2002 Toyota Mark II BLIT IR-V: owner review

I bought my Toyota Mark II BLIT around 18 months ago, because I really wanted something with a turbo inline six and a wagon. Nothing in the local market provided what I was after, so I sourced this as an import from Japan.

I actually initially wanted a Toyota Crown wagon with the same drivetrain (1JZ-GTE) but found them to be too lacklustre in the handling department. My BLIT and the Crown are similar underneath, only the BLIT is more tuned for performance. For a 20-year-old car it is very well equipped with a lot of cool quirky features that some modern cars don’t even have. My personal favourite is the air purifier with an ion generator.

The noise and power from the legendary 2.5-litre 1JZ-GTE is incredible and I never get over it. It currently has a four-speed auto, but I am slowly gathering the parts for a manual swap. The auto is very nice for daily duties, however.

Obviously, Toyota reliability goes without saying. The only issues I have with the car are simply age-related and just require a little bit of TLC. It’s been utterly bulletproof. I did a 3200km round trip to Sydney and back in it this year and not a single hiccup.

The only thing I really dislike about it is the fuel economy. It’s not disgustingly bad, but it’ll chew through 60L of fuel in about 500km, so if you’re considering one as a family car, bear that in mind.

Overall I love my car. It’s rare, it’s fast, everyone loves it, and honestly if something were to ever happen to it, I’d buy another in a heartbeat. To anyone that’s reading and has been considering something like this or an import in general, please do it, you will thank yourself for it. There are too many cookie-cutter boring cars on the road, so buy something interesting!

Owner: Victor

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