dmad Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 Just bought a UK '93 Auto Supra (black). Its a lovely drive etc, but i need a few pointers - hopefully some of you can remark on it? 1 - I've heard i need to do a full oil change every 2500 miles or so, if i want to keep it healthy and running. Now thats not a problem, just what oil is recommended? I don't want to scrimp on the important stuff like oil, so please recommend whats best for a long life! 2 - I'm nearing the end of 59k miles and i got some money knocked off for a cambelt change. Is the light going to come on at 60k? I was going to take it to http://www.jpsmotorsport.com in Bletchley which are about 10 miles from me - is this a decent place to go? Can they do a decent full service on the car, with oil change, cambelt etc? 3 - Where is the best best place to get the most-fitting blanking plate for the Stereo. I have a £500 Pioneer sitting here which i want to put in, don't want a panel that will look like a totally different colour plastic etc underneath! 4 - Is the factory fit alarm Cat1? I've been told it is, but i personally have my doubts that it would be..... 5 - Other than oil, is there anything (im a total novice here) that every informed Supra Mk4 owner needs to check on a regular basis, on addition to the usual car stuff (fluids and so on). 6 - Finally, how simple is it to get to the rear and front speakers to replace and can anyone quote sizes and how deep the gap is behind them? Thanks!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmad Posted February 26, 2003 Author Share Posted February 26, 2003 By the way, just to confirm, its a UK Car (definitely) 3 litre TT on an L reg @ 59000 miles. Its in black and its an auto with cream leather - anyone give me a rough value of the car, so i can see if what i paid was spot on. Its got full 6 monthly service history from birth at a Toyota Garage, with full HPI check and milage confirmed with dealer. Its totally standard also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 Welcome to the board Don't think me rude , but all the above will have been answered in depth somewhere on here Use the search button and you will get more information than will probably be gained from this post Also check out the FAQ's on here and http://www.mkiv.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Terry S Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 Originally posted by dmad Just bought a UK '93 Auto Supra (black). Its a lovely drive etc, but i need a few pointers - hopefully some of you can remark on it? 1 - I've heard i need to do a full oil change every 2500 miles or so, if i want to keep it healthy and running. Now thats not a problem, just what oil is recommended? I don't want to scrimp on the important stuff like oil, so please recommend whats best for a long life! 2 - I'm nearing the end of 59k miles and i got some money knocked off for a cambelt change. Is the light going to come on at 60k? I was going to take it to http://www.jpsmotorsport.com in Bletchley which are about 10 miles from me - is this a decent place to go? Can they do a decent full service on the car, with oil change, cambelt etc? 3 - Where is the best best place to get the most-fitting blanking plate for the Stereo. I have a £500 Pioneer sitting here which i want to put in, don't want a panel that will look like a totally different colour plastic etc underneath! 4 - Is the factory fit alarm Cat1? I've been told it is, but i personally have my doubts that it would be..... 5 - Other than oil, is there anything (im a total novice here) that every informed Supra Mk4 owner needs to check on a regular basis, on addition to the usual car stuff (fluids and so on). 6 - Finally, how simple is it to get to the rear and front speakers to replace and can anyone quote sizes and how deep the gap is behind them? Thanks!!! 1/. A decent 10/40 synthetic 2/. JPS are the Mutts Nuts. Just check out Leon's car. 3/. Contact Matt Harwood, Sexton's in Maidstone. 4/. F*ck knows 5/. Try sticking to Super Unleaded. 6/. Again, speak to Matt. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Dunk Shaw Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 JPS is Leon, he's your man for service wrk or mod wrk, just speak to him and you'll be sorted. So how much did you pay for your uk car ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 1 - I've heard i need to do a full oil change every 2500 miles or so, if i want to keep it healthy and running. Now thats not a problem, just what oil is recommended? I don't want to scrimp on the important stuff like oil, so please recommend whats best for a long life! At the risk sparking disagreeing and general bad feeling, a 2500 mile oil change interval is totally OTT IMHO. The guy who told you this, he wasn't called "Bush" was he? In reality you could change the oil every 1000 miles if you were paranoid about it, but if the car is standard (no mods), been treated well (turbos allowed to cool down before key-off etc) then you should in theory be able to get away with the manufacturer's recomended service intervals (more of this later). HOWEVER, as a general rule turbo cars do work the oil harder, so an "interim" oil change midway between scheduled services isn't a bad idea. 2 - I'm nearing the end of 59k miles and i got some money knocked off for a cambelt change. Is the light going to come on at 60k? I was going to take it to http://www.jpsmotorsport.com in Bletchley which are about 10 miles from me - is this a decent place to go? Can they do a decent full service on the car, with oil change, cambelt etc? How much did you get knocked off for your cambelt change? Rough price for Toyota todo it is £160 depending on your area. Almost anyone could do it but make sure they use the right tool to get the crank pulley off (NOT a blow torch, right Rob?) Just as an aside - my 1994 NA has done 45000 miles and has a weepy front crank seal already. When I had the timing belt changed I wish I had asked for the front crank seal to be done too. Its not much extra work when the front end is already stripped out. The book on your car will say 6000 mile service intervals. This changed in 1994 to 9000 miles as part of a policy decision by Toyota. We are reliably informed that a 1993 car will run happily on a 9000 mile schedule (this would make your interim oil change every 4500 miles). 3 - Where is the best best place to get the most-fitting blanking plate for the Stereo. I have a £500 Pioneer sitting here which i want to put in, don't want a panel that will look like a totally different colour plastic etc underneath! Don't UK spec's have a single DIN hole as standard? If not then Toyota have a proper part to blank off the lower half of the slot. Otherwise there are several generic plates or cubby holes available from all good ICE installers (Matt!) Someone will be along soon to give you the details (Matt!!) 4 - Is the factory fit alarm Cat1? I've been told it is, but i personally have my doubts that it would be..... Aparrenalty it is. Someone who knows car security can give you more details (MATT!!!) 5 - Other than oil, is there anything (im a total novice here) that every informed Supra Mk4 owner needs to check on a regular basis, on addition to the usual car stuff (fluids and so on). PAS pump noise, squeaky tailgate rubbers, allow turbos to cool down before key off, dont thrash it from cold, front suspension bushes / bolts coming loose, some reports of valve stem seals going. No real major mechanical foibles really. Check fluids and pressures as you would any other car. 6 - Finally, how simple is it to get to the rear and front speakers to replace and can anyone quote sizes and how deep the gap is behind them? Don't know the sizes off the top of my head but rears are quite easy to replace with more decent kit. Fronts are tiny compared to the size of the grille and a bit of a pig to replace. Again, plenty of good advice to be found here from people who have done ICE upgrades already (M A T T ! ! !) And...welcome to the BBS!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmad Posted February 26, 2003 Author Share Posted February 26, 2003 "1/. A decent 10/40 synthetic 2/. JPS are the Mutts Nuts. Just check out Leon's car. 3/. Contact Matt Harwood, Sexton's in Maidstone. 4/. F*ck knows 5/. Try sticking to Super Unleaded. 6/. Again, speak to Matt." Thanks for those quick answers! Is that fully synthetic? JPS sound good to all accounts - are they reasonable cheap as well? I took a look at the website and sure enough there are some truely demonic Supras there, but im not much of a modifier - yet anyway. I just want somewhere who know their stuff about Supras and will do exactly what needs doing and not rip me off. I only put Optimax in my cars..... I got £400 knocked off the car - i was trying to haggle £900 off, but only managed £400 in the end - justified for £200 for the cambelt and £200 for a damn good clean! I paid £12k for it. Nice clean example, owned by a woman for 5 years, during which time she had done 16000 miles over that whole time....she replaced it with a new M3 convertable. I really needed a UK car for insurance purposes. I think regarding oil changes i'll do it every 5k miles or so then. I can remember when the odo hits 5000 or 0000, so that souds reasonable. I do like to stretch its legs of a drive, but im not ragging it and i am letting it cool down properly and not giving it stick until its well up to temperature. Should i ask to get the crank seal done at the same time as the cambelt then? Is is a common area to leak? Regarding stereo - I reckon the Uk ones might of had a single din, but this one as standard had a 6 disc toyota changer in the boot and the additional controller for the CD unit under the radio cassette unit. I assume this was an optional extra on the UK Supra if wanted. Its all being ripped out shortly, but for the time being its nice to know whoever bought it back in feb 94 paid for the extras! I've already got an agenda to oil the tailgate rubbers! Finally - who is this Matt guy with all the answers!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 Matt Harwood of Sextons' in Maidstone. Occaisionally posts under his weekend name "Chantelle". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Terry S Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 I honestly believe that Leon at JPS has as much if not more mechanical knowledge of the MKIV as anyone in the UK. As for being cheap, their hourly rate is half of some other tuners. You could do a lot worse. Matt is Matt Harwood. He is the BBS' Audio Guru. Post any questions in the Audio section & he'll pop up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 Originally posted by dmad Should i ask to get the crank seal done at the same time as the cambelt then? Is is a common area to leak? Not on a car with your age / mileage. Its just that when they are doing the timing belt the level of tear down is almost the same as for a front crank seal, so I wih I had had mine done. You got a 16000 mile UK sec car with one lady owner for 12K AND you haggled with the dealer? [envy] I would have ripped is arm out of the socket! Jesus, have YOU ever got a good deal! Well done! [/envy] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmad Posted February 26, 2003 Author Share Posted February 26, 2003 Okay, so JPS and Sextons are the ones to hound for all my Supra needs it seems. I'll give JPS a call on friday and sort out a booking in of my new pride. Money is rather tight at the moment! "You got a 16000 mile UK sec car with one lady owner for 12K AND you haggled with the dealer?[envy] I would have ripped is arm out of the socket! Jesus, have YOU ever got a good deal! Well done! [/envy]" Its not a 16000 mile UK car - its a 59000 mile UK car. Im saying its a 93 model and has been owned the last 5 or so years by a housewife as the town runabout. I did all the HPI crap and i know they bought it in '98 i think it was (i got their receipt for it too - they paid £28k for it). And in the time she has owned it, shes done roughly 4kmiles a year and serviced it at every dealer interval requested! I bought it privately too, not from a dealer. So i got no comebacks, but thats something i don't care about anyway as warranties are worth absolutely sod all in my opinion. I did haggle them down to £12k, but i guess they were expecting that much. They were obviously not in a hurry to sell it (both didn't need the money, and didn't need it off their driveway urgently) and I was in a hurry to buy a car for work. I think i got a good deal - is that the case? I really wanted a manual, but decided instead to try and find some rocking horse shit. I hope i know enough not to buy a dog and i know a lot of tricks. Its obviously a genuine motor - the steering wheel leather is still matt and unworn, the seats are nice and clean, the seatbelt springs back into place, its got all the UK equipment, standard wheels, reciepts for a good few years from Toyota for servicing, brakes, tyres and so on. Original stereo, alarm etc - not been modified or ragged. No muck in the engine/engine bay, but not too clean to of been steamcleaned (to remove oil problem signs etc). No rattles (apart from those boot stay things!). Fast and tidy. Needs a good days valeting which im doing tomorrow as its got silly things like the "Y" is missing from toyota on the back, and the car mats are not matching!! All original panels, no filler anywhere i could find. Climate control appears to work fine, as does everything else. Still haven't really sat down and worked it all out - the manual button for example................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Martin F Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 Welcome to the BBS. The standard fit Toyota alarm is Cat 1 approved and is called a System 5000. If you need proof of this the best thing to do is to speak to one of the customer care people at Toyota HQ and ask them to send you a letter stating proof. This was acceptable to my insurance company. Don't have the phone number to hand but i have posted it before on this BBS. The UK cars AFAIK all came with double din stereo's and a six disk changer in the boot. If you have the wrong mats in your car i advise you to get down to your Toyota dealer ASAP and order a new beige set as they were on special a few months ago. About £12 for a full set of four. Part numbers are also on this BBS somewhere, do a search on mats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Sandham Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 you have a good buy there - nice one !!! The alarm fitted as standard to UK spec is indeed a CAT 1. Not sure on a 93 spec but on later models it is designated as the "5000" series. cheers Neil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmad Posted February 27, 2003 Author Share Posted February 27, 2003 I went down the the Toyota dealer today and asked about the Mats! Thanks for the tip - he did a search on the ivory black ones and they came up £78. Then he did a search on the other ones and they came up £11.24 or something! He thought it was odd and i told him i heard there was a special deal on. Also i wanted the blanking plate for the bottom half of the stereo - he said it was £28 and was actually a cubby hole thing which slotted in the place of the bottom half of the double din. Is this right? I pick it all up on Saturday. Its good to know the alarm is CAT1 - also thanks for the tip on how to prove it! They haven't asked me to prove it, so i think i don't need to worry.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suprarob Posted February 27, 2003 Share Posted February 27, 2003 Hi dmad welcome to the pleasures of the auto mkiv I, ve seen dealers with theses cars on there forcourts for £15000 so I think as a private sale you haven,t been ripped off you don,t have to mod the car but its difficult to stop yourself:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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