Things I learned driving a celica for 30 days

[StRaNgEdAyS]

I've had my car in the workshop getting panel work done.
I'm surprised at the final repair bill, it exceeds 10 grand. I'm really surprised the insurance company said to go ahead with it.
Anyway... I commandeered my eldest daughters car after 6 days into the expected 2 weeks while the car was in the shop. I thought I'd only have it for a week. I ended up waiting 36 days for my car.
In that time I gained an appreciation for the extra room torque and highway comfort of the E39. I really missed the extra 4 cylinders.
The first thing I noticed when I got back into my car compared to the celica, was the shifter seemed to travel for an eternity between gears.
I can see a short shift kit in my near future.
I also noticed that I really didn't save much more on fuel.
The good...
Not a single stone chip to be seen anywhere.
The guards are mounted well and sit nicely as do the inner guard liners.
They even cleaned my daily driving wheels up nicely.
The meh...
They couldn't match the tail light with a genuine part (insurance wouldn't permit an aftetmarket part) so I'll have to either match part A myself, or find a genuine part B to match the replaced (right hand) side.
The bad...
I could be being picky here, but I've noticed a blemish in the new paint... Just below the door handle there's what looks like an oval shaped blemish in the paint, like a faded spot. I've circled it in red.
I'll be taking it in tomorrow to get them to have a look


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[gmak]

WOW!

I see what you mean about the blemish. There is no reflection of your arm in that spot in the second last picture. Either that or your right forearm and hand are vampires.

[StRaNgEdAyS]

That's my daughter in the reflection.... And yes, she's also a vampire

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[Kershaw]

Hopefully they just forgot to polish that area properly. Otherwise it looks great!

I'm surprised the insurance paid out $10k. What's the break point in Australia for totaling the car? Here it's usually 60-75% depending on the state, iirc.

[StRaNgEdAyS]

Usually I'd have thought closer to 50%, but no more than 75% Max.. But my agreed value is not much higher than this. This is more than 80% of my agreed value

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[dannyzabolotny]

Looks pretty good overall! Finish the facelift by getting another new taillight and upgrade those kidney grilles to the newer style ones.

I know how you feel about the power though, I remember when my 540i was down for chain guides for a few weeks and I had to daily drive my girlfriend's Hyundai Elantra... that thing was totally gutless.

[adm750]

rockin' E38 rims on an E39....adapters ???

[f355spider]

Great car, nice look. I would have the door resprayed....it would bug me to leave as is, and any body shop would do that gratis, and with a big apology for letting that go. (they knew it was there when they gave it to you).

[StRaNgEdAyS]

rockin' E38 rims on an E39....adapters ???

Nope. Those are an E39 wheel.

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[StRaNgEdAyS]

Looks pretty good overall! Finish the facelift by getting another new taillight and upgrade those kidney grilles to the newer style ones.

I know how you feel about the power though, I remember when my 540i was down for chain guides for a few weeks and I had to daily drive my girlfriend's Hyundai Elantra... that thing was totally gutless.

I actually prefer the lower profile of the pre facelift kidney grilles.
The way the facelift ones poke out really looks odd to me lol
Now... If I could find a sport wheel. In single stage that is in decent condition I'd be really happy lol
Mine has had all the leather stripped from it.

The celica actually has a decent power to weight ratio, but the low. Down torque I miss... And it felt weird using all the 5 gears around town, compared to 4/6 gears in the E39.


Absinthe makes the tart grow fonder

[amancuso]

It almost looks like a giant fingerprint in the paint. Nice 535i though. When I was having the front end of my 528i refurb'd I decided to stay with the prefacelift headlights grille and bumper. I think it's a nice, classy look.

[Kershaw]

I actually prefer the lower profile of the pre facelift kidney grilles.
The way the facelift ones poke out really looks odd to me lol

Yeah, definitely.

[StRaNgEdAyS]

It almost looks like a giant fingerprint in the paint. Nice 535i though. When I was having the front end of my 528i refurb'd I decided to stay with the prefacelift headlights grille and bumper. I think it's a nice, classy look.

Thanks
I'll be replacing the M62B35 with an M62B44 sometime in the not so distant future.
I'm looking for a 540i with issues to use as a parts/donor car. I'll replace everything in the 4.4 and switch the engines when I have the timing guide rattle start.
I'll also take all the extra bits and keep them for eventualities lol.

Absinthe makes the tart grow fonder