Chris H72 Posted July 2, 2013 Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 I always loved the looks of the gen7 but while I was married I had to do the sensible and boring 5 door family hatch thing so never imagined I would actually own one some day. When that marriage ended I did think about buying a celica but bottled it and bought a 207 GT diesel instead. Not sure why I did that really! I suppose I wanted something with sporty looks but low running costs. I learned that compromise is not always a good thing when it comes to cars and after a year of dull motoring sold the pug for a 2 door coupe. A celica then? No. Again I thought about it but ended up buying something cheaper, a puma. I got the puma because my best mate has one and I was completely hooked on the way it drove. Say what you like about them, those things really put a smile on your face. Kept the puma for a year until I just couldn't bear the sight of rusty wheel arches any longer and decided the time was right to buy that celica I had always wanted. At first I was looking for a 140 but after reading the forum and checking insurance and running costs decided on the Tsport instead. The lure of lift was too much to resist! So far so good and I still love the car. It's been great to own but has cost me a bit more than I was expecting as maintenance was clearly not a priority for the previous owner. Anyway, hopefully all sorted now so I'm looking forward to another couple of years of fun ownership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex282 Posted July 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 I always loved the looks of the gen7 but while I was married I had to do the sensible and boring 5 door family hatch thing so never imagined I would actually own one some day. When that marriage ended I did think about buying a celica but bottled it and bought a 207 GT diesel instead. Not sure why I did that really! I suppose I wanted something with sporty looks but low running costs. I learned that compromise is not always a good thing when it comes to cars and after a year of dull motoring sold the pug for a 2 door coupe. A celica then? No. Again I thought about it but ended up buying something cheaper, a puma. I got the puma because my best mate has one and I was completely hooked on the way it drove. Say what you like about them, those things really put a smile on your face. Kept the puma for a year until I just couldn't bear the sight of rusty wheel arches any longer and decided the time was right to buy that celica I had always wanted. At first I was looking for a 140 but after reading the forum and checking insurance and running costs decided on the Tsport instead. The lure of lift was too much to resist! So far so good and I still love the car. It's been great to own but has cost me a bit more than I was expecting as maintenance was clearly not a priority for the previous owner. Anyway, hopefully all sorted now so I'm looking forward to another couple of years of fun ownership. I really wanted a puma for my first car, then one turned up at my local garage a couple of years ago. They wanted £2600 and probably the same again to insure it because I was 18 at the time. I still love the way they look when I see one but it turns out the 1.7 puma was the same insurance group as the 140 celica. It's hard to believe how much difference a couple of years made as I managed to get a nice 140 and insure it for about the same price as the price of just that puma 2 years ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrDB Posted July 2, 2013 Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 Popup headlights/ bonnet bulge / turbo / 4wd / coupe. Unique ohh yes. Plus loved them in rallying and always liked them then saw this in a dealers in the corner whilst heading back from almost purchasing a e30 c2.7 aplina BMW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InsolentMinx Posted July 2, 2013 Report Share Posted July 2, 2013 I had the Hyundai Coupe and Celica on Need for speed underground. Prefered the Hyundai so much more but once i was old enough and could afford my own 'proper' car, reading lots of reviews, the Celica looked the better bet. Plus the styling really appealed to me. Went for a black 140 first as insurance was a killer, loved the black and the power over my old Clio... But soon the idea of missing out on 'lift' got too overpowering. Then a Storm Blue T-Sport became available, so I bought that and sold the 140. Such a great, sexy, and quite economical car.... but it had to go as saving up for a house (which very nearly finalised on). Currently driving a Yaris T-Sport which is good fun, but not as much fun or sexy as the Celica. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akuma77 Posted July 3, 2013 Report Share Posted July 3, 2013 well myself ive been driving vauxhalls and some fords over the years and after owning two great vauxhall calibras : 1) 2.0 litre redtop engine (around 150bhp-wasnt measured ) -which is a great engine and used in many cars like the caterham 7 and such i had that car for 5 years but the body was rusty but was a great car : 2) 2.5 v6 188.4 bhp - this was the very last calibra made in 1997 and came with a lot of features and this one lasted me 4.5 years : but i was tiring with vauxhall after that so i decided i would love to get a japanese vehicle , my first choice was a honda integra dc2 (realised these were costly and couldnt really get one for 3000+ , so the second choice was the honda civic mb6 but this looked like a OAPs motor so then I looked at a honda Prelude 5th generation but this car looked great from the back and ugly from the front and so in the end it was a toyota but which one... i did originally like the 6th generation and the 5th one and after a long look into them i decided i would get a 7th gen as it would be a nice upgrade to the v6 with all the toys ,nice interior and some nice straight lines and i honestly didnt think after a few weeks i would be happy with the celica but i still am at 9months later and just realised it could be a car i could tweak and make more different ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic Posted July 3, 2013 Report Share Posted July 3, 2013 Never considered a celica , wanted a boys toy , wife has the family car so something old , classic , started looking for a big bumper mk2 golf gti , but it had to be white , 3 door , 16valve etc , and the ones I wanted were too much , looked at mk1 golf verts , old Skool fords , but all still to high , the my boss had mk3 supra just rotting away in the drive , offered her money , wasn't interested , then a gen 4 came up on eBay with 8 hours to go , bid , went to sleep , woke up and I had won it In 2 years the 4 had lots of new parts fitted to keep it running , but the rot was to much to handle , sold it with a few months mot to a tosser who blew it up Replaced the 4 with my first 5 (olive) , came up on here for 100 no mot , bought it and it was ...... Poss the best car I ever bought , build thread on here somewhere ,after 2 years and about 2k put in to it , she ended up having a wobbly and bottom end went The replacement for olive was dufus , another gen 5 , was supposed to be a temp car till olive was fixed , but started taking the nice bits off olive and by the time I had finished there wasn't much of olive left , olive now sits in the drive , very stripped , dufus sits in the drive ready to be donated to my brother in law for his college project The faff , can't really complain , only had it 3 weeks , can trace the past 3 owners thru ccuk and gt4oc , so it's better than service history , just started to put my personal stamp on it , still can't make up my mind on the looks , well I can , the front end is ugly as fook , but really , really impressed with the rest of the car , if ever you get a chance to own one do it , you will love it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJV8 Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 Always loved Celicas but never considered getting one as practicallity always ruled the roost. However, after a rake of issues with my 2009 Skoda Octavia diesel, including £1200 of engine repairs (would have been £3000 had Skoda UK not helped, as it was a fully serviced low miles car) I decided to get shot, so thought the time was right to get a Celica. Love it to bits, other than my 'project' car (Marcos) it's the best car I've owned, does everything it needs to, and if I'm not playing it's quiet, comfortable, practical and costs only fractionally more to run than the Skoda (excluding the repairs). I plan to keep this one for a long time, or at least replace it with another. Even my Fiancee loves it to bits, said it sort of reminds her of her old Mini (a proper one, not a Bini). Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjiboy87 Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 well i bought mine on pure off chance! i was driving along in my rover 25...first car...head gasket went (4th time...she had a hard life bless) as i drove past a forecourt and there it was! and the owner was a complete monkey didnt have a first idea about cars haha. gave me 1k trade in (didnt realise head had gone) and i was away! never looked back infact my mum still runs around in it now and its still buzzing along with 150k on it! of course after haveing an st i had to go faff so here i am and wont change it for the world! all have been a pleasure to own apart from when the faffs decide to give you a kick in the nuts and steal your wallet but hey thats one of the sort of pleasures of owning it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheepy Posted August 1, 2013 Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 My friends parents used to own one back around 1999, I loved the shape and the look and said from then on that one day I will own one. I passed my test a year and a half ago, had a Skoda Felicia (cheap car, cheap insurance) which quickly died on my (head gasket). Next car i stepped it up a notch with a 2000 Meganne sports alize coupe, looked really nice, fell apart on me and cost me a fortune to get fixed. Realised that I needed to invest more money to get a car that wasn't gonna cost me a fortune in repairs. I didnt want to go down the boring hatchback route. Then I remembered about the celica, I just assumed they'd be out of my price range but since I was investing a bit more I had a ganders at the price range.....perfect. Fun car to drive / reliable / low mileage. I managed to get a t-sport 2005 model with 52k on the clock, been driving for a few weeks now and the smile hasnt left my face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
:: blade :: Posted August 2, 2013 Report Share Posted August 2, 2013 well i bought it as i wanted something sporty looking was good for the first 3months. but since then ive not driven it so its been abit crap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxxy Posted August 2, 2013 Report Share Posted August 2, 2013 (edited) Ive always driven coupes, my first car was a Capri 3000GT in 1975 (I passed my test in it aged 18) and I had 4 more - all Mark I and 2 but never the hideous Mark 3. Followed those off with a Lotus Europa Twin Cam John Player Special in 1979 ( fanny magnet but an awful car - not as bad as the MGTF and MGF parts-bin cars I recently had the misfortune to own) Saw a gen 1 Celica around 1975 and was impressed - until I sat in one, the dashboard looked cheap and nasty with chromed plastic bits all over it, Looked like it had been made in Hong Kong, not Japan but it was a product of time and more durable than was thought in the 1970s when Jap cars and bikes were regarded by many as crap and wouldn't last more than a couple of years. Its grown on me since and I suppose is probably a classic (As with all classics - only if standard) I've only ever owned a Gen 7 and I'm afraid its not a patch on the Calibras I once owned. Im afraid to say for me, my Celica is a bit of a toy, not much more than a hobby. My working car is a Range Rover out of necessity. If I was offered a really, really good Calibra now, the Celica would be gone like a shot even though I like it. Edited August 3, 2013 by foxxy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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