Hi, and is a supra for me?

[Supralove]

Hi guys and girls.

 

Ok an intro, I'm Eddy and I'm 20 years old, I am selling my current car which is a smart roadster so I'm in the market for a car for around 5k. Now I was set on a celica T-Sport and until just for a laugh I got an insurance quote this car I had considered to be just way out of my league.

 

My roadster was £1400 when I bought it for a years comprehensive cover and the celica was going to be around the same, when for a bet I said I bet I can't get a quote under 3k and £1100 came up I was somewhat suprised. then when I got home and found these supercars can be bought for as little as £2k I was actually considering owning probably my dreamcar. Now what I really wanted to ask you guys is your opinion as to weather I'm crazy to consider one of these on my budget and age etc.

 

I would be spending 4-5k on the car (twin turbo) so can I get a decent one for this sort of money or generally am I just asking for trouble. Also I'm on a low income (full-time at a supermarket so I'm sure you can guess accurately) so I've not got thousands sitting in the bank in case it goes wrong. I only do about 4k miles a year so the MPG is not a massive concern but things like servicing and other running costs I don't know about considering I will probably be buying a jap version so does this affect everyday things like servicing, M.O.Ting etc?

 

I have a colleague at work who has had three supra's and said apart form fuel they were amazingly reliable and didn't cost alot to run. I also have a friend who had one for 2 years and said it cost him 20k over those two years as he had alot of problems. This again is a worry for me as I need something thats going to be fairly reliable so generally are these 15ish year old cars still going strong.

 

Umm so thats about it for now I'm sorry its a bit of an essay and I hope I hav'nt broken any rules putting all this is one post. So am I crazy for considering one of these at my age with this budget?

 

any help at all will be appreciated greatly.

[Tom]

No

 

Supra's & tight budget dont go together , service parts are quite expensive and 4-5k on a TT will get you an average to low condition auto tt and it's unlikely if you buy one that'll need nothing replacing.

 

An n/a on the other hand might not be so bad as a manual n/a could be picked up for around 3k which leaves you 2k for parts,servicing etc so that would be the better cost option

 

also being your age it would be quite a big leap into the world of RWD & power presuming you havent owned a powerful rwd car before? I'd probably say to start somewhere like a 200sx, s13/s14, they are huge fun and cheaper to run too

Edited December 5, 2008 by Tom (see edit history)

[RobSheffield]

Quite possibly they quoted you on a mk3, happens lots.

[Supralove]

wow thanks for the quick reply. OK I know nothing about the N/A spec wise so I'll go do some research now. so would 3k get a decent one or is that a lower budget one?

[Tom]

would prob get an ok'ish one, 4-5k should easily get you a nice facelift one.

 

n/a's are 225bhp and pretty nippy

[Supralove]

Quite possibly they quoted you on a mk3, happens lots.

 

nope the admiral quote I have is for a 93-97 supra (auto) import turbo, I even rang to question this and they told me it counts as a classic car and I even got them to repeat to me the car I got a quote for just for my own piece of mind.

 

a UK one is only £800 to insure but I realise I won't get UK'er on my budget

[RobSheffield]

Who was the quote from?

 

ahh admiral, good luck then

[Tom]

admiral

[Supranature]

a UK one is only £800 to insure but I realise I won't get UK'er on my budget

And the import J-spec non turbo will be twice that. Sorry...............

[SteveR]

Hello

I don't think you're mad, but check that the insurance quote you were given was for a mark4, not a mark 3, and that it was for an import TT, not a UK spec as there will be a substantial difference in price.

There are some bargain out there, but beware, there are some real dogs too. Use the buyers guide on here and if possible take a good mechanic with you or a knowledgeable volunteer from here (or both). Feel free to post links to any tghat you are onsidering as our members are usually more than happy to look at pics and look for faults if it'll save someone some heartache from buying the wrong one.

 

edit- Servicing - if you are genuinely competent (or willing to learn), DIY most of it.

 

Good luck with your search.

[Supralove]

And the import J-spec non turbo will be twice that. Sorry...............

 

just got an N/A quote. £1023.70. exactly the same as the turbo?

 

hmm seems odd

[Supralove]

Hello

I don't think you're mad, but check that the insurance quote you were given was for a mark4, not a mark 3, and that it was for an import TT, not a UK spec as there will be a substantial difference in price.

There are some bargain out there, but beware, there are some real dogs too. Use the buyers guide on here and if possible take a good mechanic with you or a knowledgeable volunteer from here (or both). Feel free to post links to any tghat you are onsidering as our members are usually more than happy to look at pics and look for faults if it'll save someone some heartache from buying the wrong one.

 

edit- Servicing - if you are genuinely competent (or willing to learn), DIY most of it.

 

Good luck with your search.

 

Hi thanks for that. My plan is if I find one that I'm serious about I would get one of those AA hundred-and-something point checks which cost about a £100 but I think it would be worth knowing whats on its way out etc. so you think maybe a turbo is possible or do you think an N/A too?

[Aero-M]

You will get a nice N/a for your 5k budget, If your not after the big tt power, and its the look of the supra you love they are ideal. You will be able to pick up an aerotop at that price to. I don't use my aero much but love it when I do. Mine was an import so didn't have any history, First thing I did was to get a major service, new brakes and tyres. This cost me a lot after buying the car, but I intend to keep mine and want to look after it. Fuel isn't to bad considering the engine size/weight of the supe get low 20's from mine.

[SteveR]

Hi thanks for that. My plan is if I find one that I'm serious about I would get one of those AA hundred-and-something point checks which cost about a £100 but I think it would be worth knowing whats on its way out etc. so you think maybe a turbo is possible or do you think an N/A too?

I'm not sure how useful the AA check would be TBH, these cars are quite rare and they could easily overlook something obvious to an owner, or spot something that was a genuine problem but not know how serious or what ££ you're looking at to rectify it.

Look here.

 

Your money will go further against an NA, but the insurance and performance and maintainance is about the same. Also, autos are cheaper than manuals.

Your takes your choices....

[Supralove]

If I'm honest the power is probably the most appealing thing to me about the supra so I would love love love a TT but if everyone advises against it I'm not gonna push my luck.

 

how much are services roughly and what are the intervals?

[Vicky]

[TRACIE_LOU]

make sure the car you buy is standard also as any mods will increase your quote greatly we paid £295 standard once we put the body kit spoiler wheels and other bits it shot up to £468 this is an na by the way

[Supralove]

make sure the car you buy is standard also as any mods will increase your quote greatly we paid £295 standard once we put the body kit spoiler wheels and other bits it shot up to £468 this is an na by the way

 

yup would be looking for standard preferably. just and exhaust and air filter add £200 to my insurance and it isn't even replaced if I crash, thats just to keep me legal

[steady_dave]

I'm 21 and have an NA and I got a quote for £925

 

I also think that M4RK_RZ was working at asda when he bought his Twin Turbo and he kept it well.

 

Depends how much of a percentage of your income you want to spend on it. They're not cheap cars.

 

I would have bought a Twin Turbo however I thought if I got for the NA it'll be better since i've gone from a not very powerful FWD to a RWD with some power in it so it's kinda bedding me in. Besides there's always NA-T or NA-TT to work with after.

[TRACIE_LOU]

dont think air filter will add anything and stock filter set up is good from what i been told exhaust add between 5 and 10% i think

[Supralove]

They're not cheap cars.

 

This is what alot of people keep telling me, ok well after all bills are paid etc I have about £600 a month to do with what I like but this is for everything so I wouldn't have a set amount each month to spend on the car but I reckon £100 a month on fuel then its just a case of if I want to buy something for the car or if something needs doing I'll get it done. hope that makes sense.

 

when you say they're not cheap cars what do consider biggest expense excluding petrol?

[steady_dave]

This is what alot of people keep telling me, ok well after all bills are paid etc I have about £600 a month to do with what I like but this is for everything so I wouldn't have a set amount each month to spend on the car but I reckon £100 a month on fuel then its just a case of if I want to buy something for the car or if something needs doing I'll get it done. hope that makes sense.

 

when you say they're not cheap cars what do consider biggest expense excluding petrol?

 

Well tax isn't that bad actually compared to a lot of other cars around. Insurance is a killer when your younger but goies down a lot. I know of a 28 year old with a 400BHP twin turbo paying about £300 a month which I think is awesome.

 

However if anything goes wrong or you plan on modifying this is when you will see a lot of £££££££££ going out of your pocket, but then again there are worse cars for this.

 

I think you should buy one and enjoy!

[heartworm]

This is what alot of people keep telling me, ok well after all bills are paid etc I have about £600 a month to do with what I like but this is for everything so I wouldn't have a set amount each month to spend on the car but I reckon £100 a month on fuel then its just a case of if I want to buy something for the car or if something needs doing I'll get it done. hope that makes sense.

 

when you say they're not cheap cars what do consider biggest expense excluding petrol?

 

 

Tyres, and a TT can eat them pretty quickly. A budget tyre is still reasonably expensive, and they are absolutly useless. Tyres I think are around £130 each. I got my TT when I was 20, don't regret it at all!

[SMiFFAD]

5K will get you quite a nice TT. i bought mine for 5.5 2 years ago and although it needed a couple of things doing (cam belt, crank pully, service) its served me well since - considering its 15 odd years old is pretty impressive

 

Insurance - i too was quoted the same for a TT and NA - which is why i went for a TT depends on who you talk to, the likes of elephant/admiral are fine if your cars standard (or nearly)

 

As for the age/power thing - depends what your like. i went from a long wheel based landrover (0-60 in 17 seconds) to my first 200sx (0-60 in about 6!). The only thing you'll notice is you learn to respect it very quickly. i don't see why a leap to a TT would be any worse. Just learn how it reacts, they are quite predictable cars.

 

Just make sure you buy one that's been looked after, and change the oil regularly, and you'll be fine!

[Supralove]

Tyres, and a TT can eat them pretty quickly. A budget tyre is still reasonably expensive, and they are absolutly useless. Tyres I think are around £130 each. I got my TT when I was 20, don't regret it at all!

 

can I be really rude and ask how much you paid for the car?

 

OK as for modifying I won't be doing anything much straight away, the first few months I'd make sure I get good tires all round, big service and get the car as mint as possible. how much is tax by the way? is it the £400 which is going up to £950 a year next year which would be annoying?

 

again I do low milage so I shouldn't get through tires all to often. I'm not the whelspin off at every traffic lights type so this should help also.

 

I would be looking at keeping the car a while too so I will take as good care as possible with the car.

 

Maybe in time if I see a really good one in my budget I could put an appeal on here and try get a mechanically minded member to come view the car with me and I would obviously sort out some funds for the help but it would give me piece of mind to have someone who knows whats what give it the once over.