Toyota Aristo, Celsior????

[JoJo]

http://www.toymods.net/forums/showthread.php?t=15100

enjoy

Thats a great writeup mate. You've done well!

[whip_cracker]

Hey mate,

The Aristos are a nice car... they're more like an oversized import Corona really...

I've seen one of these with a bodykit - looked smokin'! I reckon it's the dual exhausts on the back that make it look hideous... plus the fact it resembles a GS300 in disguise.

The ultimate sleeper... til it's kitted with a nice set of rims.

If you can spare a few k more... definetely go for a 1JZ Chaser. They look SeX

[manual]

the aristo is a good car - we have a 97 as a daily (1 baby seat in the back).

if it was manual it would be better, but after i purchased a 6psd conversion from a supra i realised (thanks to teh reason the baby seat is in the back) i didn't have the time to make it happen.

there have been 5spd conversion with R154 & 6spd conversions with the getrag.

i went the aristo over the chaser, though given the manual thing - maybe i should have gotten a chaser - either would be nice

additionally - for the size of the thing it has limited bootspace given the fuel tank behind the back seat ... but its not that big of an issue.

[urantia]

I was in the same delimma only a couple weeks ago, aristo or ls400/celsior

I really was leaning towards the aristo, but when i see these ls400's going for as little as $3k its very hard to resist buying so much car for so little money. I think i'd prefer the silky smooth v8 for cruising in luxury.

I also agree the aristo looks butt ugly (just the front end, reminds me of the older falcons) The ls400 looks better imo.

[Z2TT]

Hi, The Celsior is a great car, here are some of the negatives though.

- 1uz power steering pumps are known to leak, the alternator is just below the power steering pump, so a power steering pump leak would cause problems with the alternator, I have not experienced this problem yet but many others have.

- Climate Control / Clock LCD Panel will most likely be faded to black, apparently from moisture that gets inside, fortunately there are places that have replacements, cheapest are :

1. Hai Ho - A guy in America, Total delivered to you is about $125 USD, with Todays exchange rate that is about $160 AUD.

2. Autoheat in Australia, $165 AUD Delivered depending where you live.

- Many Celsiors have control arm bushes that wear out over time, there is a place that sells replacements for about $200, both arms.

- Celsiors with Airbag suspension are always problematic, and costly to repair, do not get a Celsior that has airbag suspension.

- The CD Stacker most likely will not be working, replacements are almost impossible to find, unless you ask the Dealer you'll be given a ridiculous price of about $700

[urantia]

well whadya know, i just bought myself a celsior for $2000!! was a suburb away from my place here in Tasmania of all places. i cant believe my luck.

Needs a little bit of work here and there but for $2000 i honestly cant complain!
Fantastic car to drive!

Yep needs the power steering pump fixed, LCD panel replaced and a CD stacker lol.
Has air suspension not sure on condition of that yet.

[CrUZida]

Celsiors with Airbag suspension are always problematic, and costly to repair, do not get a Celsior that has airbag suspension.

I gotta say thats flat out not true.

The 'problem' with Celsior airbags is that they are 20 years old.

Its also cheaper to replace the bags than it is to get a decent set of coilovers.

I personally wouldn't bother buying a Celsior without airbags, its one of the things that make the Celsior so good.

[Blue23]

ok well everyone is saying how good the celsiors are i have heard alot of good comments about them:

but for the people who own either the celsior or an Aristo how do they go with fuel economy? as when i buy one it is going to be used as a Daily, travelling to Syd all that, how do they go on petrol, as you can imagine i dont really get good economy out of the RA23 18rg twin 44 webbers so anything is going to be a bit of an improvement...

[JoJo]

Celsiors are excellent value for money as you can get decent ones for less then 5G's. I cant think of ANY other car of that quality that you could get for that price.

Have you driven either car? If you havent, your quite welcome to have a go at my celsior. msg me if ya want

[1jz68u]

Celsiors are excellent value for money as you can get decent ones for less then 5G's. I cant think of ANY other car of that quality that you could get for that price.

Quoted for the truth...

[Z2TT]

I gotta say thats flat out not true.

The 'problem' with Celsior airbags is that they are 20 years old.

Its also cheaper to replace the bags than it is to get a decent set of coilovers.

I personally wouldn't bother buying a Celsior without airbags, its one of the things that make the Celsior so good.

Yep that is the problem, bags are what $500 each?

[urantia]

Anybody know how hard it is to rebuild the power steering pump on these celsiors? and what a rebuild kit would cost?

Also i have a vibration coming thru the steering wheel when reving the engine in nuetral, it's not as smooth as it should be. Any clues?

[MR 1JZ]

Celsiors are excellent value for money as you can get decent ones for less then 5G's. I cant think of ANY other car of that quality that you could get for that price.

Have you driven either car? If you havent, your quite welcome to have a go at my celsior. msg me if ya want

i concur...I am seriously thinking about selling my VS commodore daily to get one again

[CrUZida]

Celsiors are excellent value for money as you can get decent ones for less then 5G's.

Not sure if I agree with that.
You tend to get what you pay for with them (ignoring the occassional overprived one).
Cheap ones tend to be cheap because they need a bit of money spent on them.

That said, a 5k one with 3-4k worth of repairs is probably better value than a 10-12k one.

Yep that is the problem, bags are what $500 each?

Arnott Industry airbags are about $500 each, but UCF20 ones fit, and can be had for about $800-$1000 from YJA.
A full set of genuine bushes is about $1000.

Anybody know how hard it is to rebuild the power steering pump on these celsiors? and what a rebuild kit would cost?

Rebuild kits for PS Pump are about $55 incl a new bearing. Take about 2hrs to fit, not including removal/refitment of the pump on the engine.

Also i have a vibration coming thru the steering wheel when reving the engine in nuetral, it's not as smooth as it should be. Any clues?

Could be a failed engine mount, its very common on the Soarers.
Could also be failed steering rack mounts.


And totally agree that its hard to find a car with a better value for money. I want to sell mine, but I can't find anything else I want to drive.
An LS430 is probably it, but I can't justify dropping 30k on one...

[roadkill]

ok well everyone is saying how good the celsiors are i have heard alot of good comments about them:

but for the people who own either the celsior or an Aristo how do they go with fuel economy? as when i buy one it is going to be used as a Daily, travelling to Syd all that, how do they go on petrol, as you can imagine i dont really get good economy out of the RA23 18rg twin 44 webbers so anything is going to be a bit of an improvement...

Hi,

This was my issue that i tackled before i bought my aristo (jzs147). From what i'd found on the neet the celsior got about 6k/l (15l/100k) and the aristo got 8k/l (12.5l/100k) but in real life it is lower than that. My aristo gets about 7k/l round town, about 10-12 highway driving and about 5k/l if i'm having a bit of fun. So i'd be guessing that the celsior would get about 5k/l normally and worse with a bit of fun. My aristo is dead stock. Keep in mind too a v8 is more in rego.

All things said and done though i'm very very happy with the aristo, very nice car to drive, electric everything, traction control works VERY well. Only downsides i've come across so far is the stereo is a real bitch to work with (rather complicated) but there is a thread somehwere here about install a new head deck, the other is that is still has old school manual trip/odometer that is hard to read at the best of times. Having the fuel tank behind the back seats is a little annoying but there is still plenty of space. My 8'6" mini mal surfboard fits in the car still so it didn't worry me much.

Don't forget the the aristo also came in non turbo ('sif you would) and all wheel drive v8!

bEn