hey guys. About to sell one of my long time projects and will have a little extra cash to buy another car. Been thinking of getting either an sc300 or 400. my budget will be 3500. Was looking for guidance with what you guys would suggest, either a 300 or 400 and ups and downs to either and also what to look for when buying one. Iv always had stick shift cars and i know the 300's are very rare in the 5 speed so was thinking of going for the 400 if i had to get auto because iv never done a v8 but let me hear what you guys think!

 

hmm as far as i know the 400s are rare manual, i say go 400! i have a 92 and i love it. lasts longer than the 300 and shares the same gas mileage so you might as well go for the one with more power. try to go 97+ vvti but 95-96 are 2nd best. i bought mine for 3k with 252k on it a year ago. expect it to be a money pit at first but great in the long run.

 

400's never came in manual (youd have to do a swap, easy enough to do on a 92-94) and the vvt-i's are 98+

 

It really all depends on what you're looking for if you want to stay stock go with a 98+ SC400 as they are rated at 290HP with the VVTI and have some more stylish upgrades. If you're looking at modding go with an OBD1 95 or below SC300 as it has the 2jzge motor in it which is slower t than a 400 stock but has more mods available. I guess it all depends on what your planning on doing with the car. I went with a 400 since they are faster and ride better stock with the V8.

 

Only expect a money pit if you buy a bad one...I made that mistake a while ago thinking I'd repair everything and fix the exterior/interior. Make a smart buy at first and you'll be fine. It needs to pass three of four of these in very good/mint condition. Exterior, Interior, Engine, Suspension.

After following that criteria, my new SC400 is great. Interior is mint, mechanically sound, suspension is great, exterior has dings and dents...three of four.

 

A OBD2 car can be a PITA to deal with as opposed to OBD1! So in short look for a 95 or older SC300 to start with. If your mods will be conservative then Find the nicest one you can find in a color you like and just go from there. For instance i'm not sure how you can get rid of a check engine light when doing a manual swap on an auto car. The sc400 specifically. Now on a SC300 you could just get an manual ecu and be done.

 

^ there's threads all over the forum on how to do it

 

im aware the 400s never came in manual, hence why i stated their "rarity". in 96 the motor was upgraded so it is slightly faster.

 

thanks for the replies guys! my mods will probably be simple for whatever one i get, (lowering springs, wheels, intake, exhaust, other bolt on mods) I honestly probably wont go ahead and do a manual swap because i have a truck that is my main project that im sinking most of my money into lol heres a pic of it (2011 X-Runner)

 

I'd love to have a X-Runner as my truck. I'd love to 2j em both, match everything and die happy.

 

haha yeah they are sweet trucks. this is my 2nd one. you should get one and 2JZ it because it actually hasnt been done to a xrunner before. a couple people are doing LS swaps tho