Toyota MR2 - good or bad?

Hi Rob, For whats it worth I'm driving a 2000 reg MK3 VVTI MR2 since February, presumably the newer model from what your considering.

Thankfully its being good to me so far with no issues to report. My biggest gripe was that I almost totalled it on the first few outings with previously only having drove front engined, front wheel drive and getting used to the new layout which is quite different.

Its being quite frugal for me having averaged 43-44 mpg over long distances. That was with lots of motorway driving and a light right foot though....not the way you should be driving such a car no doubt:) Open to correction but I would suspect the 2.0 turbo or even naturally aspirated engine in the MK2 wouldn't be near as economical.

Its not the most refined car in the world but I find it grand even for daily commuting. If you are bombing it on the motorway it will begin to feel very light at the front. It does come into its own more on bendy roads once you get familiarised with the handling.

The early VVTI engines in the mark 3's were known to burn oil. Having already owned a 1.6 VVTI Avensis I will conceed that this is true. However, they don't burn as much oil as petrol as many on here would have you believe. Having said that some are probably worse than others and you'd be a fool if you didn't keep a check on it from time to time.

Needless to say practicality is not its strong suit. There is some storage space behind the seats which is not too bad and a space in the front where the spare wheel is housed....I've never found this compartment much good for anything most of the time. Obviously you can only carry one passenger at a time and if they are old or infirm the MR2 is hardly the best choice of car.

My final point is to check, double check and triple check insurance before you buy as it can be quite funny on them. Many providers wont seem to give you a quote at all on the convertibles anyhow irrespective of your age, gender or ncb.

All in I'd recommend them. I think the Mk 3 I'm driving is a nice alternative to a MX5 from the same era. The Mk 2 was probably pitched a bit differently to the Mk 3 I'd imagine with the MK2 being more an alternative to the likes of an Integra or possibly FTO. Overall I would actually rather the Mk 2 and they are the bit less hairdresser too! I'd imagine the main hazard when shopping for a mark 2 is that there are a lot of seriously trashed examples doing the rounds with cleaner well cared for ones getting rarer and rarer.

I have owned a 98 reg mr2 for the past 6 years. It's a mark 2 revision 5 model with a non turbo engine. Apart from just normal wear and tear stuff the car has been super reliable. What thinking of selling her but changed my mind and sold my other car instead.

It has over 150,000 miles on her and get serviced annually and the engine hasn't missed a beat. I look after the car and the car has looked after me. If you're thinking of buying one make sure you get a mechanic to go with you. A lot of them have been mistreated. It took me several months to find a good one and that's several years ago now.

There's only 2 seats in a mr2. The boot is big enough considering it's a sports car. It's not the most pracitical car but it's a great car to drive on a open country road

There's a irish mr2 website www.mr2.ie

I've a '91 MR2 non-turbo for the past few years as a second/weekend car, and it's been great. It is surprisingly comfortable inside with seats that are really good. Mine is still almost completely original, on the original shocks and springs, with the only non-original parts being the wheels, the radio and that's it. It does need a good mop and polish at this stage but that's no real surprise with the paintwork.

If you are looking at the Mk2, try to get one that has the metallic paint as that will not suffer the same paint fade as the metallic paint has a lacquer coat that wasn't put on the flat colours.

There's plenty of spares available through the owner clubs, and the cars themselves are great to drive especially if you've come from a fwd car. Such communication as to what's going on at the tyres, and enough poke to be fun, and generally a rewarding car to drive at ordinary road speeds. One thing to watch for is that because the cars were designed to be rewarding to drive with fast changes in direction, us lesser mortals that may not be used to rwd+power+midengine have to take care as it will rotate quickly when it does go.

I'll be quite honest I almost totalled mine in the first morning out when taking a roundabout. Spun the car circa 270 degree. Was very very lucky I didn't hit any car or indeed a kerb....its usually a pretty busy roundabout. Into the bargain just after I'd straightened up a Traffic Corps car came against me. They would have just missed seen what happened...Would have probably got more than a ticking off I'd say...rightly so you might add:o

Handling wise I think I'd actually rather front engined rear wheel drive. I'm possibly going against the grain of the motoring purists but think there is too much oversteer in the MR2 for a mere mortal like me....

EazyD wrote: »

Many owners of the earlier models do a pre-cat removal (pre-cat failure will stuff the VVTI engine).

Good point actually. Overlooked mentioning this in my initial post. My understanding is that the cat can break up eventually over time and be ingested into the engine making sh!te of it, a bit like the swirl flaps issue in the early mark 3 mondeo. The previous owner made the fix on mine.

Re the oil consumption my 2000 reg has burned little or nothing yet having covered at least 2,000 miles in it at this stage but I am keeping a close eye on it too though. My 2001 Avensis VVTI does burn a drop but nothing too severe and the mileage is getting quite high in it. I think its an issue thats blown away out of proportion by the naysayers.

Seems the OP is more inclined towards the Mk 2 though. Actually the MR2 seems to be a bowl of contention on the bangernomics thread at the moment. Some nice cars posted there and some heated discussion around them:)

I have a mk2 as a daily driver for the last 4 years and can't recommend them highly enough. The mk2 is probably the best in terms of practicality as there is a decent amount of storage space in both boots and a comfortable amount of room inside.

Your biggest problem will be finding a decent unmolested one...I'd consider going to the UK for one as they are just as cheap there. Having said that you should still pick up one v cheaply. I had mine for sale for just over a grand for 6 months and barely had a sniff of interest. It was taxed, tested and meticulously maintained. There just isn't a market for these things anymore.

Let us know how you get on.