Anyone had a Toyota GT86?

H

hopz121

Veteran
 Guildford Surrey
Hi all,

I am in the market for a new daily and still have not found the right z4 coupe / e89 to suit my requirements / budget. I have been thinking to expand the search to other brands and then had the brainwave of the Toyota GT86.

I have never driven one but I like the fact its fun RWD, small to park and they come with good spec as standard (something the z4's lack)

I think they should retain value fairly well over the long term too which is one of the requirements of the next daily

Anyone owned one / driven one or have any opinions on them?

Discuss,

Thanks

Ash
 
After 12 years in MR2 Roadsters I bought a GT86 Aero about 5 years ago. The only reason I sold it was because I was fortunate enough to be able to fulfill a dream of buying myself a Porsche for my 55th birthday.
I really liked it, obviously a much more modern car than the roadster, roomier cabin, 2 very small rear seats. Handled very well, though not as well as the roadster. Some people complain about the power level, missing the point of the car Toyota wanted to build. For me it was fine, but tbh I rarely drove of any my cars hard, the S1000r has that role.

I'd happily have one again.

Day I picked it up.

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I had one and traded it in for the E86. This was only because I stopped doing the mileage as COVID started and I’d always wanted an E86. Perhaps I had a subconscious thing about the number 86 :? .

I had it for 5 years and clocked just under 90k. It was an early car in Orange and unusually, an auto.

Personally, I thought it was a great car and I’d be happy to have one again. I was in a TT before. The GT was a little down on grunt, but the top end was better (which entailed a change in driving style). The mk1 TT was a marvel of packaging, but the GT was a lot roomier, you can actually fit adults in the back although the leg room is a bit tight. The ride was amazing in comparison (Audi was very hard), and the handling was just just so much fun. Sure the TT and probably the Z4 would go round corners much quicker, but the GT was so controllable with so little lateral grip on the standard Prius tyres, that fun could be had at much lower speeds. It was a real blast.

The other eye opener for me was how well the autobox worked in a sports car context. You can use the flappy paddles or stir the gearbox with the lever in “manual”. Sport mode was very effective too.

It goes without saying, Toyota servicing was cheap and reliability was absolutely rock solid.

Prices seem to have gone up since I sold mine, which I regret, but I have two Zeds to make up for it now.
 

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The recurring theme I’ve read about them relates to a lack of torque leading to high rpm usage to make progress, they do look good & will no doubt prove reliable though.
Rob
 
My partner has an GT86 2016 model - auto. She loves it and we use it on long trips with the dog - have back seats that he can be secured into so a (tiny) bit more practical! Back seats aren't too functional for passengers really as the leg space aint great.

Driving wise I dont mind it and it is fun around the corners ;) I think if it was a manual I might like it more as the auto (although not too shabby) does have a bit of a delay when you put your foot down.

What I would say is that it has a turning circle of a bus which is annoying when getting it out of tight streets near where we are. Additionally my Mrs got hers from Stephen Eagle and we had to get it serviced from a Toyota garage to keep the warranty on it. Got to admit, I have never dealt with such a symbolic company before. The one in Colchester dropped a box of screws on the boot when we went for the first service and then denied it all but were happy to give us a free service for the "hassle". The dash cameras were disconnected after we dropped it off too which is always a worrying sign I feel.

More recently it serviced at a Stephen Eagle in Hertfordshire and again the Mrs got fobbed off. Car was in for day for its MOT and service. They rung at 5pm (after having the car at 8am) to say that it had been sat in the sun all day and so the spark plugs were too hot to be removed so they would need it for another day - oh and it was a Friday so we weren't going to get it until Monday! Again the dash cameras were disconnected when we got the car back...

In short - not a bad car but don't get one through a Stephen Eagle Toyota Garage!
 
No but Toyota's and lexus are both fantastic cars. We have a lexus at the moment and was thinking of trading it in for a Toyota SUV. The GT86 is/was a brilliant car looks wise. A bit like a budget supra.

To be fair they look like a fantastic option given current fuel prices and how much petrol a 3 litre E85/E86 drinks.

I highly recommend Toyota and lexus as very reliable cars so long as you buy petrol and bare minimum 2 litre engine. The smaller engines have minor issues and you just can't trust diesel these days with all the crap they have added to them. Turbos, egr valves, dpf, etc.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, some very good looking cars and some great responses. I would probably take the car to a specialist near me so hopefully wouldn’t need to deal with the main dealers. They seem silly cheap to maintain to be fair and fairly reliable on the whole.

There is plenty of aftermarket companies who have sorted the torque dip too with a light remap and new manifold which apparently changes the drivability even more so.

I am in talks about one for sale so fingers crossed it all works out.
 
hopz121 said:
Thanks for the replies guys, some very good looking cars and some great responses. I would probably take the car to a specialist near me so hopefully wouldn’t need to deal with the main dealers. They seem silly cheap to maintain to be fair and fairly reliable on the whole.

There is plenty of aftermarket companies who have sorted the torque dip too with a light remap and new manifold which apparently changes the drivability even more so.

I am in talks about one for sale so fingers crossed it all works out.
Click to expand...

Oh they arent too bad to work on and, like you say, loads of places to get it modded. If it was mine I would tinker with it more but not worth the headache from the mrs when I inevitably cock it up.
 
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