About to buy my first 2 and something has come up!!

[dcod]

unless your feeling brave or v rich, buy a MR2 (or any car for that matter) with a perfect HPI record and good history. There are plenty around.

Amen brother.   s:bowdown: :bowdown: s:bowdown:

[Steve Green]

Any common indicators of more mileage?

Despite all the comments suggesting you look out for a full service history car you seem to be in love with this car.

I hope you dont get hurt when it all goes wrong.
I am sure you will find a lower mileage, less previous owners, UK model, with all original equipment working, and the marriage will be a happy one.

[StuC]

you seem to be in love with this car.

I think I definitely was!!!
However, after all everyone's very helpful advice I have now moved on from it and I am looking for the next one.

Why is it all the good cars are miles and miles from you?   s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

[carl_evs]

Well mine was a 2002 and never showed up on Toyota's system, however it WAS a UK Spec model and WAS registered as new in 2002 according to the documents. I know the lad who works in the service dept at our local Toyota dealers and asked him how come they had no record of it - he said that stuff like that does happen from time to time - clerical errors and such. Mine had 47500 miles on it when I sold it, all genuine miles and servicing done by myself since I got it 4 or 5 years ago. Only service history mine had was 2 servicings, the last being at 18,000 miles and the rest were all done by me at much more regular intervals than the book says.
Mine was genuine mileage as it only ever got used for the summer, think I used it 2 winters out of the time I owned it, even then not for the full winter either.
The only downside to mine on sale was the fact that I had changed the big end bearings, other than that everything was fine with it.

As with anything you take a measured risk when buying a car. I am sure there are 2's out there with full Mr.T Service history that are closer to going pop than some out there with no history that have been looked after by enthusiasts, as much as there are nails out there that have been driven into the ground by people who couldn't care less.

[K T M Rider]

It's all down to price then really.

my advice when buying any vehicle would be decide your budget first and go from there.

lots of dross around at £2k and under, lots of quite cherished cars available at £3k and over. Having owned one of each I'm sure I don't need to tell you which one I recommend.

[StuC]

lots of dross around at £2k and under, lots of quite cherished cars available at £3k and over.

that's what I am finding! however it was the sub 2K that got my interest piqued in the first place!!!!

My budget is 2.5K+ a lil bit, so I am hoping I can talk some some of these 3k'ers down a bit. Too optimistic?
Is there another point in say in November when the prices might drop again?
or
Is it just when the nice weather stops?

[K T M Rider]

this car looks a great one to buy and keep longterm (If you like Silver   s:) s:)  )

need to be sure you want a roadie before buying a write -off though IMHO as they can be harder to re-sell.

 l viewtopic.php?f=30&t=35081 l

completed listings on Ebay is a useful guide to what the cars are currently making  - a nice Sable facelift apparently sold for around £2300 recently - all the car appeared to need was an O2 sensor, but this common fault (that is easy & cheap to fix) would be enough to scare some bidders away - hence the stupidly cheap price.

[Treboeth]

STu bear in mind that some `2 owners will service the car themselves, so a service history will not tell the full story.

Good idea to join and ask questions here first though.

Eqimq`s car is a good one to look at , good luck in your search.

[Mr_Dav]

I would guess they would probably drop a bit. But then again, inertia and lazyness may cause people not bother updating their ads and changing prices. Perhaps keep an eye on on certain cars you like, and if its been around for a while, people may take a small hit to get rid.
Ill be honest mate, if your going to go with your 2.5k budget, id be prepared to spend a bit of time to find one which is well cared for and a decent history. Its likely to have a high milage and be pre-face lift.  
Dont rush it matey. parts arnt cheap!!

[StuC]

http://www.mr2roc.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=35081

I did see that. I would like a black one tbh. Also I would like a standard one so i know where I am starting from, if that makes sense?

Dont rush it matey. parts arnt cheap!!

Am in kinda of a hurry. So I guess I am going to have to compromise somewhere.

Good idea to join and ask questions here first though.

A healthy forum is always the best place to start.
The response for a newbie has been amazing. Thanks again to everyone   s:D s:D

[StuC]

This is my first option...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201136414146799

This is the second option...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250906722894?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_1142wt_1396

This is the 3rd option...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201141420560979

Opinions welcome   s:) s:)

[Stephster]

Can't really tell much from the ads. I do think one and two are a bit steep price wise, and 3rd is blue not black.

[dcod]

The third one :

Front arm rest?
Side air bags?
Heated screen?
Rear wiper?
Traction control?
rear seat belts!?
WTF!

[StuC]

I do think one and two are a bit steep price wise...

What do you reckon would be a good price then?

[StuC]

The third one :

Front arm rest?
Side air bags?
Heated screen?
Rear wiper?
Traction control?
rear seat belts!?
WTF!

Clearly it is a VERY special car!!

[dcod]

Clearly it is a VERY special car!!

I think the ad was entered by a 'special' person at Autotrader.   s:D s:D

[Stephster]

I do think one and two are a bit steep price wise...

What do you reckon would be a good price then?

Well the first one only has MOT until Feb '12, at which point you could find yourself with a nasty surprise. Also, the guy says recently serviced, but no mention of FSH which I think is important. What are the tyres like, if you need to replace them all round, e.g. if mismatched or cheapo, you are looking at a few hundred pounds.
At this time of year, I probably wouldn't pay more than 2k for a car like this. There is someone selling similar for 1.4k under sales at the minute.

[Stephster]

P.s. where in middle bit are you ? If it is near Leicester, you are welcome to have a look at my pre face lift which is a decent one, and listen to the engine, come for a drive, etc. Might help you decide whether one you look at is a turkey or not.

[markiii]

I'm sure that this has already been suggested, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to produce a roadster specific buyers guide. I know all the info is in here but if you're buying off of a driveway then you need an A4 sheet of say 10 crutial things to check before you hand over the dosh. I'm thinking roadster specific so the concerns surround the engine, the tyres, the importance of the test drive etc. It's largely unrealistic to think that you will be able to physically check precats etc.

1. Check the condition of the tyres and that they have the recommended stagger.
2. Check the oil, ideally golden brown and not black, especially if they say 'it's just been serviced', but may just need a service.
4. Take the oil filler cap off. A lot of white 'gunge' is not good.
4. Check the water, ideally a pinky or perhaps bluey colour but definately pretty clear with no evidence of 'gunge'.
5. Turn the ignition on, do all of the warning lights come on on the rev counter, particularly the 'check engine light' at the bottom?
6. Start the car, Do all of the warning lights go off?
7. Rev the engine. Should rev smoothly to the limit Any obvious signs of smoke?
8. Any worrying noises? (A bit of top end rattle is common as is a whine from the power steering pump).
9. Test drive the car. It should go exactly where you point it, should be stable at speed (may feel a bit light a high motorway speed) and the brakes should be very good.
10. Say you're worried that it hasn't got any service history, it doesn,t register on Toyota's computer and you need a price reduction to cover that   s:D s:D   (I couldn't think of another 10).

Apologies for the slight drift but I,m sure most people know what to do and ask but in the emotion of the sale they forget.
Others will have a different 1-10 but I think it's important to keep it simple.

Feel free to pull apart.

are you volunteering to write it?

[markiii]

Worth noting that the MRS didnt have LSD, one of the things that makes the MR2 such a great car. The only european countries I can think of with right hand drive would be Cyprus, or Malta.

I bought one with no service history. Took me 3 months to work out it was an oil burner. 83000 miles

there were loads of parallel imports from new from Belgium, Holland, Ireland e.t.c over teh last 10 years

these "UK Spec" but EU supplied cars often don;t show up on the UK systems, my old one didn't despite Toyota adding it several times. It never caused me an issue

LSD was available on the MRS so some may have it though most won't

All EU cars had LSD regardless of country of supply or age

[Toplesscouple]

The 3rd one is clearly a description from another car so until I knew the actual details I wouldn't consider it. The 1st one is the only one that I would bother to view. 2nd one looks sad, and they haven't even knocked off anything from the sticker price.

[StuC]

It was at the top of my list, but the guy selling it mis-advertised the mileage. It is actually 62K not 59.9K. The difference in mileage don't bother me, it was the fact I had a lot of contact with me and it is not until i am checking the MOT's that I find this out. So he told a porky pie, which then leads me to question what else he might lie about. Shame!  s:-( :-( s:-(

[StuC]

I am going to try and look at these at the weekend...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201136414146799 Harrow

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201139418896966 Romford

Armed with my HUGE list of checks. The most important being the condition of the engine oil!

[dcod]

Good colour choice   s:D s:D  

It could be a trick of the light but on the second one it looks like there may be a dent on the rear wheel arch (if you follow the reflection of the white line down the side of the car, it splits into two as it hits the rear arch)

Both look good cars.

Here's a price guide. Seems bang on.

 m http://www.whatcar.com/valuations/resul ... eage=55000 m

[Toplesscouple]

Personally I'd be looking a bit closer to home speaking from experience, but it's your time and petrol money. £3,250 sounds a lot for a prefacelift these days unless it has some goodies or a hardtop. Facelifts are going for that sort of money now. Also buying from London or the London commuter belt tends to be more expensive as they generally earn more.