Quick advice needed please....

Anonymous · February 18, 2004, 22:09

Hello All,

Having driven 3 MR2's at dealers over the past few weeks, I am now in the position to buy one. Hurray s:D

s:D s:D

s:D .....or so I thought, but being a sensible type, I have been looking around the forum and have noticed a few problems that you guys and gals seem to have s:? :? s:? s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

Now, rattles, buzzes etc I can handle/fix, but I am concerned re the potential cat disintegration issue, timing belt tensioner thing and a couple of other bits.

So, I know all cars have their weak points, but percentage wise, have you all had problem, or is it the very isolated few??? s:?: :?: s:?:

I will be buying a car approx 3 years old so the warranty will not save me, and in any case, I buy a car to drive, not have at the deakers all the time s:!: :!: s:!:

Coming from Honda's I have never really had a serious prob, and I thought Toyota were as good.

Please someone give me the honest verdict - is a 3 year old MR2 a wise buy and am I worrying over nothing, or should I look elsewhere??

Any help would be mucho appreciated

s:)

s:) s:)

s:)

markiii · February 18, 2004, 22:14

firstly I would buy one.

secondly the main issues are all engine related. if it does let go, it's no going to cost you megabucks to replace.

belt tensioner is easy enough to do, pre-cats can be prevented by gutting them, your out of warranty and no one will care.

this is Phils, car just traded in, m http://www.toyota.net.server1.m25.co.uk ... e=National m

which may be of the age your looking for.

Very good nick. already has lowering springs and TTE exhaust and we know it's been well looked after.

you could do worse.

SteveJ · February 18, 2004, 22:16

%'age wise the failure rate is actually quite low - the only reason you hear about the problems more is cause people don't tend to praise the car when it doesn't break (human nature I guess)

For my money I would purchase the extended warranty just in case especially if you are considering SMT (not sure if you are) as the cost of repairing it can run into 1000's. Having said which, I have now had 3 SMT roadsters with a total combined mileage of ~80,000 and only one failure (and that was down to a dealer stuff up)

Anonymous · February 18, 2004, 22:20

Thanks

How much to replace the engine if it goes?

Phils car looks just right - it does not come up on the Toyota web search though?

I agree re people only ever piping up when they get a problem, but doe not stop you worrying? How low do your reckon the % is??

It always does well in the motor trade satisfaction surveys.

Not considering SMT.
Cheers

Chris

markiii · February 18, 2004, 22:24

Chris,

Phils car has only been there a week or so, so unless they have already sold it, I would expect this is because it hasnt yet been put on the system.

If you want to look up anything regarding the car do a search for posts by PMDYE.

anything else just ask.

Mark.

markiii · February 18, 2004, 22:26

a new engine can be had from as little as £350 as it is also fitted to the celica, corrolla and yaris.

the % is very low to be honest, I wouldn't worry about it.

In the case of Phils car it had everything needed done under warranty and hasn't exhibeted any symptoms of the more serious issues.

Anonymous · February 18, 2004, 22:30

You may want to read this:
m http://www.mr2roc.org/viewtopic.php?t=1950&highlight= m

Anonymous · February 18, 2004, 22:41

£350 fitted? surely not?

??

Cartell - thanks for the link - food for thought, and I really do not want to be put off s:shock: :shock: s:shock: s:D

s:D

markiii · February 18, 2004, 22:48

nope not fitted.

but I doubt you'd be charged more than a couple of hundered. A straigh liek for like swop is a days job.

Anonymous · February 19, 2004, 09:03

Chris,

I have had more niggles than I can shake a stick at. Top suspension mounts, timing belt tensioner, creaky brakes, bubbling alloys.....the works. But the engine is smooth as silk (apart from that pesky tensioner, whoch will be fixed soon, when I can get round to it), the performance is cracking and the driving experience second to none. Also, the dealers service is pretty good (some people are lucky, some are not. I guess I am the former).

Don't let ANY of this put you off. If you dealer is a good one, then they will be sympathetic of anything DOES go wrong and if it does, then most of the things that can go wrong out of warranty aren't that expensive to put right. I know what you mean about wanting to drive the car and not have it in the garage, but you WILL be driving it more than it sitting still. You just won't be able to help yourself!!! s:wink: :wink: s:wink: s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Buy one! Don't worry about the consequences cos they are rare and easy to rectify. I have always said, at this moment in time, I would only swap my car for one other......an Elise. High enough praise for you? s:? :? s:? s:D

s:D

Anonymous · February 19, 2004, 09:39

[ChrisP; I've emailed you directly in response your PM questions]

It's also worth adding that I think any Toyota used car from a dealer comes with a years' warranty anyway, regardless of remaining (or lack of) manufacturers warranty, so anything serious should still be dealt with.

It's possible that my Roadster has been sold; it does indeed seem to have gone from the stock search, and I did get a phone call the other night from an interested buyer asking about it's history.

Anonymous · February 19, 2004, 11:04

Quote from: "ChrisP"Please someone give me the honest verdict - is a 3 year old MR2 a wise buy and am I worrying over nothing, or should I look elsewhere??

Chris, I bought mine at just over 2.5 years old, and it's now just over 3 years old.
Mine had done 32k already when I bought it.
I haven't had a problem with it at all, and can honestly say it does not rattle or shake or anything like that, with hard-top on or off. Feels and sounds solid as a rock to me.

Just get it mate, this time of year is awesome, I got mine in July last year so missed tons of top-down weather, you'd have it all to come.
But that's only the half, it's an awesome car, sooo much fun to drive.

p.s. managing slowly but surely to bring the average mileage down, which is good

p.p.s. as my old friend Arnie would say....DO IT!!!

Anonymous · February 19, 2004, 18:41

IMHO I would just go out & buy it, I bought a Sept 2001 model with 10500 miles on it in July & haven't had a single problem, what I did find though is that to buy one in the summer is really hard. I spent weeks looking & eventually bought one without a hardtop & added it later (Mr T will tell you that this isn't possible though!).

If you are serious, now's the time because as soon as the weather changes everyone wants a soft top car & good ones are snapped up pretty quick.

Anonymous · February 19, 2004, 21:21

yeah - now is defo the time. My Accord is for sale all over the place from now, and if it does not go in a couple of weeks privately I will bite the bullet and trade it, just to get a decent car before they all start to go.

Cheers- can't wait - -the missus is also well keen, so nothing stopping us really

Will keep you posted

s:D

s:D s:D

s:D