Having decided to buy a MR2 Turbo, you need to be sure that the car that you are thinking of buying won't turn out to be a 'lemon'. Unfortunately, in my experience there are a small number of cars that are being imported into the UK which are in a bad way mechanically - hopefully this guide will help you to spot them, and avoid an expensive drama.
This part of the FAQ is designed to be a type of checklist for yourself when viewing a test driving an MR2 - possibly including normal UK specification MR2's.
These are all quite general points that could be used for any MR2:
Look for uneven bodywork and crash damage repairs - look inside the front wheel wells for evidence of any heavy frontal impacts
Be suspicious of cars re-sprayed to any other colour other than the factory colour - a quick look under the bonnet into the spare tyre area should show the original colour in places, and if any panels have been replaced by fitting new wings.
Check the exterior trimmings agree with the car's claimed year of manufacture - e.g. for a '94 car, 15" Toyota wheels (if unmodified), body coloured spoiler at the front, body coloured mouldings, and round rear lights. Last but not least, check the the car's chassis number agrees with the the claimed production date.
Check tyres for read depth, speed rating (V or Z) and make - sometimes what a previous owner has put on there (e.g. Kwik Fit Economy remoulds) gives you an indication of how well the car has been looked after.
Check interior condition agrees with age and mileage (or kms). It is rumored that the less scrupulous Japanese importers/exporters clock cars, even though this is a very serious offence in Japan.
Check oil and water levels, and check for mayonnaise like deposit inside the fuel cap - if present indicates blown head gasket letting water into the oil ..
Is the car UK Legal? In order to pass the MOT you must have: (although mysteriously some seem to slip though without these things being done)
White sidelights (Eds note- I got caught out by this one...)
Rear foglamp
Markings on the speedo in MPH
Check the spare tyre for its condition - it should last a couple of hundred miles, and needs a decent amount of tread
Check that the radio has been converted to pick up FM stations in the European range (88 -108 MHz) rather than just the Japanese range (75 - 89 MHz)
The most useful and telling test is to check the colour of the coolant - dependant on a cars age, this can be used as an indicator showing how well a car has been serviced, and by who. The coolant, if replaced with Toyota Forlife coolant, should be Ribena Red in colour - brown or muddy brown shows that the coolant has not been changed, and therefore the MR2 probably has not been serviced according to the Toyota schedule.
Check the engine bay for modifications - often cars coming in from Japan are modified, sometimes extensively, by previous owners. You may be happy to take a car that has been modified from standard to produce more power, but for me I'm happy with the power the standard engine produces, with the peace of mind that if anything breaks I can get replacement bits from my local dealer, rather than having to risk ordering replacement bits from Japan or the US!
Replacing the air box with a mushroom or cone filter
Changing the Dump valve (blow off valve) to a Blitz valve, sometimes vented to the atmosphere giving an impressive woosh when coming off boost - however some owners have found that these are not as reliable as the Toyota valve, and can cause the engine to stumble or stall as the measured air is lost, causing the engine to run rich.
New exhaust System - the Toyota one has twin tailpipes, and a single catalytic converter - without this it may be difficult to pass the MOT emissions test, although it can be done.
Performance clutch - difficult to spot (!) but often they are even heavier in operation than the already fairly heavy standard Toyota one.
Adjustable suspension dampers and new sway-bars : Often the anti-sway bars (the cross bars over the engine, and under the bonnet in the front) are uprated - this may not be a problem, but if the combination of stiffness front to rear is wrong you may end up with too much oversteer or understeer.
Finally, with the engine cold, if you're feeling brave and handy with a screwdriver, it is possible to check for free play in the turbo itself. You may wish to leave this to an expert though!
Trace the pipe from the airbox down to the back of the engine where it connects onto the compressor side of the turbo. If you take the inlet pipe off, and reach inside you should feel the centre of the compressor wheel - feel for the amount of free play along its axis (in & out) and the side to side (wobble). There may be a little play along the axis, but should be very little wobble present - this would indicate expensive bearing failure ..
You'll find the spare tyre with black Toyota toolkit bag, containing the car jack and a few other bits. If you remove the spare wheel you'll find the battery behind it, and the the filler reservoir for the PAS (if fitted) is to the right of the battery, partially obscured by some trim.
ABS (if fitted) will be on the left hand side, under the black trim, just below the brake fluid reservoir -you should just be able to see it if look down from above onto it. If it is fitted, when you start the car you should see ABS light up and then go out as the car starts, if all is well. If there is a problem, it will stay on as a warning. On the picture on the right, the ABS is below the white stickers on the left hand side
Look for any evidence of frontal crash damage and re-sprays.
Assuming that you are happy with the results of the above checks, you now need to take the car for a test drive for at least 30 minutes, and ideally covering a variety of speeds and roads.
Before setting off, with the engine off, check the operation of the clutch - you may find that it is heavier than most cars, but in its operation you should feel no 'mushiness' - this would indicate a leak and air in the hydraulic clutch system. The brakes should be fairly light in operation, and when driving they are very communicative and progressive.
The car should start easily, without any smoke coming from the exhaust. You will find that even with a standard exhaust it is louder than most normally aspirated cars, but it makes a fantastic burbling noise due to the turbo..
Driving around, the car should not drift to either side when your hands are off the wheel (indicating suspension mis-alignment) or when braking, it should not pull to one side, caused by uneven brake calliper action.
This is probably the most important test of the engine's condition of the lot. If the turbo isn't operating as described below, then walk away. Turbo and engine repairs can get seriously expensive, and there's no point buying a car that isn't 100% OK. Troubleshooting the source of any problem with a Turbos is often very difficult, sometimes even too difficult for Toyota.
Now you've been driving the car around, the engine should be fully warm with the temperature indicator mid way up the dial, or thereabouts. If the engine is still cold, the engine management system (ECU) will cut in to limit the maximum boost the car will reach, in order to protect the engine and the turbo as they are not up to full operating temperature.
(BTW, the Toyota ECU is very protective of the car and is setup to protect you from blowing the engine accidentally. It will limit the maximum boost under other conditions, such as when the external air is below 4OC and so cold and dense anyway so little turbocharging is required. Interestingly, under full boost the engine runs very rich, keeping the combustion chamber cooler and so giving a longer life to the engine, with the trade off being that the engine develops less power than it is capable of doing)
You will need to take the car somewhere where you can accelerate up to 70mph safely. Starting in 2nd at 20mph plant the accelerator into the carpet - you'll feel the car accelerate, and from 2,500 rpm you will hear the turbo whistle as it spins up, followed by an enormous increase in torque and power - the speedo dial will hurtle towards 70mph, and in 2nd the car will reach the rev limiter at 7,250 at around 68mph.
Whilst you've being hurled towards the horizon, take a couple of glances down at the boost gauge to check what it reads. The Boost gague is in the middle of the dash.
You should see it quickly rise all the way to the + mark at the top of the scale, and stay there until you reach the rev limiter or you lift off the accelerator.
Peak power is from 5 to 6,000 rpm, and beyond this you will feel the power begin to drop off - but not before that point. The power delivery should be completely smooth though this rev range, with no sudden increases or decreases in power, as this indicates HT electrical or turbo problems.
When accelerating under boost, check the rear view mirror for any blue or white smoke (indicating oil and water respectively getting into the combustion chamber) from the exhaust - if you repeat the run a few times (you'll enjoy it!) you can check for full boost and smoke. White smote indicates water usually meaning a blown head gasket. Thick blue or black smoke is oil - possibly from piston rings (check compression) or more likely, failed turbo oil gaskets causing blowby. Either mean expensive repairs.
OK, you've checked the car over, taken it for a test drive and hopefully all is well.
The next thing to consider is a Full RAC or AA inspection of the car to check if the car has ever been crash repaired, or has any mechanical problems you've not found on your test drive. If you have the opportunity, I would also suggest trying to drive at least a couple of other Turbos so you can compare one against the other.
If you are confident that the car is OK, a cheaper alternative to having a full RAC or AA inspection, would be to call out a mobile tuning mechanic (Hometune/ Cartune etc) to just inspect the engine to be sure that things like cylinder compressions, HT circuits and charging system are all running as they should be. If the car ran smoothly during the test drive, you shouldn't find any surprises here.
Also, bear in mind that the car has been imported - you need to see proof that the relevant VAT and import duty has been paid on the car as it entered the EU, so you don't end up landed with it in the future when you try to renew your tax disc.
If it all checks out OK, go ahead and buy it - Don't forget to join the UK MR2 Driver's Club (for the discounts on Toyota parts and servicing) and the IMOC-UK mailing list to find out about events that are being organised.
MR2 Turbos seem to be selling for around the same prices as for a UK Spec GT models of the same age - better ones go for a slight premium. Often the cars have lower mileages than equivalent UK cars, but if this is due to stop-start low mileage with cold engines, this isn't necessarily better.
Sometimes these companies have a small UK stock of cars which they are keen to shift - this is another route to buying a MR2 at prices slightly lower than dealer prices.
An increasingly popular way of saving money when buying an imported car is to travel to Dublin, and buy you car there and import it personally into the UK. This has the big disadvantage of buying 'sight unseen' is that you do not know the mechanical state of the car before you arrive to drive it back to the UK, and some cars arriving at Dublin docks are in a poor state
The following information has come from Tony Goose who bought his own car via this route
-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Goose
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 1998 10:17 PM
To: UK-MR2< BR> Subject: Fw: imoc-uk Jap Import Question..This message was posted to the imoc-uk listPeople.Just put this together for David and thought others might find it useful.L8r TonyDavid asked .. > I am looking at buying a MR2 turbo from Ireland but was thinking > about just going across on the ferry and looking around Dublin for one. > Can you help me by giving me any info on what I need to do to register > the car? I have been told that if I don't have all the correct documents > when I try to register it in the UK they will refuse and I don't want to > be stuck with a car I cant register.OK. You'll need ... 1) Japanese de-registration form showing the original reg date etc. 2) English translation of above. 3) Customs C88 (SAD) form to prove car is in free EU circulation and duty / tax is paid. 4) Invoice from wherever you buy it. 5) Proof you owned / used it abroad - Hotel bill, credit card slips etc. Basically some dated receipt with your signature.Think that's about it.Probably the best help i can give is to tell you what i did ...
Chose a car.
Now the tricky bit. Assuming the car is over 3 years old, you just need an mot to be able to get registered. Rear fog light + clear front sidelights should take care of that. Don't need to change kph speedo at the moment but that might change in the future. Under 3 years old and the car needs an SVA (type approval) test which costs 160 quid and is pretty thorough. Only available at certain Ministry of Transport test centres and they check tons of stuff - i have a copy of the testers manual ..Dealer got temporary reg (ZZ plate) to cover me driving it in Ireland.
Takes a few days and i had to send him my drivers licence. This costs about 150 quid for the month including 3rd party insurance. Contrary to popular belief this ZZ reg ISN'T valid in the UK - Not even temporarily.Got a cover note from my insurance co. using chassis no. Then went and got it. Flew out to Dublin, stayed overnight and drove down through Ireland and used the fishguard/rosslare ferry. When you arrive in the UK, you're driving unregistered but the law allows you to travel home. Technically you should keep the car off road until registered but i have no driveway so worked on the assumption a local traffic warden would think they were just foreign plates and leave alone.
Seemed to work :))
Once over this hurdle, take all your paperwork (and the car) to your local registration office. They'll give you some forms - can't recall the official nos. but one is a declaration that you won't be reclaiming VAT paid when the car was imported into the EU (in Ireland), another is a 'personal import' declaration and finally the actual reg form. To qualify as a 'personal import' you have to satisfy them that (a) you owned and used the car abroad, (b) are importing it for your / your dependents personal use and (c) you're not planning on quitting the country in the next 12 months. Item (a) is the tricky bit. I had ferry/plane tickets, petrol receipts (paid cash) but this wasn't enough. Fortunately i'd picked up some guinness, ketchup and crisps at a supermarket and paid with a card. My signed visa receipt was what swung it for me :)) I'd advise buying everything with a card while there for this reason. Hand all this paperwork over along with payment for roadtax (6 or 12 month) plus reg fee (35quid if memory serves) and they SHOULD dish out your reg no. May (or may not) want to check the VIN plate on your car to confirm details on paperwork.
There's a leaflet your local reg office should have called 'PI3' . It's quite a good description of all this process. Also look at the D.O.T. web site ... http://www.mr2.com/TEXT/LimitedSlipCode.html
I haven't checked this lately so may have to trawl back a few months ... Similar info was at ... http://www.detr.gov.uk/vehicle.htm
> also how much does it cost to
> change the side lights add a fog lamp etc??I did all this myself. Just bought new front lenses which were about 25quid a side and rewired the rear clusters to incorporate fog lamps the same as uk cars. Most imports just have one of those tacky rectangular fog lamps bolted under the bumper and that's sufficient. A small point but you MUST have a warning lamp visible while driving when the fog lamp is on - it's in the MOT... Having said that, i've seen imports with no warning lamp for the fog lamp and even cars still with the orange side lights at the front (Ben's for example) - Hmmm.
Hope this helps ... Tony
http://www.mr2.com/TEXT/Buying.html : More info from MR2.com, but aimed at buyers of the earlier Mk1's.
http://members.aol.com/mr2mkii/lookfor.htm : A page giving more tips on what to check when buying Mk1 and Mk2 MR2's.