Watch This Before Buying a Toyota Celica 7th Gen 2000-2005 

Reliable??? 🤔2002 GTS with 398k+(406k updated) miles and runs like a champ. Original owner, original engine, original lift bolts. No oil starvation,. No issue.💪

I have an 03 gts bone stock motor with 300,000 kilometres and it’s been extremely reliable. These cars get a bad reputation for no reason. They are great!

Good introductory video. Celica GTS are an absolute gem of a car for the money. Look out for the things he mentions when test driving, and if all is good buy it, take care of it, and enjoy a gem of a sports compact

Literally every fun car i'm looking to buy has videos like this one. It gives me bad feelings 😭.

Also worth noting that during the Celica 7th gen production run a big suv buying craze drove many buyers away from compact cars and consequently killed sales on many models from various manufacturers.

The GTS would totally be the way to go for this generation, pretty much bulletproof. The earlier 2000-2002 GT models had oil burning issues like crazy. The 1.8 that was in the gt was also in the 2000-2001 Corolla which also burned oil. My mom owned a 2001 GT, 135k miles and it burned oil but never skipped a beat. She sold it in 2012. My 2000 Corolla with 200k, as long as you kept the oil topped up it was a very reliable car as well, but they burn quick at a rate of a quart per tank. If you're gonna buy one now that they're all pretty used and beat, go the safe route with the GTS.

I've had a 2001 GTS for 5 years; original owner was my father. It has 230K+ miles and still going strong. Excellent, reliable car that hasn't had any problems. I've actually had people ask if they could buy it from me!

I own a 04 GT in carbon blue, 5 speed. It might seem low for a toyota but it reached 107000 now. I just recently did a oil change and replaced all the filters. runs good.

I've had a 2002 celica for a few years now and it has ran no matter how harshly I treated it at the beginning due to inexperience. Love that car

Bought a 2000 celica with 105000 miles with oil problems already. The engine started knocking on the way to school one morning and I was not a car savvy guy but my dad helped me swap out a new engine from Japan. Now the engine doesn't have oil problems. And has been running great!

I bought my 03 gt for 1900 with 173000 miles just hit 187000 miles and all I had to do was replace the throttle control valve haven’t had any issues great car

I have a 2000 toyota celica . Zero problems to this day and its been my daily driver for ever . Very underrated car if u ask me

I've owned one for the last 7 years and keep it regularly serviced and have never had any trouble with it.

bought a 2000 GT-S 2zz new gave it to my son a couple years ago. It now has 320k miles on it and runs fine and doesn't burn any oil. It regularly sees 8K rpm still. Most cars have weak points but I believe poor maintenance exacerbate them.

2000 gts with 145,000 original owner, runs like a champ, no issues ever........

I've had a Celica T23 143hp phase 1 for 7 years, paid 3700 Euros. Yes, it consumes a bit of oil, but apart from that, I have never had a car with so few problems, and it has now 320,000km and still runs perfectly! The engine is surprisingly reliable, and has never needed any particular maintenance. The interior is nothing special, but does the job, except the leather steering wheel which is of good quality. Moreover, it's rare to be able to afford a low budget coupe! I haven't found anything else on a small budget that I like so much, and that doesn't require a lot of maintenance. So I recommend it without hesitation, I love my car ❤️❤️

my 2zz is super reliable. 229k. hits redline at least once everytime I drive. common issue with 2zz is oil leaking from the timing chain cover gasket, which is a labor intensive fix. the oil pan and starvation issue is only if you are constantly cornering hard and pushing the limits. ive taken my car to mountain passes with no issues, being constantly over 4-5k rpm.

The oil pump doesn't fail on the 2zz unless you "money shift" , it's only due to driver error. There's no issue with this engines they're pretty much inmortal

Redo it Just redo it all, just take the whole engine and trans out and redo it!😉 I love this car

FYI, the GT-S oil pump is fine. It's high Gs that kills them, not high revs. Oil starvation at high Gs from the oil being pulled away from the pickup creates cavitation (air bubbles). These air bubbles basically act like small explosions when going through the pump, due to the compression force applied in the process. This causes damage to the oil pump gear and eventually failure. Extra oil, a baffled pan, or an accusump are some solutions. Sure, you can get a billet pump gear to prevent oil pump gear damage, but you're still dealing with oil starvation issues. If the pump doesn't go, something else will. As far as high Gs, good tires and a hard, high speed turn are all that are necessary to cause oil starvation.

285,000 miles on my Celica GT and only ever had to replace the serpentine belt, belt tensioner, and valve cover gasket... car costs me nothing to maintain.

Bought my Celica T23 (also my first car) a little over a year ago, since I've been treating her with a lot of love and I'm very satisfied. If you're sleeping on getting this car, get it NOW before the price jumps and/ or they start rusting away. It looks modern with a simple headlight replacement but they're still 20 years old at this point.

I've got one and I love it. 170k mile's.

Very proud celica owner here - i got my 6 spd 2000 celica at 290,000 km from someone's lawn, they wanted to scrap the car for the gearbox. Before me the car was totally neglected but somehow flew through the WOF flying colors. It drove me 5 hours back home from sitting on a lawn for years and we did it's first service in years and years, never ever ever had any issues with it and it is reliable and fuel efficient. Even with black, sludge, tar-like oil it was running like a champ. Hardy car and still going strong at 330000 km Only issues I've had: boot struts and hinges breaking, a weird pool of water under the rear passenger seat, some rattles in the gear box and some rattles due to the plastic guards not being bolted down. Everything else is sound considering it was lawn garbage, it costs me nothing and never needs anything. THE most reliable car I've owned and I couldn't reccomend these cars enough especially to people who generally love toyota and would like a good daily runabout that looks kinda neat at the same time! (Be careful picking up celicas if they have anything dodgy with the boot, if that shit breaks it will slice someone in half and I always reccomend checking the boot function when getting one of these)

Pretty spot on, and I even learned about the fuel filler neck issue here. Got mine prepped (moroso, lift bolts, oil pump) and does great at autocross bouncing on the rev limiter on R-compound tires. Regular oil changes and letting the engine warm up are also highly recommended with the 2zz. The MMC coating is nice as long as it's cared for properly.

Hey! There are new vehicles out there and the manufacturer says that they burn oil , but that it's normal. Crazy ! So if I need to top up my 2000 gt it's well worth it. Thanks for the video.

I have a Celica VVTi 143 hp 💖 and I find that your video is true and therefore can be very useful. But ... there is no car and car brand without trouble. What about the prestigious Subaru engines that fail as easily as their transmissions? What about the latest turbines on BMWs? I've known several people whose turbine exploded and didn't even pull hard with their BMWs... 😒

I own a 2002 GTS 250k miles and counting, doesn't burn or leak oil, original engine and transmission. I drive an average of 100 miles a day for work and it's been an absolute champ. I change oil every 3k miles and make sure to hit lift at least once every other day or so. I've put a whopping $30 worth of parts into it (lift bolts, belts and valve cover gasket)

If they were RWD they’d be sick

5:08 Replace the EGR for rough idle? Do you even own a Celica of this generation? It doesn’t have an EGR!

My 2000 Celica had over 340000k when I parked it, due to front end, and under body rot. It's a great engine, never let me down. Just needs regular maintenance like anything else. I'll buy another one some day soon. Absolutely love that gen.

The issue you describe with the 2zz fuel pump is caused by over revving and therefore choking the fuel pump and starving the engine of oil. However, Celica GT-S with 2zz-ge were rev limited from the factory to 7.9k rpm whereas the japanese version revved all the way out to 8.6k. It's impossible to over rev this engine in america without an ambitious downshift

I must say the celica t-sport is truly a hidden gem with great handling package. Japanese quality, 192 hp from naturally aspirated 1.8 4cyl. No issues on oil on hard corners, the starvation occurs on corners due to low oil levels. But i will keep the oil pump in mind. Too bad others have had issues. Not sure if they put more effort and quality on t-sport, but the components are strong! Cant promise that for other models and those not made in japan factories since I have not owned those. T-Sport is a state of the art flagship with little compromises. It is rarely even mentioned anywhere. Gts always on the spotlight. I will sell mine over my dead body. I do realize this video is meant for other celicas more or less. I would probably never buy any other celica. Note: all this is my point of view.

this guy listed every fix i need done to my celica gt. holy grail

Celica VVTi: not for stupid people! 😔

I have a Celica VVTi, GT 143 HP from 2002 and I bought it in 2010. It consumes a lot of oil but I have always poked. The engine runs very well. A test bench test gave 140 HP. Well ... I keep it! 😎

Perfection doesn't exist. My car is 2004 gts 6 speed stick shift, over 260,000 miles, oil change every 5,000 miles good maintenance no big issues.

The value of this celica is kept going up year by year. In Australia, the price slowly reaching $10k (with trd bodykits). Hold on tight guys!

The oil pump only fails if the driver downshifts and the car over revs

My 01 GTS keeps the oil new thankfully. Its been a great car.

I got my driver's license a year ago, i have vw golf 5 and i love it but i am really into japanise cars so i want to buy an toyota celica 2000+ so i want somone who has toyota celica to give me reason why should i buy it or why i shouldnt.

I’ve owned my 2001 GTS for about 3 years and now has 204k miles. Only problem was replacing mass air flow sensor. Took me 5 minutes. I don’t rev it high (above 5k) so I’m not worried about the oil pump. Runs like a champ.

Just bought year 2000 celi manual, in the progress for bolt on.

I own a 2001 GT and the problem i have with it is that it likes to burn oil. Other than that, still runs good. Its a really good car besides the burning oil problem. My goal for it though is to replace the drive train to AWD and replace the transmission to a GTS 6 speed. It's very underwhelming and frustrating when i drive it on the freeway. Would love the car to push all 4 wheels while I drive it.

this man spittin hella cap the gts will last forever

HAVE 2002 GT 119,OOO LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT IF THERE WAS A HIGHWAY TO MARS WOULD NOT HESITATE TO START IN MY GT!

I've had no issues with my 2000 gts except for lift bolts previous owners never changed them but they didn't brake just unscrewed and came completely off and the holes on the shaft they go into moved so I can't put new bolts on without having to do a lot of work anyways I don't track the car or anything it's just a daily driver so I haven't really bothered trying to fix that still not bad for 230k miles and no oil burning

The video is bad and misleading! The only common fault with the 2ZZ-GE is broken lift bolts. The rest is complete nonsense, I have such a car for 9 years! The rest of the problems are due to stupid owners who do not change the oil and are not common! I know hundreds of friends with 2ZZ-GE and none of them had the oil pump explode. Boy, make good videos, not misleading!

half of this video is just a list of things I currently need to fix

While what's in this video is true they are relatively rare, do an oil change every once and a while and they'll last forever, mines got 250ks only thing that's fucked up is the power steering pump but that was a quick fix defo not cheap though lol

these cars were given out as grad presents . the people they were given to , failed to perform oil changes . buy one from an old woman , that didn’t , change the odometer , instrument cluster

Ive owned 2 GTS. 1st one I sold at 250k miles and later came to regret it. Baught another one at 170k and intend on keeping it for as long as I can. Both 6 speed manual.

My 2001 Celica GTS had over 170K on it when I traded it in after 8 years of hard driving. The engine and gear box were still in perfect shape. I had to replace the clutch at one point and had issues with the a/c, but that was it.

The high rev failures were because of massive over-revving due to mis shifts, NOT because the pump can't handle the rev range it's designed for lol. That is why Toyota dropped the rev limit on the 2002 model and then changed the gates of the transmission to reduce the risk of mis-shifting in 2003 and brought the rev limiter back to where it was for 01-02. The oil pan and the lift bolts are the only significant known issues. The 2ZZ is a vastly superior engine to the 1ZZ and requires a lot less effort to resolve its minor known issues. "Just top up the oil" is not a solution when a 1ZZ is drinking a bottle a week lol. You need to take your engine apart to repair this. Btw nobody cares about what Scotty Kilmer thinks. He has no clue what he is talking about most of the time.

I'm on my 4th toyota last generation celica. The last one went 400,000 miles and this 1 is getting broken in now with 294,000miles. I have religiously changed my oil and have no aftermarket parts. Never had a problem.

I took mine to a Toyota specialist in my area because I heard of the oil pump issue. He told me to buy a baffled oil pan and I thought he was joking but he explained that the oil pan is the issue and not the pump. Had zero problems so far.

found one recently for $2800 and 177k miles!! fully black, owner definitely was a little rough on it interior wise but i sure hope it’s worth it!!

I saw this pop up when I was looking at reviews of Celica and I’m glad I watched it, I’m getting a great deal on one from a family friend with less 100k miles on it but they said it needs oil every 800 ish miles because it’s old (not sure if their hinting at something or just not car people)… thankfully it’s the 1zz so it shouldn’t be as prone to issues as mentioned but at least I know what to look for if I have more issues with the oil. Thanks

My Celica gt has 157,000 miles run and still strong 😂 never had issues with oil consumption. I do my oil changes every 4,000 miles.

I am in love with my Celica 2001 143 hp.

You CAN replace the oil pump gears while the engine is in the car, you just need to remove the timing cover and the balancer to get access to the pump gears, I have done this, it's a bit of a fiddle but it can be done. www.youtube.com/@superpa

The best company in the world can make the best car, but if they don't maintain it properly, it will always be a disaster...i have my Celica for 12 yeas 320k milles .. and i did remplase only battery.. for the engine..💪💪💪💪💪

My celica got over 200,000 miles with a fat exhaust leak but runs like a champ

If you're looking at buying one look to see if it's had the avensis upgrade if not you'll want to do it and look for water in the rear the boot seal has a habit of leaking other than that their fun and still dirt cheap

Good old toyota 👍

O1 gt manual small oil issue replaced the shifting cable catalac converter clog still shifts hard high beam switch broke other then that normal repairs however 300,000 in 2022 bought at 165,000 in 2018 great car

Someone is selling $900 with a 4 cylinder misfire and a iffy engine with 200k miles let me know if that’s bad deal and if repairs would be too expensive

Are you drunk? What's with the slurred speech?

Stock 2000 zz1 celica owner for 7 years running. Only maintenance has been brake pads and regular oil topping. This video i BS. The 7th gen celica is reliable as rock.

About a month ago I bought an 02 mitsubishi eclipse rs, I was seriously thinking about which of the two I should buy because I love everything about the celica but the reliability issues is very concerning because I live in puerto rico and here alot of times you are just idling barely moving and taking corners constantly so that deterred me from buying that car. Even though I'm happy with my 3g I still wonder how it would be if I had a celica

I've got a 2000 GTS 6 speed with 122,000kms and I love it. This car has been nothing short of excellent to me in the 7 years I've had it so far.

God damn....im glad I have a 2004. No problems. Got a newer used engine with it. 1ZZ. I was looking for the 2ZZ but they didn't have it in stock. But I've lucked out. No issues at all 🤞

This is a poor video. The 2ZZ is especially reliable and they dont blow at high rpm, the blow when incorrectly downshifting, creating sky high rpm! Not good for any car!

Just get a 03 1zz if you want to have no issues with it. My and others experience in general proves it. No matter which one you choose, it will be one of the best fun cars you can get for the money that spark you joy every time you drive it. You won't regret it.

2000 Celica T23 143hp with 215kmiles, no problems with it, just some rust issues

Just bought my 3RD celica today, 03 Gt with 170k on dash. I love Toyota:)

Nice video , I have a 2004 Matrix xrs with the same 2zz that in the celica GTS. Another issue is oil leaks due to work timing cover gasket after quite a while, they are a big job and are expensive to fix if going to a shop .I'm at 200k mi I've done plenty of maintenance and replaced as u stated and I mentioned and I have no doubt I'll make it another 100k if not ran hard often

How bad is it? It’s as bad as me 🚬 😏 It might not be the toughest Celica ever, but it looks the most bad ass once it’s tastefully modified. I call it an FWD supercar. IMO I think it could be Batman’s car.

i have the 03 model gt,drived at the red lines most of the time. never asked anything yet at 230k. At some point i will change original clutch disk and original brake discs 😂

350 000 km on the dash, still runs perfectly without any future proofing. Don't talk about something if you haven't done your research before. BIG DISLIKE

Buy a later gem of this car and pre actually all of these issues were fixed or improved on

Seriously.. you have not got a clue... I own a Celica and one of the best and most reliable cars I've owned. When you compare reliability of a car you need to look at the other 20 Year old cars on the road today. Are there any other 20 Year old daily driver sportsish cars on the road with high mileage that requires so little maintenance and such small running costs... nothing compares...

oil consumption on 1zz can be fixed i did it, no more consuption, its been more than a year after i changed the oil and i never had to add more. Before that consumed 2L at 1k km

Buy quality parts for Toyota celica like denso..

2003 zz1. Owned since new. Thrashed on a daily basis. Never had a single issue. Ill never sell it.

I have a GT-S model of January 2002 and it's now with 150000 Km and the only thing that I can say it's true in this video is the oil consumption... Apart from that nothing of what comes in this video happened... I have Bilstein coilovers and I have been driving this car hard on mountain roads and on autoroutes and never had oil starvation problems... Probably these problems that you talk in this video are due to bad maintenance and bad driving...

Have an 03 gts almost 250,xxx miles still hittin that lift like a boss

Mine still did 177.000 apart from a new radiator and a clutch and normal service costs cheap car to run and reliable

my GT never burns oil, never been touched internally and has 260,000KM on it. i dont get why people say this

2000 gts 217k on the dash...only none maintenance part that's been replaced in the heater core. "Unreliable"...fuck I can't wait to get a reliable car, probably won't even need to change the oil.

when did walter jr. start reviewing cars?

2zz in my matrix xrs still runs like a champ at 216k mi

1zzfe is actually reliable afff 😂 Scotty actually dislikes the 2zz btw lol

Could a 1zz pre facelift be a good idea for a first car on a budget?

Hey guys I need help. I'm buying my first car from a delaership for 6k. It's a 2001 Toyota Celic GT with 125k miles. Hatch back 2dr, 1.8L i4 dohc 16v, front wheel. z. What should I know? Am i prone to running into issues with this car? Is it a reliable car since its before 2003?

These are awesome baddass lil gas saving cars an ican guarantee uthat theres far more good things to say about them than all the bad that you just said about them

You obviously haven’t ever owned one

What a lot of crap.I have owned my 2005 gen 7 Celica for 19 years and 174k miles and NOTHING has broken.

I am the original owner of a 2002 Celica that currently has 170, 000 miles on it. Only had minor repairs in 23 years. I LOVE my car!

2001 celica gts was WORST car I ever owned....had the blown engine from the shift problem and they never fixed it right..sold it asap.