MR2 Turbo Running Costs

[Cliff]

How much has it cost you to run your MR2 Turbo in the last year?

Its just that I'm in the market for purchasing my first house and just sold my much loved Honda Civic Type R to help me fund the house purchase.

Would you advise against an MR2 Turbo?

I've asked this question about the Pulsar on the GTIR's owners club too and they advised against a pulsar.

Your help is much appreciated.

[JJ]

Mines cost me around £100K this last year !!!

If your going for one, the later rev 3 models ( late 93+ ) are cheaper to run due to it being fitted with a MAP sensor driven ecu !

If looked after, shouldn't be a problem ! Good strong engines !

Sunny GTi-Rs - lol !! they're made of chocolate and the gearboxes are a joke.

[Cliff]

Sunny GTi-Rs - lol !! they're made of chocolate and the gearboxes are a joke.

lol

[stevecordiner]

High performance cars = high running, insurances costs I'm afraid. Its a fact of life.

However, if you bought a stock car and left it totally stock - no boost increases etc, the car should be reliable. But we are talking about a proper maintenance schedule; e.g. oil changes every 3-4k miles etc.

I'd say in maintenance I've spent;

4 oil changes - oil & filt about £40 a time - 160 quid
4 tyres - 450 quid
pads all round - 70 quid
Replace heater matrix pipes above fuel tank - 350
Clutch - fitted uprated one + labour - 400
Timing belt - 100 quid (thanks to a friend doin it)
Gear box oil - 70 quid
Exhaust flexi - 70 quid fitted

It all adds up

[ENSMR2]

Costs loads of money!!

Especially if your young. Insurance will be a killer!

Before I put it away I was using between £40-£60 on fuel. Sometimes more!

Servicing ain't too bad.
Tyres can cost quite a bit. especially the rears. You cant get away with cheap tyres on an MR2.
Mods are expensinve if compared to euro cars.

Anything of this kind of power and jap is going to be similar in terms of running costs.

I deff wouldnt call it cheap at all.

[Cliff]

Thanks for the advice so far!!

In my case, the car would be left standard and I do approximately 5000 miles a year. Once I purchase the MR2 Turbo, I will be planning to change the timing belt if not done recently, but I can do this with my other halfs dad, (he's a 20 + years in the trade mechanic). .

I'm 22 and I've already budgeted for the insurance, (circa £2000, eek!!), but I've been paying high premiums since I've started driving 4 years ago, so I don't know much different .

Any more advice is more than welcome!

Thanks again.

[JJ]

Any more advice is more than welcome!

Pick yourself up the best tyres you can for the rear !

[briforbes]

I'm probably an extreme case - but this is what my Rev 1 Turbo has cost me since last december:

replacement engine (bottom end went on the original) - £800
new clutch plate - £109.68
starter motor - £137
surcharge on starter motor (casing on old one had cracked) - £65
Timing Belt - £29.02
Idler Pulley - £36.09
Driveshaft bolts (keep wriggling out til there's 2 left then shearing off in inconvenient places far from home!) - £5.28
Driveshaft locktabs x 3 - £10.56
Rear ARB Drop Links x 2 - £79.34
Rear ARB D-Bush x2 - £10.56
Ignition Lead Set - £47.49
Distributor cap - £39.46
Labour for the above - £450
Alternator inc fitting - £75each (I'm on my 3rd this year now - keep getting oil on them).

car is currently at the garage again getting a new clutch release bearing, replacement rear dampers, replacement lowering springs, new steering rack, new top mounts for the front shocks and 3 new tyres - bill looks likely to be well over £1000 although I'll find out for sure this week.

Add to this £1000 for insurance and quite a thirst for Optimax...it's not been a cheap year!

As such, the car's up for sale as soon as it gets back from the garage this week, it's getting MOT'd there, so will come with 12 months ticket and tax as well.

It's a Black GT T-Bar with leather trim and has a few extras too:

17" Veilside split rims
Fensport lowering springs - fitted new this week
Aftermarket anodised rear strut brace
HKS Hiper Muffler exhaust system mated to Blitz de-cat pipe
Blitz speed de-limiter
HKS Induction Kit
Pivot air/fuel ratio controller (disconnected and not used while I've had the car as I've not had it running more than standard boost)
Turbo Timer
Boost guage
Sony CD Player
Sports steering wheel and momo gear knob.

[JJ]

You do have quite a bit of wear and tear components on there bri.... these costs I would say are associated to a 14 year old car.

I mean, go back 14 years ago and you'd be lucky to see anything over 10 years still on the road.

[briforbes]

That's true. I'm not selling it because of the amount it's cost me, as after all there's not a lot that's going to go wrong for quite a while now all that's been done, I just want to get back into a mitsubishi again. I had a GSR before I bought this and it just suited me better. Brutal accelaration, 4wd for all the pants weather I get here and plenty space to lug a couple of mates around.

[Cliff]

I'm probably an extreme case - but this is what my Rev 1 Turbo has cost me since last december:

replacement engine (bottom end went on the original) - £800
new clutch plate - £109.68
starter motor - £137
surcharge on starter motor (casing on old one had cracked) - £65
Timing Belt - £29.02
Idler Pulley - £36.09
Driveshaft bolts (keep wriggling out til there's 2 left then shearing off in inconvenient places far from home!) - £5.28
Driveshaft locktabs x 3 - £10.56
Rear ARB Drop Links x 2 - £79.34
Rear ARB D-Bush x2 - £10.56
Ignition Lead Set - £47.49
Distributor cap - £39.46
Labour for the above - £450
Alternator inc fitting - £75each (I'm on my 3rd this year now - keep getting oil on them).

car is currently at the garage again getting a new clutch release bearing, replacement rear dampers, replacement lowering springs, new steering rack, new top mounts for the front shocks and 3 new tyres - bill looks likely to be well over £1000 although I'll find out for sure this week.

Add to this £1000 for insurance and quite a thirst for Optimax...it's not been a cheap year!

As such, the car's up for sale as soon as it gets back from the garage this week, it's getting MOT'd there, so will come with 12 months ticket and tax as well.

It's a Black GT T-Bar with leather trim and has a few extras too:

17" Veilside split rims
Fensport lowering springs - fitted new this week
Aftermarket anodised rear strut brace
HKS Hiper Muffler exhaust system mated to Blitz de-cat pipe
Blitz speed de-limiter
HKS Induction Kit
Pivot air/fuel ratio controller (disconnected and not used while I've had the car as I've not had it running more than standard boost)
Turbo Timer
Boost guage
Sony CD Player
Sports steering wheel and momo gear knob.

Hope yours is just an extreme case. Thanks for the advice on insurance!!

[Chris \'aka rustboy\' Amm]

Thanks for the advice so far!!

In my case, the car would be left standard and I do approximately 5000 miles a year. Once I purchase the MR2 Turbo, I will be planning to change the timing belt if not done recently, but I can do this with my other halfs dad, (he's a 20 + years in the trade mechanic). .

I'm 22 and I've already budgeted for the insurance, (circa £2000, eek!!), but I've been paying high premiums since I've started driving 4 years ago, so I don't know much different .

Any more advice is more than welcome!

Thanks again.

i'm 22 with 2 years NCB and run a turbo, insured on a standard-ish one at the mo for £1k with admiral

[BenF]

Thanks for the advice so far!!

In my case, the car would be left standard and I do approximately 5000 miles a year. Once I purchase the MR2 Turbo, I will be planning to change the timing belt if not done recently, but I can do this with my other halfs dad, (he's a 20 + years in the trade mechanic). .

I'm 22 and I've already budgeted for the insurance, (circa £2000, eek!!), but I've been paying high premiums since I've started driving 4 years ago, so I don't know much different .

Any more advice is more than welcome!

Thanks again.

i'm 22 with 2 years NCB and run a turbo, insured on a standard-ish one at the mo for £1k with admiral

Running costs - well, assuming you pick a good'un and just need consumables - with 5k miles a year

- Maybe a set of rears (if the originals are low ) - £180ish
- A service at Mr T (~150-230 depending - or DIY and save a fortune)
- Front pads are £50ish from Fensport

The timing belt change on a Turbo really, really isn't a nice job to DIY. access is very limited - Toyota's BGB actually says to drop the engine out to do the job properly. Your dealer will probablt charge ~£500 for the job including a service - cost is mostly labour.

[raptor95GTS]

£0.12 per mile just on petrol and £0.28 all in per mile

[Jon S]

£0.12 per mile just on petrol and £0.28 all in per mile

How did you get that figure Allan?

[steve b]

They are thirsty if you drive on boost but can do 30mpg off boost.

Insurance is expensive.

Modifying is big bucks (not issue if you leave stock)

if only 5000 miles per year and you buy one in good condition thaats had new pad, cambelt change etc i don't think it'd actually cost much at all.

If i minus modding costs i have only spent £60 on a new dizzy cap and rotor arm. + petrol + insurance

[Chris \'aka rustboy\' Amm]

i set myself a limit for mods, aiming to get them done altogether hopefully ready for the summer then leave other mods for next year

shouldn't cost to much for mods if sensible and find the right company but avoid the engine till later as at 22 they sting you like xxxx for it i found

[Cliff]

Thanks for the advice everyone. You've been all so friendly and more than helpful!!

Seem fairly cheap to run in my opinion, so I'm still going to go ahead and get one.

(Cheaper than what the Pulsar owners were quoting anyway, one guy claimed to spend 11k in one year!!)

Chris - Thanks for the advice about insurance, I'll give Admiral a try!

[BenF]

Just make sure you take your time finding a good one. I know people who've paid £2k for a modded 1991 car in a bad state - to only then pay another 2k or so getting it sorted out ...

[raptor95GTS]

£0.12 per mile just on petrol and £0.28 all in per mile

How did you get that figure Allan?

uuuummmm key all costs into a db along with the mileage and hey presto complete running costs. The above figures DO NOT include the actual purchase of the vehicle since it was going to cost X much anyway

For comparison my old mk1 was £0.09 per mile on petrol only and £0.26 all in.