Where Do You Look When Buying?

[Johnny5]

Hi Everyone,

I'm in the process of looking for an MR2 to buy, as per my post on Welcome New Members Introduce Yourselves.  I'm after an unmodified 06 or 56 plate with under 40k, preferably in red or yellow, but will get a different colour if I have to.  Doesn't have to be a TF, and spec is unimportant.  BTW, I've looked at the two red cars for sale in Bolton on AT, but one was too rusty for my liking, and the other was madly expensive with a patchy SH.

Just wondering if I'm looking in all the right places, or if I'm missing some.  I'm regularly checking Autotrader, Ebay, Gumtree, Preloved, Pistonheads and Vehicles for sale on these venerable pages, as well as classifieds on MR2OC.  Autovillage just seems to be a consolidation of cars for sale on all the above sites into a single place, and other sites I've found are generally too obscure to have any 2s on them.

Given that I'm being fairly particular about age and mileage, I need to cast my net as far and wide as possible, so as to give myself the best possible chance of finding what I looking for.

Is there anywhere else I should be checking where 2s regularly come up for sale?

Thanks

[Call the midlife!]

Welcome. If you "do" Facebook then there are 3 or 4 different Mr2 groups on there also, other than that I think you're just going to have to be patient as your target demographic is probably reducing your results.
Are you actively searching for that particular car or just a generic search?
Maybe try starting lower and seeing what results come up?
Also try Mk3, Roadster MrS or even Spyder in your searches, it's surprising sometimes the difference it makes in the number of results. Possibly more in the parts searches but worth a try in the cars too.


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[jvanzyl]

There is another way... You could buy an import...

You get a way bigger variety and often much rather kit.

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[jvanzyl]

https://carfromjapan.com/cheap-used-toyota-mr-s-for-sale

https://carfromjapan.com/cheap-used-toyota-mr-s-2003-for-sale-5b4562ebcac87b580217499c

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[Carolyn]

Remember - 05 or 06 is still a 12-13 year old car.  Really low miles isn't always a good thing, 'cos it means it's done a lot of standing nor being used.

I've seen such cars having to be scrapped for rust and poor mechanical condition.

Go by condition, history and pride of ownership of the seller. 

I'd rather have higher mileage slightly earlier car that's been well used and well serviced.

[K T M Rider]

You could buy a silver one and get it wrapped or resprayed. Loads of late model low mile cars are silver, making it a bit of a buyer's market for them (why should I buy your Silver when there's 5 more to look at....   and you want red anyway).

Drive a hard bargain on one and the money you save could pay for a colour change.

[Johnny5]

Really low miles isn't always a good thing, 'cos it means it's done a lot of standing nor being used.

I've seen such cars having to be scrapped for rust and poor mechanical condition.

I know what you mean.  Of the two cars I went to look at recently, a 26k car and a 40k car - both 06, the 26k had enough rust on the floorpan that I rejected it.  The 40k car had been waxoyled underneath, apparently from new.  The waxoyl was holding up really well, too.  It had definitely done its job and the floorpan was absolutely free of rust.

This spoke volumes to me.  The first thing I'm going to do when I get a car, is have it either waxoyled or dinitrolled.  Which do you think is better?  I've read multitudes of info and discussion and can't see a clear winner.

[Carolyn]

I think a wire brush, zinc primer and paint on a regular basis beats the hell out of covering over with gunk.  Not that it's a big deal, given the value of our cars.

On a more expensive 'collectible' heavy coatings are not desirable or good for the value.

If I put a car up on the lift and I see Dinitrol, I have to wonder what is it hiding?".

Sometimes it's not hiding anything.  Sometimes it is.

[james_ly]

When I was looking for mine I put a wanted post on one of the Facebook groups, got a few messages offering these types of cars (way over my budget) which probably aren't advertised anywhere.

[Essex2Visuvesi]

I think a wire brush, zinc primer and paint on a regular basis beats the hell out of covering over with gunk.  Not that it's a big deal, given the value of our cars.

On a more expensive 'collectible' heavy coatings are not desirable or good for the value.

If I put a car up on the lift and I see Dinitrol, I have to wonder what is it hiding?".

Sometimes it's not hiding anything.  Sometimes it is.

Have to agree, just watch most episodes of Car SOS or one of the American resto/hot rod shows to see what can lie beneath