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Looking to purchase a MKII Supra

9K views 38 replies 12 participants last post by  drjim 
#1 ·
Good Afternoon

I am looking to purchase a MKII Supra. I was in LOVE with these cars when I was in college back in the mid 80s (you know, when the earth was still cooling and dinosaurs still roamed the land...).

I am looking at a couple in the SF Bay Area. One is an 1982 L-Type with a 5 speed, cloth interior and a digital dash the other is a 1985 P-Type with an automatic. I am also looking at a car in Oregon (1984 L-Type with an automatic).

Personally, I have a preference for the P-Type cars, but at this point in my mid-life, I am ok with either.

I wanted to tap your collective knowledge and experience on these cars. Which car have you purchased and why? If you were to do it over again, what would you do differently? What should I be on the lookout for (good and bad) on these cars? What parts are made of unobtainium?

I am planning on doing a test drive on the above cars this weekend (...while the wifey is out of town...heh heh heh...) as I have never even driven one up to this point.

I have been following a few auctions on EBay and BAT and am curious why some cars seem to do better than others with potential buyers. Is the P-Type more desirable than the L-Type, is the 5 speed more desirable than the auto, is original better than restored, are the 1984-85 cars more desirable that the 82-83 cars... I understand it comes down to personal preference, but I am going with the adage that "what gets you in cheap, costs you when you sell"

Thanks for your input!

Gary B
 
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#2 ·
IMO,the P types with a stick is more desirable.I looked for an automatic Supra,because I wanted one. The car was advertised for 3 weeks and no one wanted an automatic Supra,except me.I got it for $1,000 off the original price.

84-85 and early 86's are a little easier to find parts for but some are made of unobtainium.
The must common issue is RUST. Spare tire well,both rear quarter panels and the tail light/hatch area.

I personally do NOT like the sunroofs because they leak and are difficult to repair.

It will be difficult to find one that is un modified but those demand big money.Mild mods are OK,IMO.
An automatic Supra will be less money,if there are minimal rust issues.
Questions:
Was it garaged/out of the rain/snow?
Have there been normal maintenance done?
Clear title?
Massive "bondo" in the body?
Original paint that looks good is rare.
See my profile,Gary.
My '84 L:
https://imgur.com/dmJRpyx
 
#3 ·
Being that they came with a manual version, how hard is it to swap out the auto? Of course you'd have to swap over all of the transmission parts, and maybe the ECU, anything that really makes it difficult?

Also thanks to the original poster, I was just about to post pretty much this exact message :)

I'm also interested in what parts are extremely hard to find, either normal wear parts where the aftermarket has dried up, or parts not expected to wear but do and now the dealers are sold out?
 
#4 ·
Thanks Dave (aka DDD228). The two cars in the SF Bay Area are a bit tired honestly. The one in Oregon looks to have been well-cared for by the previous owners (it actually looks quite a bit like yours...) although the paint is a bit more charcoal.

The car is on CL corvallis.craigslist.org/cto/d/albany-1984-supra-celica-mkii/6933146153.html

Mods on this one are few and most can be easily reversed. The header will be a problem because I am sure it is not CA-smog compliant. Curious to see what you think of the asking price. The only issues, small small sliver of rust on sunroof seam, small crease on pssgr door near window, and an intermittent CEL that appears after a few hundred miles of driving (maybe an 02 sensor...). The rear spoiler was added from a P-Type by the current owner. I would have to get a replacement exhaust manifold and address the CEL to get it to pass CA smog. Thoughts?
 
#5 · (Edited)
Which car have you purchased and why? If you were to do it over again, what would you do differently?
I've owned nine Supras total. Kept the very first one I bought and then started diversifying the collection to include Mustangs and Corvettes and Jaguars. Supra was my high-school dream car but I couldn't afford one then. When they came out in 82, I'd ride my bicycle to the Toyota dealer and drool over them till the salesmen ran me off. Had to wait till after college and bought a used 85 soon as I'd saved up enough money. I didn't know then that Supras would become an obsession. We call it MSS (Multiple Supra Syndrome). If I had it to do over again, I'd have instead of buying more Supras, I'd have bought some of my other 80s high-school dream cars while they were still affordable in excellent condition, like the Starion ESI-R, the Nissan 200SX turbo, Isuzu Impulse RS turbo, ASC McLaren Capri, Merkur XR4Ti, etc., etc. Now I can't even find them in fair condition.

What should I be on the lookout for (good and bad) on these cars? What parts are made of unobtainium?
To the extent that these cars share parts (engine/transmission) with other more common Toyotas, its not too terribly hard to keep them going and stopping. But we are starting to see some issues with Supra specific parts like in the rear hubs and differential. The unobtainium stuff is anything made out of plastic, rubber or vinyl on the body or in the interior. Do NOT buy one thinking you are going to restore it. Pay more up front and get one that you'd be happy to take to a show or whatever you plan to do with it as-is. You can do minor rust repair, paint and leather upholstery (tho its more expensive than the car is worth), but you can't buy replacement trim or weatherstrip or anything like that.

am curious why some cars seem to do better than others with potential buyers.
There is a HUGE price variation from MINT being now near $30,000 all the way down through PARTS CAR at a few hundred dollars. Reason being is you can't restore one. If you want MINT for a museum piece, you gotta find one and buy it that way. You want EXCELLENT for show purposes, you've got to find one and buy it that way and they pretty much go for half of MINT. You want GOOD which is about the lower limit of what you'd ever take to show off at a local cruise night, you've got to find one and buy it that way and again they go for about half of EXCELLENT. Now you might be able to take a GOOD example and repaint/reupholster and get it up to EXCELLENT, but it would cost more than its worth. There's really not even a lot in FAIR condition at half again, but by that level, they are so bad your only option is to go full pro-touring where you're building a whole new totally modern car on an old shell. Thus people won't pay much for FAIR or worse.

Is the P-Type more desirable than the L-Type,
In the U.S. the P-type is more valuable as it was specifically developed for the U.S market. The rest of the world got the L-type body and in some foreign markets, our P-types are considered a little too "boy-racer" for local tastes.

is the 5 speed more desirable than the auto,
Yes. Generation X was really the last generation that learned to drive stick (due to learning to drive used muscle cars) and the Supra was the new car Gen X cut out of the magazines and taped to their lockers. So of course that stick shift is part of the nostalgic driving experience. A little of it too is that automatic transmissions weren't all that great yet in the 1980s either.

is original better than restored,
I'm a bit biased as a card-carrying member of the NCRS and MCA. I love an original car. But there so far doesn't seem to be the same level of interest in absolute originality with Japanese cars as there is with muscle cars and earlier coach-built cars. I think a lot of it has to do with the era they were built. The US government in the 1970s had imposed emissions and safety restrictions that far exceeded the available technology of the time. Since unlike the 60s muscle cars, you couldn't buy a factory "big block" Supra or any other Japanese sports car, and because horsepower was roughly half of the used muscle cars Gen X was already driving, it was a little more acceptable to make modifications. By the late 90s, the technology was finally catching up with the regulations so now you can buy a Hellcat that passes emissions, but that's what we were faced with in the 80s. So in short, I think our collectors are at least right now, mostly OK with performance modifications as long as they are well done and documented.

I don't know what the future holds tho, so if you do plan on performance modifications, just don't throw any stock parts away, don't cut, drill, weld, glue or paint anything such that it can't be undone. As long as the car could be returned to stock with a couple of three-day weekends worth of work, then you preserve that possibility for later in case that's the way values swing.

Now there have been lots of discussions on this forum in the past about various body and interior modifications and I think its pretty safe to say that with the singular exception of aftermarket wheels (more on that in a bit), there is a general consensus that a stock appearance is more valuable. There were some aftermarket body kits but P-type was already leaning toward "boy racer" and those kits were even more extravagant. Its a niche taste, and it doesn't really seem to command a premium. Again, value is about nostalgia and collectors will want a Supra that looks exactly like the picture they cut out of Motor Trend and taped to their locker back in the day.

Wheels tho are a bit of a practical matter. There's really only one tire in the stock P-type size and back to the "more power" we also needed more "more grip" and more "stop" to go with it. So its a perfectly acceptable modification to install 17" wheels to fit a larger brake rotor and/or just to get a decent selection of tires. But remember, value is mostly about nostalgia so modern wheels that don't look right could be a deduction in value. Best to go with period-correct looking wheels. Again, keep the stock wheels in storage just in case.

are the 1984-85 cars more desirable that the 82-83 cars...
85-86 was the ultimate evolution of the mk2 with the most features, alarm system, auto headlights off, little light around the keyhole and probably a few other things I'm forgetting. 86 changed the stereo and added the 3rd brake light, but I think that brake light looks tacked on like an afterthought so to me, the 86 is just slightly less desirable because of that. Other people could care less about all the nifty features because they don't like the spoiler that was added in 1985. But in general, the last year of any car model is usually the most valuable because by then they'd worked out all the bugs and added all the features that they were ever going to add.
 
#7 ·
The unobtainium stuff is anything made out of plastic, rubber or vinyl on the body or in the interior. Do NOT buy one thinking you are going to restore it. Pay more up front and get one that you'd be happy to take to a show or whatever you plan to do with it as-is. You can do minor rust repair, paint and leather upholstery (tho its more expensive than the car is worth), but you can't buy replacement trim or weatherstrip or anything like that.
This is very sobering. Does the scarcity of factory or aftermarket rubber include under-hood rubber hoses?
 
#6 ·
Hard to add anything after Phil, as he nailed it again on all aspects.
I fully agree with him, and I can't write posts as long as him.

In terms of value of mods, it also depends how well it was done.
There is only few known example of modded cars that were sold at a high price, while all of the higher priced ones (25K up) were pretty much showroom stock condition.

Good luck in your search, there is very nice ones that comes out of the blue every few months. But be prepare to travel a bit, and act quickly!
 
#9 ·
Mechanically I wouldn't worry about stuff. There are workarounds or aftermarket parts for most of that stuff. What isn't available are any trim parts and much of any performance parts. The other problem you will have is that it is very difficult to get one of these cars past CA smog and register it. The passing numbers allowed keep dropping over the years and these cars don't run any cleaner than they used to. Just be patient and keep an eye out for what you want. There was a decent 83P on BAT a week or two back in LA. Although it didn't have CA plates on it if that is any hint.
 
#10 ·
Thanks for all of the info!

Phil, you should publish an on-line Supra Buyers guide, you could retire on it...LOL... I agree, I want the car as stock as possible, because those are the ones I lusted for throughout college. Thanks for the heads up about the interior trim pieces, that explains why so many owners are looking for the center console padded door, et al...

I saw the Supra on BAT, I believe another member of this forum used to own the car. The car had Pennsylvania plates on it, and the ad mentioned that it did not have CA Smog... I elected to pass on it...

The Supra in Oregon doesn't have the stock exhaust manifolds and I found out this morning that it doesn't have cats either... So, I will likely continue my search as I don't think I can offer the seller what he wants for the car...

I am going to test drive the 2 local cars (I would categorize them as #4 cars...) just to see if I enjoy the driving experience or not and how much the owners "fluffed up" or "down-played" their cars.
 
#12 ·
Phil, you should publish an on-line Supra Buyers guide, you could retire on it...LOL...
I wish. If that were true, then also George could make a good living producing repop parts for us.

I'll second Garv's comments, that was a wealth of information Phil. Have you ever thought of starting a Celica GTS/Supra youtube channel? :)
It's my new goal now that no usable rare trim or molding piece that enters a salvage yard within 100kms of me will ever end up in the landfill.
I'm afraid I'm not much a TV personality. But absolutely hoard every useful Supra part you can find. We can't afford to let any go to waste.
 
#11 ·
I'll second Garv's comments, that was a wealth of information Phil. Have you ever thought of starting a Celica GTS/Supra youtube channel? :)
It's my new goal now that no usable rare trim or molding piece that enters a salvage yard within 100kms of me will ever end up in the landfill.
 
#13 ·
#14 ·
Definitely recommend buying the best example you can find and afford - either L or P-type (as you prefer).

'82 has some hard to find parts, P-types require wider tires to fit the flares, sticks are more likely to be beat on. Find a rust-free body, cool running engine with clean interior and you can't go wrong GLWT.
 
#15 ·
Probably sitting "outside" in Las Vegas the last eight years. That means every bit of plastic, rubber and vinyl is crispy like toast. Judging by the dash, burnt toast.
 
#19 ·
Yes, that one in Puyallup is several orders of magnitude better than the one in Vegas. If I were the OP, I'd be getting my butt up to Washington to check that one out.
 
#20 ·
Agree with everybody else out here. Get the absolute best car you can find, even if it takes a while. Mine will look OK when I finish it, but it won't be "stock" any longer as some of the stuff that's worn out/deteriorated just simply isn't available, like all the window trim that had the black plastic cladding. I'll scuff it up and paint it satin black. It won't be "original", but at least I have all the pieces in good condition (not bent or twisted) to work with.

Good luck with your hunt!

- Jim
 
#21 · (Edited)
Yeah, I already reached out to the guy in Washington. He has an EBay auction going on it along with an ad on CL. He's hoping to get around $12K.

I test drove 2 this weekend an 82 L-Type in Oakland, CA ($3,999 on cars.com). Ugh... drove ok, clutch was smooth, suspension ok, a tiny bit sloppy, but not bad for a 37 year old car... but it has an older, cheap repaint (looks like it was done by a high school kid using a broom), tired tired tired cosmetics, cracked dash, yadda yadda yadda... going run from that one.

Looked at a 1985 P-Type in Palo Alto. Lots of deferred maintenance to address, but the car is SOLID. No rust, no dents, interior could benefit from a good detail, but the dash is crack free, all the electronics work, drives way better than the 82... has the full size spare with the Dunlop tire on it still.... seller offered it to me at a very favorable price ($2K) The car has an automatic. It shifts smoothly but it has a very direct (almost bolt action) engagement when shifting from park to reverse/drive or from drive to reverse and reverse to drive... like I said, though, it shifts through the gears without issue...no slipping, clunking, grinding, ....

I will likely do a PPI on it, just to see if there are any surprises. It will need a timing belt, water pump, hoses, and belts (pretty much anything made from rubber). The weatherstripping is still in good shape and there is no rust in the rear hatch area or in the spare tire well. So it's a solid car that can be made into a nice driver quality car, which is what I am looking for.

The car in Oregon (1984 L-Type) doesn't have the original smog equipment, but it is in wayyyyyy better shape. So I suppose I can swap the exhaust system from the 85 over to the 84... uh oh, I think I am developing Supra Acquisition Syndrome. Is the exhaust system the same for the two years?

Thanks for all of your advice!

Gary B
 
#22 ·
That car in Washington is making my antennae twitch. If you look at the car fax on it, it was driven 113K miles in the first 5 years. On Carfax it shows another odometer reading of 123K a year later (1992). The seller states the car has 113K miles on it. So it had the wheels driven off of it for 6 years and then it was never driven again? WTH?

In 1991 the Oregon motor vehicle dept issued a branded title stating the mileage exceeded the mechanical limits. But a Supra has a 6 digit odometer, so that shouldn't happen...not for a long time at least.

Another thing that is confusing to me is that the car is in Excellent shape, with minimal wear. I am sorry, but a car that was driven 123K miles in the first 6 years of its life would likely not look quite so pristine. Plus the seller is showing an odometer picture with 114K on it. Did he replace the instrument cluster???

Finally, the seller created both a Craigslist ad and an EBay auction about 2 days ago. The EBay auction had an opening price of $9,900 with no reserve. The CL ad originally asked for a reasonable offer, but was modified to show an asking price of $9,900 or best reasonable offer. Plus, the current owner appears to have taken title to the car in January 2019. Why is he in such a "rush" both with selling the car after 6 months and aggressive pricing?

I am not saying that this car isn't legit, but there are a TON of questions that need to be addressed before I drop $10K on it. Something about this car just doesn't seem right.

If this car were a glass of milk, I wouldn't drink it based on what I am smelling...just sayin...

Feel free to flame me as required...lol...
 
#25 ·
Garv,
Thanks for your insights on the 85 in WA. Sharing the results of your due diligence brings value to this group by educating at least me on things to look for.

Just last week my 18 yr old son was rear ended on the freeway in LA which totaled our GS300. He is fine but the car is done. The very next day my already nervous better half was driving our Highlander and was T-boned a guy going the wrong way on a one way street. Furthermore my recently college graduated daughter is angling for a decent used car so I am in the market for 2 maybe 3 cars just after purchasing the 1985 MkII project and finally getting my Cressida Wagon going. We have looked at a few carfaxes of cars of interest and like your experience some of them indicate gaps and discrepancies. I always aim to buy from the original owner when possible which has been the last 4 cars in our family. Be patient and your persistence will pay off.
 
#28 ·
Most of that stuff isn't too hard to find. You're better off buying new whiskers unless you're on a budget. The b trim pillar is for a Celica. You have to be careful since most of the celica interior is different. It's the trim on the bottom of the windows and around the windshield that comes apart.

My advice just be patient and something will come up. There were a couple of nice blue p types for sale in the bay area earlier in the year.
 
#30 ·
Excuse my ignorance, what are 'whiskers'? haha. And it's interesting because the Celica GTS and Supra interior pieces often look very similar, but I was planning on making some measurements to see if they are indeed the same parts, thanks for the heads up that they often aren't.
 
#31 ·
The "whiskers" are the black plastic trim that snap into the header panel immediately in front of the headlamp when it's closed.

They deteriorate after some years, turn brittle, crack, and eventually just crumble away like so many of the plastic parts on these cars do.
 
#33 ·
Thanks for tips about the subtle differences between the Supra and Celica parts, indeed although the vinyl appears similar on the A pillar covers , the Supra ones definately have some sort of thin foam under the vinyl allowing some give, whereas any give on the Celica one is from the underlying structure flexing. It would be an improvement over cracked Supra covers, but wouldn't be as nice as the real deal.
 
#34 ·
I have the MK II Supra that you might want--it's stored in a friend's barn about an hour north of the DFW area. While it's not really For Sale, someone with as much interest as you deserves a note, just in case. Frankly, it's part of the family but . . . .

Detail: 1985 P-Type, White over Red, 5-speed Manual, 225k miles, no rust, excellent paint and interior (even the dash is as new with no cracks). Also, plenty of parts saved over the years as well--boxes of lights, trim, and more.

I purchased it at two-years old in 1987 and have maintained it extremely well ever since. It's been garage- or barn-parked and rarely driven about twice a year now because it has an AC coolant (-134a conversion, btw) leak that no one could really pin down, so we just stopped driving it.

Other issues:

1. Only Genuine Toyota key around--we have others, just can't find them!

2. Aftermarket radio (original still in a box though).

3. Lift gate latch is slightly bent; won't latch properly. I'm looking for a new one.

4. Intake hoses are original; one has a small gap which is possibly allowing air to leak in, although engine runs fine.

5. One of the seat belt retractor plastic arms is broken (passenger's door).

Anyone can see pics here at a link I have just removed--with only 1 post "To be able to post links or images your post count must be greater.


Really?

Geesh.

Let me know if you can't find a decent one near you and perhaps we might work something out?
 
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