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I bought this 1996 3rd gen last week. Imported from Japan in 1997 and registered the week of the handover to China, it cost £13,000 + £6,500 registration tax new.
Since then it has covered 98,000 KM. Despite only having one owner it didn't come with any service records, or even one receipt. Ordinarily I would never buy a car without at least some evidence of work done to it but in this case the price was right, I had crawled all over the car and couldn't see anything wrong, and I had a good feeling about the owner.
There is no rust on the chassis because we don't use salt on the roads and most cars are garaged when they are not being driven. The engine sounds sweet and everything apart from the stereo works.
It is a 2.7l SSR-V Limited with cloth interior, ECT rear diff and electric hatch window. I paid the equivalent of £1,200. Road tax is about £700 and petrol is £1.40/l. However, I only drive it at weekends and don't expect to do more than 1-2,000km a year. This is the third car I have had in HK in just over two years and we love it. The roads are terrible here, there are no real highways, and speed cameras everywhere so having a fast car is pointless.
I've removed the AIBO Works spotlights, rear ladder, and mudflaps. There's no evidence underneath that the car has been off road, but you often see lifted 4x4s here with snorkels, ladders, spots, etc. I prefer the standard look and everything has to come off for the MOT anyway.
I am on the lookout for a third gen front grille if anybody has one for sale. It will obviously need to be posted to Hong Kong. I also want to buy some OEM 3rd gen alloys. Again, these will probably have to be posted here, but I've seen some in California that I might buy.
I'm looking forward to taking the car back to stock, and the dream is to drive it back to the UK when I eventually return home from Hong Kong.
This is the first Toyota I bought here:
1977 Sprinter Trueno. 1600 DOHC. A lovely little car but a pain to drive on our roads, and unsafe to shuttle the family around in. Despite how it looks I just couldn't get on with this car and sold it after a year.
Since then it has covered 98,000 KM. Despite only having one owner it didn't come with any service records, or even one receipt. Ordinarily I would never buy a car without at least some evidence of work done to it but in this case the price was right, I had crawled all over the car and couldn't see anything wrong, and I had a good feeling about the owner.
There is no rust on the chassis because we don't use salt on the roads and most cars are garaged when they are not being driven. The engine sounds sweet and everything apart from the stereo works.
It is a 2.7l SSR-V Limited with cloth interior, ECT rear diff and electric hatch window. I paid the equivalent of £1,200. Road tax is about £700 and petrol is £1.40/l. However, I only drive it at weekends and don't expect to do more than 1-2,000km a year. This is the third car I have had in HK in just over two years and we love it. The roads are terrible here, there are no real highways, and speed cameras everywhere so having a fast car is pointless.
I've removed the AIBO Works spotlights, rear ladder, and mudflaps. There's no evidence underneath that the car has been off road, but you often see lifted 4x4s here with snorkels, ladders, spots, etc. I prefer the standard look and everything has to come off for the MOT anyway.
I am on the lookout for a third gen front grille if anybody has one for sale. It will obviously need to be posted to Hong Kong. I also want to buy some OEM 3rd gen alloys. Again, these will probably have to be posted here, but I've seen some in California that I might buy.
I'm looking forward to taking the car back to stock, and the dream is to drive it back to the UK when I eventually return home from Hong Kong.
This is the first Toyota I bought here:
1977 Sprinter Trueno. 1600 DOHC. A lovely little car but a pain to drive on our roads, and unsafe to shuttle the family around in. Despite how it looks I just couldn't get on with this car and sold it after a year.
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