WHy does everyone forget about the Celica?

[GTS808]

I was reading the SCC article about the 2002 SVT Focus. Here are some qoutes from the article."Ford goes after the Civic Si and Sentra SE-R.", "The Subaru WRX, Nissan SE-R Spec V and the Mazda MP3 are examples of automakers hearing the wants of it's young customers and delivering the goods.", "Considering the copetition-RSX and the SE-R Spec V it's no surprise SVT equipped the car with a Getrag six-speed"

Now isn't the GTS a 6 speed? They can't say price range because the RSX Type cost more than the est. price of the SVT focus. The Mazda MP3 is far from a performace car. The Civic Si isn't even out in the US yet.

SCC has a project Celica and the XS turbo kit has been available for a while but do they install it on the Celica? Nope. But when the Matrix comes out they're all over it. What's one of the first things they install? Yup, the XS turbo kit. They have a comparison article with the RSX Type S and the WRX wagon? What's up with that? Sometimes I think that magazines help to contribute to the no-aftermarket support of our cars. SCC mentions that the Celica is one of the 8 great rides 2 years in a row yet they don't do anything for it. Do they just not like the car as much as they say they do?

[MarkyMark]

I'd guess that anything that competes with the civic will get the most attention b/c it's the most popular car out....people want to buy a car that costs practically nothing...I never see GTS's b/c I just flat out think people can't afford them. Plus, toyota must have a marketing department made of f*cking a$sholes - I've yet to see ONE good marketing campaign for the celica that they've made yet - notice that even the "toyota clearence" commercials show just about everything but celicas in them. You'll also never see a celica in a toyota showroom. Until they hire marketers who wake up, the celica will never become noticed.

[dragonfrog]

except by the cops.....

[Keyshawn]

Anyone have any hard evidence about how many units each car in our sport compact segment is selling? Could it be that we get less attention because more of those other cars are sold? Anyone have a link to a site that gives statistical info about how many units of each make and model are sold each year?

[The Wok]

MT said something in the 3-way shootout between the GT-S, RSX-S, and the Eclipse GT that the 2000 Celica sales were up something like 300% over the 1999 model, but was still significantly less than 2000 sales of Eclipses. I'll dig up the article when I have the time.

[dragonfrog]

i can agree with that. there are way more eclipses than celicas here. i'd say 1 celica for every 4 eclipses that i see.

[Keyshawn]

Originally posted by The Wok
MT said something in the 3-way shootout between the GT-S, RSX-S, and the Eclipse GT that the 2000 Celica sales were up something like 300% over the 1999 model, but was still significantly less than 2000 sales of Eclipses. I'll dig up the article when I have the time.

Thanks for reminding me about that. I actually have that mag, but forgot about the sales info. Anyway they have some info, but it is for the 2000 model year and only includes the Chevy Cavalier, Eclipse, Celica, and Integra (but also adds Honda's RSX sales estimates for 2001):

2000 Sales:
4. Integra - 25,595 units (estimates for the RSX in 2001 are about 31,000)
3. Celica - about 52,000 units (up over 300% over 1999 model - last year of the 6th gen).
2. Eclipse - 71,307 units (up 15% over 1999 model - last year of previous gen).



...and can you believe that the #1 selling sport compact by far ( and it ain't even close) is the Chevy Cavalier?! It sold 272,122 units in 2000.

Goes to show, there are alot of dumbasses that don't know anything about cars out there!

[zMaN]

It could also be that the cavelier is a hell of a lot cheaper than the celica. I know that if I could not afford a celica or integra or eclipse I would go looking for a cheaper thrill. That combined with the fact that there are a lot of dumb people out there who buy american simply because it is american would explain it.

[GTS808]

I think part of the reason why the eclipse sells so well is that they have a convertable model. There is a whole different type of buyer who buys them. So if they want a sport compact convertable there isn't much choice out there.

Yeah I see a massive amount of Cavaliers out here in hawaii. So I can see how it's the number 1 selling sport compact.

[dragonfrog]

plus you'll find an 80 year old driving a cavalier whereas u won't find one driving a celica..

[gts24]

I'm going to address a couple things here.

1. Reason for lots of cavaliers...... Great financing. Celica never ever gets the "spring fling event" financing when other toyota's have 2.x% financing.
2. The sad thing about people "staying American" when they buy a car is lack of research. I had a cavalier, and the thing was made in MEXICO......
3. The Eclipse is everywhere compared with our car, once again, this goes back to financing. Mitsubishi WANTS TO SELL THIS CAR. and they offer everything from 0.0 to 2.3 financing........
ALSO, have you ever been to a thrifty/budget/blah blah rental car company, they have a eclipse's everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GTS808]

Originally posted by gts24
2. The sad thing about people "staying American" when they buy a car is lack of research.

Or when people used to buy the Geo line of cars from GM. They were either Toyotas or Suzukis.

[gts24]

Originally posted by GTS808


Or when people used to buy the Geo line of cars from GM. They were either Toyotas or Suzukis.


Or how they buy "Chevy's" now that GM simply killed the Geo name and instead slap the Chevy Sticker on the same line of cars.

I have a friend who's uncle is interested in the Vibe...... He said he'd never buy a japanese car but since this version of the Matrix "made" by pontiac, he'll go with it...

[dragonfrog]

btw - did u see that vibe in super street? it's in the new sport compact car. apparently it has a GT-R badge on it. although it's got the body kit and rims, pontiac didn't even touch the engine. it's sad...


Originally posted by gts24

Or how they buy "Chevy's" now that GM simply killed the Geo name and instead slap the Chevy Sticker on the same line of cars.

I have a friend who's uncle is interested in the Vibe...... He said he'd never buy a japanese car but since this version of the Matrix "made" by pontiac, he'll go with it...

now THAT is stupid. still a friggin jap engine. argghh. pisses me off how ignorant people are. just change the name to an american brand, and it's okay. hell, half of the parts they use prob say "Made in China". :D

[GTS808]

Originally posted by dragonfrog
btw - did u see that vibe in super street? it's in the new sport compact car. apparently it has a GT-R badge on it. although it's got the body kit and rims, pontiac didn't even touch the engine. it's sad...

Well actually it has a exhaust system and a Ram-Air mod to add 10 HP.

[dragonfrog]

i stand corrected. in the march ed. of scc an article mentioned that there weren't any engine mods in it. that must have been prev to them adding that then.

[djm221]

Originally posted by dragonfrog
i stand corrected. in the march ed. of scc an article mentioned that there weren't any engine mods in it. that must have been prev to them adding that then.
They are probably referring to the Vibe shown at SEMA, which was badged as a "GT-R" which had the little hood scoop ram air thing. The only thing on that car that is "american" is the body panels. As far as I know, everything else is Corolla or Celica.

Don't worry, SCC isn't the only one ignoring the Celica in that sport compact thing. Autoweek and Automobile did the same exact thing. Sometimes, almost always, I think there is only one big magazine company that prints 20 different magazine names, all the articles are almost identicle. I get Road and Track, Car and Driver, and Motor Trend, and every month they cover the same exact things.

As for that Protoge MP3 comment. Oddly enough, in every comparison I read, they can't say enough about how fun it is to drive and how great the handling and steering is, if only it had a little more power, it would destroy everything else (sport compact car-wise).

[nick450hp]

Let's talk quality here; We got cavaliers here, that thing will self-destruct after 90,000miles because GM programs em that way. A toyota will last forever all of my family's toyotas have massive mileage on them, and they are absolutely flawless. My dad travels alot for sales trips and his old Camry had 315,000 miles on it with original trans, engine, clutch, everything! He sold it to another salesman who now has the car in Toyota's 500,000+ mile club, and the car is still fine! The one thing you can never account for from a magazine article is quality. Sure the Celica and other Toyots might be more expensive up front, but it will last forever, and be cheaper in the long run. Toyota reliability is the one thing that kills any honda, mitsubishi, or chevy! Magazines would be all over the Celica if they kept the thing for longer than a one-year test, plus magazines never do reliabity, it's price and performance to them. Toyota all the way!

[yakkosmurf]

Originally posted by dragonfrog
plus you'll find an 80 year old driving a cavalier whereas u won't find one driving a celica..
There are two guys in their 70s driving Celicas around me. One has an auto GTS, the other an auto GT.

[yakkosmurf]

The Celica being left out also might be because it's old news. It came out in 2000. Integras were around in 2000, and SCC covered them quite a bit then. Now there are a lot of new models that weren't out in 2000 or 2001. They are the hot topic. With so many new models, they simply bump the Celica. I'm not saying I agree with the practice, I'm just saying why I think it's happening.

[Keyshawn]

Originally posted by nick450hp
Let's talk quality here; We got cavaliers here, that thing will self-destruct after 90,000miles because GM programs em that way. A toyota will last forever all of my family's toyotas have massive mileage on them, and they are absolutely flawless. My dad travels alot for sales trips and his old Camry had 315,000 miles on it with original trans, engine, clutch, everything! He sold it to another salesman who now has the car in Toyota's 500,000+ mile club, and the car is still fine! The one thing you can never account for from a magazine article is quality. Sure the Celica and other Toyots might be more expensive up front, but it will last forever, and be cheaper in the long run. Toyota reliability is the one thing that kills any honda, mitsubishi, or chevy! Magazines would be all over the Celica if they kept the thing for longer than a one-year test, plus magazines never do reliabity, it's price and performance to them. Toyota all the way!

Good point, but I don't think Honda can be included with the others. Honda and Toyota are on par with each other above the rest when it comes to reliability.

[dragonfrog]

Originally posted by yakkosmurf

There are two guys in their 70s driving Celicas around me. One has an auto GTS, the other an auto GT.

really?! i've never seen anyone over 30 in one. i stand corrected yet again. geez....

[yakkosmurf]

Ironically, both of them drive white Celicas. It matches the color of their hair. :D

Hey I was sitting here on my lap top the other day and I was SOOO surprised to actually see a CELICA commercial. I had never seen one before. It was about a red celica sitting infront of a bunch of houses and this guy is yelling about something about how fast it looks. "Looks fast" Motto. I was like "wow a celica commercial"

[nick450hp]

Originally posted by koober1
Hey I was sitting here on my lap top the other day and I was SOOO surprised to actually see a CELICA commercial. I had never seen one before. It was about a red celica sitting infront of a bunch of houses and this guy is yelling about something about how fast it looks. "Looks fast" Motto. I was like "wow a celica commercial"

I saw that awhile back, too. It was for the action package option, their were 2 comercials, in one the old guy yells at a parked celica that it is going to fast in a neighborhood, and the second was the same scene and the celica is parked again and a cop car comes flying by and slams on its brakes with its flashers going, realizes its parked and drives off. I was shocked to see it too. In both comercials it was a red celica GT with the action package, so toyota did do some marketing on the airwaves for a short time.

[dragonfrog]

wow. i hadn't seen the cop one. i've seen the old guy and then the dog. but only once, and then no more. the dog, if u haven't seen it, come running from behind the house at full speed, thinkin' it's chansing a fast car. then slams into the parked celi.

[nick450hp]

Originally posted by dragonfrog
wow. i hadn't seen the cop one. i've seen the old guy and then the dog. but only once, and then no more. the dog, if u haven't seen it, come running from behind the house at full speed, thinkin' it's chansing a fast car. then slams into the parked celi.

I remember the dog one now that was probably the funniest one of them all! A guy down the street from me has a 2001 Celica GT and my stupid neighbors have the dumbest dog in the world, I was trying to see if the dog would actually do that. Boy, it's sad we're rating how funny a Celica comercial is- time for me to lay off the television for awhile and step outside i'd say!

[redtuna]

I've never seen a celica commercial in canada before... I do get all the american channels too(DirectTV) Closest thing I've seen to a celica commercial is the michelin commercial with the celica.... At least I think its michelin..

[Maelfyn]

The Mazda MP3 has better slalom times than ferraris

[Z24and GT]

the reason the cavalier sells so much is because they are used extensivly as a rental car.

[2001redgts]

Originally posted by Maelfyn
The Mazda MP3 has better slalom times than ferraris

WOW what are you smoking, I want some. You must have some realy good s*** to belive that. LOL

Taken from C&D :With up to 400 pounds of aerodynamic downforce available at high speeds, Ferrari expects the 360MC to achieve greater than 1.50 g of peak lateral acceleration. Turn-in is scalpel-sharp, and the steering is, with apologies to My Cousin Vinny, dead-on-balls accurate.

This form R&T:
Slalom 68.5 mph
Skidpad 0.84g

Our Celicas have a .88g lateral acceleration