Yesterday I test drove a local MK1 MR2 which seemed to be mechanically sound and did drive very well for a 20 year old car. All of the electric work fine - windows, mirrors, pop up headlights, it really surprised me how well the car had lasted...with exception of the bodywork.
I know that older Japanese cars had problems with rust, but should I just accept that a car of this age will have bodywork issues or hold out for a really good one? This car had been resprayed at some point and there was rust bubbling around the arches and on the bottom of the doors. The respray didn't seem to be of great quality, the paint on the back bumper had cracked in the sun and looked a real mess.
Will there be a mint condition, unmolestered example out there or am I pinning my hopes too high? I just wanted a toy for the weekend, but didn't want a shed that will cost a fortune!
iv owned two of these beautys and im a huge fan of them...responsive, nimble, practical.....they arent worth an absolute fortune as of yet, so the way id play that is to find a genuinely straight rust free example and pay about 500 quid more for it than you would for the usual example with rusty arches etc.... the extra money will be a wise investment and in reality you will save this in bodywork maintenance over the years if your gonna keep the car any length of time...
That sounds like pretty good advice - but how much would you expect to pay for a decent example? I was prepared to pay up to £1,000 but think I may need to spend a little more. At the moment I cannot find a mint condition one anywhere - finding a good one will take some time I think!
I had a MK1 MR2 in California and it was considered a poor man's Ferrari back then, high praise indeed! They were really admired when they were first out.
Originally posted by s2green: That sounds like pretty good advice - but how much would you expect to pay for a decent example? I was prepared to pay up to £1,000 but think I may need to spend a little more. At the moment I cannot find a mint condition one anywhere - finding a good one will take some time I think!
my first one was the last of the wedge shape, an g plate in white with unmarked bodywork...i bought it with a blown headgasket for £400, fixed it and sold it for £1600....
my second, an e plate t bar with full black leather again had superb solid bodywork with only one or two micro blisters on the rear arches, it had been enthusiast owned for ten yearsd and cost me £500 with mot and tax and a fsh.....these cars can be bargains..strangely, a good un doesnt neccessarrilly cost you that much more than a bad un if you look carefully...local papers etc..will turn up the odd pearl..the owners club/forum is a good place to look too....
id say a grand will bag you a cracker of you have patience and look hard...and are prepared to travel...b's £2k figure will buy you a cracker..but beware you dont buy a dog thats been painted and polished to look like a diamond....buy private from an enthusuast who has owned the car for a long time would be my advice....
A fantastic choice s2green. I've had my MR2 Mk1 for 4 years. Bought off an auction site for less than £500 and given me trouble free, cheap and fun motoring.
Alas rust has got it has failed its MOT so needs some welding and I've bought a Saab and put the MR2 on an auction site.
The rear arches on the MR2's are notorious weakness for rust. They were created as two bits of metal with foam inside and of course the foam gets wet, stays wet and it rusts. Nearly every good MR2 (including my own) will have had one or more of the arches done. This involves a bodyshop or a supremely confident amateur and arch repair panels - easily available from MR2 Mk1 club. It is not a good sign that you see paint bubbling after a respray. It sounds to me that somebody didn't properly sort the rust before they resprayed it.
I would recommend it and echo Xntrik in saying get an enthusiast owned version preferably from an owners club and be very wary of anyone who's done all the cosmetic stuff but has not maintained the car. You can get a good motor for less than £1000 and a smasher for £2000. They are only fractionally slower than a Mk3 MR2. Or if you want something real different wait for the rare supercharged ones.
Barky... I will be one of the few that'll stick up for the mk2, but I think they're fantastic. I've driven a couple of supercharged mk1's and have owned a mk2. I reckon they're both great cars, and Im considering either one now as a toy.
They are very very fast. Only thing that scares me about the turbo ones is the notorious snap oversteer that can occur if you step them out... Was never a prob in my non-turb'd one though.
I'd heard and later seen evidence that would suggest they're lethal!
They go pretty well, a nice torque hike over the non-supercharged ones, but not A LOT quicker. Feels like perhaps a second and a half quicker to 60mph, but I think its quite a bit more than that. I was quite happy revving the heck out of the non-S/C cars.
One of the S/C ones that I drove was an 87 targa top car, and you couldnt fault the car if you tried. It really was as new!
having driven both extensively id say thet the mk2 mr2 is a totally different beast than the mk1..more of a civilised tourer, it just feels bigger and heavier, less lissome and fluent than the wedge...cos it is!!..
...im not a huge fan of the mk2 tubby, but as cheap fun car, they are a bit of a bargain now....i turned down a k plate mr2 sunroof model at the weekend cos i thought it expensive at £1200.....and promptly threw a grand at a 24 year old classic range rover...go figure...
Mk1 MR2 was a car I always wanted as a kid, but still have never driven one!
I do own a MK3 MR2 roadster and they're great, other than problems with oil consumption on some early VVTi engines (had to have an engine rebuild already sadly). Probably have more in common with the MK1 than the MK2 did and probably the best handling of the lot. It's the lightest of the three too.
They are getting really cheap these days, I've seen them for as little as £3500. They were depreciation proof for ages but seem to be dropping like a stone at the moment.
I'd love a MK1 supercharger though and if the right one came along, I'd certainly consider going retro instead.
