How do I find someone who would be interested in fixing and using/selling a 94 Toyota Celica GT (2.2L) that I have driven since 94 (218K miles)? For the right buyer, it would be a great car. I live in rural central GA (the movie My Cousin Vinny was shot here) but the car has been registered in MA, HI, NH, and GA (all by me). I changed the oil every 3K miles, really took care of it. It needs some work now (transmission, probably alternator), otherwise still runs great. Mostly original parts! I am on the highways in the wee hours of the morning, just bought a 2000 Celica because I needed more reliable wheels, can’t fix the transmission myself.
try craigslist.
Uh, a 16 year old car with 218k and a blown transmission? Unless it’s a convertible, I suspect the right buyer is your friendly local auto recycler.
Does it have a manual transmission or an automatic?
If it has an automatic, you are going to have a hard time finding a buyer who wants to put that much money into a car that old. Maybe a transmission repair specialist might be interested in the project. If it has a manual transmission, replacing the transmission might not be cost prohibitive. If I had the some spare money, I might be interested. Just out of curiosity, how much are you asking for it?
I cannot forget the quote by a car salesman I knew, there is an s for every seat.
Even if your car was free, it would be too expensive.
Twotone
thanks. That’s how I got the 2000GT, but I wondered if there was a forum for motorheads.
I’ve been offered $500 with letting my nephew take the good tires, comparable cars (fixed up) are listed with dealers in the southeast for $3,000. This is a 5 speed, only 5th gear is gone. New clutch, new timing belt, new distributor last spring, new front Michelin radials, backs are in good shape (FWD). Have otherwise replaced the rear stabilizer bar, the struts, one caliper. Have kept up with brakes, tuneups, lube, etc. That’s all I can remember right now, but I have all the records from day one. One torn mud flap, a few miniscule rust spots on the doors that have not come through the paint, and a little flaked paint on the back and a few dings here and there are all that is wrong with the body. Don’t know about the U joint or any of that stuff under the car, it makes a little noise when you take a sharp curve at 60mph 
My last muscle car was a 74 Chevy Nova Supersport. I sold it in 83 for $200. Fixed up, that car now sells for around $200,000. There are fans out there for the right car in good shape.
Are you talking about a 1967 - 1970 Toyota 2000GT? If so, that’s a $500,000+ car these days. Very nice!
Twotone
“comparable cars (fixed up) are listed with dealers in the southeast for $3,000”
Yours is not fixed. Yours is barely functional. Also dealers jack the prices way the hell up, particularly on the low end. If I had a fully-functional, relatively clean Celica otherwise like yours, I’d consider myself very lucky to get 2 grand for it. As is, you should be grateful someone’s willing to offer you 500 for it.
You don’t have a 5 speed transmission, you have a 4 speed transmission with a low top end.
And rust spots that “haven’t come through the paint?” Paint doesn’t rust. Metal does. You could have a 3 inch wide hole in a panel before the paint falls apart. “Surface rust pretty much doesn’t exist outside of the Southwest.”
Nothing that you put into a car is worth a damn unless the car runs, and even then you can only get more out than you put in in a limited set of circumstances.
If you want to get more than 500 bucks, part the car out. It’s a lot of work, but you can make thousands on a car worth only hundreds.
Oh god, Barret Jackson fever.
“Fixed up” it isn’t selling for 200 grand. Original, or with engines or transmissions worth more than the car was ever worth it might sell for a lot, but I doubt it was ever 200,000. Not a 1974. It’s the pre-smog cars that are worth money. Being of the same generation means jack squat, especially with muscle cars.
The value of a different car in different condition has little bearing on the value of your car.
no, a Celica GT made in 2000. It’s a much lighter car than my 94, but it still gets 35mpg and has good pickup. It will last me 6-7 years until someone comes out with another car that has good performance and gets good mileage AND I can afford it. Toyota stopped making the Celica.
Thanks, though.
How does one parts the car out?
Thanks for the chuckle. My buddy has a 1975 Nova SS in mint original condition. I’m sure he would part with it for the bargain basement sum of $25k. You could make a killing turning it around!!
Those high dollar cars of questionable vintage usually have some provenance that makes them desirable. Like a 1 of only 2 made, some well known person previously owned it or it was featured in some high profile movie or something similar.
You’d have to be more than a fan to shell out those kind of bucks for that car…
Take the car apart, sell the parts on Ebay and Craigslist (Ebay is actually a pretty good venue for selling parts, it’s just terrible for whole cars).
Also post to Celica-specific forums. That’s also a good place to sell your car, but unless there’s something special about your car (there isn’t, it isn’t an All-Trac), they aren’t going to pay what you want for the whole thing.
You should know going into it what the most valuable parts are, and how much they go for. For instance, I got 600 bucks for my Miata’s differential (because it was the Torsen LSD).
If you don’t know anything about cars and how they work, you will by the time you’re done with this process. Be warned, it can take months.
When you’re done, you’ll have the carcass hauled off by a scrap yard. (An auto salvage yard won’t be interested, since you’ll have taken all the good stuff off.)