Looking at purchasing..

[B_Tank88]

Hi all,

I'm currently considering switching my daily driver 2005 1.2 Corsa up with something less rubbish, less troublesome, and more interesting. I will be doing around 75 miles a day in it. I currently have my eye on this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOYOTA-MR2-VVT-1-RED-2005/254197576318

Unfortunately this has actually been recorded as a Cat S, despite being sold here as Cat N. But the picture of damage in the picture stacks up with all the checks I have done, and seller says 2 panels and wheel hub were replaced as part of the repairs. There is no service history unfortunately. These are the negative bits.

Positives, I like the colour, like the interior, it has very low miles, is a 2005 facelift, etc. Priced at 3000.. maybe a bit steep but maybe there is some room to negotiate, I'm considering going to see it and get a PX on my Corsa.

Thoughts please all?

[jvanzyl]

Seems like a nice car... from the photos at least!

Honestly, you need to drive more than one before buying. Because these cars are so sensitive to alignment, tyres, tyre pressures and general maintenance of the suspension you will be amazed at the difference you will feel.

If you can wait 3 weeks - what I'd suggest doing is coming along to the National meet in Wrexham (Ding Day - have a look in the events section) and there will you will be afforded the opportunity to see 40+ cars all in one spot and build your experience as to what to look for. It's not too far from Stourbridge.

The good thing with these cars is that nothing is really "unfixable".. but I think until you took that car for a proper alignment, you wouldn't know if the repairs were done properly? Maybe as part of the test drive book it into a local garage for it to be checked.. it'll cost you money, but you'll at least know..

[1979scotte]

Go and look at it see how it drives.
The more you drive the more you understand how they are supposed to drive.

For me it's done less than 3k miles per year and has no service history that points to a lack of maintenance these cars need regular oil and filter changes or you get problems.

What tyres and in what sizes?
Does the handbrake work?
Is the rear subframe solid or Swiss cheese?

Coming from a Corsa are you going to find the lack of luggage space and only 1 spare seat a problem?

Is your commute on nice country roads or motorways?
For straight line pace they get shown up by your mum's turbo diesel easy it's corners they crave.

All things to consider.

[B_Tank88]

Points considered.. I can deal with the luggage space and mileage as I never really used the back seats or boot in my Corsa anyway nor did I take passengers really.

Yeah I am a bit worried about the service history. I'll check the condition of the oil on the dipstick to check it's not completely gristly when I go see it but a service will be the first thing I get done on it. I will try to get an alignment chucked in too if we can work out a deal if not I'll get it done myself.

I'll try and check the condition of the subframe on the viewing, is it visible by looking under the rear of the car? I'll check handbrake operation and tyres too and how it drives.

My commute is a mixture of both, the car doesn't need to be quick or have much power this will be my daily I have a weekend car on the side which will give me the extra kicks.

Car seems to be somewhat cheap to run and doable as a daily driver according to reviews and the bonus of it being a better drive than my Corsa is appealing. I just hope it's more reliable, that whole car was made of cheese, I had to do more work on it than my BMW M3 and the Corsa has half the miles and 2 years younger than the M3.

I do a lot of maintenance and DIY on my cars myself so I'll be able to get my prospective purchase to a very good condition eventually.

[StuC]

Go and look at it see how it drives.
The more you drive the more you understand how they are supposed to drive.

This ^^^ also look at others. So when you find the one you want... the rose tinted glasses have less of an effect!

[Carolyn]

Take a flashlight with you for inspecting underneath.  Even with the bottom cover ('nappy') on the car, it is possible to see the part of the subframe that rusts the worst.  That it is just above the off-side suspension mounts and exhaust on the bottom of the subframe.  They can have massive holes in them!

Generally, these cars don't suffer too much from rust.  dirty black oil is the biggest no-no.

[B_Tank88]

Good pointers, thanks. Will definitely have a torch with me. There is also this one closer to me which I will also go see:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-MR2-2003/173894979066?hash=item287cf2cdfa:g:obYAAOSwfINcqlb5

[jvanzyl]

Good pointers, thanks. Will definitely have a torch with me. There is also this one closer to me which I will also go see:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-MR2-2003/173894979066?hash=item287cf2cdfa:g:obYAAOSwfINcqlb5

Personally I'd rather go for this one over the sable... curious as to how they managed to break coil springs though! (Have a look at it's mot history (https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/).
But anyway - that's purely gut feel.

As said before you need to crawl around the car and inspect the subframe. One thing to note is that the engine cover has a missing nut... that's a bit weird as it's really simple to put back on.

[B_Tank88]

Good pointers, thanks. Will definitely have a torch with me. There is also this one closer to me which I will also go see:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-MR2-2003/173894979066?hash=item287cf2cdfa:g:obYAAOSwfINcqlb5

Personally I'd rather go for this one over the sable... curious as to how they managed to break coil springs though! (Have a look at it's mot history (https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/).
But anyway - that's purely gut feel.

As said before you need to crawl around the car and inspect the subframe. One thing to note is that the engine cover has a missing nut... that's a bit weird as it's really simple to put back on.

They both started to corrode so I guess it was a matter of time. Are broken springs not common on this car? I'm no stranger to broken springs.. my Alfa 159 broke one on the rear and the Wife's CLS broke both it's rears!

Missing nut is strange, incompetent work/garage perhaps.

May I ask why this one over the Sable?

Are brake lines a big job?

[jvanzyl]

I'd personally prefer to buy from a private seller... that's just me. The MOT history seems more realistic on this one as well - the other one has not got a single thing wrong recorded on it... it's a bit too perfect.

Then I guess there's the accident damage.. It just puts me off. If I were deliberately going for a copart one then fair enough and you'd get it cheap.. but not at £3k
Wow - I'd not encountered broken springs so much!

[james_ly]

If you're planning to sell it in future, probably easier to just not buy a cat write off car... but with your mileage I assume that you're pretty much going to run it into the ground?

[ManInDandism]

I'd personally prefer to buy from a private seller... that's just me. The MOT history seems more realistic on this one as well - the other one has not got a single thing wrong recorded on it... it's a bit too perfect.

Then I guess there's the accident damage.. It just puts me off. If I were deliberately going for a copart one then fair enough and you'd get it cheap.. but not at £3k
Wow - I'd not encountered broken springs so much!

Sable one is likely to have been regularly serviced immediately prior to being MOT'd....and you find that a turnoff?!!!

[B_Tank88]

If you're planning to sell it in future, probably easier to just not buy a cat write off car... but with your mileage I assume that you're pretty much going to run it into the ground?

That's indeed the plan. But I'd need to have some more money knocked off still because running a 3k car into the ground doesn't seem logical. Having said that, I have never considered a written off car. This one is more convincing though, as I have got salvage reports from the seller and vcheckuk, showing the car in this same state at the salvage auction and the repairs that the seller told me about make sense. I could also get an AutoAlign check done if the car is genuinely repaired properly which would change it from category write off to category inspected on the HPI register. Just to add a little weight to any potential sell on later.

Obviously I have a few things to check, but I feel quite confident about it. You can't argue the mileage is low, and condition also looks good. From pictures of course.

[jvanzyl]

I'd personally prefer to buy from a private seller... that's just me. The MOT history seems more realistic on this one as well - the other one has not got a single thing wrong recorded on it... it's a bit too perfect.

Then I guess there's the accident damage.. It just puts me off. If I were deliberately going for a copart one then fair enough and you'd get it cheap.. but not at £3k
Wow - I'd not encountered broken springs so much!

Sable one is likely to have been regularly serviced immediately prior to being MOT'd....and you find that a turnoff?!!!

There is no service history - all you've got is a bunch of MOT passes with never a single thing wrong, not even a wiper blade comment... I'd say its a good sign of a "friendly" MOT tester.
I'd rather find one where someone is calling out every single niggle and then I can make my own decision about whether it's important or not.

[ManInDandism]

I'd personally prefer to buy from a private seller... that's just me. The MOT history seems more realistic on this one as well - the other one has not got a single thing wrong recorded on it... it's a bit too perfect.

Then I guess there's the accident damage.. It just puts me off. If I were deliberately going for a copart one then fair enough and you'd get it cheap.. but not at £3k
Wow - I'd not encountered broken springs so much!

Sable one is likely to have been regularly serviced immediately prior to being MOT'd....and you find that a turnoff?!!!

There is no service history - all you've got is a bunch of MOT passes with never a single thing wrong, not even a wiper blade comment... I'd say its a good sign of a "friendly" MOT tester.
I'd rather find one where someone is calling out every single niggle and then I can make my own decision about whether it's important or not.

Fair enough. 

Cars do go into a garage to be both serviced and MOT'd at the same time. So they fix whatever needs fixing first and then carry out the MOT.  Is a stringent test so not sure haw far 'friendly' stretches if they seek to retain their status as a testing station.  But once you have the V5 to hand you can now identify the garage(s) that carried out the tests.  With any luck they may even still have some of the service history to hand.

[1979scotte]

Friendly MOT testers are everywhere.

My last MR2 purchase came with valid MOT and should have failed it had 2 seriously dangerous issues. Rear subframe was almost in 2 pieces for a start.

@B_Tank88 what's the car for kicks? Unless it's a lotus or better it won't be more fun than a 2.

[B_Tank88]

Friendly MOT testers are everywhere.

My last MR2 purchase came with valid MOT and should have failed it had 2 seriously dangerous issues. Rear subframe was almost in 2 pieces for a start.

@B_Tank88 what's the car for kicks? Unless it's a lotus or better it won't be more fun than a 2.

It's an E46 M3 Coupe SMG. Fantastic car that I love to bits. 110k miles and still going like a champ, the engine is a masterpiece.

[1979scotte]

Friendly MOT testers are everywhere.

My last MR2 purchase came with valid MOT and should have failed it had 2 seriously dangerous issues. Rear subframe was almost in 2 pieces for a start.

@B_Tank88 what's the car for kicks? Unless it's a lotus or better it won't be more fun than a 2.

It's an E46 M3 Coupe SMG. Fantastic car that I love to bits. 110k miles and still going like a champ, the engine is a masterpiece.

You'll have more fun in a 2.
Engines in the right place for a start and it's half a ton lighter.

@jvanzyl hey at least it's not an Audi 

[B_Tank88]

Haha,

What if it was an mx-engineinwrongplace ?

Edit: Love it! 

[Topdownman]

Welcome,

I would echo what everyone else has said about driving lots of 2s as the difference between them can be night and day.
Try not to have a favoured car if possible but if you must, drive that one last!

Hopefully you have found the buyers guide and so know what to look for.

The best buy will be a car that has had a full suspension refresh and has a good set of appropriate tyres as sorting that out will be a grand on top of the purchase price. (They all need a suspension refresh due to their age).

A write off isnt necessarily the end of the world (due to the value of the cars and a new part/paint repair costs) and it seems to happen most of the time now in accidents but it will affect the resale value.

Good luck!

[1979scotte]

Haha,

What if it was an mx-engineinwrongplace ?

Edit: Love it! 

You like that do you?
Twas my idea if I remember correctly implemented by my minion @shnazzle

[shnazzle]

Haha,

What if it was an mx-engineinwrongplace ?

Edit: Love it! 

You like that do you?
Twas my idea if I remember correctly implemented by my minion @shnazzle

Pleased to serve you, master

[Call the midlife!]

Haha,

What if it was an mx-engineinwrongplace ?

Edit: Love it! 

You like that do you?
Twas my idea if I remember correctly implemented by my minion @shnazzle

Pleased to serve you, master

That all went a bit dark all of a sudden, not sure if you're Smeagol or Scotte is Christian Grey...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[1979scotte]

Haha,

What if it was an mx-engineinwrongplace ?

Edit: Love it! 

You like that do you?
Twas my idea if I remember correctly implemented by my minion @shnazzle

Pleased to serve you, master

That all went a bit dark all of a sudden, not sure if you're Smeagol or Scotte is Christian Grey...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Think the wife would prefer Mr Grey

[B_Tank88]

May be going to see this one tomorrow.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F173901753422