MRT - Fresh Import
Discussion
Ok. I've asked my local jap importer to get me a car.
MR2, GTS Turbo, hardtop. I asked for it in Light Blue. He said they're ultra-rare.
Since then I have been told;
a) He's not asking much money for it (his est £3k - for a '93)
b) They didn't make them in light blue until later, so he won't be able to get one anyway
c) It'll be impossible to sell as virtually everyone wants a Black T-Bar
[i] (multiple sources on all this information, but particular thanks to Gaz and MrFlibbles) [/i]
So.
Tomorrow I'm test driving a fresh-import MR2. It's a '92 or '93, (I can't remember).
Black, T-bar top. Comes with 1yrs MOT and 6 months tax. Not sure on the mileage. £3,500.
The questions;
1) Is it too cheap? Comparable cars on autotrader seem a lot more expensive.
That said I've visited him and he also has two skylines (both black, a 93 and a 95 GTS, one 'race prepped' on standard) that also seem to be well under-priced for the spec/mileage.
Should I be suspicious?
He openly admits that he buys them from auction and sometimes the body needs tidying, but the cars he has in at the moment look immaculate.
2) What sort of issues can I expect from a fresh import?
All help appreciated...
MR2, GTS Turbo, hardtop. I asked for it in Light Blue. He said they're ultra-rare.
Since then I have been told;
a) He's not asking much money for it (his est £3k - for a '93)
b) They didn't make them in light blue until later, so he won't be able to get one anyway
c) It'll be impossible to sell as virtually everyone wants a Black T-Bar
[i] (multiple sources on all this information, but particular thanks to Gaz and MrFlibbles) [/i]
So.
Tomorrow I'm test driving a fresh-import MR2. It's a '92 or '93, (I can't remember).
Black, T-bar top. Comes with 1yrs MOT and 6 months tax. Not sure on the mileage. £3,500.
The questions;
1) Is it too cheap? Comparable cars on autotrader seem a lot more expensive.
That said I've visited him and he also has two skylines (both black, a 93 and a 95 GTS, one 'race prepped' on standard) that also seem to be well under-priced for the spec/mileage.
Should I be suspicious?
He openly admits that he buys them from auction and sometimes the body needs tidying, but the cars he has in at the moment look immaculate.
2) What sort of issues can I expect from a fresh import?
All help appreciated...
Best I can do for a link is;
http://dealerservices.autotrader.co.uk/GetDealer.do?did=11943&pageid=1
They're called Jap Sports (wow) and are located near East Finchley.
http://dealerservices.autotrader.co.uk/GetDealer.do?did=11943&pageid=1
They're called Jap Sports (wow) and are located near East Finchley.
The good news
*1yr MOT
*6 months tax
*Excellent rear bridgestones (V-rated)
*Worn out V-rated fronts (which will be replaced in the MOT)
*Even brake wear side-to-side
*Lots of life left in the brakes
*Immaculate interior (recaro seats)
*CD Player
*Standard wheels/air-filter/exhaust
*White sidelights in time for MOT
*Engine sweet at idle/while revving (no plates/tax etc yet so no test drive)
*No warning lights on dash
To Check
It was raining so I wasn't going to give it the full going over just yet
*Oil
*Coolant
*LSD fitted?
*Indicated age of car on seatbelt tags
*Turbo pressure
*Any sign of turbo wear
*Any 'Mayo' in oil cap/oil in coolant water
*Spare tyre, docs etc
The Bad
It was VERY steamy inside and smelled musty, implying massive leak problems (although it wasn't actually dripping in the rain).
The man said it had been left open earlier and got soaked. He said he'd dry it and when I come back for a test-drive I could hold a hose on it and see what happened.
*Front bumper had cracked paint, indicating a minor shunt.
*Terrible touch up on leading edge of front wing (only small though)
*Marks along the front wing (paint not broken but it looks nasty - any way to get rid of these?)
*Speedo/Odo both in KM/H, dealer has no intention of changing them. He sells all his cars like this (how the hell do they get an MOT???)
*Broken clip for engine lid rod (bit of wire instead).
It's the apparent leak and KM/H speedo that puts me off this car, aside from that it's great. He said the price would depend how much it took to MOT it.
He said (and I quote);
"Didn't want this car as there's no profit in them but my partner sent it anyway".
He says he'll sell for about £3k, depending on MOT bills.
So - opinions?
And how much will a speedo conversion set me back?
Cheers,
Al.
(by the way, insurance should be 700-800 quid, and I haven't even asked Dorset (via MR2OC) yet.
*1yr MOT
*6 months tax
*Excellent rear bridgestones (V-rated)
*Worn out V-rated fronts (which will be replaced in the MOT)
*Even brake wear side-to-side
*Lots of life left in the brakes
*Immaculate interior (recaro seats)
*CD Player
*Standard wheels/air-filter/exhaust
*White sidelights in time for MOT
*Engine sweet at idle/while revving (no plates/tax etc yet so no test drive)
*No warning lights on dash
To Check
It was raining so I wasn't going to give it the full going over just yet
*Oil
*Coolant
*LSD fitted?
*Indicated age of car on seatbelt tags
*Turbo pressure
*Any sign of turbo wear
*Any 'Mayo' in oil cap/oil in coolant water
*Spare tyre, docs etc
The Bad
It was VERY steamy inside and smelled musty, implying massive leak problems (although it wasn't actually dripping in the rain).
The man said it had been left open earlier and got soaked. He said he'd dry it and when I come back for a test-drive I could hold a hose on it and see what happened.
*Front bumper had cracked paint, indicating a minor shunt.
*Terrible touch up on leading edge of front wing (only small though)
*Marks along the front wing (paint not broken but it looks nasty - any way to get rid of these?)
*Speedo/Odo both in KM/H, dealer has no intention of changing them. He sells all his cars like this (how the hell do they get an MOT???)
*Broken clip for engine lid rod (bit of wire instead).
It's the apparent leak and KM/H speedo that puts me off this car, aside from that it's great. He said the price would depend how much it took to MOT it.
He said (and I quote);
"Didn't want this car as there's no profit in them but my partner sent it anyway".
He says he'll sell for about £3k, depending on MOT bills.
So - opinions?
And how much will a speedo conversion set me back?
Cheers,
Al.
(by the way, insurance should be 700-800 quid, and I haven't even asked Dorset (via MR2OC) yet.
I got my quotes off Autotraders' insurance section. Bell and (suprisingly) Asda are usually cheapest. I called Adrian flux a while back (I was 23) and they offered £1,600 but with a silly excess.
I'm now 24 and have virtually 7 yrs driving, no points and full NCB if that helps..
I'm hoping to test-drive the car today (just for the comparrison to the last one). It wasn't UK registered yesterday and had no plates, tax or MOT on it. Couldn't see that going down well with Plod so I left it.
I agree with the majority opinion on here that this wouldn't be a good buy, due to the leaky T-bar, but I'm definately going to ask this bloke to bring in a hardtop GTS for me.
This car looks pretty good, considering the low mileage, 4 good tyres, MOT and tax.
I'm certainly not afraid to fit a converter myself either.
At 3k it's cheap compared to many I've seen; it hasn't been messed with and seems to have been looked after.
If I do a search on Autotrader around Lincolnshire (where my car will spend most of it's life) cars with similar spec, but vastly higher mileages, are coming up over £1.5k more expensive.
I'm told turbos start to die around 60,000 miles if not looked after. This one is approaching that now, but at least if the worst happens I'll get in there early and stop it damaging anything else...
Does all of this sound reasonable?
I'm now 24 and have virtually 7 yrs driving, no points and full NCB if that helps..
I'm hoping to test-drive the car today (just for the comparrison to the last one). It wasn't UK registered yesterday and had no plates, tax or MOT on it. Couldn't see that going down well with Plod so I left it.
I agree with the majority opinion on here that this wouldn't be a good buy, due to the leaky T-bar, but I'm definately going to ask this bloke to bring in a hardtop GTS for me.
This car looks pretty good, considering the low mileage, 4 good tyres, MOT and tax.
I'm certainly not afraid to fit a converter myself either.
At 3k it's cheap compared to many I've seen; it hasn't been messed with and seems to have been looked after.
If I do a search on Autotrader around Lincolnshire (where my car will spend most of it's life) cars with similar spec, but vastly higher mileages, are coming up over £1.5k more expensive.
I'm told turbos start to die around 60,000 miles if not looked after. This one is approaching that now, but at least if the worst happens I'll get in there early and stop it damaging anything else...
Does all of this sound reasonable?
MrFlibbles said:
AL!
I honestly think that all of these horror stories about handling are unfounded. Mine is very predictable as long as you give it just a tiny bit of respect.
First point;
I'm only after the N/A till I get off this BA
ARD training scheme and onto real money. I'd be looking to upgrade this time next year. I personally thought a 180 bhp G-Limited would be a pretty good step towards turbo ownership. Am I wrong?
Second Point;
It's not the handling that scares me - I'm fine with the concept of mid/rear engine, having learnt to drive with a combination of a kart circuit and powerful off-road buggies. My natural style on road is slow-in fast-out which works quite well from a safety point of view.
The part that scares me is the potential for massive bills. I'll be borrowing the money (in addition to my *cough* large university debt) to both buy and insure this car. A £500 turbo repair I could live with, but what if the head goes 6 months later? What if the turbo goes in a big way and takes out the rings/bores, requiring a new engine? You get the idea..
Last time I was looking at one Gaz was kind enough to describe a few 'teething problems' with his car, and this time you've posted on the rolling road thread and mentioned a possible blown turbo.
I've test driven two MR2s and both were utterly knackered.
I know these aren't typical examples, (you never hear about the thousands of them that simply work all day every day) but they're all I have to go off.
The last car I owned was an Escort converitble 1.6; that was a money pit and I spent ages regretting buying it. I'd really really really rather wait until I can blow £5k on it and live in peace...
Can we have a quick vote?
Should Alan;
a) Buy an MRT now, on borrowed cash and pray it doesn't break
b) Buy the MR2 G-Ltd and wait till he can realistically afford the MRT
c) Stick with the trusty (but 130bhp) Rover until he wins the lottery/dies of car-related boredom
Despite the Anti-MRT tirade above I am still actually torn between a & b. It is a severe case of head Vs heart & adrenaline gland. All I can promise is that I will do one or the other!
MrFlibbles said:
Al, the above post reads very much like my story.
If i didnt have the financial security that I have now, the 2 would probbaly have been sold.
I have got good job security, it's just I haven't got good pay...
MrFlibbles said:
personally, I think i could've spent my money more wisely - but thats not what PHing is about is it?
No it isn't, but neither is it about a nice car that's on axle stands pending your next three paycheques...
MrFlibbles said:
Ultimatly, if you couldn't afford to fix minor niggles then getting the car is a bad idea -
I'll fix the minor ones myself. Between a few friends and I we have 25 yrs experience of fixing jap turbos. It's the terrifyingly large niggles that worry me.
MrFlibbles said:
however, it must be noted that the problems I've encountered could've happened to an NA car too.
This is true...
MrFlibbles said:
I've never been in in an NA let alone driven one, so I cant really comment on them - didnt think they were 180bhp though? Thought they were more like 160?
Most are 150bhp IIRC. I've driven several and they're crap. I've raced two of them at once on one occasion (in the mighty Rover) and minced the pair of them. Three times.
MrFlibbles said:
Flibbles final thought: Escort Convertible?
Oi!
Yeah I know. I wanted a '2 even then but the insurance crippled me.. That was the best I could do!
It has to be said, in spite of my best efforts I'm not doing a good job of talking myself out of this...
I've spent an hour looking at them now when I'm cold and wet (from a rainy day on site) and really should have gone home by now.
BTW Russ, they did do them in Carribean blue, there's two for sale in my local area... Both T-bars though.
Edited repeately due to ineptitude with keybroad.
>> Edited by _Al_ on Saturday 30th July 20:00
Gazboy said:
As an asiode, Dan's MR2 would murder your rover, so it's still a nice enough jump to keep the enthusiasm sky-high.
I don't doubt it would, that's why I'm interested!
Gazboy said:
if you are worried about the bills, shouldn't you be worried about the Rover too?
The rover has actually proved near-unbelievably cheap. £350 a yr to insure, normally manages over 35mpg on a run, simple DIY maintenance, very kind to its' tyres...
It has spoilt me silly in all fairness. The only problems have been a new sensor cluster and a gearbox (which I replaced myself for £250).
The only problems with it are;
*Average looks
*'Acceptable' performance
*Novelty suspension
*Distorted flywheel, causes vibration on taking up drive in 1st/reverse gear
In other words, nothing a new car couldn't fix.
I can't really say how much performance I want without driving them both. The standard MR2 is slow, but the G-Limited doesn't sound like it will be.
The turbo should be mind-blowing.
When I come off my current 12 hour day-shifts (tuesday) I'm going to look at a couple more. I want to have the new machine sorted before winter comes along and makes life tricky.
You can't take either of them for a blat in the snow!
This thread (and the long running saga behind it!) should have a final conclusion in the next 3-4weeks.
Of course it'll re-surface next year if I buy the NA - which is probably the best reason to buy a turbo!
>> Edited by _Al_ on Sunday 31st July 19:01
The turbo should be mind-blowing.
When I come off my current 12 hour day-shifts (tuesday) I'm going to look at a couple more. I want to have the new machine sorted before winter comes along and makes life tricky.
You can't take either of them for a blat in the snow!
This thread (and the long running saga behind it!) should have a final conclusion in the next 3-4weeks.
Of course it'll re-surface next year if I buy the NA - which is probably the best reason to buy a turbo!
>> Edited by _Al_ on Sunday 31st July 19:01
Gazboy said:
I'll tell you this now - if you drive a tubby back to back against the n/a, you'll buy the turbo, it has so much more mid-range and reach.
I'm yet to experience it - can't wait. Been after one of these for so long I can virtually taste it..
I want a car that can make my adrenal gland wish it had stayed at home..
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