Thinking of getting an Ae86
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 26,653
Likes: 0
From: SF Bay Area and Sactown
Let's see...
***#4 cylinder likes to blow
***2nd gear usually hard to get into
***rusts on lower rear Qtr panel
***heater don't work
***power window switch goes bad
***sunroof rusts (if has one)/don't work
***door hinges sag
***rust on hatch due to faulty seals
***HARD TO GET OEM parts
***expensive OEM parts
***Powersteering dies (then again I'm used to manual steering racks)
***BIG MARKUP on OEM/JDM parts
***HARD TO PASS SMOG STOCK!
********************can't park outside(especially with those mods)***************
The list goes on
TRUE GTS's have vin# starting w/ AE88. Chassis will read AE86 but look at the VIN.
WASHABI (brian) has one and see how he likes his
***#4 cylinder likes to blow
***2nd gear usually hard to get into
***rusts on lower rear Qtr panel
***heater don't work
***power window switch goes bad
***sunroof rusts (if has one)/don't work
***door hinges sag
***rust on hatch due to faulty seals
***HARD TO GET OEM parts
***expensive OEM parts
***Powersteering dies (then again I'm used to manual steering racks)
***BIG MARKUP on OEM/JDM parts
***HARD TO PASS SMOG STOCK!
********************can't park outside(especially with those mods)***************
The list goes on
TRUE GTS's have vin# starting w/ AE88. Chassis will read AE86 but look at the VIN.
WASHABI (brian) has one and see how he likes his
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 26,653
Likes: 0
From: SF Bay Area and Sactown
money pit is right. If you don't know the cars history then chances are you're gonna be spending more $$ to get it to run right.
Check club4ag and do some research.
I have a red coupe and it's friggin hard for it to pass SMOG STOCK!!
Check club4ag and do some research.
I have a red coupe and it's friggin hard for it to pass SMOG STOCK!!
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 9,563
Likes: 8
From: San Francisco, Bay Area
haha Andy, of all of those things you listed, the only thing wrong with mine is that the heater doesn't work. 
luckily, I picked mine up without a sunroof (like you said, tends to rust easily) and with a manual rack conversion in pretty good shape. 
so far, haven't really spent too much to keep it up and running, i believe the only thing i had done to it since i purchased the car was replace the timing belt tensioner and adjust the timing... other than that and some coolant, I haven't spent money on anything really... not even the coilover installation 
however, I know that these little cars are pretty notorious for little problems here and there..
on a brighter note, the car is super fun to drive. a 2200 pound chassis (give or take) lets you really toss the thing around. I was running on some shocks and springs when i purchased the car and it felt really bouncy (could be coming from driving the s2k as a daily) but after i swapped out the old suspension for the new coilovers, the car was awesome. its a tad bit underpowered (again, might be due to the S2K as a DD thing...) but even so, the engine absolutely LOVES to be revved.. its a bit weird, while DDing, i shift at a higher RPM in the corolla than i do in my s2k. the GT-S trannies have a final gear of 4.3 i believe, so DDing on the freeway is a bit of a pain. (if you thought the S2K revs high @ 70 mph, you won't want to be driving the corolla on the freeway, think of 4k rpm @ 65 or so..)
but damn, she sure is a looker.
(disregard the bird poop, lol)
luckily, I picked mine up without a sunroof (like you said, tends to rust easily) and with a manual rack conversion in pretty good shape. so far, haven't really spent too much to keep it up and running, i believe the only thing i had done to it since i purchased the car was replace the timing belt tensioner and adjust the timing... other than that and some coolant, I haven't spent money on anything really... not even the coilover installation however, I know that these little cars are pretty notorious for little problems here and there.. on a brighter note, the car is super fun to drive. a 2200 pound chassis (give or take) lets you really toss the thing around. I was running on some shocks and springs when i purchased the car and it felt really bouncy (could be coming from driving the s2k as a daily) but after i swapped out the old suspension for the new coilovers, the car was awesome. its a tad bit underpowered (again, might be due to the S2K as a DD thing...) but even so, the engine absolutely LOVES to be revved.. its a bit weird, while DDing, i shift at a higher RPM in the corolla than i do in my s2k. the GT-S trannies have a final gear of 4.3 i believe, so DDing on the freeway is a bit of a pain. (if you thought the S2K revs high @ 70 mph, you won't want to be driving the corolla on the freeway, think of 4k rpm @ 65 or so..)
but damn, she sure is a looker.
(disregard the bird poop, lol)
