93 MK2 MR2- 63k £2-2.5k?

[Shamone]

Hello!

I trust you are all well,

In need of a bit of advice really,

A good friend of mine has recently been forced to say goodbye the love of his life (his Evo VI ) due to new house and the need for a cheaper car. A few of the possible replacements so far include a 306 (or 206 but not as keen) GTi 6.

However, a colleague of his has a neighbour, with a white 1992 MR2 MK2 t-bar for sale, 63k genuine miles and has just passed its MOT (Leather seats, electric windows, radio and CD etc)and SHE has had it from new.

Here's what Mate's colleague say's:

"I had a look at it last night and it looks good, not bad for a mid engined, rear wheel drive. Let me know if you want to see it/drive it. I reckon he would settle for something less than asking price (£2500) for a quick deal/good home."

so really what I'm asking, how are these beasts on running costs and reliability? -

I am aware of toyota's excellent history with this department and it could be a great 2k-ish purchase, but equally a 2k-ish liability?

If anyone (Gazboy i'm looking in you're fountain-of-knowledge direction!) has any info/experience/advice in general that would be useful, then both myself and my Evo-less-depressed friend would be very grateful.

Cheers in advance Guys

Jack

[d-man]

Housemate has one, same vintage but higher miles (95k) and paid <£3k in the height of the summer last year so I'd say you're about right pricewise for a white one now.

9 months and 10k miles later its still going strong, but it has suffered a couple of common MR2 niggles. Firstly, sticking front brake calipers, I messed around with seal kits and freeing them off for 6 months or so but she got a set of recon calipers last weekend which should sort it out for good. Around £150 the pair I think, not entirely sure though. Soon after she bought the car, the clutch master cylinder started leaking, very easy to replace and cost around £60 iirc.

Routine servicing is pretty reasonable and the engine seems bombproof although 63k miles is (over)due a cambelt change, won't see much change out of £300 if it hasn't been done as access is tricky. Fuel economy isn't bad on the non-turbo version either, seems to see high 20s most of the time with a fair bit of town driving.

The non-turbo isn't that quick and most of the power is over 4.5k RPM. It'll happily go all the way to the redline all day long though. Might be a disappointment if you're coming from an Evo though.

Ok so it isn't my car, but I like it and think it was a great buy at that sort of money. Drives well, starts on the button every day and hasn't actually let her down yet. Certainly not the money pit a car at that sort of price could be. I'd prefer something a bit quicker, but the turbos are holding their value better and cost a lot more to insure too.

[timmy30]

I own an NA MR2 T-bar, subject to the above all I can say is that the bloody thing has been bullet proof, for that kind of car is cheap to run. I get is serviced at a local garage, nothing special. When it has a new clutch that cost £250, but other than that nothing major in 7 years of ownership, I bought mine with 56k on the clock, currently it's at 165k and going strong.

I get the impression than running costs can be higher on a turbo.

[nicol@]

I am another to vouch for its bullet proof reliability (I had a '93 t-bar).

Your mate might need some driving lessons though...lol, as he will have to adapt his driving style.

[timmy30]

nicol@ said:

I am another to vouch for its bullet proof reliability (I had a '93 t-bar). Your mate might need some driving lessons though...lol, as he will have to adapt his driving style.

too right, I managed to spin mine by taking my foot off the accelerator and breaking on a corner the day after I'd bought it, around went the backend...never again.

My advice would be to book in for a skid pan or track day to get the feel for a mid engined car.