Toyota MR2 MK3 what to look for?
Discussion
I didn’t buy the one mentioned above. The roof wouldn’t go down on it properly and was getting brittle. I bought a 2004 silver with black leather. Full Toyota service right down to every tyre ever bought going back to day 1 as it’s been a one owner car after Toyota HQ owned it for a year when new. Rear subframe isn’t rusty and no rust ever mentioned on previous MOTs. It’s also got a new in the last 6 months mohair replacement good from Jack the Trimmer in Swansea which is apparently the go to place and he has a 6 month wait. New top alone is worth £850 so pretty happy with that.
Needs a couple of new rear tyres so will just change the full set and I’ll get it an in depth service. Couple of dings and stone chips to sort. Drives really well. Pleased with it as a toy to mess around with.
Needs a couple of new rear tyres so will just change the full set and I’ll get it an in depth service. Couple of dings and stone chips to sort. Drives really well. Pleased with it as a toy to mess around with.
Nexus Icon said:
Sorry, also late on this. They're pretty bulletproof but watch that the drains have been cleared. You can access via the side panels where the cooling ducts are. If they block it can fill the interior "load space" with water when it rains hard.
Yeah I knew that, these appear clean and I left it out in the torrential rain yesterday to check for leaks of anything and everything was dry. Unlike at least one other I looked at which had water in the rear storage bins. craigjm said:
Yeah I knew that, these appear clean and I left it out in the torrential rain yesterday to check for leaks of anything and everything was dry. Unlike at least one other I looked at which had water in the rear storage bins.
Nice one. My wife had one and I loved having a blast in it. I could never have one full time though, as at 6'4" it was far too cramped under the steering wheel to drive all the time.Thread resurrection.
My son wanted a first car he wasn't ashamed of or associated with the pop-bang chav element in these here parts.
After looking at left field options, the MR2 Mk III hoved into view. The learner insurance is not that terrible and a theoretical full policy in a year is also not that terrible and about the same as a lukewarm hatch. The one we bought is a 2000 model in the nice blue metallic with only 50k on the clock. The main things that need doing are the very flaky silver wheels and a condensing headlight that apparently needs a new seal. Lack of use means the front discs look a bit crappy but they may clean up.Tyres are half-decent Yokohamas.
If not, ebay prices are very reasonable for discs, new main cat etc.
Though aware of the pre cat issue, this one has no oil burning tendency. While I would love to gut the pre-cats, the nut heads having rusted off the heat shield doesn't bode well for what a b*st*rd of a job that looks to be - one you probably wished you'd never started if bolts start breaking so we may run the gauntlet as I've seen plenty with well over 100k on the clock.
Overall, though, a pretty cheap car for what it is. Collecting on Wednesday.
My son wanted a first car he wasn't ashamed of or associated with the pop-bang chav element in these here parts.
After looking at left field options, the MR2 Mk III hoved into view. The learner insurance is not that terrible and a theoretical full policy in a year is also not that terrible and about the same as a lukewarm hatch. The one we bought is a 2000 model in the nice blue metallic with only 50k on the clock. The main things that need doing are the very flaky silver wheels and a condensing headlight that apparently needs a new seal. Lack of use means the front discs look a bit crappy but they may clean up.Tyres are half-decent Yokohamas.
If not, ebay prices are very reasonable for discs, new main cat etc.
Though aware of the pre cat issue, this one has no oil burning tendency. While I would love to gut the pre-cats, the nut heads having rusted off the heat shield doesn't bode well for what a b*st*rd of a job that looks to be - one you probably wished you'd never started if bolts start breaking so we may run the gauntlet as I've seen plenty with well over 100k on the clock.
Overall, though, a pretty cheap car for what it is. Collecting on Wednesday.
craigjm said:
The one I bought in October has just flown through its MOT and with its new pilot sport 3 tyres all round drives really well for what it is. I’ve decided I’m going to keep it.
Pleased to hear it. This one only had the headlight and discs as advisories.There was a similar car in Yorkshire for the same money with the leather interior but leather can be mighty cold and it was too far away
Have you considered knocking out the pre-cats?
craigjm said:
Mine is a facelift car and is less prone to issues with the pre cats apparently. It doesn’t use any oil.
Owner's manual suggests oil usage of of up to 1 litre every 600 miles as 'normal'. This is over 25% of the total capacity so always worth keeping tabs (even with the very useless dipstick!).And I get bored of supposed pre-cat issues - blown out of proportion by mere hearsay. Cars are now 17-23 years old and the majority that have gone to the graveyard have done so for standard old car reasons. If still standing, is surely going to be fine in that area.
Fady said:
And I get bored of supposed pre-cat issues - blown out of proportion by mere hearsay. Cars are now 17-23 years old and the majority that have gone to the graveyard have done so for standard old car reasons. If still standing, is surely going to be fine in that area.
no that's the problem - the precats break up and its goodbye engine within a couple of hundred miles. It's not a gradual wearing out, and once it happens there is no fix except a new engine. I agree with you - its not massively common, but it IS a thing. I think it was more common on the celicas than MR2, but that could just be that there were a lot more celicas than MR2s?
The simplest solution is remove the precats so it CAN'T happen. A better plan is swap the 140 for a 190+supercharger, or a 2GRFE V6...
RedAndy said:
Fady said:
And I get bored of supposed pre-cat issues - blown out of proportion by mere hearsay. Cars are now 17-23 years old and the majority that have gone to the graveyard have done so for standard old car reasons. If still standing, is surely going to be fine in that area.
no that's the problem - the precats break up and its goodbye engine within a couple of hundred miles. It's not a gradual wearing out, and once it happens there is no fix except a new engine. I agree with you - its not massively common, but it IS a thing. I think it was more common on the celicas than MR2, but that could just be that there were a lot more celicas than MR2s?
The simplest solution is remove the precats so it CAN'T happen. A better plan is swap the 140 for a 190+supercharger, or a 2GRFE V6...
The pre-cat issue is because the car scavenges it's EGR via the VVTi system so there is no valve you can disconnect. The early cars also had worse piston rings which allowed debris to score the bores and the facelift got better piston rings and fewer issues.
The lesser effect is slightly scored bores and oil consumption but there are many cars out there with well over 100k that have somehow survived.
The main downside of decatting is that it can take over 6 hours. The heat shield nuts in the 2000 model I bought have pretty much disintegrated with rust so removing that alone is a headache..
RedAndy said:
Fady said:
And I get bored of supposed pre-cat issues - blown out of proportion by mere hearsay. Cars are now 17-23 years old and the majority that have gone to the graveyard have done so for standard old car reasons. If still standing, is surely going to be fine in that area.
no that's the problem - the precats break up and its goodbye engine within a couple of hundred miles. It's not a gradual wearing out, and once it happens there is no fix except a new engine. I agree with you - its not massively common, but it IS a thing. I think it was more common on the celicas than MR2, but that could just be that there were a lot more celicas than MR2s?
The simplest solution is remove the precats so it CAN'T happen. A better plan is swap the 140 for a 190+supercharger, or a 2GRFE V6...
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