Buyer questions about MKIV Supras

I'm considering moving from a 97 Eclipse GSX to a MKIV NA Supra. The reason being I'm getting a little tired of all the inheirent problems with the eclipses, crank walk, timming belt jummping a tooth, cam angle sensor going bad, weak tranny, ect, ect. I was curious though, if I make the move to a Supra what problems are they known for? What do you guys find you have to keep your eye on, or what problems does eveyone find they have to deal with at one point or another.
Also the GSX is modified rather well, I'm a little burned out on tuning at the moment, so I'm not looking to get insane hp out of the car at the moment....Beside my bike will always be faster anyway.

with that model supra the most common problem is the powersteering hoses burst on em mainly because of the high pressure they under i got mine custom made expensive super hose, so its doin well atm

Get a MKIV turbo. A well maintained one rarely has issues. And the turbo will start you off on the right platform with 400 RWHP with simple bolt-ons.

Well, after all the headaches with the turbo system on the eclipse I think I'm a little burned out of hard core modding. That and I think I'm going to be limited to around $13000, no quite enough for a turboed eddition. Pluss my bike will always be faster and any car, so if I realy want to go fast I'l do it on that. However, I do feel after all the time I've spent with the eclipse should I decide to turbo the Supra later on I can do it. As of righ now I'm just curious as to what you guys find your selves always fixing, the PS hoses listed about is the kind of things I wan to know about. Are ther other things that also are known to go faulty and need to be repalced?

i feel your pain, man. I have a '95 GS-T and it's been nothing but trouble. I actually came here to post the exact question you just did, because I found a twin-turbo supra for 11 grand and if I buy it, i'll have no money left to mess around fixing it.
To the Supra owners:
As an extension to his question, is there anything I should look for in the twin-turbo model?

Make sure the car has never been converted to TTC.. its the quickest way to destroy the 2nd turbo. If you really want the kick in the pants, spend the money for a single turbo upgrade.

Check to make sure it doesn't have a crank pulley. They're notorious for crank walking with aftermarket pulleys.

Check for leaks around the front and rear seal. If it's been abused, the car will show at this point. People also tend to forget to change the Getrag fluid which is a bit expensive.

If it has a turbo timer, that's a plus. A boost controller with no aftermarket blowoff valve is a sure sign of impending turbo meltdown.

Check the turbos for the death whine. There shouldn't be any clinking or scraping sounds eminating from the turbos.

Obvious:
Check for maintainence records.
Check for leaks. Sometimes you will get a pool of oil around the suspension arm on the driver front side due to the difficult location of the oil filter. This isn't too much of a concern. Just check to make sure it isn't a constant leak.

Check tires .. cheap tires.. cheap owner.. poor maintenance. This is a supercar not an econobox grocery getter.

Check body alignment.

Well, after all the headaches with the turbo system on the eclipse I think I'm a little burned out of hard core modding.

If you're burned out on hard core modding.. get a mkiv turbo as the base platform. It is the most reliable vehicle to own at 400 RWHP with simple bolt-ons such as boost controller, boost cut defence, turbo timer, intake, down pipe, exhaust, cam gear, BOV, turbo timer.. all on stock ECU. Throw in a fuel controller to tweak out more HP and you could get about 460-490 RWHP. All this and you don't touch the turbos, nor engine block.

The $3500-$4500 to turbo a non turbo car will only get you about 400-500 HP. Putting that into a turbo platform will get you anywhere from 600-700 HP.

If you're burned out on hard core modding.. get a mkiv turbo as the base platform. It is the most reliable vehicle to own at 400 RWHP with simple bolt-ons such as boost controller, boost cut defence, turbo timer, intake, down pipe, exhaust, cam gear, BOV, turbo timer.. all on stock ECU. Throw in a fuel controller to tweak out more HP and you could get about 460-490 RWHP. All this and you don't touch the turbos, nor engine block.

The $3500-$4500 to turbo a non turbo car will only get you about 400-500 HP. Putting that into a turbo platform will get you anywhere from 600-700 HP.

Ya, but what am I looking at for prices here? I imagine I should get $13000 to $13500. I usualy see TT supras going for over $20,000. Granted I live in Oregon where thanks to a certain movie, the people up here think they are worth to much. Although I do have family down in Ventura California that I could visit, but that would only give me a few days to buy a car...and I'm typicaly not that impusive. I like to see at least three cars before I make a purchase.

Make sure the car has never been converted to TTC.. its the quickest way to destroy the 2nd turbo. If you really want the kick in the pants, spend the money for a single turbo upgrade.

What is this? And how do I spot it?
Check to make sure it doesn't have a crank pulley. They're notorious for crank walking with aftermarket pulleys.
Do you mean I need to just check if the crank pully has bean replaced with an after market one, or what is it that I'm checking here?

i feel your pain, man. I have a '95 GS-T and it's been nothing but trouble. I actually came here to post the exact question you just did, because I found a twin-turbo supra for 11 grand and if I buy it, i'll have no money left to mess around fixing it.
To the Supra owners:
As an extension to his question, is there anything I should look for in the twin-turbo model?
Do not send the 11 thousand. whatever you do, its a scam.

Can anyone tell me if the 2JZ engine is an interferance engine (Meaning if the timming belt breaks a piston makes contact with a valve), or not.

Oh, hell, and I'll ask this question again to seeing how it realy never got answered for me. What octain are you all running in your MKIV Supras? Also what is your average MPG? I'm realy not interested in turbo, just NA.

Oh, hell, and I'll ask this question again to seeing how it realy never got answered for me. What octain are you all running in your MKIV Supras? Also what is your average MPG? I'm realy not interested in turbo, just NA.


Well if you sold on an N/A, not much info i can give you.

I run pump 93 octane @16psi (487hp/484tq) on the street 110 @25psi track (722hp/703tq)

I get 22 mpg commuting to work, 26 highway, 12 if i stand on it a lot.

Do not let the DSM turn you of turbo cars, supra vs. DSM is night and day.

I drive my supra daily, and have had no problems at all. (car has 130k mi)

Well, yes all the work I've put into it has kind of burned me out, but the biggest thing is I have around $9000 in parts alone on the Eclipse, and I figure at best I'm going to get $14000 for the whole car. I don't think I'm going to be able to get a TT for that much, and I'm not interested in taking out a lone on the car. I've got a $3000 credit card bill I want to get down to zero, pluss class time is coming up again and thats going to burn a lot of money as well...Government denided me finantial aid as always.

Also what type of stuff should I take the extra time to check out when viewing a supra I'm thinking about buying? Was there also a difforent set up for California cars due to emissions?

Also what type of stuff should I take the extra time to check out when viewing a supra I'm thinking about buying? Was there also a difforent set up for California cars due to emissions?

Well any money you spend on aftermarket performance parts should be viewed as hobby money. Selling the parts used will get you about 50% new cost back if they are near perfect. Selling the car with the parts on it, you should not plan on getting anything over the value of a stock car.

That being said, hopefully you kept all the stock parts.

Return the car to stock, sell the aftermarket parts, and you should get about 50% of that money back, without decreasing the value of your DSM greatly below what it was at. Also to be frankly, I would be shocked if you can get 14k for a GSX DSM. My Dad just picked up a 2003 WRX (51k miles) with the STi exhaust, short shifter, and a Vinshu stage 1 ecu for $15,200. With WRX's so cheap who is willing to pay 14k for a DSM?

Here is another example:

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=186730267&dealer_id=102737&car_year=2003&search_type=both&make=SUB&model=IMPREZ&transmission=Manual&distance=300&address=75098&make2=&certified=&advanced=y&max_mileage=&max_price=&min_price=&end_year=2003&color=&start_year=2002&drive=&isp=y&engine=&doors=&fuel=&lang=en&cardist=56

They are everywhere. I just don't see how you will sell a older DSM for more money than a WRX. I would really investigate if it is worth you time to ebay your mods.

The problem is that the oringal turbo blew, so when I had to repace it I went bigger. All of the other mods, injectors, fuel pump, MAF/MAFT (fuel computer) went into keeping up with the new turbo.
Checking around here in Oregon, where GSX's are a little rare, the cheepest is going for $9300, and the most expensive is going for $16000. The only difforence between mine had the one that is going to $16000 is the fact the he has a body kit. So I figure I will put it up for 14000 and will get around 13000.

I still think that is incrediably high. You would have to be really stupid to buy a DSM for 13k, when you could get an 02 WRX for less.

The DSM's are maintenance
diasters