MR2 Roadster prices on the rise... keep stock or still go 2zz?

[Call the midlife!]

Ok, so basically the 8k still exist. Meaning that since 2000 only 3k have gone even if only some 6k are in more or less use on the road. Even that is less than half ´lost´ in over 2 decades.

See Anon's comment re the "backyard" breakers, until a licensed dismantler records the vehicle as scrapped it could be still be listed as SORNed but long since sold off for parts and the chassis cut up for scrap.

[Petrus]

See Anon's comment re the "backyard" breakers, until a licensed dismantler records the vehicle as scrapped it could be still be listed as SORNed but long since sold off for parts and the chassis cut up for scrap.

Hence me mentioning 6k.

[Dev]

It use to be a modified car would lose its value over a unmolested one but if the modified car was well maintained and the modifications were done proper along with the rest of the condition of the car they are fetching their value. Granted the owner probably had to account for losses from the amount of money put into it and down time from driving it but the owner had the privilege of enjoying it in its modified state which is worth something more for the experience then telling everyone you have a collectors car.   
 At the end of the day it comes down to the cars condition no matter what was done to it. As an enthusiast If I found such a car I would pay a premium over one that had an original 1ZZ. A local friend sold a 2003 tastefully modified car with suspension and turbo for a premium price because it was low miles and in immaculate garaged kept condition. The new owner got a well sorted turnkey car.
If I found out the car was raced the value plummets. Although the market favors project cars at their low prices, these are drivers cars and if it sits there is no value in that.

[JB21]

OP have you driven a decent 2ZZ conversion? I'm guessing not given your hesitation to swap one in.

For me the 2ZZ-GE in the ZZW30 chassis is a perfect combo. You won't find this level of engagement in anything under £20k e.g lotus Elise, VX220 etc.

And the fact you do track days as well should make the swap even more appealing. They give unbelievable performance for what they cost to build. Mine embarrasses so many cars that are so much more on paper, but out on track isn't on paper its real world, and the MR2 2ZZ is a very capable real world car.

[Bernie]

There's no way I'd ever recover the cash I have in mine, you don't ever get back what you pay out in mods, or really ever think you will, it's all about the journey and pleasure they give you, hence I'm never going to sell, my kids will have to sort when I "pop my clogs".

There's many owners who can attest to selling their modded cars at a loss and Danny Joice is a prime example well over £30K on a highly modded well executed but similar to the Lamborghini style body kitted ones that were on the market circa £25K for that sort of budget there's plenty of choice for higher end sports cars

[LeEdFollow]

Wow, I turned my back for a day and this thread has leapt forward. Had to read back through all the posts lol Thanks all for the valuable input

So this MR2 was only ever bought as a project for our YouTube channel and for me to scratch the 2zz MR2 itch I've had for a number of years now. It was never going to be a car that I would be holding onto I'm afraid (in fact I'm sorry to say I already have my eyes on my next project to replace this) and always intended on passing it onto someone else in a better condition than how I found it. Finding an imperfect car, doing right by the car and trying to extend the life of it was always my priority.

Yes i've been out in a 2zz MR2 and a 1zz turbo MR2 before so I know how good they can be. It's going to definitely be taken out on track (would be rude not to) but don't want to make it a full on track car as I don't want to ruin it. It still has to be a good daily driver for the next owner. There are plenty of other full on track cars out there for sale so I don't see value in doing that to this car. But this is not my main/personal car/track-car.

There is a compelling argument for and against the 2zz swap, so now I've sunk the time and money into restoring the car I'll try to find a new home for it this summer so that I can move onto the next project. But if I don't find a new home for it then I'm more than happy to push on with the 2zz swap (because I have everything I need anyway) and find a new home for it next summer instead.

Really appreciate all the input. Really helps me figure out my future plans for the car.

[Call the midlife!]

Not to spam the post particularly but this morning I've seen an advert for a 56 plate with 38k on the clock for £2500.
"No MOT, needs welding underneath and will need trailering away"
Rest of the car looks in good condition but the MOT history tells a story...
RE56 GNO

[Petrus]

Not to spam the post particularly but this morning I've seen an advert for a 56 plate with 38k on the clock for £2500.
"No MOT, needs welding underneath and will need trailering away"
Rest of the car looks in good condition but the MOT history tells a story...
RE56 GNO

There will always be Californian and Andalucian cars 
This is btw anóther reason not to take the UK vehicle along when moving thisaway.

The two bottom lines are that:
- the Mk.1 and 2 set quite clear prognosis that the Mk.3 will always be (relatively) affordable
- the OP best leaves his car stock if resale is an agenda

[Petrus]

Sort of tester that's real fun at parties 

Bbq ´em?

[Call the midlife!]

I think that has been tested by a pretty pedantic tester...
Advising it on the plastic coating on the brake lines - seen that too many times.
Sort of tester that's real fun at parties 

I'm reasonably confident they put that to cover their own backs if they can't actually see the condition of the lines for whatever reason.
I've seen plenty of cars submitted for testing that have had the lines purposely blathered in grease or hammerite just to get them through a test.

[The Other Stu]

If you are not planning on keeping it then stay 1zz would be what I would do.

Best to do the 2zz on a cheap donor car with a bad engine.

I did mine on a very cheap donor (£1k). The engine wasn't bad, it had just done a few miles.

[cyclehead]

I borrowed a 2zz swapped spyder for a week.  For city/highway driving it is miserable.  The low and mid-range power is very low.  If you want to go fast, you must lean on the throttle and wait, wait, wait until rpms make it sound like the engine will explode.  Then (finally!) it starts to move.  If you don't hit absolute redline before shifting, you fall out of "lift" and you're back to waiting and waiting for rpms to climb.  If the engine is not in "lift" I think the 1zz actually has more power.   To experience the concept, try driving to work with your 1zz held above 5000rpm.  It's not enjoyable.  I'd say you should swap to 2zz if you intend to track the car and keep it in "lift" extensively.    Otherwise it's not worth the effort/cost/noise/drop in value/loss in driveability

[Call the midlife!]

Thing is every car in the country has steel brake lines with plastic sheathing.
They would put it on every car they test.
It's like the "underbody plastic covers obscuring observation of structural components" advisory.
Slight misting of oil on dampers was advised. Really nit picking.
Total jobs worth.

Might be quite a nice car if someone looked at it with a realistic eye of 20 year old scum boxes.

To be fair there's no mention of plastic sheathing, just "grease or other material" so could well be gunked up with some form of underseal like many of the other rotboxes.

[Petrus]

I borrowed a 2zz swapped spyder for a week.  For city/highway driving it is miserable.  The low and mid-range power is very low.  If you want to go fast, you must lean on the throttle and wait, wait, wait until rpms make it sound like the engine will explode.  Then (finally!) it starts to move.  If you don't hit absolute redline before shifting, you fall out of "lift" and you're back to waiting and waiting for rpms to climb.  If the engine is not in "lift" I think the 1zz actually has more power.   To experience the concept, try driving to work with your 1zz held above 5000rpm.  It's not enjoyable.  I'd say you should swap to 2zz if you intend to track the car and keep it in "lift" extensively.    Otherwise it's not worth the effort/cost/noise/drop in value/loss in driveability

If I rmember correctly the 2ZZ output is pretty much the 1ZZ but with quite a bit of extension.
Maybe a bad/throttled install. The OEM  intake/exhaust in the MR2 is already retaining a dozen of horses in the 1ZZ´s stable and seriously handicaps the 2ZZ.

[mr2garageswindon]

Thing is every car in the country has steel brake lines with plastic sheathing.
They would put it on every car they test.
It's like the "underbody plastic covers obscuring observation of structural components" advisory.
Slight misting of oil on dampers was advised. Really nit picking.
Total jobs worth.

Might be quite a nice car if someone looked at it with a realistic eye of 20 year old scum boxes.

You have a menu to choose from when inputting the mot failures or advisories, On shock absorber its either "Serious fluid leak" Fail or "Light misting of oil" Advisory
If DVSA come and inspect an MOT you have done they would ask why it was not on there if there was a light misting of oil.
you gotta put down what you find regardless of oh its an old car its fine.

[mr2garageswindon]

Your oil mist example... well you can't see a misting of oil if the gaiters are still present, so the new cars never get it advised. But on 120k miles 15 year old scab boxes they don't leak because all the oil has already leaked out 

When the vehicle is jacked up you can see underneath the gaitors if they are still intact.

You cannot have different standards between old cars and newer cars.
Quite simply if it is knackered it is knackered end of story.
I see cars coming in for MOT that had a clean sheen no advisories for years then fails on loads because it never had a proper MOT carried out in the 1st place or was "A mates garage".
Same as people looking for a friendly MOT centre that will let the DE Cat go through.. It shouldn't so don't even ask.
If the tester is looking to fail things to make money when it should have passed that is where the problems lie.
I do trade MOTs for another local garage, they know I do them properly. If it has a de cat or DPF been modified they don't even ask could you let it through because my MOT licence is worth more than letting a shitbox through.
Go to ATS or Kwickfit after putting new brakes on.. funny they need new ones already.. How many times has that happened?
Sadly some places take the piss, Honesty is the only way to run a garage.
I could be minted taking the piss out of customers but they wouldn't come back and I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing I had taken the piss, Instead I sleep well knowing I am fair and keeping dangerous cars off the road if they are unsafe.
Advisories are just that.. You may need to look at this for next year MOT its not bad enough to fail at this point in time.

[Dev]

If I rmember correctly the 2ZZ output is pretty much the 1ZZ but with quite a bit of extension.
Maybe a bad/throttled install. The OEM  intake/exhaust in the MR2 is already retaining a dozen of horses in the 1ZZ´s stable and seriously handicaps the 2ZZ.

Nothing like it unless the 2ZZ is crippled with 1ZZ intake, exhaust and gearing. There are probably 70% of 2ZZ swaps that are not properly sorted which is a disappointment and in some cases slower than a 1ZZ before lift. If properly done it is no contest even if you try to do the same with a 1zz in bolt on mods.  Unfortunately there are also tired and abused 2ZZ engines that are also low on power because of worn intake cams. Everyones experience can be wildly different but on the whole for the money its still popular until there is a successor that can fill that void of reasonable costs with factory reliability.

[fawtytoo]

Prices on the rise, eh? This is why I've kept mine unmodified. And kept the hard top. And kept it SMT.

[J88TEO]

There is ( or was ) a red one with HT with 15k on the clock. Laid up for a while - no MOT and asking £2.5K so prices can't be going up!

[Lurch]

Sold mine recently 15k miles 2003 went for £9200 .

[Petrus]

with 15K on it, I´d say that is rather a bargain. Not many as new cabrios with such mileage for that money. Seen what quite méh new cars cost these days???

[Lurch]

Paid 6k for it 11 years ago so not bad in my eyes tbh.

[Petrus]

I still think it is a lót of car for nowadays not that precious coin but it sure beats depreciation 

Also goes to show that low mileage garaged OEM gets the money.

[jvanzyl]

Saw this yesterday- no idea what it went for in the end.

[Ardent]

Not familiar with that thing to the right of the manifold.
Nor the bracket. Looks like a mod to me. And wiring to it.