Supra surprises?

[Smally]

Hey all,

I'm about to go and view a few Supras over the course of the next couple of days.

I've read the helpful pinned thread about what to check etc, however is there anything else you guys could tell me that I need to know?

Such things like, do supras suffer any bad traits such as any oil burning (like the newer Celica does)?

I'm looking at NA and mostly autos.

 

Many thanks,

Smally.

[Dnk]

Old valve stem seals dry out and go hard leaking oil into the cylinders, to begin with its only noticeable on start up after the engines

been left overnight.

 

Hard to spot if a seller runs the engine for a few seconds as it burns off very quickly, assume if they haven't been replaced they will

do at some stage in the future.

 

Like lots of other parts that are original, they are all rather old now so see what the cars your viewing have had replaced or refurbished.

Edited March 14, 2017 by Dnk (see edit history)

[rider]

Probably best to tout for others in your local area who you can chat to and who may even be available to go see cars with you if that suits all parties.

 

The main thing to look out for is rust on the sub frames, the tailgate and also the sills (though they are mostly covered by the side skirts). Mechanically things are usually pretty bullet proof. Any modified car (single turbo etc) I'd recommend get rolling road tested but you say you are mostly looking at n/a's. Oil burning is not a problem on the 2JZ engines. You can get a puff of smoke at start up due to failed valve guide seals (due to age) but that is only a little bit of oil and you wouldn't notice it. I have never topped up my oil level between services. In fact it has never dropped between services.

 

If you can stretch your budget the manuals are more desirable and the twin turbo versions are more desirable as well. But I'd expect you may well have selected NA autos for a reason of budget. There is a nice looking 040 manual Supra on eBay now for £7k. Good luck with the hunt.

[Scooter]

Hey all,

I'm about to go and view a few Supras over the course of the next couple of days.

I've read the helpful pinned thread about what to check etc, however is there anything else you guys could tell me that I need to know?

Such things like, do supras suffer any bad traits such as any oil burning (like the newer Celica does)?

I'm looking at NA and mostly autos.

 

Many thanks,

Smally.

 

They suffer from very few bad mechanical traits. Mostly you can check everything costly visually. eg bodywork and interior condition, used parts are now very expensive so worth paying a few quid more to get one in good condition (obviously depending on your own standards and what you can live with)

 

If I was after an NA auto I would want/check the following.

 

If it had ABS, non facelifts often don't have it (look in the rear right of the engine - looking from the front - you should see a metal box with brake pipes going in and out of it, if there is not there will be a noticeable amount of room in that area and it won't have abs.

 

I'd check the auto box thoroughly just because of the hassle if it needs changing but even then the boxes are still available (currently) on the cheap, changes should be seamless when you move the shifter at a stand still it shouldn't pause much and/or clunk into drive/reverse etc.

 

Cam cover oil leaks - usually at the rear of the left/exhaust bank and it runs down onto the gearbox (easy to replace but possibly haggle down point)

Oil leak from distributor - again not the end of the world.

 

If it had a LSD (will need a A01B on the vin plate) not a deal breaker at all but a lsd is a nice to have (although rare on a NA auto)

 

Sills were intact, they tend to get bent by careless jacking over the years, check the front and rear jacking points both sides (just behind the fronts wheels and just in front of the rear wheels), there are two small indents in the sill to indicate where you place the standard boot scissor jack.

 

Check the condition of the fuel tank guard, just look under the rear bumper, it can be an indication of the general underbody condition, they can be mint matt black factory paint (beware of a recent refurb) to rusting through. The exhaust rear most hanger and mounting can also give you another indication.

 

Brakes will almost certainly be the small j specs, they are notorious for semi seizing with age. You can check the pad sweeping area on the disk, heat (check the disks hub not the disk face itself!) after a drive to check for a 'hot' corner, roll by hand on the flat etc.

 

Check the electric drivers seat goes back and forth fine.

 

Check the heater gets very hot (major hassle if someone is fobbing off a dodgy matrix'd car) I'd go as far as to carefully check (after a drive) the pipes in and out of the matrix (rear right of engine bay near) they should both be hot. Poor coolant servicing can leave rust in the system and the matrix is very fine and can clog with debris, look for signs of rusty/browness in the coolant expansion bottle (in front of the rad near the passenger side headlight.

 

Suspension is a harder one, the Supra can hide quite well (especially on a short test drive) wear in it's suspension, almost certain it won't have had a full change of arms etc so just try and feel for tramlining and if it doesn't just feel right - most difficult for someone with no previous Supra driving experience. Clunks and bangs are 'usually' shocks and/or droplink related and reasonably cheap to replace.

 

best of luck, but I'm not sure I'd pay the prices being demanded for one these days, what do you expect to have to pay?