Turbo supra reliable daily driver?

[KhanArtisT]

Hi guys, new to the Supra here. I have been thinking of selling my car and purchasing a Turbo Supra. I currently own a '92 Dodge Stealth R/T Non turbo, and I have had enough with it's problems and issues. Seems like I never get enough money to get any mods. Not worth the performance to me, plus FWD sucks.

I read the daily driver thread on another page and seems like people here are pretty comfortable daily driving these cars. I've read epinions.com and other car review sites and people seem to love these cars. I've only came across the headgasket problem which while costy (which I'm used to ), still an easy fix.

I'd like to please know what kind of problems these cars have and if its a good idea to drive them daily without any transportation at all. The difference w/ this car and my Stealth is that this will actually be worth all the money I put into it beacuse of the performance.

Any help appreciated

Hope to become a future MKIII owner.

Note: I do not have a garage, and do not have any experience with working on cars. I've done simple jobs myself, like plugs and wires, air intake, etc. But nothing major. Most of the time this car will go to the mechanic. It is a bit easier to work on with the inline 6 though (as opposed to V6 in my Stealth)

[duster117]

same here

but im going from an allready good dd (mazda protege)
however it gets 34mpg and im going to 20mpg with the supra
but i dont care (92hp<232hp )

[KhanArtisT]

Cool. Is this the most active MKIII forum or did I miss a site (besides supraforums )?

[lifesnotfair]

Supramania is actually more active than this one, maybe... don't know.

[bigal0043]

yea supramania seems to have new threads and updates quicker than this one. I seem to just check them all, ive gotten addicted that or i dont have much to do at work..

[TONY!]

Originally Posted by KhanArtisT

...Stealth R/T Non turbo... plus FWD sucks...

Really surprised that those are front wheel drive...that just seems so wrong for a car like that!

Originally Posted by KhanArtisT

...I'd like to please know what kind of problems these cars have and if its a good idea to drive them daily without any transportation at all...
Note: I do not have a garage, and do not have any experience with working on cars. I've done simple jobs myself, like plugs and wires, air intake, etc. But nothing major. Most of the time this car will go to the mechanic. It is a bit easier to work on with the inline 6 though (as opposed to V6 in my Stealth)

Many people don’t realize how expensive it is to fix the body of a car and paint it if it has rust—to do it the right way, that is.

My biggest concern would be the body. All cars will rust out that are made of steel, but they do it in different areas and have different “weaknesses.” For example, the MKII’s have rusty hatches. I live in NY State and my first Supra (the MKII) rusted in the hatch first, and that had to be fixed. MKIII's don't seem to have rusty hatches as their No.1 weakness area in terms of corrosion.
On the MKIII, look for rust on the rear wheel wells and over the tires. Look at the rear shock towers also because if you have rusty rear shock towers, that may be quite pricy indeed. Also check the spare tire area and under the tire there. Use a magnet to check for previous body work. Body work and filler done properly is OK, but most of the time, people don’t fix rust the right way and use filler to temporarily and cheaply fix rust.

If you are going to get a 7M motor, you definitely need to see if it has any BHG issues.
Look at the oil cap to see signs of foamy oil inspect the oil to see if that is also foamy.
If it is foamy looking (or milk shake like looking), that is a sign of water jacket to oil passage BHG.

For the combustion chamber to water jacket type BHG, do a block test, which tests the coolant to determine if any combustion gasses are present. You can pick up a block tester from NAPA for about $50. You can afford to buy the tester, but you may not afford NOT to buy it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5.../Testerbox.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...9RR/Tester.jpg

How reliable is the car? Very reliable from my experience!
It will depend on how it was treated in its past. That will be the biggest determination of its reliability.
Getting an MKIII from some kid that has not yet learned to maintain it and beats it regularly would not be a good buy. Buying one that is untainted and maintained will most likely give you years of headache-free use.
Now keep in mind that the car has all kinds of gaskets and hoses made of rubber and rubber does dry rot and shrink. So you may have some hoses and gasket to replace (CPS O ring, valve cover gaskets, etc).

I have driven my MKIII to 24 states and back. I would say it is the most reliable car I have ever owned.

[KhanArtisT]

WOW thanks a lot Tony. Looks like I'll be buying one of these after all.

[Bullz_EyE]

Originally Posted by TONY!

Getting an MKIII from some kid that has not yet learned to maintain it and beats it regularly would not be a good buy. Buying one that is untainted and maintained will most likely give you years of headache-free use.

Not to be a smart ass, but this generally applies to a lot of cars, granted some will poo on you regardless of maintenance.

Originally Posted by TONY!

Now keep in mind that the car has all kinds of gaskets and hoses made of rubber and rubber does dry rot and shrink. So you may have some hoses and gasket to replace (CPS O ring, valve cover gaskets, etc).

This is true! I'm in the middle of a topend rebuild and I've spent over $200 on misc. gaskets and hoses, on top of what's spent on the head gasket.

Originally Posted by TONY!

I have driven my MKIII to 24 states and back. I would say it is the most reliable car I have ever owned.

This is comforting to know. Hope to have the same success.