General advice on the MK3 Supras?

[BoostAtSummit]

Hey guys. I just sold my other car and I'm currently doing some homework before I commit to buy another one. I was hoping I can get some advice on these cars.

All questions are directed towards the MK3 chassis (obviously) and 7MGTE engines.

What should I look for before I buy one?
How reliable are they?
How expensive are they to repair?
How expensive are the performance parts?
How strong are the internal parts, transmission, clutch, and rear end?
What are some common issues with them?


And if there's any other useful info I could use before I make up my mind.

Thanks for any help, and sorry if this is in the wrong section!

-Bryan

 

[pnutcar]

Save up for a JZ swap so it will be fast and reliable.

They're old cars so you're going to have your typical nickel and dime repair stuff. M/T and rear end can hold good power, autos hold less.

Honestly, have a d/d as well lol

 

[Angry7M]

save up for a jz swap so it will be fast and reliable.

lol

 

[Zumtizzle]

What should I look for before I buy one?
Straight Body, Good Compression.
How reliable are they?
If well Maintained as all old cars, Very.
How expensive are they to repair?
If just parts, fairly reasonable. Labor is always intensive depending on the job if you don't do your own work.
How expensive are the performance parts?
Parts for performance reasons usually require reliability repairs and other mods such as braking and suspension.
How strong are the internal parts, transmission, clutch, and rear end?
That all really depends how you drive. If you power shift or launch extremely hard expect to learn how to drop the trans.
What are some common issues with them?
A lot of people blame the low head gasket torque, but my old supra had 200k miles and i had no issues. My Dad had another one prior to this one which he sold to my uncle which he drove low on oil which required a bottom end rebuild at 185k miles. Then he blew a coolant hose a few miles later and blew the head gasket. lol. We used the proper head gasket torque too.

Hope this helps.

Personally the best mods are upgrading the cooling system.

 

[Angry7M]

What should I look for before I buy one? First off make sure it has a Metal Head Gasket and make sure the job has been done correctly. Too many dumbasses blowin 7M's becuase of their lack of knowledge or their mechanics are just plain retards.

How reliable are they? Reliability will depend on the previous owners, how they took care and maintained the car.

How expensive are they to repair? Parts can get expenisve, that a real down side.

How expensive are the performance parts? Performance parts are expensive compared to more popular cars like honduhs, 240's ect.

Take a look ate suprastore.com suprasport.com horsepowerfreaks.com so you can get an idea.

How strong are the internal parts, transmission, clutch, and rear end? I wont comment on this since I never been at the level of breaking something. All depends on your goals.


What are some common issues with them? Most common problem is Blown Head Gaskets, read up on this as much as you can. Read all the sticky around here. Also some people get get rod knock with the 7M. But you cant blame that on the engine, mostly user fault.

 

[BoostAtSummit]

Sweet, I see a lot of parts I actually carry at work. Big + on the discounts then.

Sounds like pretty good info to me so far. Thanks for the help guys.