Why plans were changing, and why they didn't...
Okay, it's about time I told this story, and I finally have the free time to do so. Work's been a very large time sink these days.
When I took a look at that MA70 Supra a couple of weeks ago, the owner(who is the guy who also owned my previous ST165) gave me a price he was thinking about selling it for. I was thinking about it rather seriously. Despite the fact I would lose the deposit I put down on the low-mileage ST165 I was dead set on purchasing, if the Supra was in great mechanical shape I would stand to save around $2500 in shipping costs, a flight cross-country, and some of the initial maintenance I would have to do to the Celica once it got here. I had more than his asking price and decided to take a shot at it.
So, this past Tuesday I took an afternoon off work and got a few errands taken care of, then headed over to the shop he worked at. I had to wait about half an hour for him to come back from lunch, during which I was kind of helping his assistants diagnose a complete basketcase S2000 that wouldn't start. We eventually got it push-started so they could actually drive it into the shop. The owner of that car was a couple of steps away from a complete ricer; severely botched electrical work and the installation of a boost gauge on a non-turbo car was completely laughable. It used to be a nice car.
The owner arrived and I told him that I had cash for his MA70. He initially wanted $5500 for it, as compared to the $6000 I'm paying for the Celica(plus $1K shipping, $500 flight, and probably another $1K for the timing belt/water pump job that I won't do myself, not after the nightmare it was to do it on my old one). He countered with the fact he wanted more for the car, and I told him the absolute limit I'd pay for one in perfect mechanical shape was $6000. Body-wise the car was clean, but it really needed paint due to sun damage, the early '90s-era tint was peeling off, plus the front seats and center console were pretty trashed. However the car was local and I wouldn't have to mess with the hassle of shipping and flying out to buy it, though the needed work was putting it pretty much neck and neck with the Celica, cost-wise. He said he would think about my offer, and I mentioned that if he really didn't want to part with the Supra I'd be interested in seeing how much it would be to get my old Celica running. He kinda hemmed and hawed about that one, but let me take a very close look at my old pride and joy.
I was pretty dismayed. The turbo and intercooler were missing, there was no timing belt cover on it, both the transmission and engine were leaking severely, and frankly at that point it might have been more cost effective to go for a new engine and I was thinking ST205 swap. I asked him about cost and timeframe, and he said he wanted $2500 for my old Celica as is. He wasn't sure what it would cost, yet time-wise I would be looking at about this time next year as they were handling several major projects. I wasn't about to wait that kind of time, so I finally asked if I could test-drive the MA70.
The car smoked upon startup. It was oil smoke, after which the owner told me it was due to bad valve stem seals. While it ran perfectly, I was a bit concerned about having a head off repair right from the start, and the 'while the head is off I really should get a bunch of stuff done' costs would jump a bit. ARP head studs, metal head gasket, and et cetera. I really don't have access to a garage or even a driveway to do moderate to major work, so I'm stuck(at least at this point) with getting the work done at a shop... time's a factor since my work hours are ramping up. I drove it and it seemed to drive great, but I really don't think it was $6K+ great(especially since he seemed on the fence about taking $6K). If he was offering it for $4K I would have jumped on it, but my gut instinct swung back to the ST165 I already had the deposit on.
So, after getting home I started getting the ball rolling on it. I ended up agreeing to a good time to meet the seller, booked a flight and hotel, and arranged for shipping. I'll be flying out to Detroit on May 8 and returning on May 9. Chances are good I'll have the Celica here before my birthday on the 20th. The owner of the Supra contacted me a couple of days ago and I flat out told him I talked with the owner of the Celica and we reached an agreement already. So, his loss.
I think my current plan is to keep my 540i for a little while longer so I can concentrate on the Celica. I'll likely get the BMW's front suspension sorted out and a few other minor things along the way, but I wouldn't mind getting my hands on another MA70 Supra on down the line. However, I'm not going to be charged out the wazoo for a car that needs that kind of work. The difference between how I was doing things ten years ago and now is that I have the income to go for a nicer car if I need to.
When I took a look at that MA70 Supra a couple of weeks ago, the owner(who is the guy who also owned my previous ST165) gave me a price he was thinking about selling it for. I was thinking about it rather seriously. Despite the fact I would lose the deposit I put down on the low-mileage ST165 I was dead set on purchasing, if the Supra was in great mechanical shape I would stand to save around $2500 in shipping costs, a flight cross-country, and some of the initial maintenance I would have to do to the Celica once it got here. I had more than his asking price and decided to take a shot at it.
So, this past Tuesday I took an afternoon off work and got a few errands taken care of, then headed over to the shop he worked at. I had to wait about half an hour for him to come back from lunch, during which I was kind of helping his assistants diagnose a complete basketcase S2000 that wouldn't start. We eventually got it push-started so they could actually drive it into the shop. The owner of that car was a couple of steps away from a complete ricer; severely botched electrical work and the installation of a boost gauge on a non-turbo car was completely laughable. It used to be a nice car.
The owner arrived and I told him that I had cash for his MA70. He initially wanted $5500 for it, as compared to the $6000 I'm paying for the Celica(plus $1K shipping, $500 flight, and probably another $1K for the timing belt/water pump job that I won't do myself, not after the nightmare it was to do it on my old one). He countered with the fact he wanted more for the car, and I told him the absolute limit I'd pay for one in perfect mechanical shape was $6000. Body-wise the car was clean, but it really needed paint due to sun damage, the early '90s-era tint was peeling off, plus the front seats and center console were pretty trashed. However the car was local and I wouldn't have to mess with the hassle of shipping and flying out to buy it, though the needed work was putting it pretty much neck and neck with the Celica, cost-wise. He said he would think about my offer, and I mentioned that if he really didn't want to part with the Supra I'd be interested in seeing how much it would be to get my old Celica running. He kinda hemmed and hawed about that one, but let me take a very close look at my old pride and joy.
I was pretty dismayed. The turbo and intercooler were missing, there was no timing belt cover on it, both the transmission and engine were leaking severely, and frankly at that point it might have been more cost effective to go for a new engine and I was thinking ST205 swap. I asked him about cost and timeframe, and he said he wanted $2500 for my old Celica as is. He wasn't sure what it would cost, yet time-wise I would be looking at about this time next year as they were handling several major projects. I wasn't about to wait that kind of time, so I finally asked if I could test-drive the MA70.
The car smoked upon startup. It was oil smoke, after which the owner told me it was due to bad valve stem seals. While it ran perfectly, I was a bit concerned about having a head off repair right from the start, and the 'while the head is off I really should get a bunch of stuff done' costs would jump a bit. ARP head studs, metal head gasket, and et cetera. I really don't have access to a garage or even a driveway to do moderate to major work, so I'm stuck(at least at this point) with getting the work done at a shop... time's a factor since my work hours are ramping up. I drove it and it seemed to drive great, but I really don't think it was $6K+ great(especially since he seemed on the fence about taking $6K). If he was offering it for $4K I would have jumped on it, but my gut instinct swung back to the ST165 I already had the deposit on.
So, after getting home I started getting the ball rolling on it. I ended up agreeing to a good time to meet the seller, booked a flight and hotel, and arranged for shipping. I'll be flying out to Detroit on May 8 and returning on May 9. Chances are good I'll have the Celica here before my birthday on the 20th. The owner of the Supra contacted me a couple of days ago and I flat out told him I talked with the owner of the Celica and we reached an agreement already. So, his loss.
I think my current plan is to keep my 540i for a little while longer so I can concentrate on the Celica. I'll likely get the BMW's front suspension sorted out and a few other minor things along the way, but I wouldn't mind getting my hands on another MA70 Supra on down the line. However, I'm not going to be charged out the wazoo for a car that needs that kind of work. The difference between how I was doing things ten years ago and now is that I have the income to go for a nicer car if I need to.