. Due to this, the car burns a little bit of oil.
• AC Blows air, but it’s not that cold. IT might need a recharge.


My questions would be

Are Supra's reliable for so many miles on them....183K ..??

For the white smoke on start up problem.. can this be corrected by us or does it need to go to a mechanic.?? (I am not originally form US...:) ..came here about a year ago to get a masters... and do not have the tools to work on it..although I can get them from a American friend of mine..)

Do you think that this would be a good deal (considering that the car turns up good on the tests mentioned in the exhaustive user guide in another thread...:)) ??

Any help would be APPRECIATED....

Thanks..

the head gasket is fine? as in what? if its stock, eh, id stay away unless you could buy it for half his price lol. if its already replaced, and properly, id dwindle him down a grand. i bought my turbo 87 for a little over $2k with 138k on the odometer.

sounds like a nice car, although NA, but its too much. id get that price down as much as possible.

if your looking for a very reliable car for the next 1.5 years, theres definitely other cars out there. only get this if you REALLY want it :dance:

http://www.toyota-supra.info/forums/...mk3-supra.html

Welcome to the forum.

Good Luck.

Hey all,

thanks for the help... Is the head gasket a big issue on supra's?? Is changing them a pain?? I will ask the guy about when he changed the gasket and let you guys know...What do you guys think about the white smoke issue??

I do not aim at racing this thing...Not even in an autocross...Also not aiming to upgrade the performance or anything in near future...I always wanted a performance japanese coupe with more stock power than normal cars and supra is one of the best out there...I can take the low MPG since I am not going to use it other than fun drives and regular errands estimated at about 200 miles per month...so I am not aiming even at 230K for the car..After I get a good paying job (I hope I get one... :)) once I graduate with a masters, I would use this as a project...This is the plan right now....

How can I check if the head gasket is ok when i go to test the car.??

Did....., you read the link I provided?

oh yes i did...thank you for that...Head gasket seems to be a issue here and money off course is always a issue...
I have not yet got replies from the owner...I will have to think over it I guess??

Alot of us bought these cars thinking since it was toyota it would run or whatnot.

Then we learned that you can't just mod it. Then we learned about BHG.
Then we learned about the rest of the shite underneath the hood that makes your baby your master and you her slave.

The car will milk you for every penny it can grasp and when you give a buck it needs 5 and if it needs 5 it wants 20 then the next thing you know its like.

franklin, franklin, franklin. Fock it franklin franklin. So you go back to work and 20$ 20$ just to keep the wheels of the build moving easily.

These cars are not for the person with low funds. Unless you have say 3 years to spread your build out over. And the car isn't running all that while because the schmaz you're working on keeps it dismantled :frown:.

I'm not like a high roller or anything like that. It's been tough to keep this build moving forward and that's with just operating during our summer months. It's really that simple.

I have a supra that I have 10k into and it's worth only 3 and I still have a ge.

Thanks man...You read my mind when you said that toyota running long and strong shit.....I will seriously reconsider it....

but anyways...

Here is the reply i got from the owner...

The dash light that's on is the coolant light, which again, I am not sure it's indicating a problem. At once point this light came up intermitently.I drained and refilled the coolant, and the light was gone. However, it came back after a while. I had a mechanic check out the car for blown headgasket (Northhills Automotive), but they dictated there was no problem. Up to this point, there doesn't seem to be a problem with the cooling system, other than the light that's on. The car doesn't overheat, and it has never shown any BHG symptoms.

here are some of the pics...

It could just be that he doesn't keep ccolant in his catch can for the engine to drink from. So he's probably sucking air into his coolant system.

That's a nice whip. You don't want to buy it without having a mechanic look at it or having a current clean bill of health from the dealership.

This is all about covering your a$$.