Anyone own or at least drive a Celica GTS??

[Shirl]

I found a reallllly nice one and I'm going to look at it today and take it for a drive. It's a champagne colored 2004 with a body kit, black leather interior, sunroof, those HID's that get stolen, and basically loaded. I think the dealership wants too much $$ for it cuz they told me (over the phone)that they run $27,000 new and to make an offer when I come to see it...(yeah right). I'm thinking they want $25,000 for it.

Anyway, it's a 180 hp puny 1.8L motor. I'd use it for commuting.

Anyone ever drive one of these? Is it decent? Do they get good gas mileage? I know NOTHING about these cars... just really liked the way this one in particular looks. Thanks for any info you guys/girls can provide!

[zlexiss]

I've autocrossed one once. The HP isn't so bad, since the car is so much lighter than ours. Real easy to drive near the limits..

I just can't get over the fact that it reminds me of some Autobot Transformer. I keep expecting them to change into robots.

[Shirl]

Yeah, I was never that crazy about the jagged lines of the car, but this one looks great. Must be the color and the body kit. They only weigh 2500lbs which is crazy for a car that size. What's it made out of tin? ... lol

[camaro_speedemon]

The 1.8 GTS in the celica is the 2ZZ-FE, which is basically toyota's version of VTEC. They get around 20-25 City and require premium gas. They probably run a mid 15.

If you want a commuter car, the GT is the 130HP(It's actually under-rated as they put out closer to 140HP) 1ZZ-FE, which is what I had in my matrix, and I can testify to about 27-30 city with pretty aggressive driving. They also run about mid 16's

[01MaroIL]

6 speed or auto?

i only ask this because my buddy had a celica gt-s with the automatic and that thing was very slow with aftermarket modifications. :(

[bret_xi]

i drove about a 01 gts and it seemed pretty quick... but this was almost 3 years ago before i drove my bird.. lol my opinion of fast is diferent now

[J. Henley 17]

A GTS-T shouldn't be far off of our V6 F-bodies, if it doesn't beat them. A GTS might be a little slower, but nothing really worth mentioning. Of course, its powerband will be higher in the rev range, but it should still be about as quick, nimbler, and handle better, and you probably don't sit as low, so it would be easier to see out of and drive.

[camaro_speedemon]

Originally posted by J. Henley 17:
A GTS-T shouldn't be far off of our V6 F-bodies, if it doesn't beat them. A GTS might be a little slower, but nothing really worth mentioning. Of course, its powerband will be higher in the rev range, but it should still be about as quick, nimbler, and handle better, and you probably don't sit as low, so it would be easier to see out of and drive.

There is no GTS-T. GTS is the top model.

GTS>GT>base model

[Shirl]

Ok, well, I drove it yesterday, and yes it is decently quick. I'd say around a low 15. It feels EXTREMELY light. I got on it a couple of times with 2 (yes 2) dealers in the car with me. One in the front and a trainee in the back. The car moves when you get on it. Once you dig into the pedal, the power kicks in like a little supercharger or turbo. It felt a bit quicker than my Z24 and my car runs mid 15's. The only thing that was odd was the interior. The car is an automatic and when I shifted into drive, the shifter moved over to the left and snapped into another gear. I was like >>??? The dealer told me it's OD. You also have to press the shifter with your thumb, which I'm not use to. I usually put my entire hand over the shifter on the Cav. Visibility was good in the front but a little difficult on the sides and rear. The rear has one of those big spoilers on the hatch. The windshield is raked so it's pretty open in the front. Lots of trunk space for groceries, luggage, etc. Nice light hatch to open and close. Whoever owned the car was a major smoker though. As soon as they popped the hatch, a stent came out. Then when we got into the car I could smell smoke and mentioned it to the dealer. They downplayed it and said the "other" guy in the back is a smoker and it's probably his clothing. (I forgot to check the interior over for burns). The seats were black leather and the rest of the trim was light gray. The car also has a sunroof and a pioneer system. Overall, though, I felt more comfortable in my Z24 when I was done. The car just fits me so well and is so damn comfortable to drive. Maybe I'm just use to it after owning it for about 5 years now. In any case, they wanted $19,995 for the champagne 04' GTS with 8,400 miles. I told them that was a bit much. I told them maybe $18,000 at which point he said "well, I can come down a little off of the price,,,maybe 500". I played hardball, and in the end he finally said "what if I could do $18,000 on the car?" "Will you buy the car today?"
I said, lemme think about it. I'm not in a hurry right now and want to make comparisons with other cars.

[J. Henley 17]

Whoops... I just knew there was one more letter tacked on to what I originally thought would have been the sportiest model... but you're right... and I didn't think it would have an automatic...

Yeah, don't give in... if noone else comes in soon, they'll be calling you back. And yeah, you're probably just used to your other car... I drove a Mazda 3 for about a day once... it was so weird...

[camaro_speedemon]

That "boost" you felt kick in was when the motor switched cam profiles from economy to performance. ALA "You hit VTEC Yo!"

[asdf1234]

My best friend has a 2004 GTS, I drive it all the time. Its a fun little car that runs low 15's, if you can get it to shift into second gear. The automatics (from what I've heard) are considerably slower than the manual 6 speeds. The 6-speed is really fun to drive with a really short throw, but when you're in lift (the performance cam profile), its hard to get the tranny to shift into 2nd gear. Thats basically the only thing that we both don't like about the car, other than its front wheel drive.

He bought it in 2004 new with the body kit (TRD package) that you're talking about, fully loaded, for $26,000. He looked up the KBB now to see what its worth (is looking at SRT-4's), and with 39k miles on it its lost half of its value at $13,500. Just something to consider.

[Shirl]

Wow, thanks for posting that! That's a considerable drop in value. I'll check KBB again. I think trade-in value on it was like $16,000. I don't remember what the dealer should be asking though. I'll have to check again. So, would you say that in general, he thought the car was just "ok" or not worth it? (He seems to be looking to get rid of it pretty quickly after only 2 years.)

[asdf1234]

The car is a great car, but it has limited potential. He bought it mostly because of the way that it looked, and wasn't hardcore into modifying and what not. He gradually got more into racing and wanted to get some good performance parts, and then realized that the aftermarket is fairly limited. The transmission can hardly handle any more horsepower, and if it could, the motor can't hold more then 5-6psi of boost. We did intake and exhaust and couldn't get it into the 14's, thanks to the transmission. He pretty much just got fed up with not being able to get any good power out of the car without spending like $10k on it, so now he's opting for the SRT-4 because its cheap and easy to make quick.

I wouldn't say that its worth $26,000, but if you could could get it for a decent price, I don't see why not. Its a blast to drive, is fairly roomy, and can fit a keg in the trunk. Its a great looking car, so if you're looking for something fun to drive around town I'd say go for it. I'm sure it has great auto-x potential as well. Just don't plan on hitting 11's again lol.

[camaro_speedemon]

Originally posted by asdf1234:
My best friend has a 2004 GTS, I drive it all the time. Its a fun little car that runs low 15's, if you can get it to shift into second gear. The automatics (from what I've heard) are considerably slower than the manual 6 speeds. The 6-speed is really fun to drive with a really short throw, but when you're in lift (the performance cam profile), its hard to get the tranny to shift into 2nd gear. Thats basically the only thing that we both don't like about the car, other than its front wheel drive.

He bought it in 2004 new with the body kit (TRD package) that you're talking about, fully loaded, for $26,000. He looked up the KBB now to see what its worth (is looking at SRT-4's), and with 39k miles on it its lost half of its value at $13,500. Just something to consider.

I had that same problem in my old Matrix. I could absolutly positivly never power shift 3rd. It was like the syncros didn't spin up fast enough and it would just grind. I would have to clutch, let off the gas, and then shift it in gear.

Your right about the potential, that little motor is pretty much maxed out without needing to be rebuilt.