Want to buy an MR2 MK3, but...
Discussion
Hey guys,
Apologies if this isn’t in the right area...
I sold my BMW 330 vert 2 weeks ago, bought a Mercedes CLK 320 last weekend and I already miss having a convertible now that the sun is out. Not to mention seeing everyone in their MX5s, acting as though rust isn’t a thing!
Anyway...Having previously had a MK2 MR2, I’ve been regretting selling it ever since. I thought I’d try out a MK3 today despite not being overly won over by the looks, but from the reviews, the price looked great for the driving experience.
Well, the reviews didn’t lie...what a cracking car! Bags of fun! The one I tested was an 02 plate with 100k miles on it, hard top with a roof that looked in pretty good nick.
However, I noticed 2 main things...
1) There was a large rattle when accelerating hard and easing off.
2) There was an overpowering smell of oil. When looking at the engine, there did appear to be oil residue present.
So...I’m in a dilemma. I liked the guy who owned the small garage as he seemed genuine (I’m quite gullible), and I’m sure the rattling is likely to be the exhaust covering or something small.
But, I am no mechanic and I cannot decide whether it’s worth taking a punt on this for £1500 with that smell of oil.
I know there are various issues with this car and at this age, so I wanted opinions on this if possible- would you be put off? Would you buy it in the hope it’s not shot? I’m in two minds really...this is well in my price range, but I’m wondering whether to put more money into a better example? I’m looking to have this for the next year or so to commute on A roads, 40 miles a day.
What do you reckon?
Cheers in advance,
Luke
Apologies if this isn’t in the right area...
I sold my BMW 330 vert 2 weeks ago, bought a Mercedes CLK 320 last weekend and I already miss having a convertible now that the sun is out. Not to mention seeing everyone in their MX5s, acting as though rust isn’t a thing!
Anyway...Having previously had a MK2 MR2, I’ve been regretting selling it ever since. I thought I’d try out a MK3 today despite not being overly won over by the looks, but from the reviews, the price looked great for the driving experience.
Well, the reviews didn’t lie...what a cracking car! Bags of fun! The one I tested was an 02 plate with 100k miles on it, hard top with a roof that looked in pretty good nick.
However, I noticed 2 main things...
1) There was a large rattle when accelerating hard and easing off.
2) There was an overpowering smell of oil. When looking at the engine, there did appear to be oil residue present.
So...I’m in a dilemma. I liked the guy who owned the small garage as he seemed genuine (I’m quite gullible), and I’m sure the rattling is likely to be the exhaust covering or something small.
But, I am no mechanic and I cannot decide whether it’s worth taking a punt on this for £1500 with that smell of oil.
I know there are various issues with this car and at this age, so I wanted opinions on this if possible- would you be put off? Would you buy it in the hope it’s not shot? I’m in two minds really...this is well in my price range, but I’m wondering whether to put more money into a better example? I’m looking to have this for the next year or so to commute on A roads, 40 miles a day.
What do you reckon?
Cheers in advance,
Luke
Thanks guys- Just the responses I was looking for.
My reason for buying one is due to fuel economy. I want a car which is a joy to drive but also doesn’t drink fuel. So this made a lot of sense...unless anyone can advise me otherwise?
Also, I might try dropping an engine from a celica in next year (currently saving for a mortgage, hence the desire for fuel economy).
Much appreciated everyone.
Luke
My reason for buying one is due to fuel economy. I want a car which is a joy to drive but also doesn’t drink fuel. So this made a lot of sense...unless anyone can advise me otherwise?
Also, I might try dropping an engine from a celica in next year (currently saving for a mortgage, hence the desire for fuel economy).
Much appreciated everyone.
Luke
LaurasOtherHalf said:
Still the best handling car I’ve ever owned (take a look at my profile-it’s in esteemed company).
Buy a good one and find driving nirvana.
That is impressive! I was so keen to move to a 350z afterwards, but I’ve heard it’s not as fun as the MR2 in comparison. Is that true?Buy a good one and find driving nirvana.
I was contemplating either the 350z, E46 M3 or a boxter next year once I’ve pleased my other half with some savings
LaurasOtherHalf said:
Moominman2 said:
LaurasOtherHalf said:
Still the best handling car I’ve ever owned (take a look at my profile-it’s in esteemed company).
Buy a good one and find driving nirvana.
That is impressive! I was so keen to move to a 350z afterwards, but I’ve heard it’s not as fun as the MR2 in comparison. Is that true?Buy a good one and find driving nirvana.
I was contemplating either the 350z, E46 M3 or a boxter next year once I’ve pleased my other half with some savings
Nothing had the "poise" that the mister two had, without trying to sound too Troy Queef! It was in a sweet spot of power, grip, feel and ease of driving (not to mention being ridiculously cheap to run) that has never been matched. Don't get me wrong, I've loved most of my other cars but the 350Z was probably the wrong thing to buy straight after as it was so completely different-heavy, powerful and quite isolating in terms of feel.
Mine had TTE springs and exhaust, slightly larger (17" but wider) wheels and after a couple of months learning you could literally get that little car to dance when the mood took you. Slightly damp conditions allowed a beautiful four wheel drift just a flick of the steering away and the cars ability to telegraph what was happening meant you could judge how much you would drift depending on how much crown there was on the road.
About the closest I ever got was the original Boxster Spyder, same balance but massively higher speeds. Bigger car too which can't be ignored.
A little update- I bought an 02 reg MR2 MK3 on 95k miles with hardtop and personalised numberplate for £1300 from a dealer. Not bad, eh!
I took it on the A and B roads today and, wow! What fun! Even my girlfriend likes it which is saying something, haha. She hated me coming home with the CLK last week, oops! She drives a Peugeot RCZ herself which isn’t a bad car either.
My friend used to own a Boxter S, so I might let him give it a spin and see what he thinks of it.
Paperwork showed that a couple of the ‘expected’ issues with this model have been sorted. So overall, I’m very happy! Not to mention how good it is on fuel..I realise how utterly rubbish my CLK 320 is now- Currently for sale on eBay...
But thanks for the advice everyone. I realised how terrible the other MR2 was that I tried out. That was almost a terrible purchase!
I’m heading to Wales from Kent tomorrow, but I’m not sure whether to take the MR2 or the RCZ. I’m a bit sketchy as to whether I trust the MR2 to do a long journey at the moment,as I only bought it yesterday so don’t really know it very well. But I also would prefer not to put the mileage up on my girlfriend’s car. What should I take? I do have breakdown cover to be fair...
Cheers,
Luke
For anyone who’s interested...
Took the MR2 in the end. Pretty crap on the motorway (as expected), but I drove up to Hereford from Swansea and the A and B roads were fantastic. Totally made up for the motorway driving.
Looks wise, my MK2 MR2 was better IMHO, but the MK3 handles much better from what I remember.
And it only took half a tank to get to Wales...haven’t experienced such efficiency for years!
Luke
Took the MR2 in the end. Pretty crap on the motorway (as expected), but I drove up to Hereford from Swansea and the A and B roads were fantastic. Totally made up for the motorway driving.
Looks wise, my MK2 MR2 was better IMHO, but the MK3 handles much better from what I remember.
And it only took half a tank to get to Wales...haven’t experienced such efficiency for years!
Luke
Edited by Moominman2 on Wednesday 25th April 22:35
Cheers guys.
Looks like I have some old paperwork that shows it had pre car work done and has recently had a wheel alignment.
Tyres are budgets and you can tell. Almost lost the rear when coming round a corner in the wet at normal speed, so I’ll put some better rubber on soon.
Mine is the pre-facelift with a 5 speed box. Didn’t want to spend much, so I settled and I’m very happy with it.
Facelift is 03 I think.
Thanks!
Looks like I have some old paperwork that shows it had pre car work done and has recently had a wheel alignment.
Tyres are budgets and you can tell. Almost lost the rear when coming round a corner in the wet at normal speed, so I’ll put some better rubber on soon.
Mine is the pre-facelift with a 5 speed box. Didn’t want to spend much, so I settled and I’m very happy with it.
Facelift is 03 I think.
Thanks!
TiminYorkshire said:
However what are these like in wintry conditions (ice/frost, light dustings of snow)? I've the Disco for proper snow dump days, but how "twitchy" are these when it gets slippy? I had an XJR that always felt like it was trying to swap ends at any hint of frost, although I accept that's no real comparison to one of these!
Mrben1 said:
I used to use it as my snow car - when my BMW wouldn't get up my drive, the MR2 would still work! Engine over the wheels meant no issue getting going, and it would slide around rather nicely. Obviously if you pushed too far, the weight of the engine would spin it, but I never lost it without trying to!
Same with my MK2. My BMW 330 was useless in the snow- even a light dusting of snow and it went to s**t, but the MR2 I used to have was fine as long as you treated it with respect. LaurasOtherHalf said:
Good to see a successful conclusion to the question OP!
Mine was a Y reg one, so an early model with the 5 speed but more importantly no stability control. I can remember when I was looking at selling it being aghast at how much the nanny controls had come on and thinking it would be a pain having to switch it off with every journey! The beautiful way it drifted meant that you could be driving a normal commute and suddenly the perfect radius corner would appear with no oncoming traffic, a quick check in your mirrors to make sure no old bill were following and with a scandi-flick you could be sideways in an instant.
Pure hooliganism but so much fun!
The previous (first) owner of mine had really went to town on the spec, so it had TTE lowering springs, TTE exhaust, phase 2 side air intakes (they did look nicer) and 17” wheels that looked a bit like the Ferrari 430 ones-twin 5 spokes.
I ran with Falken tyres and I thought they were the perfect blend of good grip and wet weather performance but a steady and simple break of traction so you could drift so easily.
I remember talking to the apprentice about drifting (the fast & the furious was probably at the cinema at the time) and him not believing I could do it so after work we took it out, one of those frosty winter evenings.
We spent about half an hour just flinging it around with it doing it’s thing, gently sliding at probably not much more than 30mph, it absolutely handled beautifully. There was much laughter!
Simpler times
I also remember doing the launch event for the Boxster Spyder and going into the polished concrete ice simulator. After a few drifts the instructor commented “oh you’ve done this before!” and I told him about the MR2, he mentioned he thought it the best handling mid engined car too (an ex BTCC driver if I remember correctly).
I bought mine after reading an article in Evo where they pitted some second hand cars against some new ones and it scoring very highly.
I’d buy that car back again if I ever could.
Ha ha, thanks for sharing. Mine was a Y reg one, so an early model with the 5 speed but more importantly no stability control. I can remember when I was looking at selling it being aghast at how much the nanny controls had come on and thinking it would be a pain having to switch it off with every journey! The beautiful way it drifted meant that you could be driving a normal commute and suddenly the perfect radius corner would appear with no oncoming traffic, a quick check in your mirrors to make sure no old bill were following and with a scandi-flick you could be sideways in an instant.
Pure hooliganism but so much fun!
The previous (first) owner of mine had really went to town on the spec, so it had TTE lowering springs, TTE exhaust, phase 2 side air intakes (they did look nicer) and 17” wheels that looked a bit like the Ferrari 430 ones-twin 5 spokes.
I ran with Falken tyres and I thought they were the perfect blend of good grip and wet weather performance but a steady and simple break of traction so you could drift so easily.
I remember talking to the apprentice about drifting (the fast & the furious was probably at the cinema at the time) and him not believing I could do it so after work we took it out, one of those frosty winter evenings.
We spent about half an hour just flinging it around with it doing it’s thing, gently sliding at probably not much more than 30mph, it absolutely handled beautifully. There was much laughter!
Simpler times
I also remember doing the launch event for the Boxster Spyder and going into the polished concrete ice simulator. After a few drifts the instructor commented “oh you’ve done this before!” and I told him about the MR2, he mentioned he thought it the best handling mid engined car too (an ex BTCC driver if I remember correctly).
I bought mine after reading an article in Evo where they pitted some second hand cars against some new ones and it scoring very highly.
I’d buy that car back again if I ever could.
I’m not really one for modifying my cars, but I might look into a few subtle bits for this, if it improves the performance. But I’m still learning about how it drives, so for now, I’m happy.
Cheers!
Ok guys, one issue...
When I lock the car using the key fob, I can guarantee that the alarm and lights will go off.
If I lock both doors manually, it’s ok.
I’m going to change the battery in the fob tomorrow I hope, but does anyone have any ideas as to what this could be otherwise?
Thanks!
When I lock the car using the key fob, I can guarantee that the alarm and lights will go off.
If I lock both doors manually, it’s ok.
I’m going to change the battery in the fob tomorrow I hope, but does anyone have any ideas as to what this could be otherwise?
Thanks!
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