MR2....or not?

"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse) 01/29/2018 at 14:40 • Filed to: Toyota, MR2, Rust

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I came across a Mk3 MR2 for sale, this very one in fact.

The price seemed almost tempting. So what could be wrong with a 2004 MR2?

According to Mr Google, this could.

The rear subframe starts off looking like this:

And with alarming alacrity converts itself to something like this:

This is usually followed, or even accompanied, by the door sills which undergo a similar lightening process.

Maybe not such a good idea then.

djmt1 > Cé hé sin 01/29/2018 at 15:00

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I thought the sub frame issues were more of a problem on the 5 speed cars?

Cé hé sin > djmt1 01/29/2018 at 15:13

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I don’t know. I just saw lots of comments about rust in those areas. There’s an issue with the precats recirculating themselves into the engine too on pre 2005 cars.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Cé hé sin 01/29/2018 at 15:30

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Might be worth it to ask Out, with a ZZW30 or Chinny Raccoon about their experiences, both have a mk3 MR2 from a wet-ish climate (2005 and 2002 IIRC).

Can’t be much worse than the FTO...

Cé hé sin > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 01/29/2018 at 15:34

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Oooh, I remember the second of these now. It was on here a couple of days ago.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Cé hé sin 01/29/2018 at 15:57

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Indeed, the dark blue one!

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > Cé hé sin 01/29/2018 at 16:12

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Other common issues are with the weeny 1ZZ powerplant. Pre-cats in the manifolds like to deteriorate, with ceramic shards getting ingested back into the engine. Also poor piston/ring design leads to excessive oil consumption. If the car cheap enough, buy it, toss that 1ZZ in the dumpster, and put in a 2ZZ or Honda motor.

Chinny Raccoon > Cé hé sin 01/29/2018 at 17:18

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A 2004 car should have new piston rings to keep the oil inside the engine. Mine is a 2002 and seems to be using a litre every 5-600 miles or so, which is allegedly within the Toyota spec, but coming from cars that don’t use any is a bit of shock. My current plan is just to keep it topped up and see how long it lasts.

The precat issue seems to have passed- cars with problems have already grenaded by now. I did mine as a precaution- pull one of the Precat O2 sensor to check if it’s been done already. The manifold nuts were a right bastard to get off, I ended up grinding a 1/4 drive socket down to get a nice flush face, heating the nut with the acetylene torch and got them to crack with a cheater bar on the ratchet. Ended up butchering the heat shield to get to them too.

Toyota want £6 each for the studs- they are M8x37mm and 1.25 pitch. Ebay has plenty of suppliers- I paid £6 for a pack of 20. Some places have them listed as M10 for some reason.

The sub frames are a weakness- the plastic covers hide the rot so it sometimes isn’t so obvious. Mine looked ok from a quick glance when I bought it, but had a moderately sized rusted section. Easy enough to cut it out and weld back up with a thick coat of paint. You can get repaired ones, I think an original is about £350 new from Toyota. It’s not that hard to replace, but does need realignment afterwards. The facelift has a different one with more bracing than the early models.

The front power steering lines rot out- again hard to see as it’s under the plastic frunk and panels. £125 for replacement pipes.

The sills on mine are solid, there’s a couple of bracing bars up the front that get rusty, but they bolt on and off. The actual body seems to be fairly rust resistant in the important areas.

Power wise I’ve got no issues with the standard model for the B/C roads I usually use. It’s got a reasonable amount of torque at lower RPM so it’s quite happy to bimble around like an ordinary person would drive. The Ignis feels faster to drive but the MR2 is actually faster and much more planted.

The only time I’ve been on the motorway was when it was collected, The facelift is probably better at motorway work. It’s also a bit higher so might be better at clearing speed bumps.

NVH is fine, but my standards for that are really low. Getting in takes practice, and there really isn’t much storage space. Pack lightly! As it’s low lights on oncoming traffic can be dazzling. I’m about six foot and fit fine. The pedals aren’t quite spaced to my liking, but better than most.

The handling is great and it’s such fun to throw around. Very tail happy when it’s slippy, so you do need to pay attention. In standing water the lack of weight at the front is very apparent. Ice and snow are interesting. The wheel setup on the facelift cars may be better than the earlier ones for handling- according to The Internet- but I’m perfectly happy with 15s all round.

I bought mine a a cheap project knowing things needed doing- it is 16 years old after all. There were others with similar issues for quite a bit more cash.

TLDR? Do it, if the price is right.

Chinny Raccoon > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 01/29/2018 at 17:21

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The last owner of mine lived by the sea, in Wales. I don’t think it gets much worse for cars than that.

Chinny Raccoon > Cé hé sin 01/29/2018 at 18:02

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Forgot to mention- make sure it comes with a key with RCL buttons, or a black master key. The grey key is a valet key- it won’t lock the glovebox or storage bins and the central locking and alarm won’t work with it. If you only have the valet key you can’t get a key made from it, it needs the ecu replacing. I can live without the central locking and alarm, but would like to lock storage bins. I’ve got to look in to getting a key for them.