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Chappy2121 · January 28, 2020

Hi all,

Hoping to buy a Crown Athlete VX in the next few days. Not a lot of information out there on them, (well I haven't found much) wondered if anyone on here had experience with them? If theres anything in particular I should look out for?

Cheers

Ash

steve2006 · January 29, 2020

Hi Ash and welcome to the LOC.

Is it the Toyota Crown you are looking at, mine is also a JDM import, a Toyota Celsior.

Chappy2121 · January 30, 2020

Hi there, yeah crown athlete vx, hoping to pick it up saturday. Next to no info out there on this model as they only made 300, something to do with Yamaha I believe. That's the v8 one? Nice them. I think they share a fair few similar parts. Theres no manuals or service booklet with this but plenty of stickers dotted about I'll have a look on saturday. It looks like it's been very well cared for

LexIS200Sport · January 30, 2020

Sorry can't offer much help but sounds like an interesting car! What model year is it?

Chappy2121 · January 30, 2020

2001 vx model had some input from yamaha, some extra spangly bits over a normal athlete v model. Loads of standard kit similar to a celsior in that respect. These openly admitted breaching the gentlemen's power limit as well. Only car I believe that did at the time so god knows what power it's running. There doesn't seem to be any manuals or a service history other than the stickers. Just paid 3.5k yen (£25) to have a jap hpi check all good and a genuine vx

rich1068 · January 31, 2020

I look forward to seeing it.

Chappy2121 · February 7, 2020

Here she is. Well chuffed. Just had oil and filter done today. You can eat your dinner off the underside. Best condition car I think I've ever had even though it's by far the oldest

steve2006 · February 8, 2020

Amazing looking car, could we have some more pictures of the exterior, interior and the engine bay because I for one have never seen this model before.

Regarding condition mine was the same on import and remains the same by giving it a yearly underbody wash at a local car wash ( no brushes involved just the underside) and jet washing the arches after removing the trim.

Looks a great buy, did you do the importation yourself or use an agent, mine was all ready done on collection so the rear fog was sorted as well as the speedo conversion, by the way how many KMs has it done?

Fancy a drive or the planned meet at Gaydon? Not too far from Lincolnshire and would be good to see it in the metal.

The-Acre · February 8, 2020

Superb! And like Steve says, more (many more) pictures please. I had my Celsior up on the ramp last week for a few checks, the mechanic said it's like a 3 year old car underneath. A good reason to buy an import!

Chappy2121 · February 8, 2020

3 hours ago, steve2006 said:

Amazing looking car, could we have some more pictures of the exterior, interior and the engine bay because I for one have never seen this model before.

Regarding condition mine was the same on import and remains the same by giving it a yearly underbody wash at a local car wash ( no brushes involved just the underside) and jet washing the arches after removing the trim.

Looks a great buy, did you do the importation yourself or use an agent, mine was all ready done on collection so the rear fog was sorted as well as the speedo conversion, by the way how many KMs has it done?

Fancy a drive or the planned meet at Gaydon? Not too far from Lincolnshire and would be good to see it in the metal.

If the weather isn't too terrible tomorrow I'll stick some more up. It's done 75k miles, still in kms at minute I'll leave it that way I think to keep it original. Saw it advertised on eBay from Jap Spares Coventry, they got it in. The chap there Jesse, fantastic would definitely recommend them had some really good cars, old celicas, supra, starlets and a toyota century (google that one). I'd definitely be up for the meet, whenever it is. Got a fair bit on this year, I'm a dad again end of March and then its peak at work, I'm a fridge engineer so mega busy in summer but I should be able to sort something out

Chappy2121 · February 12, 2020

Chappy2121 · February 12, 2020

Here you go guys. It really is immaculate, barely wear at all. Minor damage to the door card where it meets the door sill, looks like the seatbelt has been caught at some point. Just got it back last night from valeters and underseal. Even the "japanese blue wood" looks cool. Only mods I've found are the auto turbo timer, and some random Jap thinks on the dash but that's it. Got a marker light on the bonnet coming from Japan as one is dim

Chappy2121 · February 12, 2020

These are during the underseal that I got done with the valeter

Chappy2121 · February 12, 2020

He even did behind the arch liners. He mentioned he didn't have to do barely any prep at all due to it being so clean

The-Acre · February 12, 2020

Absolutely marvelous. Thanks for the pics.

Chappy2121 · February 12, 2020

There was an athlete v for sale on eBay recently about 40k kms. Only about 5-6k a lot of car for the money. Mine has loads of kit, satnav and tv japanese and not working think it's the aerial needs upgrading to digital. DVD,minidisk, tapedeck and CD player all standard. Electric seats, auto windows all round, heated folding mirrors, dual climate control. Amazong really for the age, oh and the all important swinging air vents. All cars should have this

LexIS200Sport · February 24, 2020

Fantastic car, fantastic condition, fantastic pictures! Thanks for sharing 🙂

Also refreshing to see the indicator and wiper stalks the "correct way around" 😀

Hope you can bring it to the club meet in April!

noby76 · February 24, 2020

clean looking crown.. will definitively be one of a kind on UK roads... they remind me of the W124 Mercedez AMG's

Chappy2121 · February 26, 2020

This one I understand is the only 1 in the UK, and with it being a VX version is one of only 300 made. There is a crown athlete v in Grimsby now not too far from me. Yeah they do look like that era merc and lexus many people have said. I wouldn't fancy running any german metal from that era to be honest I cant imagine how many issues I'd have. Everything on this works. Drivers folding mirror gets stuck intermittently so I need to look at that. Hard to believe it's done 76k miles

DreDre · August 4, 2021

Hey Chappy,

Im currently looking to buy a VX too, we have 3 in the current market here in Australia,

Could you please give me some advice/tips on how to know if it is a genuine VX model?

Like you mention there is **** all information on these models....

Chappy2121 · August 5, 2021

Hi all hope everyone's OK, despite all the madness. Thought I'd just put an update on, as I've had the VX just over a year now and about 7k miles. Had a run down to Cornwall in it a few weeks ago, then across to Skeg then back home 700-800miles and didn't miss a beat. Economy on the run about 35ish mpg which I don't think is too bad usually get about 23mpg.

I've had to replace plugs, leads and coil packs as a preventative measure, done myself, cylinder 6 was a stretch to say the least. Also replaced the A/C comp as it was not pumping, refurbed one from a place down south with a years warranty £300, got it fitted during an oil change then I commissioned it myself, (fridge engineer is my day job) ice cold now best vehicle A/C I've ever used. Had a weep on powersteering res hose, flushed it and nipped the clip. Still not seen another one on the road either. Can highly recommend if you can find one. Cheers

DreDre · August 8, 2021

Thank you for the information @Chappy2121

Ive just purchased one myself here in Australia, 2001 VX with 140xxxkms split image of your VX..your help goes a long way ! 🥰

Chappy2121 · August 9, 2021

No danger, enjoy. They're properly capable despite their large size, and very quick for what they are. The vvti on them is quite a different experience to the Honda vtec I've found. Take it easy 👍. Stick some pictures on when you pick her up

ColinBarber · August 9, 2021

28 minutes ago, Chappy2121 said:

The vvti on them is quite a different experience to the Honda vtec I've found.

VVT and VTEC are different things. Honda's equivalent is VEC (variable timing control).

Toyota's VVTLi incorporates the lift functionality of VTEC in VVTi but that isn't implemented in many Toyota engines.

Chappy2121 · August 9, 2021

Apologies I didn't make myself very clear, I was trying to say about the experience of Vtec and VVti is different as in the sensation whilst driving. The Vtec engagement in my Ep3 CTR was very smooth but the VVti on my 1jz Crown I have currently is almost like you've taken the handbrake off and gained 100hp, it is very brutal. I understand both the technologies is just a way of getting more flexibility out of an engine by changing the valves operation, be it lift or duration.