USED Toyota Celica Coupe (99 - 06)

My car

I have had my celica gt (55 plate)(190bhp) for around 6 months now and looking at the earlier problems on other models this is the one to go for. As this is the final edition model, toyota have taken on board the problems and seem to have fixed the majority. It handles well, being 23 and owned several hot hatches this is one of the best handling cars, if anything a would say it runs the civic type-r close on being the best handling front wheel drive car. Everyone moans that it lacks torque and would be out torqued by a 2.0l mondeo but once u hit over 4,000 rpm then the way it pushes u back in the seat from 6200 rpm to 8200 is bliss, and anyway its a sports coupe its meant to be driven hard and fast. The dashboard is a bit grey and cheap looking but you get plenty of kit including a six cd changer, a/c, climate control, leather "gt" bucket seats and a decent sound system. The looks are fantastic and wears a body kit worthy of the fast and furious. Alloy wheels are of a higher standard and mine has covered 32,000 miles without a bit of corrosion. Boot struts are fine and have been told are different from earlier models, engine has been tweaked to run better but it is still a vvtli which drink oil, so i change oil every 6k,about £30 as i do it myself, which keeps it running sweet.Having driven early models including a 190 and 140 bhp model the GT is a completely different car. Would recommend this model to others and would say one of the best cars I have owned.

My car

I've owned this car from new and it has given me getting on for 7 years trouble-free motoring - and it's fun! Don't moan about the noise, it's a sports car for pity's sake - just turn your music up! Mine's a European import, so it doesn't have leather seats, but unlike it's UK counterpart, it has a moon roof AND climate control. The build quality is excellent (the head lining could be improved, but it's a great colour, so perhaps I'm being a bit picky here), and having paid only £16,500 brand new for it, versus the £22,000 list price for a so-called "UK spec", I think I got a steal. Anything gone wrong with it in almost 7 years? Yep, the wheels needed to be replaced because of corrosion and even though mine was in import, Toyota GB replaced them free of charge. Oh yeah, one other thing, I had to replace the battery last year - but then it was 6 years old! An outstanding car in its class and until Toyota launch a replacement, I wouldn't swap it for anything else.

My car

I will miss this car, when i have to sell it soon- due to a new arrival! I've had the car for 2 years, a 2001 car. 40k+ on the clock, done 20k and it has been fantastic. I have owned and driven many others cars from Ford's to BMW's and as a all rounder this car has been the best, simple as that. I will miss this car. Don'tthink about it, buy it, you won't regret it.

My car

I have had two of these cars from new. The first was a VVT-i Premium and it was relatively trouble free. It was prone to stone chips and after a couple of years, the tailgate struts failed and the alloys started to blister. That said, it was a smart looking well-appointed car. A little slow, but good value for money. At three years, I traded it in for a T-Sport. The build quality on the T-Sport was truly shocking and it had excessive corrosion throughout. This led to the rejection of the car and legal action (which was successful). Surprisingly, Toyota GB tried to claim initially that a quarter of inch of rust is quite normal on the clutch components of a new car and that the crunching gears were a 'characteristic of the car'.

This experience was a real eye-opener with regard to Toyota's reputation for build quality and Toyota GB's attitude means that it is the last Toyota that I will ever buy. Be warned.