Toyota Celica (Hatchbacks / All Years)

tomek · February 2001

does anybody know if toyota plans any changes for the modelyear 2002 ?

kjclow · February 2001

Just read the Edmunds email and wanted to put mt two cents into the comment about winter traction. I am on my forth front wheel drive car. Of course the best improvement for driving in the winter was moving out of the Midwest to the Southeast, but the best performing car I have ever owned was a Subaru. I had a 82 GL Wagon, front wheel drive only. If I could get the bumper through the drift, the car would go. I amazed people in Iowa by being able to get out and around while even the 4x4's were having problems. I am not sure how the awd's handle, but if I move back to winter, that's one of the first cars I would look at.

coupe2001 · February 2001

Tires, Tires, Tires! If you don't have tires with grip than your going nowhere. Subaru or not. I got 17" Bridgestone Potenza RE910's on my Celica and they have proved they will channel anything. My town got 5 inches of snow yesterday and my Celi was throwing stuff like she was in a Monster truck mud bog.

denniswade · February 2001

on my 2000 Corolla (1ZZ engine, same as the Celica GT), and we kept it even after I turbocharged it and installed a custom 2-1/4" exhaust. It works beautifully, sounds wonderful (very smooth, with a rich, deep bass sound) and has been demonstrated by SCC to add at least 6 hp at the rear wheels -- translating to something like 8 or 9 hp at the crank. If TRD says it adds 14 at the crank in the GT (which, due to a much better exhaust manifold, has 140 hp instead of the Corolla's 125), I imagine it does -- TRD isn't in the habit of posting overly optimistic assessments of their equipment -- but as sergeis points out, most of that gain will be at higher rpm. I would recommend it simply for the appearance and sound -- it's gorgeous and you'll love it. (My wife has a brand new GT -- silver, just like yours -- and Ill probably order one for her within the next month or so.)

coupe2001 · February 2001

This subaru obvious had poor tires...

http://media.gatewayva.com/photos/lna/Carwreck.jpg

denniswade · February 2001

there's an old saying about 4WD: You'll still get stuck -- just in harder places! =O)

dq1 · February 2001

Dennis and Sergeis, Thanks for the info. TRD is claiming 14hp at the rear wheels, I haven't seen any numbers on what it delivers at the crank. I'd be curious to know what it does for your wife's car when you get it installed. Also, how loud is it? Some of the exhausts that folks around here have put on their cars are so loud that it drowns out their subwoofers! I'm not really looking to draw attention. Also, is there any benefit to high flow air filters? Thanks.

owenwright · February 2001

I am buying a new car, and I`ve been offered a 1992 celica, 110,000 miles, 1 minor crash (fixed), apparently sqeaks a bit and the wheels sometimes make a noise when turning, new starter motor, owned by a woman who probably didn`t maintain it much but didn`t thrash it around either. Private sale, selling because owner is leaving the country.

100,000 yen (I`m living in Japan) - about US1100 dollars.

Before I see it, does this sound like

a) an amazing deal
b)ok
c)nothing special

Excuse my total ignorance, and most of the posts here are way more technical, but what do you think?

denniswade · February 2001

sounds rich and deep -- not loud and brassy. You can't even hear it at all when you're maintaining a certain speed -- only when when you put your foot in it. Trust me, you'll love it.

guitarzan · February 2001

Owenwright, I suggest looking the value of the car up on Edmund's. Check the used car link to your left. Also check the "Smart Shopper" conference. I'm sure there are topics there where you can ask Car Man what the car is worth.

jk111 · March 2001

yeah, try sites like carpoint.com, kelly blue book to find the market price. Usually cars that has been in accidents are usually a lot cheaper. But for 1100, I don't think that is too bad of a deal.

coupe2001 · March 2001

I strongly recommend to anyone who has the 5 or 6 speed transmission get a TRD shift knob. It makes a tremendous improvement in shifting feel and ease. I got the Carbon Fiber one, and I love it. The knob sits lower on the shaft creating the feel of a quicker shifter. I got mine from www.toyotaguys.com. free shipping on orders over $25!

jenx1 · March 2001

Hi! I'm getting ready to buy a 2001 Celica in the very near future. This will be my first Toyota (actually, my first new car) and I was hoping someone might be able to answer a few questions I had.

First, for anyone who's special ordered a Celica, is it more difficult to negotiate a good price with the dealer for a hard to find configuration or special order than if I were to buy a car directly off of their lot? How flexible on price are the dealers in these situations? I have specific options I want and I don't mind waiting the time it takes for a special order to come in, but I don't want to bother with it if I'm not going to be able to get as good a deal as I would if I bought one off the lot. Secondly, how long do special orders usually take to come in?

Also, I was wondering exactly what benefit do the alloy wheels have over the wheels that come standard? I'm not sure this is something that I'll need, but I wanted to find out a little more.

Thanks for your help!
Jen

hbark · March 2001

I'll give you my 2 cents worth, since I'm one of the minority who did special-order a Celica.

As far as a good price, if you read all the various advice, like on this Edmunds website and others, you'll see that on the one hand, you should be able to get a good deal, because the dealer won't be paying any of the dealer holdback, i.e., something about the financing cost of them having the car on their lot. On the other hand, in my case I couldn't find but one dealer in this area (Philadelphia-area) who would bother to special-order it for me, so I was kind of stuck.

If they have had one on the lot for awhile, that they're paying finance charges on, you could probably get a better deal, I guess.

I ended up with a price that can be considered between 4.5% over invoice (if you count that freakin' advertising fee part of invoice) or 6.3% over the invoice as published on this website (and others). Not too bad, I figured.

I ordered mine on 8/30/2000, and picked it up on 1/11/2001, just over 4 months. They said 8 - 12 weeks, but also said they really have no idea, they have no control over it.

But I'm happy, I got exactly the configuration I want, and in my case I didn't need it in a hurry. Just wish I didn't get it in the middle of the winter with all of this snow!!!

I got the alloy wheels, simply because of the way they look, I have no clue about the benefit of them, if any.

jenx1 · March 2001

Thanks for answering my questions! Gads! I don't know if I can wait four months or not. I guess I'll find out when I go to the dealer. The ones I've talked to seemed pretty desperate to unload the models they had on their lots so that might be a better deal for me. I had one tell me that it was "impossible" to special order from Toyota (which I knew wasn't true) and another who practically begged me to consider a GT 5-speed after I told him 3 times I couldn't drive a stick! Some of these dealers. . . sheesh.

Thanks again! Oh, I had another question. Does anyone have a carbon blue Celica? I haven't seen one. I love that color on the website but I heard that in reality you can hardly tell it from a black one. Is that true?

denniswade · March 2001

It has really nice dark blue highlights if you see it in bright sunlight, but otherwise it looks black.

bclough · March 2001

It is worth searching around to see if by chance a dealer has a Celica configured the way you want. Your dealer can do this via the internet, and essentially tell you whether cars built that way were ever available in your region.

Brenda

jk111 · March 2001

check out carsdirect.com. You don't have to hassle over with the dealer this way.

dq1 · March 2001

Coupe, How hard was it to remove the shift boot to get to the bushing so you could screw the shiftknob all the way down? Did you file it down or did you take it out all together?

pocahontas · March 2001

Owner can compare notes..., and non-owners can see what it's like to live with this 2000 Toyota Celica GT-S with Edmunds.com's Long Term Road Test.

Happy Motoring. ;-)

Pocahontas

Host

Hatchbacks Message Board

guitarzan · March 2001

What a COOL color! And ignoramus me...I "settled" for "absolutely red".

I read the article. I agree the power point is a little high. About operation: After 1 week of driving, I too felt that this was the car for me. Comparing to Integras: I will say 2 things: The drivetrain may be somewhat noisy, and there IS a need to keep low revs in order to keep cabin conversations. But once a driver gets over the fact that this is a little different, (yes, Acura does a great job of making the Integra a perfect balance of performance and passenger comfort) I think the serious drivers just enjoy the drive from there on out. I know I just pretend I'm in an F1 car, and that works well for me...

pocahontas · March 2001

I agree, Edmunds long term Celica's blue color is cool; although, I bet it's easier to keep your red car looking clean and dust free.

Thanks for your comments! I look forward to seeing you around the Hatchbacks Message Board.
;-)

Pocahontas
Host
Hatchbacks Message Board

dimitar · March 2001

Thanks to all the people that write to this message board. Your valuable comments helped me buy the car I wanted at a very good price and had a really nice first-time-buying experience.
Now I'm a proud owner of Silver GT 5-spd. All I can say is - the car is awesome. This is the first time I drive a stick shift and I had very little trouble with it. Got used to the clutch in less than a day. The car handles very very well. Brakes are superb. The spoiler that everybody seems to dislike is not that bad. It's true it obscures the view a little bit but it's not dangerous or anything. Going in reverse is tricky but that has to do with the tall rear of the car. Otherwise everything else is just awesome. The engine is very responsive and sooo fast. I was a little scared to punch the accelerator too much because the car would literally jump forward ;-)
Anyway, I want to highly recommend the people at Miller Toyota (Culver City, CA), especially their internet department. They have really low prices, no tricks, no extra stuff. I got exactly what I wanted. Payed 19,000 out the door (tax and everything).
Good luck to any future Celica buyers.

liquidsilver · March 2001

how long is every one waiting between oil changes ??? is every 4,000 miles okay ?? and has anyone put the short black honda antena on their celica and how hard is that to do ?? thanks in advance !

roadroach · March 2001

Standard recommended maintenance interval (I believe) is 7500 miles. I change my oil every 3750 miles (1/2 the 7500 mile interval) so its easy to stay on the factory interval.

Haven't replaced my antenna. IMO, a short fat black antenna would look (hmmmm, how do I put this.....) STOOPID.

It should be a simple procedure. Unscrew the old antenna, screw on the new one. BFD.

guitarzan · March 2001

I don't understand this: aren't there antennas getting stolen from these cars, since they just unscrew?

I'd really like to install a power antenna. On my Integra, me and my best friend did just that. The only hard part was finding a way to decently wire the antenna to the radio so that it powers up automatically when the radio is turned on. I can't remember how we did it. Originally, we just jammed the wire into the DIN slot that we had tested to be the right one. But then I remember we found a DIN adapter or something similar to do it properly. And I only spent $35 on the antenna and hardware.

denniswade · March 2001

on my wife's '93, and had to replace the thing 3 times. They also strip the little plastic thingy that operates the antenna too. Trust me, the manual type is bette -- just put some Lok-Tite on it and call it a day.

coupe2001 · March 2001

sorry for the wait dq1, the boot is pretty easy to remove. Just start tugging on the plastic surround behind your shifter. It will pop loose and then start lifting the plastic around the shift boot until the whole piece comes out. I just took the bushing out, but I kept it in case the boot starts to sag. Looks like it would be a pain to file down, but nothing a Dremel tool couldn't handle. Good Luck!

griffing · March 2001

I have accidentally gone just a smidge over the redline. My guess is that it would have either limited the rpms beyond that point, because it has never shifted up for me unless you do it yourself. My car can go about 45mph in 1st, but that might be because of the TRD exhaust I put on it, not sure. Either way, if anyone around here is from california, they would enjoy the manu-matic on highway 17, since there is constant up and downhill grades. I think the manua-matic is still the best of both worlds because you can drive hassle free in bumper to bumper traffic, yet you control the shifts precisely in those need for speed times.

bclough · March 2001

After several months of ownership, I finally have a problem with my new Celica. The speaker on the passenger side seems to have gone on the fritz. It was working perfectly until yesterday. I suppose it is now time to take it in for its first oil change, and get them to look at it. I am assuming that there is something fairly simple wrong with it -- a loose connection?

Brenda

jrtannura · March 2001

During my last 6 months of owning a GT auto, I've noticed that it occationally has to crank alot before starting. Seems to happen cold or hot or warm. This does not happen very often but I was wondering if any other owners had this experience. Most of the time it fires right up. Otherwise... what a fun car.
Thanks.

guitarzan · March 2001

I might guess the gas may affect it. How long total have you had the car? I might take a look at the plugs too.

bclough · March 2001

Immediately I made a date at my dealer's, the stereo speaker got better and refused to fall ill again. The service department said they could only fix it if they could find a problem, which I guess makes sense. Instead they changed the oil.

Brenda

00gts · March 2001

Did they do a diagnostic check on the stereo, or did they just flat out refuse to do anything since the speaker was working? If so, check out this page to find out how to do the diagnostic yourself:

http://www.celica-garage.cityslide.com/articles/article.cfm/522/984

If something concerning the speaker does come up, you can take it back and tell them to do the diagnostic themselves. That will prove there's something wrong with the speaker.

bclough · March 2001

Don't know, 00gts, but sooner or later the glitch will come back and then I'll get them to fix it. I'm popping over to look at that link now.

Brenda

alex18t · March 2001

jrtannura my celica GT has cranked for a full three or four seconds on 3 occasions. It's very strange and i can't explain it.

anyone know if installing a set of subwoofers will void any waranties. such as electrical or even glass?... after a few months with 12 inch subs in the back my rear window creaks when the car goes up driveways or over bumps at slow speeds. also a small clicking from the split folding rear seats. any ideas?

denniswade · March 2001

can have cause squeaks and rattles - but I doubt that it would void your warranty. If a dealer balked, I'd just take it to another.

suzieq6 · March 2001

I've been trying to narrow my search down for a new car. I'm really liking the looks of the Celica, but is it true that you can't get remote keyless entry, it's not even an option?

denniswade · March 2001

I have it on my wife's 2001 GT. It's Toyota's own security system, and they offer it on all of their cars.

probe94gt · March 2001

I am really thinking about getting a 2000 Celica GT for $19,995. It has every available option offered (except automatic transmission) with about 10,000 miles. Anyone with a GT from 2000 please tell me what you think about it and if you would do it again, would you buy it.

Thanks

bclough · March 2001

I have a GT 2000 and I adore it.

Brenda

hbark · March 2001

It's true you can't get keyless entry by itself, it only comes with an alarm package.

I didn't get the alarm package, wanted keyless entry only without the useless alarm, got it installed after I bought the car.

denniswade · March 2001

Unless there's a significant saving, I don't see the advantage of buying one without the other.

By the way, car-jacking only became common then auto alarms became common as well. So they ARE a deterrent.

denniswade · March 2001

hbark · March 2001

It's just my preference, but I didn't want an alarm.

Seems like I often see cars with the alarm going off, for no apparent reason.

My keyless entry system includes a starter immobilizer, that's good enough for me.

denniswade · March 2001

And much more effective than honking the horn -- although the panic feature is nice if you're a woman in an empty parking garage and somebody suddenly appears out of the shadows to greet you....

alex18t · March 2001

a celica GT with 10k miles even fully loaded really should not be priced that high in my opinion. is that a dealer price or a private owner? try going to a very large dealer, they tend to care more about the amount of units they move out of the lot rather than the profit they make from each and every car. im certain you can find a much better price. personally i saw a GTS with 6k miles going for that amount. though i dont know just how loaded it was. i love my celica!

alex18t · March 2001

hasd anyone noticed that the GT clutch overheats ridiculously fast durring hard driving? after a couple of hard shifts my clutch gets really hot. i cant explain it other than maybe i drive it too hard or it wasnt broken in right. i never smoked it but it had 36 miles when i bought it, is that enough to mess up a new clutch? Im considering talkin to the dealer about it but i doubt they would notice it, and i dont want to be lectured about how i shouldnt abuse my car, i dont. Anyone have the same problem? did anyone get an aftermarket clutch/pressure plate/flywheel ? how much was it?

guitarzan · March 2001

How do you know it is hot? Are you smelling it I take it?

alex18t · March 2001

i dont smell it. i just can feel that it isnt "grabbing the gears" as hard. i guess the clutch pedal feels more numb you could say.

Toyota Celica (Hatchbacks / All Years)

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles