Overview of the Toyota Supra
In 1978 Toyota created a bigger, more powerful spin-off of its Celica sports car.
By the 1980s, the Celica Supra became simply Supra. With turbocharging added to the grand tourer's six-cylinder engine for supercar-beating performance, a Toyota legend was cemented.
However, the best Supra - the fourth-generation introduced in 1993 - wasn't imported by Toyota and was available as private import only.
The model was phased out completely in 2002, though an all-new Toyota Supra has now been confirmed.
TOYOTA SUPRA GENERATIONS (SINCE 1993)
1993-2002
RUNNING COSTS
Fuel Consumption
3.0L 6-cylinder twin turbo: 11.1 litres per 100km
= Highly economical.
= Good economy.
= Average fuel use.
= Heavy consumption.
Servicing
Toyota's servicing program isn't available for the Supra as it wasn't an officially imported model. Toyota Supra parts and accessoriescan be found on Gumtree.
SIMILAR MODELS TO TOYOTA SUPRA
BMW M3
Mazda RX-7
Nissan 300ZX
Porsche 928
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR: TOYOTA SUPRA (1983 TO 2002)
Early Supras (up to about 1990) will mostly have been Australian-delivered cars, while those made after that date will be grey imports and could have come from anywhere.
Of the local cars, the biggest reliability problem is in the cylinder head gasket which can fail anytime, anywhere.
The problem is reckoned to be that the factory torque setting for the head bolts was too low, but it remains a widespread problem.
Of the privately (grey) imported models, the range of problems is much broader but will usually come down to engine problems, particularly the turbocharger which can fail rather expensively.
The trick to buying one of these is to know where it was sold new and what sort of life it might have had.
Don't forget, either, that Supras are high-performance cars and are more likely to have been 'parked' against something solid at some point in the past. Watch for poor repairs and mis-matched paint to help identify examples that may have been in an accident. If all else fails, try purchasing a Car Record report which can sometimes help identify if a car has been in any major accidents.
