Information on Buying an MR2
Purchase Information
Info on Buying an MR2 - Various authors
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Toyota MR2 review - Keith Martin (Sports Car Market)
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Kelly Blue Book - Look up the current prices of cars
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Guide on Buying Used MR2's - What to look for
Searching for MR2s
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Buyer's guide to MR2 Mk1 - Classic Cars
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www.traderonline.com - Trader Online, Used cars
Importing MR2s
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Importing a Vehicle into Canada from the US -
Dirk Sieber
Information on Purchasing
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Subject: Re: info on buying an MR2
From: toddland@freenet1.scri.fsu.edu (Todd Land)
Article: 49127 of rec.autos.misc
Date: 11 Aug 1995 14:14:27 GMT
Speaking as the former owner, general domo of "Club MR2," if you find
one in good condition with less than 60,000 miles on it, you have a
good change of being quite pleased. Considerations:
1. Timing belt -- change it at 60,000. It will break right around
80,000. 2. Coolant -- change it every two years, minimum. 3. If your
wife wants a SPORTS car, get the manual transmission. If she wants it
because it's "cute" the automatic is OK. The auto takes the "edge"
off the driving fun in a big way. 4. Get the sunroof instead of the
T-tops. In spirited driving, cracks will appear at the back end of
the T-top bar. The sunroof car is structurally better.
--
toddland@freenet.scri.fsu.edu Todd Land & Jeff Thomas
home (904) 656-7057 1599 Old Fort Drive
work (904) 891-8501 Tallahassee, FL 32301
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Subject: Re: info on buying an MR2
From: mdiehl@unm.edu (jeffrey michael diehl)
Article: 49255 of rec.autos.misc
Date: 11 Aug 1995 19:05:22 -0600
>Hi all. I'm thinking of buying my wife her dream car, an '85-'87 MR-2.
>I'd like to get information and opinions from people who have either
>worked on them or owned them. I relize they won't be the easiest car to
>work on, but do they tend to last or fall apart? When buying one, what
>do I need to watch out for? That kind of thing.
Well, I bought it. '87 red with a new motor. (13K on new motor) And
let me tell you, I'm glad I did. Bitchin machine!
Thanx for your time,
Mike Diehl.
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Subject: Re: info on buying an MR2
From: Tom_Quan@smtp.svl.trw.com (Tom Quan)
Article: 48696 of rec.autos.misc
Date: Tue, 08 Aug 1995 09:35:30 +0000
In article <405cpj$s48@hydra.unm.edu>, mdiehl@unm.edu (jeffrey michael
diehl) wrote:
> Hi all. I'm thinking of buying my wife her dream car, an '85-'87 MR-2.
> I'd like to get information and opinions from people who have either
> worked on them or owned them. I relize they won't be the easiest car to
> work on, but do they tend to last or fall apart? When buying one, what
> do I need to watch out for? That kind of thing.
>
I have a '85 MR2, bought new with 63K miles on it. It has been very
reliable and relatively maintenance free. My only major service was
checking the valve clearance at 30K (they were fine) and changing the
platinum sparkplugs at the same time (wasn't necessary, but I did it
anyway). I've had to change the headlights 4 times. I flushed the
coolant once, which was a more complex job than in most cars. The mileage
has consistently stayed at about 30 mpg and I pass the Calif. SMOG tests
with flying colors every 2 years. This car has the original tuneup on it
when it left the factory. All the belts have never been touched either,
though I plan to change the timing belt soon as preventative maintenance.
If you get an MR2, buy the service manual from Toyota, its well worth it.
--
Tom Quan
Tom_Quan@smtp.svl.trw.com
+++++ All my own opinions +++++++
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Subject: Re: info on buying an MR2
From: thp@PROBLEM_WITH_INEWS_DOMAIN_FILE (Tom Payne)
Article: 49058 of rec.autos.misc
Date: 10 Aug 1995 19:10:35 GMT
Tom Quan (Tom_Quan@smtp.svl.trw.com) wrote:
: In article <405cpj$s48@hydra.unm.edu>, mdiehl@unm.edu (jeffrey michael
: diehl) wrote:
: > Hi all. I'm thinking of buying my wife her dream car, an '85-'87 MR-2.
: > I'd like to get information and opinions from people who have either
: > worked on them or owned them. I relize they won't be the easiest car to
: > work on, but do they tend to last or fall apart? When buying one, what
: > do I need to watch out for? That kind of thing.
: >
: I have a '85 MR2, bought new with 63K miles on it. It has been very
: reliable and relatively maintenance free. My only major service was
: checking the valve clearance at 30K (they were fine) and changing the
: platinum sparkplugs at the same time (wasn't necessary, but I did it
: anyway). I've had to change the headlights 4 times. I flushed the
: coolant once, which was a more complex job than in most cars. The mileage
: has consistently stayed at about 30 mpg and I pass the Calif. SMOG tests
: with flying colors every 2 years. This car has the original tuneup on it
: when it left the factory. All the belts have never been touched either,
: though I plan to change the timing belt soon as preventative maintenance.
My brother had a 1985 MR2 and put 140,000 miles on it. I have an '86
that just turned over 210,000 miles. Generally good cars, but they are
expensive to have work done on them because you have to drop the
engine to get at most things, e.g., the water pump.
At around 100,000 miles both cars started popping out of fifth gear
and had to have their transmissions overhauled. Both of us have had
our electric window mechanisms go out -- be sure to check them. My
water pump had to be replaced at 130,000. About the same time my
engine developed a low drone noise above 3,000 rpm. Even the Toyota
factory engineers were unable to find it.
Mine needs a lot of fix up, dents, upholstery, engine tuning, tires,
window roll-up mechanisms etc., and I'd simply buy another, were it
not for the fact that I now need a car with a rear seat. They are a
lot of fun to drive.
Tom Payne (thp@cs.ucr.edu)
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Subject: Re: info on buying an MR2
From: rgilbert@orl.mmc.com (Bob Gilbert)
Article: 49028 of rec.autos.misc
Date: 10 Aug 1995 11:44:34 GMT
I have owned an '85 MR2 since new. Here is a list of the
problems I've had (other than normal replacement items,
tune-ups, brakes, etc.):
Idler pulley for the cam belt seized up (made one hell
of a racket that was somewhat difficult to trace). Replaced
the pulley (new one had larger bearing surface, hmmmm) and
cam belt. Fortunately the cam belt did not break as I'm
sure it was heavily stressed.
Speedometer cable broke. Pretty expensive part (>$120) and
not the easiest to replace (snakes around quite a bit from the
rear transaxle to the dash).
Main crank cam belt sprocket key slot started to wear and cause
excessive play (and another big racket). Fortunately it only
wore on the key and sprocket and not the crankshaft. Also fortunate
that I was able to diagnose the problem before the key completely
broke. Replaced sprocket key and belt again. This may have been
damaged as a result of the idler pulley seizing earlier and not
detected at the time.
Fuel pump died (only time the car stranded me :-( ). Replacing
this is NOT fun. You have to drop the fuel tank which is neatly
tucked up into the center tunnel of the car. Lots of stuff has
to come off to get the tank out and it is something of a puzzle
to maneuver the tank to slide it in and out.
Clutch slave cylinder started leaking and had to be rebuilt
(I knew is should have flushed with fresh fluid when I did
the brakes). Pretty simple job though, and parts were only $5.
Powered subwoofer (yes, the original stereo has a little four
inch one under the drivers seat) cone cracked. Got the speaker
re-coned for about $15.
I have about 80,000 miles on the car now and it is running strong
as when new. I suspect that most of the problems I've experienced
are not all that common, as I've not heard of many others having
them. I've checked valve clearances several times over the life of
the car and they have not changed. I've never had to touch the fuel
injection (unless you count the fuel pump). All and all I've been
very happy with the car. It's seen quite a bit of autocrossing
(mostly class wins too :-) ) and otherwise is my daily driver to
work. Gets 28-32 mpg regardless of how it is driven. If you are
into DIY, I'd recommend ordering the factory manual, it is very good.
-Bob
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Subject: Re: info on buying an MR2
From: rgilbert@orl.mmc.com (Bob Gilbert)
Article: 49291 of rec.autos.misc
Date: 11 Aug 1995 16:38:15 GMT
In article ihb@galaxy.ucr.edu, thp@PROBLEM_WITH_INEWS_DOMAIN_FILE (Tom Payne) writes:
->
->My brother had a 1985 MR2 and put 140,000 miles on it. I have an '86
->that just turned over 210,000 miles. Generally good cars, but they are
->expensive to have work done on them because you have to drop the
->engine to get at most things, e.g., the water pump.
You don't need to drop the engine to replace the water pump.
In fact, I can't think of anything that requires dropping the
engine for except to replace the engine.
-Bob
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Subject: Re: info on buying an MR2
From: hollenbe@east.xsis.xerox.com (Scott Hollenbeck)
Article: 48790 of rec.autos.misc
Date: Wed, 9 Aug 1995 10:36:02 GMT
In article <405cpj$s48@hydra.unm.edu>,
jeffrey michael diehl wrote:
>Hi all. I'm thinking of buying my wife her dream car, an '85-'87 MR-2.
>I'd like to get information and opinions from people who have either
>worked on them or owned them. I relize they won't be the easiest car to
>work on, but do they tend to last or fall apart? When buying one, what
>do I need to watch out for? That kind of thing.
I recently sold an '87 MR2 that I bought new in December of 1986. The car
had about 91K miles on it when I sold it, and in that time it never had
a breakdown of any kind.
Things to check:
Valves should be adjusted at 60K miles. If you're looking at a car that
hasn't had it done, consider having it done. The job will cost a few hundred
dollars at a dealership, almost nothing if you do it yourself. The only
special tool you'll need is a micrometer. You will probably have to make
a trip to the dealer's parts counter for shims.
Timing belt should be replaced at 60K miles. This is a hard job for the
DIYer because of the clearance (or lack thereof) between the front of the
engine and the side of the car. I had it done professionally for about
$300.
I had a constant problem with rusted bolts that hold the front fascia on
the front bumper. I replaced them every year, but take a good look at
the area under the front hood for evidence of water leakage.
Remote trunk releases often bind up on these cars. If you find one that
doesn't work it may need only an adjustment. Worst case is cable
replacement.
In any case, my car was a blast. I never would have sold it if I
didn't have to haul a family around these days.
Scott Hollenbeck
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