Worth seeing: Brand new 1990 Turbo Targa

Supracentral

Supracentral

Active Member
Mar 30, 2005
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Zach said:
Ummmm I can't imagine sitting in a climate controlled garage for 17 years would hurt anything on that car, especially chunks of cast metal.
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The biggest concerns with long term storage of an automobile are corrosion, the hardening of rubber seals, and the collapse of suspension components (like springs).

The proper prep for long term storage that I have used is:

  • If there are any scratches in the paint, cover them with touch up paint.
  • A thorough wash and wax.
  • Coat all rubber parts (especially door seals, trunk seals and exposed weatherstripping) with a quality protectant. Do the same to the under hood rubber hoses.
  • Remove the wheels and tires.
  • Put the car up up on blocks putting the weight on the FRAME, not the suspension.
  • Remove the spark plugs, squirt some light oil into each cylinder, screw the plugs back in hand tight.
  • Perform a full oil & filter change.
  • Perform a full coolant flush and fill. Use a 50/50 mix of coolant and DISTILLED water. Do not use tap water.
  • Fill the fuel tank completely, this removes space for condensation to form.
  • Disconnect the battery and remove it from the vehicle
  • Put some moisture-absorbing desiccant packets (Silica Gel) in the interior (and hatch area) as well as some mothballs to keep mice away. They love parked cars, but hate the smell of mothballs...
  • Partially close the doors, the trunk and the hood. Get them on the 1st latch, but not sealed all the way. You know what I mean. If the car has a targa, put it in the trunk. This will keep the weatherstripping and door seals from being flattened.
  • Put it under a car cover and store it in a climate controlled space.

Do that and a car can sit for 20 years and start up pretty much like it's new after some basics like a new battery and tightening down the plugs.

It doesn't look like this dealer did much, if any of that. For $50K I'd expect a far better storage prep.

Just my $.02, ymmv...
 
rodel

rodel

SoCal
May 19, 2005
2,266
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SoCal
Supraholics said:
You want a daily driver? There's tons of them on Ebay, even here. Go fetch yourself one. A car this caliber is not to be daily driven. If it managed to stay like this for so long, why ruin it??? If you can spend $50K for it, then just spend another $6K for a DD even the same color if you want. Cars are meant to be driven, and you can drive it, but this kind should be driven less frequent, maybe once a week. I'm not worried anyways, none of you are buying it.

If you can't understand what being a collector is all about that's fine. Move it along, $50K can get you just about any common burnout king out there ;)
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If a person could buy this car for $50k as a garage queen, he/she should be able to afford a DD for more than $6k. More like $6K + $$$$$$ for a DD.:)
 
rodel

rodel

SoCal
May 19, 2005
2,266
5
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SoCal
I don't think it would be a wise investment to buy this car with the intention of using it as a daily driver. If this car got involved in either wreck or theft, the insurance company will pay a sum according to its current market value. I used Edmunds.com's appraiser, using zip code to evaluate the car's value. The most the insurance company may pay for this car is around $4,515.

p812810_1.jpg


Moving on....

I noticed that no one has brought this up: If this car was bought as a show car/collector car, it would only make sense to buy collector vehicle insurance. But would it qualify?
 
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gixxer750

2jzget comingsoon!
Mar 30, 2005
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Mississippi
Problems will be seals(on all mechanical parts) leaking, the suspension will most likely be shot...

Other than that, it should be good. But I'm with some of the other people in this thread. It should be a show piece, not driven. It might be the only mk3 left in twenty years.
 
Poodles

Poodles

I play with fire
Jul 22, 2006
16,757
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Fort Worth, TX
gixxer750 said:
Problems will be seals(on all mechanical parts) leaking, the suspension will most likely be shot...

Other than that, it should be good. But I'm with some of the other people in this thread. It should be a show piece, not driven. It might be the only mk3 left in twenty years.
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Why would it be shot? It's unused, the tires look fine, so more than likely it was on jackstands. The hood and hatch struts both work fine, why wouldn't the shocks?

Yes, collectors car insurance will work on anything over 15 years old IIRC...
 
Jeff Lange

Jeff Lange

Administrator
Staff member
Mar 29, 2005
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jefflange.ca
Push said:
I wonder if they warranty the car like a new car? That car belongs in a museum, it will never be driven...
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Depends if it was ever delivered. If no owner ever actually took possession (which seems VERY unlikely), then the warranty would start at the in-service date. On the other hand, I'm not sure if Toyota has workarounds for situations like this, because quite a few things are already discontinued.
 
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aberabee

New Member
Oct 28, 2007
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south carolina
i was just talking about a 99 3kgt VR4 that i saw like this...i just wonder, was the car never sold intentionally, or was it forgotten about somewhere?
 
OneJoeZee

OneJoeZee

Retired Post Whore
Mar 30, 2005
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aberabee said:
i was just talking about a 99 3kgt VR4 that i saw like this...i just wonder, was the car never sold intentionally, or was it forgotten about somewhere?
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Probably just never sold because it was so ugly, no one wanted to buy it, then went to the Toyota dealer to buy a Supra instead.
 
cartel1_950

cartel1_950

supra is gone
Jan 30, 2006
498
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calgary
sorry man cold as shit last night. i have to go to toyota tonite for oil anyways so i'll snap them then, it's in the used car section of the dealership so i should get some good pics
 
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