Well... The Celica failed the MOT, but they managed to get the work done and managed to get it through the end so I'm please with that
Its been an expensive day though!
Did some things before the MOT that I knew needed doing
New windscreen as mine took a stone on the motorway a couple of days ago and had a large crack in it
New tyre as mine had a nail in it. They said the tracking was pretty bad so I got that done, and to be fair, its noticeably improved so that's good.
Got new number plates as mine were in bad shape, probably wouldn't go through MOT
Changed number plate bulb bulb, which whilst not costing me much in the way of money, I paid with a fair bit of blood as its surprisingly fiddly to change and there is sharp sheet metal in annoying places.
Took it in for MOT, it failed on emissions and blowing backbox. they had a replacement backbox on the shelf which was good, got that fitted and it passed the emissions.
Its cost me just short of £600 today lol. But I guess windscreen, exhaust and tyres are all consumables, so cant really blame the car
Over my ownership, the only other jobs needing doing it it have been new battery, and a bent caliper slider, so cant really complain.
* Full disclosure.
Other issues I have been ignoring
It uses more oil that I would like. Aprox 1 pint every 3 months (3k miles or so for me) *EDIT - maybe its a little more than that I'm not too sure*. I guess this is normal enough, but it would be nice if it didn't use any.
Engine management light has been on since I purchased it, I just clear it before MOTs, and it comes back after a week or two. Reading the fault code and doing some googling has lead me to belive its a problem with the "secondary air pump" which from what I can work out, pump air into the exhaust system to clear up cold start emissions. It looks like a pain to do, and honestly I'm not sure I really care enough about it to ever do it.
One of the headlights condensates on the inside in the winter. I've been meaning to get a replacement, but never seam to get round to it
That's my 100% honest write up on the reliability side of things
I'll say a few words about how I feel about the car, but by no means do I claim to be some kind of car connoisseur, my car history is modest so take from it what you will.
The seating position and feel of being behind the wheel is fantastic! The car is quite old now and the interior is looking a bit tired in places, but all the buttons still do what they are meant to do, and all the buttons, switches, gearbox etc still feel like I imagine they would out of the factory. The handling is pretty decent for a FWD car. Lift is a lot of fun, though its annoying to be caught in the wrong gear. Dropping down from 6th to 3rd on the motorway feels pretty stupid.
Its not the best motorway car in the world. Its LOUD in the cabin, it doesn't have the low down torque, though it still has "adequate" power in 6th on the motorway, you might just keep up with the 2.0TDI crew if you leave it in 6th, but probably not quite. Whilst the gear change feels absolutely amazing, changing from 2nd to 3rd can be a pain, you will frequently miss and hit the bit between 1st and 3rd when trying to change quick which can be a pain, though after a long time, I eventually learnt to take it a touch slower, and now I never miss.
You can play with things like older civic type Rs, all the VAG 1.8t things those kind of cars and there's pretty much nothing in it.
That's about it! The car is a lot of fun and I think I picked mine up for £1,100 (with nasty paintwork) its been by far my favourite car I've ever owned and if I had the chance to go back in time and get something else, I wouldn't.
