'91 Supra, good first car?
 

Hello all, I'm new to the forum and about a year or two into the whole automotive scene. I'm currently 15 and looking around at what cars I want for my first. I plan to get a year or so of driving expeiriance with my parents cars before I buy my first, this also gives me time to build up some funds. While looking around I saw that according to www.edmunds.com , a twin turbo 1991 Toyota Supra is not out of my possible price range. I plan to have ~$4500 saved up. I do like a quick car, but street racing most likely wont be tried, I plan to do it the safe way - on a track. I have some questions bout this vehicle that I hope you all can answer.

1. Would a 1991 Toyota Supra (Twin-turbo if i can find one) be a good first car?
2. I want to drive a stick after I get about a year or so of driving experiance, is this a good decision?
3. Do you think it would be feasible for find a 1991 Supra in my price range? ($3k - $5k)
4. What is the insurance rate on this car? I'm looking at integra's but insurance is through the roof!

The cars I am also looking at currently are:
'94 Integra GS-R
'93 3000GT SL
'95 Mustang GT
'90 RX-7 Turbo

I know that since I'm on a Supra forum that the answer to this next question is going to be incredibly biased, but which of the 5 do you think would be the best car for me?

Thank you for any and all help!

DO NOT GET A TURBO if you're 15. The insurance will be crazy. I went from an 89 GMC Jimmy to a non turbo 87 supra and the insurance stayed the same. It sounds like the 91 supra has a 1jz in it which is the twin turbo engine. Which also probably means it has a low mileage engine and transmission. So the supra could be a good choice. Unless it started out as a turbo, in which case the insurance would still be high. And dont spend too much money. I'm 18 and i've been in 1 accident. Only a handful of people never got into an accident. Not tryin to jinx u but chances are good that u will get into an accident. Start out with an automatic, it'll help u learn the rules of the road without having a distraction. Then once u get used to driving and the rules of the road and how people drive in ur area, then u can either do a transmission swap or sell ur car and buy a new one. Well goodluck m'man.

my first car, i still currently have, is a 88 NA manual tranny. this is still a fast car for a beginner driver, so dont underestimate it. i first learned to drive a auto first then after maybe 6 months i learned to drive stick. its not hard to learn if you understand the concept. clutch in, shift, gas, clutch out. my inssurance is like $700-800 for 6 months, thats without any discounts.

If the insurance for an integra was high, a turbo supra would be crazy. Probably $200+ a month for just liability. Great car but like many of us know, when you're young you can get into trouble real quick with these cars. That is trouble with the law and finances. High matinence car that is getting older and older. Be careful. I don't think any of those cars would make a good first car. A 92 four door civic does though! Hell get whatever you want, but if you're in the US don't expect to find a twin turbo, unless someone did a swap.

i second the 4dr Civic, Corolla, or any compact 4dr. great on gas, cheap on insurance, and more reliable than any of those 10+ year old beat up on sports cars. so i guess... no. '91 Supra wouldn't be a good first car in my opinion. good luck.

and don't forget there's also 2 different supra engines that come twin turbo in the mk3 ;)

so which one were you intending on getting.. the 2ltr or the 2.5ltr

to be honest.. yep definitely supra LOL
but get an na first... you'll learn so much about the car and once you've had it for a while and learnt its little quirks you might be ready for a turbo (and the price of insurance lol)

I think it would be a great car to buy now, if only for the great value. Buy a beater car, Honda, Mustang, Integra.......etc and learn how cars work and how to work on them. They will all need to have work done on them at one time or another, but none of them will compare the the Supra you mentioned! You will eventually regret it if you let it get away and never get to drive one.


Just my opinion of course.

Russ

You have good taste in cars. DON'T get the 3000GT unless you can work on cars yourself, there are always little things popping up out of nowhere. Easy fixes, but they're a fucking pain. Very satisfying in terms of performance. Besides the FWD, which sucks.

GSR will be your best car IMO. Good gas mileage, reliability, handling, looks, gas mileage, performance etc. Theres just too many of them everywhere :dunno:

The FC is my favorite car. Once again, get that only if you know how to work on cars pretty well. Most of these cars are getting old, and require a lot of maintanence, especially if they've been abused. Pros are, likes to rev high, high redline, VERY good handling, VERY easy to work on. Cons=horrible gas mileage, apex seals might go out (means rebuild), and don't turn the engine off when its cold or it will flood. Its pretty easy to unflood it, but you don't want to deal with it everyday.

I'm not into domestics so I can't comment on the GT.

As far as the Supra, I just got into them a lot and only major issue I've read about is the headgasket failing because of undertorquing from the factory.

Oh and, don't worry about the stick thing. You don't need much experience to drive a stick. Its actually 100% better than auto because you have less of a chance to fall asleep/get distracted. You pay much more attention. My car is a stick and I love it. Just be aware that get a car that has potential, (not the 3k unless you like FWD), cuz when you get used to the performance, you WILL want more.

Anyway, good luck with the purchase. Ask me any questions about the 3000GT if you want since if you don't know already, the Stealth is 100% mechanically identical.

Edit: And keep in mind, with all these cars, and how old they are, the test drive is EVERYTHING. I got fucked over on mine, so learn from me! lol.

Just a word of advice.
 

I just bought a 1986 Supra non turbo for $900 for my stepson and I to work on.

I talk to my insurance, because of the age of the car and non turbo. My insurance will on go up $60 per month with full coverage.

Something to think about first. There are cars out there that reliable and old for your first car. When he turns 18, the insurance will be lowered then he can buy a car that he wants and pay for the insurance.

Lesson to be learned. My mother got a Camaro when I was 16. I lost my driver licences twice before I was 18 because of speeding and points.
In 1983 my mother's insurance was $3000 per year. She dropped me from her insurance. I had to pay $2700 per year for just liablity.

Depends on the state you live in, in Florida the parents of a driver under 18 has to have insurance coverage on the child, even if the child has insurance on his own car. Wierd Florida laws.

Find something that is best of two worlds. Like a 1986 Supra, nice power for a first car and manual transmission, low for insurance.

holy revived post batman