MR2 Buying advice needed - urgent !!!

Anonymous · June 25, 2004, 13:18

Hi all,

I'm just about to venture into the world of MR2 ownership and need some speedy advice. Have found what was initially described as a 'uk model' which turns out to have been bought through 'Virgin'. It's a one owner on a 51 plate, and immac in yellow with 23k on the clock - aircon, luggage rack etc (no hardtop). Just spoken to the insurance co who want an extra £150 a year to insure as its an import - i can swallow that but is the £10k Ive agreed to pay for the car over the top as it's an import ?...

Please help - need to tie up the deal tonight !!!

Anonymous · June 25, 2004, 13:26

from what others have said here, there are hardly any differences (some that spring to mind are stereo, alarm etc.). So 10K doesn't seem too bad at all to me.

Anonymous · June 25, 2004, 13:29

that sounds like a very good price to me fo a '51 plate. is it a euro import or Jap? if it is a euro then technically, i beleive you cant class anything from europe an import as we're in the EU now.

You could maybe try and knock him/her down on price by saying you're put off cos its an import but personally i would be more than happy with the price you've agreed upon so far...

Anonymous · June 25, 2004, 13:38

Have you driven it yet?

Whenever I buy a new car I try to drive a few before finally buying one. That way you get to know the characterists of the car. When one does or doesn't to something at the rest it's time to worry.

Price sounds ok.

Anonymous · June 25, 2004, 13:44

Thats a very interesting point re the EU, might have to look into that one a little deeper !! I'm 95% certain that Virgin only source cars in the EU. The insurance company said "it would have been imported 'into' the EU before being imported into the UK" - My argument was that surely cars sold in the EU and UK are manufactured in the same place so technically they're all imported, in addition it was first registered in the UK - sorry that might not make much sense. I though £10k seemed pretty good but wasn't sure how the price would be affected due to being a euro import. Tried a search on the forum but couldn't find anything specific.

Thanks for your help so far though..... think I'll take the plunge !!

Anonymous · June 25, 2004, 13:47

Sounds like they're talking rubbish. My car came from Japan (even got a Made in Japan sticker on it), and isn't an import. If their definition holds water then all MR2 Roadsters are imports in the UK 'cause they're all made in Japan.

Anonymous · June 25, 2004, 13:50

Quote from: "phil4"Sounds like they're talking rubbish. My car came from Japan (even got a Made in Japan sticker on it), and isn't an import. If their definition holds water then all MR2 Roadsters are imports in the UK 'cause they're all made in Japan.

Good Point, they are ALL made in Japan, ours also had the made in Japan sticker, but again not imports.

Liz · June 25, 2004, 13:50

Quote from: "alfieginger"Thanks for your help so far though..... think I'll take the plunge !!

Don't think....do! s:)

s:)

Anonymous · June 25, 2004, 13:55

Thanks for your replies,

Yes I've driven it this morning, nowhere near as quick as the S2000 I used to own 'before my divorce', but very nice all the same - just as well really as my girlfriends going to be using it monday to friday ! (sorry to all you expert female drivers on here but she's got 6 points on her licence already)

There's no way I'll be able to knock him down anymore, he was originaly asking just under £12K ! - thought he was going to take his bat home when I wouldn't budge from £10K (or get it out and hit me with it !)

My cry for help was more around price than anything else, as I cant find a price guide anywhere that compares uk to import.

Anonymous · June 25, 2004, 14:03

Quote from: "alfieginger"My cry for help was more around price than anything else, as I cant find a price guide anywhere that compares uk to import.

New ones seem to be around 2-3K less (tradesales have SMTs for 16K)... so I reckon 10K for what you're getting is about right.

Anonymous · June 25, 2004, 15:18

Mine was a Euro import (Trade-sales), and on an X-plate with my mileage I'd still like to get around £10k for it! So you're looking at a bargain. Do it! s:D

s:D

I have seen X/Y-plate cars come up on Autotrader for over £13k quite recently at main franchised dealers... crazy!

Incidentally, as I bought my car from a UK dealer, I didn't feel it was necessary to mention the "import" issue to my insurance company - As long as the car has a Thatcham Cat-1 alarm Immobiliser, it should exactly match a "UK spec" car.

The £150 extra you've been quoted is probably due to their black and white "import" category, ie cars sourced directly from Japan that are tricky/require specialised parts to repair.

heathstimpson · June 25, 2004, 15:45

10K for a 51 plate with the spec mentioned is a good price; go for it s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Anonymous · June 25, 2004, 19:41

alfieginger: whats your secret to haggling? s:wink: :wink: s:wink: how the hell do you get 2 grand off the askin price? s:? :? s:?

Anonymous · June 25, 2004, 20:27

Get insured at Direct Line - they didn't charge me extra and I made it quite clear to them that the car was EU-sourced from Holland. They said it would only make a difference if the car had been a Japanese Domestic Import...

Buy the car by the way - but make sure you do an HPI check on it first!

Sundance s8)

s8)

Anonymous · June 26, 2004, 09:03

My Secret to haggling:

Agreed a date and time to meet the seller that was several days away

'texted' the day before to advise that I had seen another car in a less preferable colour for £10,500 and explained that although I would really prefer one in his colour I couldn't justify the extra expense.

Got a text back saying - "will sell for that price, call me" so phoned and arranged to see the car and when I viewed it made all the right noises but explained that I had another two to see that afternoon.

I had already decided to buy it but said that i'd cancel my other two viewings if he'd accept £10k on the spot - he said £10,250 - I said no so he agreed to £10k. And that was that.

If you filter 'out' all the trade ads on autotrader and exchange and mart the average asking price drops by £1000 - £1500. The one I'm buying had a high asking price relative to sale price but was over priced in the first place.

It's swings and roundabouts, but remember it's a buyers market and not that many people (%) will pay £10k for a private sale - don't be put off by a high asking price, if you can't get it for what you want to pay don't buy it, another one will come along ! (be Patient !!!)

Liz · June 26, 2004, 09:19

So what colour did you get in the end? Or I have I missed it?

Anonymous · June 26, 2004, 09:27

yellow, picking it up this morning - girlfriend will be out in it all afternoon ! she's going to be suprised though - she doesn't know anything about it, she's always going on about how she likes yellow the best !

markiii · June 26, 2004, 09:33

A coupel of suggestions.

If it's her first rear wheel drive, midengine car tell her to take it easy, they will bite if you try and drive it liek a front wheeler.

check your tyre pressures and make sure they are accurate.

since teh roof will no doubt be down, don't force it if it sticks a little lite pressure on the glass window from inside is usually all it takes, if it sticks but don't go nuts, teh mechanism can be bent if you do.

markiii · June 26, 2004, 09:33

ok and welcome to the only other yellow owner I know of in teh club :-) :-) :-)

Anonymous · June 26, 2004, 09:42

thanks for those tips, She's quite a skilled driver (her dad's a driving instructor) but it's raining lightly here so I will go out with her.

I'm used to rear wheel drive, had an old x19 great little rust bucket for getting to grips with the sportscar thing - suprisingly quick down the lanes once you got going.

Also owned an S2000, which needed much respect in the wet - especially when the rear bridgestones neared the end of their working life !!

heathstimpson · June 26, 2004, 20:43

Quote from: "alfieginger"Also owned an S2000, which needed much respect in the wet - especially when the rear bridgestones neared the end of their working life !!

Same on the 2 with Bridgestones

Anonymous · June 27, 2004, 08:48

Thanks for that tip re the bridgestones, the one I've bought is running on Yoko's - seemed ok, even though it was pouring down yesterday.

Had a decent drive in it and now .... Luv it!

reminds me of a lighter, more powerfull X19 (but hope fully with no rust issues and better reliability - going to sort the pre-cats as a priority)

Had arranged to meet the girlfriend and her parents for lunch yesterday, made sure she got there first with her mum and then parked up out of view. Her dad came with me in my other car to collect the 2, we'd made up a story about having stuff we needed to do yesterday morning.

At the end of the meal I made an excuse about having left something in the car and went outside, I then drove the 2 outside the window she was sat next to - the look on her face was priceless and worth the cost of the car on its own ! To say she's happy is an understatement, she was speechless - it was a real shame it was raining. Hoping for a bit of hood down motoring this afternoon though.

Anonymous · June 27, 2004, 11:52

how come you got rid of the S2000 mate?

Anonymous · June 27, 2004, 17:07

D-I-V-O-R-C-E !!!

Couldn't afford to keep her !

Had one of the first in the country in 99' but had to let her go in 2001.

Anonymous · July 10, 2004, 08:26

For my V-reg roadster, Jap import, I paid £8000 for which is about the right price considering it had only done 30,000 miles.

Have a look at w www.tesco.co.uk w for insurance as they don't have any biases against imports, exactly the same premium as UK spec cars.

In regards to haggling in an earlier post the rules are simple, it just equates to how desperate the seller is to get shot of it. I knocked a grand off the price off mine from a dealer! The best thing with dealers is not only do the cars sometimes come with some kind of warranty, they also have to stand there listening to stupid offers long after a private seller would of told you p*ss off. And the markup they have on the cars is not significantly more than private sellers nowadays in the car market, as private sellers are always prone to wheeler-dealers-itus from watching too much "Top Gear".

I noticed my car had been advertised for a few weeks in autotrader as were other 2's. I went down to the showroom some 100 odd miles away, and saw that he obviously had a overstock of cars. I ripped it to pieces underlining every fault. Made a stupid offer, he explained he paid £7900 for it! I said make himself 100 squid and call it a day. He said just take it away. And we lived happily ever after...