Rant: are any of these cars in Scotland actually still salvageable?
Guess who got burned again?
meeeee 🫠
I posted in here a fewmonths ago about being sold a Celica that was completely rotten, and it has literally JUST happened to me again.
This time I bought a T-Sport with the TRD bodykit, thought I may as well get one with a 2ZZ engine this time around. Had some cosmetic issues and a dodgy boot latch but nothing I can't fix. Or so I thought.
Today I took it for a service as it was sold to me with old oil (perhaps this should have been a red flag for me idk?) and my mechanic flat out refused to proceed with the service because it wasn't even worth doing. He says the chassis arms are holed, the rear arches are completely wrecked and there are multiple oil leaks.
This is as much of a rant as it is a plea for advice, how do I prevent this from happening again?
The one I just bought has freshly welded sills, a new rear subframe and new coilovers. So I bought it on the assumption that the rest of the car was solid. After all, who the hell welds a car that isn't worth saving??
I was told the only way to protect myself in future is to pay the AA to do a vehicle inspection before the sale, but they only inspect cars up to 20 years and the proper detailed one is £300.
£300 on a £2500 car seems uneconomical no?
(but losing £2500 feels even worse I suppose)
Also: the guy that sold me the car is supposed to be phoning me sometime this evening.
Extremely curious to see what he says considering he told me the car was basically perfect.
I want a Celica SO so badly, I love these cars. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson on the first one but no.
But I'm starting to think that if I don't have welding skills, a car lift, or a garage to work in, that maybe these cars simply aren't for me?
Is my biggest issue that I am not spending enough?
But then again, if I buy a £6000 Celica, there's no guarantee it'll be in better nick either.
I feel like the price of gen 7 Celicas has soared astronomically in Scotland even though the cars themselves are almost always in awful condition. I get that they're getting rarer but wtf???
AAAAAA I just don't know
It might be time to give up and just save up for a GT86 :(
I legit feel like the stereotypical dumb woman who knows nothing about cars and the shame is kind of eating me alive. My brother legit warned me about buying old japanese cars for this exact reason, and I didn't listen because hurr durr me like JDM cars 🥴
(TL;DR, bought a Celica, took it for a service, car is falling to bits on the underside, should I give up on Celicas for good because I'm not a mechanic or a welder?)