Toyota MR2 - Buying and Selling.

khards

Hi all,

I have been trying to sell a Toyota MR2 for a couple of weeks now and have had no response to my advert (sorry can't post link).
I based the sale price a couple of hundred below others that are for sale, but still no interest.

I am wondering:
1) Is it the time of year? I bought it for the wife for a Christmas present a few years ago, so around this time of year.
2) Are people now so poor that they cannot afford sports cars for weekend driving? Has demand collapsed?

eringobragh

mk 1, 2 or 3 ??

standard or modded?

khards

It is a standard mk3 roadster - not modded (I think).


Would a modded car put someone off? It does have a twin exhaust - does that count as modded?

ba_barabus

Can you post a link or enough detail for us to find it? It could just be a poor ad.

khards

It's a silver 2003 with a red interior, located in Galway at 2,800.

I listed it in Advertiser and Done Deal. Would it be worth listing it in Carzone? Not really sure where the best place to sell a car is - when I was back in the UK eBay was the place to buy and sell.

I didn't put much in the advert because anyone interest would know about MR2's in general - there is not much to say really, it's just a car! I did think about copy/paste and modifying another description.

I got the feeling that there were a lot of kite flyers asking €4/5/6k for nearly 10 year old MR2's.

ba_barabus

I assume this is the one

http://cars.donedeal.co.uk/cars-for-sale/2003-toyota-mr2-spyder/5862455

I think you could improve the ad. The pictures aren't the best and make the car look dull and tired. The info given is at times irrelevant.

For a car like that you need to shine the hell out of it, take it somewhere nice and take pictures of the roof up and down, nice interior and exterior shots etc etc.

I've no idea on the price of it as I don't know the value of them.

eringobragh

found the ad - your not really selling the car

Average condition for year

When we bought this car 3 years ago this was the best we could find. It is still in fair condition for a 10 year old car.

I'd word that differently - also no mention of serice history / when it was last serviced , NCT

also use the full 10 photos - picture of speedometer , engine bay, boot, etc

eringobragh

ba_barabus wrote: »

For a car like that you need to shine the hell out of it, take it somewhere nice and take pictures of the roof up and down, nice interior and exterior shots etc etc.

I've no idea on the price of it as I don't know the value of them.

x2 it wouldn't take much - some cutting compound on the front lights would take the dullness out of them

ba_barabus

eringobragh wrote: »

x2 it wouldn't take much - some cutting compound on the front lights would take the dullness out of them

Yep, they are really off putting. That and the tear on the drivers seat bolster. The car just looks unloved.

What condition is the roof in? In one picture it looks a bit torn on the drivers side but it could also just be that the picture was taken at a poor angle.

There is no point in saying that a buyer of a somewhat specialist car will know what they are looking at as given the ad and pictures they're looking at a tired and unloved car.

Have you paperwork, nct certs, tax discs, old mots anything to make a paperwork file?

khards

Yep, that's the one

I will take a couple more photos at the weekend. I was going along the assumption that it would be bought by someone specifically looking for an MR2 of a particular mileage/year/price trade off so lengthy descriptions would be a waste of time.

To be honest it is due a service and it's 10 years old so it could do with a little tying in places, which frankly I can't be bothered doing.

I did consider taking it to auction, but then thought local dealers who might be interested probably trawl dodnedeal and adverts and would rather test-drive it than buy from auction anyway.

khards

ba_barabus wrote: »

Yep, they are really off putting. That and the tear on the drivers seat bolster. The car just looks unloved.

What condition is the roof in? In one picture it looks a bit torn on the drivers side but it could also just be that the picture was taken at a poor angle.

There is no point in saying that a buyer of a somewhat specialist car will know what they are looking at as given the ad and pictures they're looking at a tired and unloved car.

Have you paperwork, nct certs, tax discs, old mots anything to make a paperwork file?

The roof is A1 condition as it was new 3 years ago when we bought it, no rips or tears. So I will get a better photo of that.

I will see if I can t-cut the lights this weekend, they are plastic and have misted a little but guess they will t-cut/brasso up a bit cleaner.

We have all the paperwork and had books going back some time, so I will mention this in the revised ad.

TestTransmission

khards wrote: »

I am wondering:
1) Is it the time of year? I bought it for the wife for a Christmas present a few years ago, so around this time of year.
2) Are people now so poor that they cannot afford sports cars for weekend driving? Has demand collapsed?

Well, I managed to sell a s2000 in the past week with no nct and needing some body work, the first guy who came to see it bought it, other than that there was only 1 other guy really interested.

I guess you have to be patient.

Toyotafanboi

its a nice honest advert and a nice honest car by the looks of things.

if it were me i'd remove the areas in the advert where you say "in average" and "in fair condition" because this will lead people to believe there are faults with the car before they even arrive which makes your price tag very hard justified. i'd also refer to the car in the advert title as an "MRS" and not an "MR2 Spyder", you will probably get a bit more traffic that way.

also your car is approximately € 750 - 1000 overpriced. i appreciate yours is an 03 that's has the right trim level and is well maintained. but there are a good few other MRS available between 00 and 03 online between 1500-2500 and a lot of the people i'd imagine who are in the market for a car like that will be buying on condition and not the reg plate and there are a good few 99-01 examples in very nice condition for sub 2k and your car is competing directly with those. i would advertise yours at €2350 if you want it to move fast.

ba_barabus

Clean and wax the car, put tyre shine on the wheels and feed the leather.

Take lot of pictures of car in front of a nice scene or else with a very plain background (no wet ground or paintwork as it will appear you're trying to make the car look shiny), take pictures of the engine bay etc etc.

Mention good points and bad points in the ad, how long you've owned it etc.

You can only upload 10 pictures so make a photobucket file with the rest and link it to the ad.

Take lots of interior pictures too. That car should polish up well and should look well if it's cleaned and presented correctly.

khards

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

I will give the car a tidy up, some more photos and look at the pricing again. It was difficult to price since there are many for sale at way above this price and quite a few below.

I guess it's like the property market with many kite flyers - the difference is I actually want to sell

khards

I have a motorbike now, so we are looing to get an Astra 1.3tdci or 1.4 estate. I think we are going to have fun selling our other car which is a Vectra 2.8V6 petrol estate
Neither cars owe us anything, so it's a bit of a learning experience selling them.

eringobragh

tidy up the red bolster if its not ripped you can pick up some red dye on ebay and make it look alot nicer for only a few euros

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/RED-30ml-LEATHER-Pigment-Dye-Touch-Up-UPHOLSTERY-CAR-SEATS-SHOES-REPAIRS-BOOTS-/261085885169?pt=UK_Home_Garden_LivingRoom_RockingChairs_SR&hash=item3cc9ee72f1

SEPT 23 1989

Those tyres and alloys need a tidy up they are letting the car down

maybe its just the photograph

khards

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Those tyres and alloys need a tidy up they are letting the car down

maybe its just the photograph

The wheels do need tidying, the rear passengers side is a bit scuffed.

khards

Managed to get €1750 for it in the end.

There is very little interest in sports cars at the moment. I can't imagine many of the other MR2's selling as they are priced well above what we sold ours for.

I guess the problem is that these days most people haven't got €2k to buy a car and need credit to transact.

HandsomeDan

Something I've always wondered: How does the suspension fare on these stiffly sprung cars fare over the years? Does it start to feel tired?

khards

The car was still fun to drive at 10 years old, I would say that the suspension was quite hard.

Thing I would watch for on an MR2 are: The roof, rust, Clutch (we replaced ours), O2 sensors, wheels&tyres, underside rust as they are very low to the ground and prone to being scraped, play in the steering.

In general they are excellent and reliable little cars, but since they are getting on a bit now you are likely to get a few issues. It's going to get harder and harder to find a good MK3, and would think that any good MK1's or MK2's would have to have been restored to be in a good condition.

Popoutman

My 22 year old MR2 Mk2 Gen1 non-turbo targa is still in great condition, still on original shocks and springs at 120k miles. Passes NCT without issue, no emissions issues, starts on the button every time. It's my second/weekend car and I drive it often enough to keep it from deteriorating.

The suspension isn't too hard on this one anyway, but is suited to the car, with good body control without shaking the occupants. I have it on 17" staggered wheels with 225 on the front and 255 on the rear.

Since I got it about 6 years ago, I put a new battery in it, a new exhaust flexi joint, new radio and speakers to update to the ISO standard connections, and that's been pretty much it for non-standard maintenance that was required. I do the oil changes as needed and I've got the timing belt done as well. Only thing left to do on it is to give a proper mop to bring back the deep red.

If the car has been kept properly it should be fine. A good few of the more ropey examples have not been cared for and it's unfortunate given how nice the cars can be.

khards

Popoutman wrote: »

My 22 year old MR2 Mk2 Gen1 non-turbo targa is still in great condition,

How is it for rust? I recall looking at a few of the MK1's in about 2002 (14 years old) and mostly they were rotten back then.
Are the MK2's better for not rusting than MK1's?

Wicklowrider

I've an 04 Mk3 with 70K miles and it drives great. Everything is tight and feels just perfect. Got a tiny scuff on front driver's side where an unmarked Garda car touched it while chasing someone.That didn't upset me as much as the fact that the wife, who was driving at time, took off after the un-marked car and nearly caught it. She gave up when the mondeo took a T junction through a redlight on the wrong side of the road.

djimi

khards wrote: »

I guess the problem is that these days most people haven't got €2k to buy a car and need credit to transact.

Id say its less to do with the money and more to do with the car. An MR2 is always going to have a somewhat niche market even at the best of times, but considering all people seem to want these days is a 1.4 diesel that does 500mpg and costs 50p a year to tax, the chances of selling something like an MR2 becomes a lot less. Its a shame because its a lovely car for not a lot of money.