Celica v CLK200

Peteb

I'm sure there'll be some strong opinions on this!:rolleyes: I'm looking to buy a new car. Am currently driving a 2002 1.6 Ford Focus Zetec and wanted to get something sporty-ish and had it tied town to a Celica but then saw a 00 CLK today and got me thinking!
I intend to spend a max of 15k and was looking at 00 Celica 1.8VVTI or a 99/00 Merc CLK200 Elegance.
I do a lot of town driving obviously going to and from work and im wondering is the merc just going drink petrol. I would obviously be looking at something with a FSH, but what are they like for maintaining. The insides in the Merc look tasty with the leather while the Toyota looks a little plastic and flimsy.
Any assistance would be appreciated!!

junkyard

If your 60 buy the Merc but be prepared for a car thats nothing special with a fair few problems, mechanical and electrical. If you want something sporty that won't give much trouble buy the Celica. There are loads of other cars out there to chose from and a lot more exciting too.

unkel

There's nothing sporty about the CLK. It oozes style, class and elegance though, of which the Toyota has none

Peteb

Not too fussed on the excitement of driving, considering im normally stuck in traffic. TBH its really the asthaetics of it. And the merc is just plush..........if not a bit old mannish!

rebel.ranter

Unusual pair to be choosing between! Both are very different cars with different purposes IMO. The Toyota will undoubtedly be more reliable, the Merc more comfortable. Electrical/pneumatic problems in a Merc can be expensive, the Toyota will not be as refined on the road as the Merc. I assume the Merc is an Auto, I've heard Merc manuals are not the way to go, I'm sure the Merc mad guys on here will fill you in here.
The Merc would probably be a nicer place to be in traffic, but the fuel comsumption is more than likely going to be more than the Toyota.
Out on the open road the Toyota will definitely have the edge, but do you really want that? And I doubt it's that earth shatteringly different.

Still can't phathom how these two are being pitted together.....

Biro

unkel wrote:

There's nothing sporty about the CLK. It oozes style, class and elegance though, of which the Toyota has none

Style? Mercs usually have an either love em or hate em kind of following style wise, I like the look of most of them, but the CLK is just horrible looking.
The gen 7 celica is one of the nicest styled coupes you can buy for reasonable money.
Handling wise the Toyota would mop the floor with the clk. Refinement the CLK would have it. Cost of ownership would be back in the toyota's favour. (fuel and servicing costs). Practicallity the CLK would win here again.
Depends on your preference really, they are 2 completely different coupes, each satisifying 2 different types of owners.

Peteb

See, thats the problem! I love the inside of the merc, and the outside of the Celica! I have a tendency to get bored with whatever i drive and get rid of it within a year or two. So i want to find something i can drive do the death and until the loan runs out!! And i just think that the inside of the toyota would get to me within a short time where at least if im sitting in something lovely looking from the inside, i may just last that little bit longer!

The one i was looking at was a manual, and yes i am slightly worried about the fuel consumption on it as i currently driver a 1.6 focus, and im wondering how much more petrol a 2 litre is going to use! Also i only generally pay €300 maintenance on the focus and i dont want to have to start shelling out a bomb for the merc. If anybody knows roughly what the running costs for one of these is, i'd love to here it!

bigkev49-2

Based on aesthetics alone I would go for the Merc. IMO Toyata ruined the Celica with the current incarnation. It's too much of a hairdressers car now when compared to the previous model and the lack of a worthy successor to the 2.0 Turbo GT-Four is another reason I would avoid it.

colly10

Depends what your looking for really, 2 completely different cars. Im not mad on the 99 version CLK (prefer the newer one) but I hate the new model celica. Celica's obviously more reliable but ye shouldn't have any major issues with the CLK.

Just had a look on carzone there, seems like ye'd be hard pushed to pick up a 99 CLK with less than 70k miles for that money. The mileage isn't that high but I personally wouldn't fork out 15k for a car with that kind of mileage on it.

RobAMerc

These cars are from different worlds in my opinion, the CLK would be the no brainer choice for me, I really think the celica is an awful looking thing, and totally devoid of class.

But have a good drive in the CLK, if its not the Kompressor its a bit pedestrian.

stratos

here here robamerc , the komp 200 is very fast in a straight line, the looks of the clk say monte carlo, the celica looks like a truck. Sorry just my opinion, if it helps Iliked the old celicas.

Biro

Unreal the amount of bad taste here. CLK good looking? Celica ugly? Oh dear.. I'd hate to see ye're wives!
The round headlight model celica is not a design classic. The 5th gen was lovely in its day.
As for no sucessor, the gen 7 celica is miles better than the gen 6 dynamically. It's a fantastic FWD car. Maybe there is no replacement for the GT4, but he ain't looking for one of those!

smash

for 15k you can get a 01 celica vvti-190 from the uk.... extra 50bhp, leather spec, newer car!

bo-bo

just bought a clk as my daily driver - i think it will fit the bill very nicely. i drove a celica in the last few weeks aswell. my honest opinion is that the two are so very different, that its really going to be personal preference and not the opinions of others that decide between the 2. take a test drive, see what you think

Gary ITR

I like the clk myself. Not pushed on the current celica, loved every single one before the current one

AntiVirus

Only get a T-Sport Celica or a 190 Celica. The great thing about this car is its engine is a bit of a Doctor jekyll and Mr Hyde. You'll have a load of fun driving this car. It will eat up sharp twisty roads and you'll have good fun keeping the rev's in the lift zone for the extra power.

Just read a couple of the reviews below. Both of those reviews say its "Probably the best handling front wheel drive car you can buy"

http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evolongtermtests/31672/celica_tsport.html
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/index.php?url=/carbycar/index.htm



I think the CLK looks like the 6th Gen Celica but not as nice.

bazz26

Strang comparison as both cars are completly different and aimed at totally different markets.

The MB being more of a comfortable tourer aimed at a more mature audience compared to the Celica's more youthful sporty image.

RobAMerc

Biro wrote:

Unreal the amount of bad taste here. CLK good looking? Celica ugly? Oh dear.. I'd hate to see ye're wives!
/QUOTE]

Let me guess what you drive Biro - em would it be a Celica ?

smash

Well I've just decided to trade up my Celica 190 for a GTO, but I'll miss it! it really is a great car on the road!

Biro

RobAMerc wrote:

Biro wrote:

Unreal the amount of bad taste here. CLK good looking? Celica ugly? Oh dear.. I'd hate to see ye're wives!
/QUOTE]

Let me guess what you drive Biro - em would it be a Celica ?

It would. And you are a merc man if I'm not mistaken. But seriously, of all the mercs out there, you can't honestly believe that the CLK is a nice looking mercedes? The current shape E-class is much nicer, the current c-class, the s-class both out going and just released model, the new c-class coming out, all nice looking cars, the SL is just fantastic looking, I'm not a fan of the CLS, or the CL, but the 00 direction CLK is just a design error. They took an already ugly e-class (last generation one from 98 approx on till 02 was it?) and just mashed the end down a bit to make a coupe.
Really, I'd agree that because it does reflect a typical mercedes look from some angles, and therefore does have a "classey" image, it's not a good looking car, and I can't take anyone seriously if they think it is.
The celica is an excellent design, and for one thats now 8 years old it's the one of the best designs to come from Japan (not that thats hard, usually jap motors are chronic boring).
I can understand liking some cars and disliking others, but there is such a thing of a good design no matter whether it's liked or not. The skyline for example is an ugly car but I love the looks of them. The gullwing merc wouldn't be my favourite car to look at, but it's a fantastic design, an all time classic, I can't deny that. My point is that I'm looking at these subjectibly and artistically, and putting aside personal opinion. If like the look of a mk 4 golf thats fine, but it's not a good looking car. If you don't like the look of a gen 7 celica thats fine too, but it's not an ugly car.

RobAMerc

Biro wrote:

It would. And you are a merc man if I'm not mistaken.

Thats right you are mistaken. BMW and Fiat at the mo

Biro

RobAMerc wrote:

Thats right you are mistaken. BMW and Fiat at the mo

Touché...

You get my point though?

Peteb

Like i said, i know they are two completely opposite cars which is why i am so torn!! I would love to own a Merc but dont want to find out that im sticking 100 euro of juice into it every week just to get to work and having to fork out a mortgage payment just to service the thing!!

Any one know if the Celica can fit a set or two of golf clubs in the boot..........could really sway this decision!!

RobAMerc

I imagine the Celica can - but I doubt the Merc will cost that much more than the Celica to own and I am sure its worth the difference.

AntiVirus

I own a Celica and always thought there would be enough room for a set of golf clubs without having to put the rear seats down but I don't play golf.

But on edmunds.com, there Long term Celica test says

"The trunk proved to be unexpectedly deep and roomy," Phil wrote in his log. "It gobbled up two sets of golf clubs and left room for our camping gear. Some of it had to go into the backseat, but it wasn't like it required any skill to pack it."

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/LongTerm/articleId=44024/pageId=5731

cpoh1

How old is the op?

If you want a drivers car go with the celica, itll be much more fun to drive. If you want to show off and have the status and brand name get the merc. The merc is underpowered and not as reliable as people would have you believe. If I was 40+ id have the merc, but the celica is still a cracking car and much better looking and more fun to drive than the st202 older model (bar the st205 gt4).

unkel

Biro wrote:

the 00 direction CLK is just a design error

How can you say that? :eek:

The C208 is a design classic worthy of its W124, W123 and W114/W115 coupe predecessors, albeit not with the same build quality

Biro wrote:

I'm looking at these subjectibly and artistically, and putting aside personal opinion

Ah, right Ted!

Peteb

Im 29......and confused!! Will i throw a Beemer 2000 318 coupe into the mix.........hmmmmm??

AntiVirus

Just go out and test drive them and pick one. Everyone here will have a different opinion on what car to get, they all have good points, they all have bad points.

Peteb wrote:

I would love to own a Merc

Buy it then. If you only intend on keeping the car for a year or so, so don't focus to much on the running costs. If you drive the Celica like a maniac its going to drink fuel so cost as much as a Merc to run.

unkel

Wise words from AntiVirus. Go out and try them!

colly10

Peteb wrote:

Im 29......and confused!! Will i throw a Beemer 2000 318 coupe into the mix.........hmmmmm??

You should, the 318 CI is the best looking car out of the 3 without question