I went to Test Drive a MR2 Today, and wish I hadn't

[Joshy]

Hello everyone, first post here.

I went to see a cheap MR2 today.

The car itself is a bit of a dog - The paint is crap, the wheels are crap, the interior is crap, the tyres are ditchfinders (and), the bakes are completely useless (they don't work FULL STOP), the rear lights don't work , it's got high miles with not a lot of service history to back it up (fullish till 50000 miles ago, then there is nothing), a seal on the passenger side of the engine bay dumped a heap of water on something electrical looking (thoughts as to what this could be?), there is no bonnet holder/catch, it's suspiciously rust free, something is rubbing towards the rear of the driver's side when pulling off (thoughts?) and a belt as squeaked on start up.

I should have ran a mile in the other direction, but the noise, oh god, the noise. I didn't get it anywhere near the redline because of the brakes (and my father ), but at 'just' 4k, I fell in love...

Given the fact that it's cheap and local, do you think it could be saved, or would I be wasting my time and money? How difficult is it going to be to sort out the faults I've mentioned (I know that's like asking how long a piece of string is).

[Mk1Chris]

I suppose the real question is how cheap is cheap? Does it have MOT and Tax?

It sounds similar condition to my first mr2 that I won on ebay for 150 quid.

With enough money you can fix everything, but you may want to consider going for a better one from the start as it will work out more economical in the long run.

[Joshy]

It didn't sell sell on the bay for £300. It's now on with no reserve for a £1 ( )

10 months mots (which must have been at the dodgest garage ever if they passed it on the brakes) and tax until the end of Nov If memory serves.

Just out of interest, what happened with your £150 MR2?

[Mk1Chris]

It came with 3 month MOT and had a hard life! I checked/cleaned the brakes and gave the whole car a check over, then ragged the nuts off it round Donnington, then 2 weeks later it went to Cadwell Park and the fuel pump died.

I scrapped the shell as it would never pass another MOT, but most of the running gear still lives on in my current track car

For that money you should just sort out the essentials, like brakes. Then drive it until the MOT runs out. You will enjoy it more that way - an Mr2 that cheap will be a never ending project to fix up, and you would not get the enjoyment of driving it if you tried to restore it.

[WeirdNeville]

Any other MR2 will sound like that! But plenty others come with working brakes and less dubious "history".

If you can get it for an absolute song then by all means buy it to run it and then break it for parts.

But I did similar and it ended up a real disappointment. A car you don't drive anywhere for fear of it breaking down/killing you is hard to enjoy. I'd say hold out for a better one. There will be plenty around within budget, it's just a matter of time and patience.

[mistertwo_2008_uk]

FYI i paid £800 for my mk2 rev1 Turbo, all it needs is some paint, other that that its perfect,

it had been left completely standard apart from the alloys ( which are awfull!) mine is a 91 car on a H plate.

so base what your thinking of paying on what it will cost to get it to the car "YOU" want.

unless you do as said above and just buy it cheap and use it as a starting ground to mr2 ownership. drive it untill the MOT runs out and then use the money you would have spent doing this one up and whatever else you can save and buy a decent one.

TBH with how you have decribed it £100-150 would be max i`d pay!

HTH

Daz

[crazylegs]

put in where you live in your profile. we may be just around the corner to give it a second look

[Joshy]

Done. I'm in SE London. It would be nice to have a look at it with someone other than my father, who was too busy complaining about the paintwork, the fact that the window is a be jerky (which It stated clearly in the ad), oh, and him saying that it's a rubbish car because it doesn't have powersteering?!?!?!? .

I'm still in love with the noise though, and the 2nd gear pull, it's got a lot more than my BMW 316i, despite only having 20ish horses more power. Very impressive, I just don't want to waste what little money I have.

Here's the car in question -

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0268059833

If anyone feels like helping the new guy out, let me know. Otherwise, I think I'm going to pass on it and get a... TD Peugeot .

[russthedude]

the car you've described is a million miles away from the one he is describing in the advert. Besides the dodgy brakes taht he has forgotten to mention, what else is there that he is hiding? I would have said pay up to £150 for it,a nd as it stands it is currently over £160 so I'd forget about it. Have a browse through the for sale sections here, save your money and wait for a decent one to come up. Obviously, in theory the more you spend the betetr the car should be, so don't expect a minter for £500, but I don't think I'd spend less than £500 on one to start off with. when I get back fro holiday in January, I'll be saving up to replace mine and I'm looking at spending around £1500 on one. The one i have at the moment cost me £600 and came with a few old MOT's, a crap paint job and rusty arches. to get the rust fixed, respray it, and give it a good service cost me around £400.

it's far from perfect, has a few rattles and clunks from the suspension or somewhere, but it gets some abuse and has never let me down.

I think I made the mistake of getting one with low miles and a decent engine and box. in hindsight, an engine swap is easy, whereas chasing tin worm around a chassis could prove to be a very expensive hobby, meaning I will at some point have to buy a welder and learn how to use it.

basically, as others have said, just be patient, you've lived for this long without one, 6 months another won't kill you....

[Joshy]

Not even worth a punt at £200 then?

That would give me £100 or so pounds on hand to sort the brakes. Could they be fixed for £100, or is it a hit and miss sort of thing?

[mistertwo_2008_uk]

MR ownership is a Passion....... its either in you or not!!!!..

if you have funds and time then the car is worth whatever you make it.

@200 you would need to be pretty sure there are defo no "HIDDED" probs.

if you only plan to spend £100 and no more, i`d give it a miss

if you plan on it being a on-going project of passion the go for it.

If not the walk away....

save a couple of hundred extra and get one thats half decent to start with

HTH

Daz

[Joshy]

Oh, I'm not the sort of person who reckons I could spend £100 on a £200 car have a reliable runner, far from it. I'm just saying to start with, I'd only, I'd have a £100 to sort the car out on for a month (hopefully that will be enough to sort the brakes for an up and coming track day on the 22nd)

When I start my apprenticeship at Bentley next month (hooray for me ), the car would be finding itself sitting on new springs, tryes and wheels (I'm thinking E30 15" BBSes) as soon as my first pay check clears, providing nothing major breaks or getting uncovered.

As for hidden problems, I'd say my main issue would be rust, and I couldn't ANY. The , the inner arches were nice and solid.

An on going project is what I'm after in a car. Maybe it's because I'm young, but I don't see the attraction of buying a car that just 'works'. I'd rather put the time and money into it, and get something that I want

[Paff]

The last mk1 I bought cost £250 altho the engine wasn't running right (blown headgasket).

£50 for replacement engine, ran it for 6 months till the mot ran out, then spent £70 getting all the welding done. I now have it for another 12 months or until my other car is fixed.

There are bargains out there but you have to be willing to do some work for them.

[mr2mk1chick]

Oh, I'm not the sort of person who reckons I could spend £100 on a £200 car have a reliable runner, far from it. I'm just saying to start with, I'd only, I'd have a £100 to sort the car out on for a month (hopefully that will be enough to sort the brakes for an up and coming track day on the 22nd)

When I start my apprenticeship at Bentley next month (hooray for me ), the car would be finding itself sitting on new springs, tryes and wheels (I'm thinking E30 15" BBSes) as soon as my first pay check clears, providing nothing major breaks or getting uncovered.

As for hidden problems, I'd say my main issue would be rust, and I couldn't ANY. The , the inner arches were nice and solid.

An on going project is what I'm after in a car. Maybe it's because I'm young, but I don't see the attraction of buying a car that just 'works'. I'd rather put the time and money into it, and get something that I want

It sounds like you shouldn't pay too much for it <£150 if the body work is pretty gone, maybe up to £200 if okay

As for doing the brakes for £100, you may struggle if you need new discs, pads, fluid, and maybe braided lines if the others are shot. The main concern, if they are as bad as you say, is that the callipers are seizing and will need a complete overhaul. get a caliper refurb kit from brakes international, but again will blow your budget to do all 4.
For track use std pads won't stop you. try EBC redstuff or yellow stuff (but yellow will blow your budget). Std dics will be fine. Hopefully you can sort it but don't pay too much for the car in the first place.

also see how bad the suspension is. Has it ever been changed? if not it will be a bit tired to say the least. may be okay for the road, but for future will need to be done to get any speed round the corners on track.

i am only saying all this so you can get a realisitic budget in mind, esp if you are planning to go on track (and get the best out of the car rather than a tired run around)

They are great cars for ther age, if you are prepared to get a bit hands-on sometimes, or budget for a bit of TLC from time to time.