How much is my MR2 worth?

[Hellbound]

I have a 1996 JDM tin top NA MR2 in red that's rust free and has covered 96k. I've just been offered £300 for it from the MR2 specialist who has diagnosed an electrical fault that would require a new wiring loom. The car also no longer has an MOT; something I'd hoped would be done had it not been for the wiring being shot.

As the labour involved in diagnosing the problem has thus far amounted to £240, I'd be seeing a return of £60. Less than the new battery I put in it last week. It also cost me £130 to transport the car to him. So the best scenario is minus £70!

Last month it also had a major service, all fluid and filter (oil, fuel) change and a new alternator and belt, spark plugs and ignition leads.

Obviously I'm gutted to lose the car as it owes me more than £2k and I've probably covered about 700 miles in the year I've had it. Most of those miles were done driving it to my house in Wales from London.

So my question is should I just cut my losses and take £60 for it? Or pay him £240 in labour costs, another £130 to have the car transported back to my house and then put it on ebay? Will I see more than £560, which is effectively what he's offering me minus being it back (£240 + £60 + £130)?

Utterly depressed at the moment.

[CalMac]

What's the electric fault? Surely if it's worth that little you could try and just fix that section of the loom. I know it would generally be bad practice to go splicing looms and replacing bits but if it means you could enjoy the car a while longer then why not

Depends how much more you want to spend but a new loom for an NA must go for peanuts, I think I sold the engine bay wiring from my Rev 1 for 0.99p on Ebay last year lol

OR break for spares, but unless there's many aftermarket parts you probably won't make a massive amount. Also a shame to break a rust-free car

[ashley]

Which specialist?

[craig]

Sounds like someone is taking the p1$$ out of you. As above, which specialist?

[Martin F]

What was the fault they diagnosed ?

You may well be able to fix it yourself, would you be planning keeping the car if fixed ?

Any advisories on last mot ?

[Hellbound]

Which specialist?

JPF in Worcestershire. I'm in Cardiff.

I have no place to break the car or the means/time to find the fault and splice the loom myself. I've never done that sort of thing before. Asking him to replace the loom would cost too much in labour and it would effectively be a write off in terms of value for money. Keeping in mind today's labour has come to £240 and that was just to diagnose the problem. I'm not sure if UK or JDM looms are different but apparently it would need a JDM loom and I'm not sure how much replacing the new loom would cost. Any ideas?

The car is solid as a rock, its been kept indoors for its entire life here in the UK and used as a fair weather car. Imported to Brighton/Hove, then used sparingly in the South of France before muggins here took ownership.

[Hellbound]

What was the fault they diagnosed ?

You may well be able to fix it yourself, would you be planning keeping the car if fixed ?

Any advisories on last mot ?

A fuse keeps blowing. Suspected it was a gauge fuse line which was then disconnected. Fuse kept blowing so it's now a case of a fault somewhere in the loom. Prior to this he rebuilt the front fuse box that was messed about with by a previous mechanic elsewhere (local to me) and checked the alternator etc. His best estimation is that it needs a new loom or a long time finding the section of wiring that's gone wrong.

Last MOT was slight surface corrosion on one of the rear break discs. I had to put two new front calipers and a new sport cat to get it through the MOT last Sept. That alone cost me £700.

Ack! I don't drink but....I think I need one.

[ashley]

I'm near Gloucester, there's a few of us round here who have nailed the wiring in these cars....you want us to take a look for you?

[Hellbound]

I'm near Gloucester, there's a few of us round here who have nailed the wiring in these cars....you want us to take a look for you?

I don't know how that would work. I've asked him to give me the weekend to mull over his offer.

If there are any trusted members who could pick the car up from him and take it to their place for diagnosis/repair that would be awesome.

Does anyone have experience with JPF?

Thanks guys.

[Martin F]

Sounds like someone is taking the p1$$ out of you. As above, which specialist?

I had a friend who bought a banger for 1k, after a few months the clutch started slipping, he got charged £900 to fix that, then he stuck the car in for a mot, it failed on quite a few things.
Two days later the guy from the mot station phoned him and offered to buy the car off him for £200, got me thinking that he was running a racket, failing cars then offering to buy them for pennies....

It takes a lot to gain a reputable business in the car industry, even then you can't please everybody, However some are just pure chancers....

The OP sounds like he doesn't have the knowledge or time to work on the car himself, there are some very genuine people on this forum who will offer to help but taking everything into consideration the Op should maybe sell up...

Wouldn't let it go for less than £600 though, sometimes letting go and drawing a line is the way forward

[androo007]

Don't let it go for that! A raw shell in great nick is worth that.

There are some really great and knowledgeable people on here that will go above and beyond to help out other people. ....I say get the car back and see what can be done.

[Pauln]

A fuse keeps blowing.

Do you know exactly which fuse keeps blowing?

Paul

[masterbateson]

really would be ideal for a knowledgeable member from here or any other2 forum/club who lived locally to pop buy this guys place and take a look on your behalf.
Someone who has a good nose for smelling bull shine

May be perfectly genuine but it sounds a bit moody,a good auto electrician is about 60 quid an hour i think, and if he is good he should at the very least be able to pin point the fault in an hour.
Fixing it might take longer.
But
think about i, body is good,engine is good and its just a little electric fault.

P.s.
why has it cost 240 squid just to diagnose the problem? lets assume his hourly rates 60 quid and thats high its taken 4 hours to diagnose.
On the flip side if he has spent tons of hours diagnosing then 300 quid aint really a bad offer for a non runner because if he is going to fix it properly thats a fair few hours work putting a replacement loom in.
Thought i had better maintain the balance a bit

[madbasshunter]

Does anyone have experience with JPF?
Thanks guys.

This JPF https://www.facebook.com/JPF-Toyota-Spe ... 568071853/

[masterbateson]

he seems genuine from that face book page.

And damn! why dont i live near worcs! 15 quid clear out
going to message him and see if he will keep a few things for me.

[markstevieandmads]

Ive been speaking to this guy on fb.
He seems very genuine to me and has been very helpful.

TBH - Ive had enough of trying to get hold of so called "specialists" on this site. If certain people cant be bothered to answer emails then i cant be bothered to give them my hard earned money.

Dont forget, this guy is trying to run a business. Hes got overheads. In theory, it could take ages to track down the fault and this will be costly.

If fellow members can help then obviously they have no costs to bare.

[masterbateson]

Like i said, I think 300 notes is not a bad offer, he is a business at the end of a day and not a sick mr2 sanctuary.

We cant really know what work he has done without a proper breakdown.
For all we know if he is a real fan of these cars and a conscientious worker who is determined to get to the bottom of the fault he may have spent 10 hours looking for the fault.

Without all the facts we cant pass judgement one way or the other I reckon.

[Hellbound]

I do regard him as being genuine and I do agree he has a business to run. He kept me updated with that he was doing as he went through testing the electrics. His opinion is now it's a dash out job and the loom has to change as part of it must be fried. He's said I'm not obliged to sell the car to him but in my mind it would cost me £240 that I owe plus another Shiply listing to get the car to me. Then it would sit outside my house.

If a knowledgeable forum member nearby wants to take it then by all means that would be fine by me depending on the conditions. It's on its second clutch, the gearbox and engine are tip top and there's no rust. All it needs is a brake refresh, the wiring sorted and perhaps a new radiator later on. I'd do all that tomorrow if the loom wasn't fried.

Alternatively if anyone knows a sparky who could change out the loom for a fixed price I'd like to know.

[Hellbound]

Does anyone have experience with JPF?
Thanks guys.

This JPF https://www.facebook.com/JPF-Toyota-Spe ... 568071853/

That's the one. Like I said, I've had no reason to think he's not genuine. He does seem knowledgeable on all things MR2 and GT-4.

[Hellbound]

Don't let it go for that! A raw shell in great nick is worth that.

There are some really great and knowledgeable people on here that will go above and beyond to help out other people. ....I say get the car back and see what can be done.

I'd love for this to turn into a forum project of sorts. If there's a group who live close to each other with space to work in then that would be ideal.