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