Dad and Son, newbies, looking for MKII - Austin TX

[Rags]

Hello All,

Man, you can learn a lot of stuff fast on this board! Not only that, I can also see that you guys are a great community. Ethical, helpful, honest, practical, positive, and enthusiastic. I feel honored to join.

I am a 45 year old dad in Austin TX with lots of fun in his bones and a treasure of a wife and 3 great kids. Our oldest is in college in FL. Our next will start at Texas A&M in the Fall. The youngest is heading into high school. My name is Ron. The middle son is Brandon. We're looking for a '93-'95 MR2 to buy together. It'll be his college car.

Brandon is amazing. I guess you'd call him a "tech head" (and he'd be proud of it). It's like he's a savant; anything with electronics or gears he just "gets it." Intuitive, bold ... he can fix anything. He's in love with the MR2 ... but we've never owned one. We're looking.

I'm not so mechanical myself. I can do simple stuff, like regular maintenance or replacing an alternator. Brandon took our old '95 Previa and starting fixing things. Somehow he hooked his laptop to "the chip" in the Previa so he could see real-time data as he drove down the road. [Obviously, I made him unhook the darn thing when he's driving!]

Anywho, we're looking for a '93-'95 NA 5-speed. I figure he can upgrade to a Turbo after he masters the NA, if he wants. "Low" mileage would be nice but our budget tops out at $5K. I wouldn't say we're purists but we definately lean towards stock. He seems open to most colors (but I prefer dark).

We've learned a lot just by watching the threads. I'm already filled with appreciation for MR2.com. I'll put a WTB post over in the marketplace forum.

Blessings and best wishes to all,
Ron

PS I'm not much used to message boards and forums. If you see me doing something dumb, let me know. I'm teachable!

[Oteck]

Welcome to the board!

[muffinman]

Welcome.



For 5k you should be able to find a very good condition n/a. GL

[masagsxr]

Welcome aboard!!!

[Mark_Dorman]

A 93-95 will be a lot harder to find than a 91/92. If you're in texas you should look into Cali cars. There are a lot more of them out here and well priced.

Welcome to the board!

[Davis]

Welcome! Glad your having a good time over here. Oh and since your in Texas, don't forget to check out Welcome to Texas Mr2 to meet the locals and drop in at the meets!

[Sylvan]

Hey that's pretty cool. I wish my dad and I had bonded over cars when I was younger. We did some construction work together cause that was his business, and that was cool, but unfortunately he doesn't share my passion for cars.

[grizzy225]

Welcome!!




-Janice

[ebouwman]

Sweet, my dad just ditched me and my brother with his old pos integra, it was still a great car, but it wasn't like we went out to find it, more like he had bought a new car and decided that for the little money he would have gotten on a trade in, he was better off keeping it for us.

He is into doing car stuff with me and my brother now though. Right now our project is my brother's 73 landcruiser, we're doing a bit of a resto job, ie repairing the HUGE GAPING HOLES OF RUST

[biorchang]

Welcome.

Are you stuck on a N/A?

[Rags]

Hey Biorchange,

You're in Austin! We live over by 71 and Bee Caves....

Yeah, I know "turbo" is a thousand times cooler than the non. Even so, we're talking about an 18 year old boy / young man. As a dad I'd have some concern about putting him behind the wheel of a speed machine. He's a very safe driver - aware and responsible - but still, I'd be fretting.

On the whole I think we'd rather start with the N/A. I might could be talked into the other but I'd need some convincing (not to mention the mom!).

Odd thing: Our old Previa is "supercharged" but it seemed like it hadn't been working for a while (funny noise; power seemed off). Brandon rigged some kind of tubular syringe and injected a special oil of some kind. All better. He kindly berated me for not keeping the supercharger lubed.

Maybe this is the place to ask a safety question from MR2 users: What do you think? 18 year old kid in a Turbo, good idea? What do we need to know about driving the MR2?

BTW, the reason we're looking for a '93-'95 is the suspension / rear wheels thing. Seems safer, especially for non-pro drivers like us.

Rags

[Davis]

Once you guys get the car, NA or Turbo, visit the local AutoX and experience the MR.

[muffinman]

^+1


I think it would be easier to start with the turbo than later having to swap it anyway.

[Resurrected]

get a turbo car, and get a boost controler, Drop the PSI on the turbo.
Then when he gets comfortable with the awesome MR2. raise the boost.
i dont know if you can completely cut off the boost. but if you can, it should give you about 125 horses. and if you raise the boost. it can get you to almost 220+ horses.

Also Welcome to the Board!

[PearlJammzz]

Might as well get the turbo honestly. My 92 NA was just as fast as my 92 Accord lol. Your best bet would be to take it to local auto-x meets (regardless of NA or turbo) to 1) get used to the car and become a better driver. and 2) Get all that racing and crazy driving out of your system. Regardless of how fast the car gets up to speed, he can still kill himself if he doesn't learn to handle the car. My NA did 125 in the mountains of Colorado so it isn't like it's this crazy slow car that moves at the speed of mollasis.

I would also consider a 91-92. Everything ischangable at a later date, and some people even like the way the 91-92s handle of the 93+. More tame? Kind of. I have drove both and the only difference is that the 91-92 is easy to lose if you really push the limit and don't knwo when it's coming. The 93+ lets the car go a little bit before it lets it go completely. Either way he won't have an issue unless he doesn't know how to handle the car and drives like a jackass. I really do think the Auto-x will help w/ this.

[mthreat]

Welcome!

N/A definitely has some nice things going for it, reliability, no heat issues (if you take it to the track, like Texas World Speedway), and it's a great way to learn to drive on the track because you can't cover up your mistakes with horsepower. That said, I got a turbo because I like the power

Since MR2s are fairly rare, I would suggest looking at least all over Texas - use craigslist for houston, austin, dallas, san antonio, at least. I got my first MR2 from Wisconsin, and my second one from California. Also use Toyota MR2 Classifieds!, and the MR2 forum, of course. You probably won't find a 94 or 95 in your price range, they're pretty rare and get a premium. And to be honest, there isn't much difference between the 94-95 and the 93. The rear wing and taillights are the most noticeable differences.

You could come out to one of the car meets saturday night in northwest austin (private message me for details). There are usually a few MR2 guys out there who can answer your questions.

[biorchang]

Yes...

I would say that MR2 can be a dangerous car and a reasonably safe car...it really depends on the driver. You do have a rear wheel setup instead of the safer front wheel drives and the car's handling can be tempting at times...leading some drivers into trees, etc.

If you want slow and harmless, go with a honda civic or something.

I actually live up in Round Rock. The one thing I will point out about any MR2 Turbo is that you need to expect increased maintenance with them. They are older cars and it is getting harder and harder to find one that is in really good shape in your price range.

There are plenty of them out there...I just tend to find most of them needing rebuilds, etc.

The plus side is that you get a really fun car to drive that is relatively unique. Most of us have owned them...sold them...only to come back to them at a later time.

My two cents.

[mr29180]

Welcome... No matter u get ull enjoy the car.... Good luck....

[PHOENIX]

See.....that is how you "check in". Great first post!

First off welcome to the Board I would like to recommend 2 posts for you guys before deciding on an MR2.

1.) MR2 For a First Car

and

2.) Learn about getting power from your 3S-GTE here!

I'm sure your son will enjoy the second link more since you describe him as "tech minded". As far as deciding between NA and Turbo.....Personally for a college student, I would get an NA for the reason of our cars are older and things do tend to break occasionally on us. A turbo is more moving parts and whatnot to fail so with that said, and your son about to be a college student, NA's can be cheaper to fix and have less things go wrong with the engine.

I understand looking for a 93 - 95 MR2 is wise, but I think it might be a little hard on that budget. Well.....a 93 might be possible in your price range, but finding a 94 or especially a 95 would be a stroke of luck.

Enjoy your time here!

(I had a pretty good laugh when you wrote this sentence "Ethical, helpful, honest, practical, positive, and enthusiastic." You should stay out of the off topic so you don't change your mind about us )

[Rags]

Thanks, Phoenix, and thanks to all who expressed the welcome. See, that's what I meant. Positive, encouraging, helpful....

OK. I just read the "MR2 For a First Car" post. Scared the poo out of me. Heck, I'm afraid to drive the stupid car. I feel a little chastened in our quest. There's a bright side, though, that makes me smile with anticipation. If / when we get a MR2, we're going to driving school together. I gotta admit, it sounds really cool.

I appreciate the comments on the NA vs Turbo question. Yeah ... I'm thinking we're going to start with a NA. Couple years Brandon might want to sell the NA and find a Turbo. I agree it'd be foolish to buy a nice NA only to swap the engine yourself soon after. Besides, we're in a $5K budget.

Thanks again to all,
Ron and Brandon