Potential Owner - Few Questions!

[James-UK]

Got a couple of questions for you MR2 veterans, as I'm looking to purchase one in the next few weeks.

1. Is £1500 a realistic limit to get a decent example? Would I be able to get a reliable one in decent condition for that kind of price?

2. As I'll be relatively new to RWD, and I understand there's been revisions of the suspension etc over the years. Would I be best off looking for a Rev2 + or is the difference not worth worrying about?

3. I'm not after practicality, but how's the car to live with? Easy enough to cram a weeks shopping in one? Also looking to take it up to the lake district this year for a weeks camping, so hoping there's enough room for a small tent, couple of bags etc!

Cheers, James

[Marf]

1. Are you after an NA or a Turbo?

2. Rev2+ have the revised geometry which is more biased to understeer. Definitely preferable for a RWD newbie

3. the Mk2 is very practical for the type of car it is. The boot is huge!

[James-UK]

1. Are you after an NA or a Turbo?

2. Rev2+ have the revised geometry which is more biased to understeer. Definitely preferable for a RWD newbie

3. the Mk2 is very practical for the type of car it is. The boot is huge!

NA for now! Insurance wouldn't allow for a turbo yet, got a quote of £900 at 22 with 2 years NCB on a NA, which to me seems pretty reasonable!

Also I think jumping straight to a turbo would be too much of a power upgrade in one go, considering what I'm driving at the moment.

[Nic]

Your budget should get you a good Rev 3,4,5 NA MR2, do your research and take your time to find a good clean unabused example would be my advice.

Check out the cars for sale on here, Pistonheads, Autotrader and Ebay that should give you an idea of how much they go for and the differences between the years/models.

[Marf]

Yep, plenty about in this price bracket so be choosy.

Have you tried some of the specialist insurers?

[James-UK]

Have been scouting Pistonheads / Autotrader etc for a good few days now. Seen some good examples, just a bit picky as I don't want to pick one that's going to need a lot of work doing!

I've tried a few specialists, like Flux etc. They all come back thousands more than what I get on comparison sites. 3K being the last quote I got!

If you were searching for an MR2 right now, what mileage would you be looking at for £1500-1800?

And thanks for your replies.

[uglee]

Looking for a Mk2 now and the age they are all at, I'd be making sure the sills/bottom of the doors are rock solid.
Also evidence of suspension work, if it hasn't had any in the past it's most likely well past its best.

I wouldn't use mileage as a pointer towards value or condition with these cars TBH.

Engines, just make sure its running smooth, evidence of cambelt change is a bonus, get it serviced after you buy it. If the cambelt goes stick another one on, or if you are unlucky enough to damage the engine it can be replaced for peanuts.

They are well into their banger phase and are getting broken for spares/raced/crashed at a pretty incredible rate. So for the meantime any spares are plentiful and cheap.

If you have no kids it's perfectly practical as an only car and that's what mine was used as for 7 years. We camped for 10 days and we took quite a few creature comforts, all in the packing of the car. If you're clever you can get a lot of stuff in it

[Nic]

I'm not sure if they insure younger drivers or NA MR2's but I'd give Competition Car Insurance a call, they were literally half the price of the next best quote I got. Their main business is motorsport insurance but they do cover some car models including the MR2 Turbo for normal road use.

http://www.competition-car-insurance.co.uk/

I would be looking for a clean stock example that has been well looked after/maintained and comes with a lot of paperwork. It might be worth posting up details of any cars you are interested in on here for opinions and if you go to view a car see if there is a local member who could perhaps go along with you.

[James-UK]

Looking for a Mk2 now and the age they are all at, I'd be making sure the sills/bottom of the doors are rock solid.
Also evidence of suspension work, if it hasn't had any in the past it's most likely well past its best.

I wouldn't use mileage as a pointer towards value or condition with these cars TBH.

Engines, just make sure its running smooth, evidence of cambelt change is a bonus, get it serviced after you buy it. If the cambelt goes stick another one on, or if you are unlucky enough to damage the engine it can be replaced for peanuts.

They are well into their banger phase and are getting broken for spares/raced/crashed at a pretty incredible rate. So for the meantime any spares are plentiful and cheap.

If you have no kids it's perfectly practical as an only car and that's what mine was used as for 7 years. We camped for 10 days and we took quite a few creature comforts, all in the packing of the car. If you're clever you can get a lot of stuff in it

Thanks, will keep that in mind when looking. I've read the various 'buying guides', but there's soo much information in there it's a lot to take in, let alone check when you actually go to view a car!

10 days isn't bad going, I'm sure I'd be able to find room for it all. I've all ready warned the girlfriend that if she packs too much it will be going on her lap for 400 miles!

[James-UK]

I'm not sure if they insure younger drivers or NA MR2's but I'd give Competition Car Insurance a call, they were literally half the price of the next best quote I got. Their main business is motorsport insurance but they do cover some car models including the MR2 Turbo for normal road use.



I would be looking for a clean stock example that has been well looked after/maintained and comes with a lot of paperwork. It might be worth posting up details of any cars you are interested in on here for opinions and if you go to view a car see if there is a local member who could perhaps go along with you.

Will keep them in mind, cheers.

I tried to post a couple earlier but I've not reached a high enough post count yet. Any chance you could post one you would look at if you had £1500 or so to spend? Would be interesting to see what other people would think are worth viewing.

Would be great to have someone more knowledgable to come view some cars. Been searching for cars within a rough distance of 200 miles of Kent or Plymouth, although I would travel further if I saw something that looked like great value for money.

[Saksoy]

Mileage don't matter when modifying cars

[Saksoy]

I'm not sure if they insure younger drivers or NA MR2's but I'd give Competition Car Insurance a call, they were literally half the price of the next best quote I got. Their main business is motorsport insurance but they do cover some car models including the MR2 Turbo for normal road use.

http://www.competition-car-insurance.co.uk/

I would be looking for a clean stock example that has been well looked after/maintained and comes with a lot of paperwork. It might be worth posting up details of any cars you are interested in on here for opinions and if you go to view a car see if there is a local member who could perhaps go along with you.

you want get stock mr2's for cheap these days, since they are pretty rare.

[James-UK]

Not bothered about the car being completely stock. Just avoiding cars with ridiculously big exhausts, bad alloy choices and body kits.

Spent the evening searching through virtually every £1200-2000 car on PH / Autotrader / Ebay & OC's for sales. And tbh I've not seen any NA tintops that really grab my attention yet!

Wish something good would come up in the IMOC's for sale, as I'd rather get one that I knows going to have been looked after better than the average car. No rush though, so I'll just keep checking every now and then and see if anything comes up.

[Saksoy]

This

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=150711

[MR2O12]

if insurance is an issue check a non turbo import first. for me they were turbo money to insure. uk spec was by far the cheapest

[James-UK]

This

*Link*

Looks great for the price, but an extreme distance to travel. 600+ miles from Plymouth, so I'd be looking at £200 petrol then £30 Premier Inn.

[James-UK]

if insurance is an issue check a non turbo import first. for me they were turbo money to insure. uk spec was by far the cheapest

Got quotes for £900 on a UK Non turbo, raises to about £1500 for a turbo import. Not seen many non-turbo imports so no idea how much that would cost!

[HighwayStar]

Heya fella.
My advice as many others have said is check bodywork (particularly sills and doors) and get something with paperwork. It's an indication of an owners care as well as a record of works done. Take someone who knows 2s when you go see any and drive a few if you can. In other words go to stuff thats close even if you think it's not for you so you can get a drive and get familiar with looking them over.
Personally I wouldn't worry about revs... though the rev1s do offer more oversteer this can be easily controlled with later wheel/tyre combos and geo set up (you can even swap the rear sub frame to the later cars quite cheaply nowadays) and the simple implementation of control of the right foot.
Check insurance on the exact car you're considering before committing. Any reason why you're not considering a t-top? Fabulous for a touring holiday in the odd bits of sunshine we have.. Had mine as a daily driver almost 13yrs now.
Anyway, good luck with it, great cars. See you at a meet someday.

R

[MR2O12]

if insurance is an issue check a non turbo import first. for me they were turbo money to insure. uk spec was by far the cheapest

Got quotes for £900 on a UK Non turbo, raises to about £1500 for a turbo import. Not seen many non-turbo imports so no idea how much that would cost!

Those are roughly the same as my quotes. I guess a glimited would be neerer the turbo then the uk

[JohnnyC]

A G-Limited with have aircon, which is a bonus.

I'd sell my UK car for £2K