Toyota MR2 Mk3 (roadster)
Discussion
Evening All. I've done a search, but nowt came up on the first few pages...
...I'm hoping to buy a Mk3 MR2 soon and I'm wondering if there's anything in particular I ought to look out for, such as cambelt changes or regular problems that will need fixing/should have been fixed by previous owners. The car will be in the 2000-2001 age bracket. Any advice appreciated!
Thanks
Andy
...I'm hoping to buy a Mk3 MR2 soon and I'm wondering if there's anything in particular I ought to look out for, such as cambelt changes or regular problems that will need fixing/should have been fixed by previous owners. The car will be in the 2000-2001 age bracket. Any advice appreciated!
Thanks
Andy
If you can go for the later facelift cars.
There can be problems with oil usage on early cars, also failing cats causing problems, as I believe they can break up and get into the engine internals. There is a modification to stop the cat doing this but I would pay a bit more and get a later car.
Later cars had timing chains instead of cam belts, 6 speed box instead of a 5 speed and revised rear lights aswell as front fogs.
There can be problems with oil usage on early cars, also failing cats causing problems, as I believe they can break up and get into the engine internals. There is a modification to stop the cat doing this but I would pay a bit more and get a later car.
Later cars had timing chains instead of cam belts, 6 speed box instead of a 5 speed and revised rear lights aswell as front fogs.
I believe it entails stripping the insides out of the Cat.
Its been a while since I was going to buy one for the Mrs and was reading up on them. We never bought one in the end anyway.
Just have a search of the owners clubs, all the info is out there somewhere.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=840...
Its been a while since I was going to buy one for the Mrs and was reading up on them. We never bought one in the end anyway.
Just have a search of the owners clubs, all the info is out there somewhere.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=840...
Edited by nottyash on Wednesday 9th February 16:37
I believe it entails stripping the insides out of the Cat.
Its been a while since I was going to buy one for the Mrs and was reading up on them. We never bought one in the end anyway.
Just have a search of the owners clubs, all the info is out there somewhere.
http://www.mr2roc.org/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=11&am...
Its been a while since I was going to buy one for the Mrs and was reading up on them. We never bought one in the end anyway.
Just have a search of the owners clubs, all the info is out there somewhere.
http://www.mr2roc.org/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=11&am...
Hi Andy
As always, it is advisable to buy the latest and best condition car to which your budget can stretch. However, if that is a 2000 or 2001 model don't be put off buying one of these great cars.
I had a 2001 model for three years and enjoyed every minute. You can see my comments concerning the model year of the car you are planning to buy in the link mentioned above.
Don't hesitate to come back to me for any specific issues or advice...
As always, it is advisable to buy the latest and best condition car to which your budget can stretch. However, if that is a 2000 or 2001 model don't be put off buying one of these great cars.
I had a 2001 model for three years and enjoyed every minute. You can see my comments concerning the model year of the car you are planning to buy in the link mentioned above.
Don't hesitate to come back to me for any specific issues or advice...
From all that I read before making my purchase it unfortunately appears not... There is a lengthy "sticky topic" on www.mr2roc.co.uk.
Basically it seems that the pre-catalysts (which are housed in the exhaust manifold) are to blame for the engine failures which are the source of the unreliability fears. The pre-cats can break down resulting in ceramic dust being pumped back into the engine scoring the cylinders with predictable results.
On the positive side - this process, once begun, seems to only take a matter of a few miles before the engine is finished! Ergo - if you buy a car with a sound engine and take some simple steps to ensure that the pre-cats cannot break down in the first few weeks of your ownership you should be safe...
I simply replaced the standard pre-cat equipped manifold with a aftermarket exhaust manifold without pre-cats (I can dig out for you the source of the aftermarket manifold if required).
Apart from that I cannot think of any reliability issues with the cars at all. Mine was reliability carsonified - only standard servicing with no additional work required.
When purchasing my car I took a couple of additional steps to try to ensure that my prospective purchase was sound:
1) Even though I was buying from a garage I asked that a Toyota dealer assess the car for me and produce a report, the garage selling the car had no problem with this and for the cost of one hours labour at a main dealer I received a report showing that the car had never been in a major accident and was in good condition.
2) I discussed the engine failure issue directly with the garage and negotiated a discount in exchange for a 3 month warranty covering only the engine against a complete failure - this gave me time to order and fit the aftermarket exhaust manifold. (The advertised price included a 6 month "full" warranty - as the main dealer had given the car a clean bill of health I was confident that the 6 month warranty would not be required and would rather pay less for the car...)
Hope that this makes sense and is helpful!
Basically it seems that the pre-catalysts (which are housed in the exhaust manifold) are to blame for the engine failures which are the source of the unreliability fears. The pre-cats can break down resulting in ceramic dust being pumped back into the engine scoring the cylinders with predictable results.
On the positive side - this process, once begun, seems to only take a matter of a few miles before the engine is finished! Ergo - if you buy a car with a sound engine and take some simple steps to ensure that the pre-cats cannot break down in the first few weeks of your ownership you should be safe...
I simply replaced the standard pre-cat equipped manifold with a aftermarket exhaust manifold without pre-cats (I can dig out for you the source of the aftermarket manifold if required).
Apart from that I cannot think of any reliability issues with the cars at all. Mine was reliability carsonified - only standard servicing with no additional work required.
When purchasing my car I took a couple of additional steps to try to ensure that my prospective purchase was sound:
1) Even though I was buying from a garage I asked that a Toyota dealer assess the car for me and produce a report, the garage selling the car had no problem with this and for the cost of one hours labour at a main dealer I received a report showing that the car had never been in a major accident and was in good condition.
2) I discussed the engine failure issue directly with the garage and negotiated a discount in exchange for a 3 month warranty covering only the engine against a complete failure - this gave me time to order and fit the aftermarket exhaust manifold. (The advertised price included a 6 month "full" warranty - as the main dealer had given the car a clean bill of health I was confident that the 6 month warranty would not be required and would rather pay less for the car...)
Hope that this makes sense and is helpful!
Mastodon2 said:
That looks fantastic. I'm off to an autopark to hopefully have a bit poke about one today. If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay and what is the mileage? I take it condition is excellent, it looks like a good one, but then most of them I've seen on sale generally are.
Good stuff! It was £3k on the window, ~81k miles. Small line of rust inside the driver's door along the bottom (easy to sort out oneself), small nick in the hood (~£75), alloys need a re-furb (~£35 per corner). Bearing in mind it's an 11 year old car and the leather is in excellent condition, it was a bargain after part exchange!There are some pups out there. I drove a black one in Leighton Buzzard that was categorically not in the condition that the dealer had told me over the phone, had little service history and had a wheel bearing fail on the test drive! I looked at about 4 different examples before finding this one (ironicaly closer to home thatn any of the others!) and made phone calls about plenty more!
Don't let that put you off...a good one will jump out at you mile off! Good luck with the hunting, and let us know how you get on!
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