When I was looking the other year
-post face lift still potentially suffered from CEL and excessive oil usage
(the
'roc still said to get rid of the pre-cats, I did on my PFL and it still passed emissions anyway).
I know of one person on the forums who insisted his pre-cats were changed for new ones, much to the dismay of everyone else as they've been seen to go from 10k from new.
You just don't need them in the UK!
If it's a UK car
-check for rust along the sill, rear cross member and also around the top of the windscreen.
3 out of 4 cars I saw has signs of pretty bad rot along the top by the windscreen rubber
(much worse than MK2's), 2/3 had CEL's
(lambda sensor apparently just a re-set but none were done on starting them up on the forecourt) so not a good advert.
I just walked away from cars with CEL's, as usual, if it was that easy
-fix it before selling and therte's too many MK3's to choose otherwise.
On allot of roofs I saw they'd never seen a dressing in 5-10 years, most cars have never seen a proper clean
/ dressing, because they were so commonly available.
Interior is quite plasticky
-check for signs of wear, if someone's removed trim for some reason
-if they don't wrap the screwdriver it marks the trim easy.
The hinges on the rear storage bins are quite crude
-plastic cracks easy enough.
There was too much superglue on parts on the cars I saw.
Check the tyres, my first MR-S had cheap and different ones and still convinced was half the reason the car spun
/ wrote-off in quite reasonable conditions.
My second Roadster was not much better until I got wheels
/ tyres on it.
It's definitely a bargaining point until you get your choice of tyres on.
If I was buying again I'd check under the bonnet
-storage bin hinges fail
(cheap replacement but an arguing point).
The PS pipes are particularly exposed
-check they're OK if you can take a mirror.
Folk flap about
"original radios etc" but as long as they haven't fecked anything making something fit
-you can just walk into Halfords and buy the adapters easy.
Some of them also have broken aerial masts
(same symptoms as any other Toyota).
SMT:
My second Roadster was SMT and I quite liked it, but I never ended up using the the buttons on the wheel.
Check them though as they're known to go.
I didn't mind the SMT and there's allot of fans
-but there's a connection you have to make with it, I found you can't just bang your foot down and shift-up.
When you sync your hand and foot it works well, but is a bit non-intuative to the uninitiated and maybe puts allot of folk off.
It is interesting watching it down-shift itself though
(way better than I could ever double D clutch).
It should shift quite quick but it's not as stupid as an auto.
There's a bit of a balance.
SMT fluid is the same as EHPS fluid for both the MK2 and MK3.
I wouldn't knock a good SMT to be honest.
It's allot noisier than a MK 2
-sounds way more mechanical.
Too small an engine for me,but as far as
"more modern cars"go quite likeable.
The clutch is the same as a M/T
(or near enough), but so long as the auto shifts timely with no delay.
.
.
.That was a bit long winded but passing on thoughts/ experience from when I was looking
.
I'm assured that it shifts perfectly but will be giving it a rigorous test drive.
