Need help choosing an 86

Joined: 08 Apr 2008 Posts: 6 Location: Sheffield

Hi there everyone. I am currently in the market for an 86 but i have a very limited knowlege of them and I was hoping you could help me by having a look at this e-bay auction and letting me know what you think of the car

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Toyota-Corolla-GT-coupe-AE86-Trueno-4AGE-initial-D_W0QQitemZ190212572630QQihZ009QQcategoryZ18290QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Basically i am a bit worried about buying a car with 100,000 miles already on the clock when i know fine well that I want to drive it quite hard. Is this going to be a reliable enough car or am I going to have my hand in my pocket all the time?
All opinions appreciated. Thanks

Takumi Joined: 21 Sep 2004 Posts: 407

Iketani Joined: 04 Jan 2007 Posts: 33 Location: England

No need to worry about reliability of a 4age engine. They are bullet proof if well maintained and with regular oil change. If you are driving very hard, put a oil cooler to your car.

What is the purpose of you using the car for?

I don't want to spoil the e bay advert, but that price is very steep for a 2 door coupe. There are lierally loads of 86 on Pistonheads if you look.

Its a buyers market now!

Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 6:43 pm Post subject:

Hey Fly,

As for mileage, think of it this way, if you buy a 24 year old car with 50.000 miles on the odo, you might think you'll be buying a steal...
But if that car has been standing still for the past 5 or 10 years, or has hardly been driven, you'll probably find the car looks great, but will give you serious problems in the long run.

I know a chap that bought a DeLorean with 1.000 miles on the odo. The car had been driven from the dealership and basically was stored since.
When he bought it he bought it to drive it atleast weekly, the first thing he had to do is pull the engine, replace all gaskets and such, basically an intire rebuild, and then he could finally drive the car. Thats an extreme example but it gives you an idea what I'm talking about.

Anyways, for a 24 year old car, mileage sais nothing. A 200.000 mile car could easily be in better condition then a 100.000 mile car if proper maintenance was always done on it and the engine at some point may have had some work done on it.

So, if you're unsure about this car, there is only one way to go, visit the owner, take the car for a spin, if the driveline feels good, and the engine feels good, and there are no visible signs of leakage, bad exhaust or anything like that, you've probably got a winner.

And if the engine does break down, 4AGs are easy to replace.. I'd be way more worried about the bodywork and any rust you'll need to treat...

Iketani Joined: 20 Sep 2007 Posts: 32

Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 10:46 pm Post subject:

those irish lads really know how to spend some money on 86s though,the condition of some of em is unbelievable,and remember they are expecting a hard fought haggle

Takumi Joined: 21 Sep 2004 Posts: 407

Iketani Joined: 20 Sep 2007 Posts: 32

The Yellow one is £9999 for a near standard car nice condition though.
Goes to show those cheap cars must be rough

Takumi Joined: 30 Mar 2008 Posts: 215

Just make sure you buy one with the 4AGE in it already. Its a headache to retrofit things with the 4AC motor.

Joined: 08 Apr 2008 Posts: 6 Location: Sheffield

Thanks for all the help there lads, rikard sadly yours is a bit over my budget i only really had 5000 GBP which comes up short on what your after not to mention i would need more for importing, registering it and getting the rustproofing done but thanks for the offer. Ill have to check out pistonheads, whats the web address? and i was not really gonna pay list price im all for a good bit haggeling!!

Takumi Joined: 21 Sep 2004 Posts: 407

Takumi Joined: 30 Mar 2008 Posts: 215

Try to find one with complete interior and no rust.