Rev 3 MR2 Turbo Tintop - What's it like?

[iiNNeX]

There is one of those for sale currently on PH, slightly on the higher price bracket but looks to be pretty mint.

Going to view next weekend and am bringing an MR2 fanatic with me so we ll give it a proper going over, but assuming all is well and we do a deal on the price, what are they like?

1. Reliability (assuming it isn't a lemon)
2. Handling/Precision
3. Expected fuel economy
4. Rust?
5. Future values (debatable i know, but judging by other JDM legends recently, everything good is through the roof...)

Any input would be helpful

Cheers
Sid

[rotaryjam]

iiNNeX said:

There is one of those for sale currently on PH, slightly on the higher price bracket but looks to be pretty mint.

Going to view next weekend and am bringing an MR2 fanatic with me so we ll give it a proper going over, but assuming all is well and we do a deal on the price, what are they like?

1. Reliability (assuming it isn't a lemon)
2. Handling/Precision
3. Expected fuel economy
4. Rust?
5. Future values (debatable i know, but judging by other JDM legends recently, everything good is through the roof...)

Any input would be helpful

Cheers
Sid

Hi there

I've had 5 MR2's, 3 turbos and one of them was a tin top and I love them, they just feel so special and differnt.

I personally find the tin tops a bit better looking and they are rarer and you don't have to worry about T-bar leaks and associated rust either. On the downside they are less 'novel'. As for driving, I didn't really notice any difference to the T-bars but they are very slightly lighter and presumably stiffer.

1. Reliability (assuming it isn't a lemon)

Very reliable cars, I've never had anything major go wrong with any of mine and the parts are cheap and easy to get generally as most are shared with the non-turbos.

2. Handling/Precision

Handling is decent, I guess it depends what you are used to. The steering is rather slow which fits the character of the car, its not really a car that you chuck around, more one that you drive smoothly to get the best out of it.

There were issues with handling on the earlier Rev 1 and to a less extent Rev 2 cars but I've never had any hairy moments in my Rev 3's, even in the wet.

3. Expected fuel economy

Decent enough for this type of car, there is no mpg counter but its meant to be 28 mpg and that feels about right. Its very easy to drive economically (i.e. without engaging the turbo) as it doesn't come on until about 4,000 rpm which is pretty late by modern standards.

4. Rust?

On the T-bar they tend to rest at the bottom of the doors but you shouldn't have that problem on the tin top. Generally MR2 Mk2's are not so bad for rust compared to some other japanenese cars of the era as they have plastic coverings under a lot of the underside and front arches. Its more the rear you have to check but I don't think the arches on these go as much as say an MX5 or S2000.

5. Future values (debatable i know, but judging by other JDM legends recently, everything good is through the roof...)

This is an interesting one. The car didn't feature on Fast and furious and was a cheaper car than many other similar performance JDM cars and there is also the NA model which makes it less special - so I think these factors really hurt their values.

Compared to other similar cars they haven't risen in price much at all and from experience selling mine, most buyers are not prepared to much at all for them e.g. if a car is advertised at £8k, they only want to pay £4k.. I have honestly never come across a stranger bunch than prospective MR2 buyers!

So If your thinking of an investment, I wouldn't get one of these.


If you the one you're looking at is the 1993 with about 70k miles, I'd say this a bit over priced and worth more like £8-10k max.

Edited by rotaryjam on Saturday 8th May 17:18

[iiNNeX]

rotaryjam said:

Hi there

I've had 5 MR2's, 3 turbos and one of them was a tin top and I love them, they just feel so special and differnt.

I personally find the tin tops a bit better looking and they are rarer and you don't have to worry about T-bar leaks and associated rust either. On the downside they are less 'novel'. As for driving, I didn't really notice any difference to the T-bars but they are very slightly lighter and presumably stiffer.

1. Reliability (assuming it isn't a lemon)

Very reliable cars, I've never had anything major go wrong with any of mine and the parts are cheap and easy to get generally as most are shared with the non-turbos.

2. Handling/Precision

Handling is decent, I guess it depends what you are used to. The steering is rather slow which fits the character of the car, its not really a car that you chuck around, more one that you drive smoothly to get the best out of it.

There were issues with handling on the earlier Rev 1 and to a less extent Rev 2 cars but I've never had any hairy moments in my Rev 3's, even in the wet.

3. Expected fuel economy

Decent enough for this type of car, there is no mpg counter but its meant to be 28 mpg and that feels about right. Its very easy to drive economically (i.e. without engaging the turbo) as it doesn't come on until about 4,000 rpm which is pretty late by modern standards.

4. Rust?

On the T-bar they tend to rest at the bottom of the doors but you shouldn't have that problem on the tin top. Generally MR2 Mk2's are not so bad for rust compared to some other japanenese cars of the era as they have plastic coverings under a lot of the underside and front arches. Its more the rear you have to check but I don't think the arches on these go as much as say an MX5 or S2000.

5. Future values (debatable i know, but judging by other JDM legends recently, everything good is through the roof...)

This is an interesting one. The car didn't feature on Fast and furious and was a cheaper car than many other similar performance JDM cars and there is also the NA model which makes it less special - so I think these factors really hurt their values.

Compared to other similar cars they haven't risen in price much at all and from experience selling mine, most buyers are not prepared to much at all for them e.g. if a car is advertised at £8k, they only want to pay £4k.. I have honestly never come across a stranger bunch than prospective MR2 buyers!

So If your thinking of an investment, I wouldn't get one of these.


If you the one you're looking at is the 1993 with about 70k miles, I'd say this a bit over priced and worth more like £8-10k max.

Edited by rotaryjam on Saturday 8th May 17:18

Hey bud,

Thanks for the feedback, it is more or less what I expected and wanted to hear which is great news!

As for Handling, I am used to reasonably well handling cars (Eunos roadster, EP3 Type R, Clio 182, most recently an M2) so wanted something within that realm, but ideally lighter and more nimble (so something like an MX5 but with more power ideally, hence looking at MR2s).

I will most likely end up putting on a set of good quality coilovers and getting a proper geo set up for fast road use, no matter what car I buy.

As for the MR2 in question, yes it is that 70k 1993 example. I also did think the price was a little on the high side so I decided to call up a few importers to see if I can get a fresh Rev 3/4/5 turbo for similar money, and pretty much they all said No, it will cost around £20k at least especially given how little quality supply there is vs the demand. They expect this to get much worse too (as we are seeing with the iconic Supra, Skyline, RX7 ect.)

Now I don't expect this car to make me money, but it would be nice if it held its value at least you know? I would love to pay less, but I don't see any other examples such as that one (with all the rare OEM extras and in the condition it appears to be in). Freshly imported (2015) seems to help and after the seller sent me a lot more photos of the underside, arches/sills/enginebay ect, it does look "worth it". But I guess it all depends on what someone is willing to pay, not what a car is realistically worth...

I don't know, I am still on the fence price wise, the seller won't budge much (I can get it for just sub 13k) and if its condition and rare parts are something that adds value, then I can justify it. If its so heavily overpriced that I won't even get this price in 2-3 years time, then I probably shouldn't do it.

My original plan was to buy a clean Eunos 1.8 (special edition of some sort with cool colour combo) and then turbocharge it. However finding a clean car and doing a proper turbo build (not a cheap Chinese or TD04 kit) will cost a good amount more than this MR2, and that's without including suspension, diff and brake upgrades. Sorry for the rant, just trying to justify this to myself at this point haha.

Sid

[rotaryjam]

It is really hard to price these cars, ones like that one you are looking at don't come up often.

I have never heard or seen some of the extras mentioned and I follow MR2's closely so they must be pretty rare!

I would say if your looking for a car that handles like an MX5 you might be disappointed, they are completely different in almost every way so not a very comparable car in my opinion and I've had an MX5 NB. Even the Mk3 MR2 which is more comparable is supposed to be quite different still.

Edited by rotaryjam on Sunday 9th May 10:53

[danllama]

I've owned 5 sw20's, including 3 turbos (1 tintop) and a V6. My only advice is to walk away because once they get under your skin that's it. Personally i wouldn't be much interested in spending over £7-8k for a turbo. Regardless of how good it is, these cars are all getting on and it won't be long before problems start popping up. For north of 10 you can have a fresh, low km import.