As these cars get older its harder to find a "low mile" car......

[bonylad]

I found a 200K 87 Turbo with a bad head, guy is asking 800.00


Im not seeing a whole lot of cars out there near me that aren't in bad shape for little money......is a car like this worth spending 800.00 on and it has that many miles?

Thanks!

 

[DeMoN2318]

all depends on everything else haha

Body in good shape? interior? molding? missing stuff? sunroof car? targa? sport model?

 

[bonylad]

Missing some exterior molding, seats are crap, and I don't recall but I think it was a hard top? missing a head (aka po had a cracked one)..........

 

[atmperformance]

the drive train is worth that $800. I bought my car for $800 with 287k and I rebuilt the motor for the third time. $3500 later it's driveable but still needs suspension work

 

[scottiedawg66]

It depends what you want. For a fun beater with potential a cheap car like that is great. If you want a nice mk3 it is cheaper to buy one that build it imho. Many restoration parts are no longer avaliable from toyota, and what is avaliable is expensive.

 

[super51fan]

Don't buy a POS that needs everything. Interior to make nice is $1000 or more. Engine rebuild several grand paint several thousand. Plus all the hoses and everything else that have not been changed are due on a worn out problem car. Another several thousand. Some people will say you can do this and that for so much less. Ya can they drive there car? Most people who have completed a project always have to account for budget buster misc items that cost a lot. With a unrealistic budget your car will never be done.

You will spend a lot of money to have a nice car fixing everything vs buying a nice car to start with.

I have seen several nice MKIII go for $5 to 10 k that are well worth the money.

Buy a supra to drive and enjoy not set in your drive for years.

When anything goes bad fix it right away. Cheaper to fix one thing than wait till you have 10 things to fix. Wait you are looking at a car that have probably 30 things that need addressed.

Just IMO good luck.

 

[emericaskater285]

Just bought a built 7m car that is by far the cleanest supra I have seen for 3000. 66,xxx miles on it.

My first supra I bought in the summer of 2011 for 1000 with 83,xxx miles on it. Very clean but had pretty good hail damage (mostly fixed now).


Just have to keep your eyes peeled for the deals. Don't be trying to jump into something right away, and look around a lot.

 

[Supra mn]

I bought a beater '87 for $1100, wasn't running, sat on a farm for several years. He said he had it running, but couldn't get it to run when I showed up to buy.
The body is decently straight, a few dents I can pull but the paint is shot. Missing trim, bumper, a lot of odds and ends.
The main thing that convinced me to buy was the boxes and boxes of spare parts he included.
I finally have it running and driving, although I still have a whole list of things to do before I can really have fun with/trust it.

For the asking price, you could probably have it "done" for roughly $2000 total. That's getting it running and maybe some suspension/interior/etc. It's going to be a beater though.
If you're looking for something to turn into a show car, like everyone else said, wait until you can find an overall nice car for a little extra money.

 

[suprarx7nut]

I've tried to buy a couple cheap Supras and make a few bucks learning (and enjoying) on a quick restoration. I'll echo what everyone else is saying. Buy the most complete car you can find. Interior parts are hard to find in good shape so a clean interior is worth a good amount. Most drivetrain parts are easy to replace, but trim, body, interior, chassis stuff can be tricky.

If you just want cheap power then it doesn't really matter. If you want a nice car won't know is 20 years old.... wait for the right one.

In retrospect my 88 was SUPER clean inside except for the driver's seat. That interior was gorgeous. The exterior was great as well, but suspension was worn and the transmission was tired. If I was looking to buy another mk3 I'd focus on the interior and body condition and ensure the rest of the car is at least present. Rebuilding a 7M and trans is easy and relatively cheap compared to trying to piece together trim and interior.

 

[MkIII FTW]

I own four of these things now and I gotta say and this has probably been iterated before, there's nothing cheap about these cars. Hind sight says I should have bought a car that was already fixed up but that's not what I was looking for. For me there's was more pride than anything. I'll say if you have the finances to make it what you want and are comfortable with the condition then sure go for it. If not and you want something in better shape and takes less time to become road worthy, wait. It comes down to what you want.

 

[bonylad]

Well I will try to take pics if I can get that way, and I probably will tomorrow. I know a head isn't hard to find and the 7MGE head and 7MGTE heard are the same with the exception of the intake cam. Found one for 150.00. Only thing that worries me is I don't know if the motor has sat sans head for all those years.....god I hope not. If its together and just needs a head, I should have no issue to go through it and toss on the new head with a little love.

The seats don't worry me toooooo much. Some moldings....same thing.

The car will be a fun car, the car that will be reliable and strong but not a dyno queen....whats that BPU+ in the MKIV world? The paint is all the same but more than likely will be painted at some point....but crap paint on some cars IMO adds character. My bro's 92 Prelude with a built H22 has 360 WHP atm before retune and looks like something out of a scrap yard TO SOME. He beats on it but takes car of all the important things. Never let him down.

I wont be the guy who frets over a scratch after walking out of cracker barrel with a 45 minute drive home.......nope. Ill love every second.

SUPRARX7NUT........310,000 mile makeover.............that right there......makes me feel silly for asking should I worry about 200K.....nice car sir.

 

[ZoomZoomZoom]

My rule of thumb is, if the Sup doesn't run, $500 max. Offer cash in hand. Amazing how well that works. However, if the car was pretty complete with a decent interior and exterior and still didn't run, I might offer more.

This one might make a good parts car.

Rust is also a BIG issue. Rust never ever goes away.

 

[bonylad]

My rule of thumb is, if the Sup doesn't run, $500 max. Offer cash in hand. Amazing how well that works. However, if the car was pretty complete with a decent interior and exterior and still didn't run, I might offer more.

This one might make a good parts car.

Rust is also a BIG issue. Rust never ever goes away.

I don't think 800 is out of line per se....given the selection available to me. BUT.........I think I might show up with 600 cash and 200 in my back pocket lol. It does have some rust under the passenger side rear tail light.......IDK the severity of it.

 

[suprarx7nut]

SUPRARX7NUT........310,000 mile makeover.............that right there......makes me feel silly for asking should I worry about 200K.....nice car sir.

Yup. My car is living proof every day that mileage doesn't mean shit. Especially now that these cars are all so old. High miles can be a good thing. It means somebody has looked after it enough to drive it often and consistently for at least a large portion of its life. I think of mileage as a badge of honor.

I'm very excited to hit 350k. It should happen sometime in 2016 if I can keep up daily driving in the summers.

 

[bonylad]

Horrible pics........I didn't even take any of the inside..........that horrid. Dash pad is cracked, leather on seats is destroyed. rust under her.....tank straps rusted.....id have to buy this and POR15 the whole damn car.....still

If I could get it for a good price......







Rust under the rear tail lamp has me worried............

Pass? Opinions?

 

[ForcedTorque]

You can't really go wrong with a complete turbo car for $800. BUT, your goal and your plan don't match up too well. You want reliable, but are hoping to just slap a head on an open motor to get it. Plan on rebuilding that motor

 

[akito]

It all depends on what you want to do with it. $800 for a high mileage supra with a clean, low rust supra is better than a beat up running one in my opinion.

 

[DeMoN2318]

$600 for a parts car...

 

[scottiedawg66]

if it is that rusty under the tail light housing then it will probably be rusted out pretty bad in the spare tire well, and other areas. looks like a parts car to me.

 

[MkIII FTW]

To be completely honest, the car doesn't look that bad. I guess I was expecting worse. Personally, for me that's a restorable car.