Discussion
Toyota MR2 Roadset by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
This is my MR2 Roadster – it was bought to replace my mk3.5 MX-5, which is about to come to the end of its lease. The MX-5 has been a great car, far better than my old mk1 MX-5, so the MR2 has got a tough act to follow.
This time, because I knew that the MX-5 would be going back to the lease company at the end of August, I had plenty of time to save for a new car and to decide what to get. Earlier this year I bought a house walking distance from my office, meaning that my next car could be a fun car for weekend hooning and the odd trackday. An MR2 Roadster had been the first choice, up until my girlfriend and I decided that our main holiday in 2014 would be a European roadtrip, taking in the Monaco Historic Grand Prix. The luggage space on an MR2 Roadster was going to be too restrictive for that, so I started to look for other options, including posting a "What car thread".
After spending a lot of time looking at my options on the PH classified and Autotrader/eBay I kept coming back to MR2 Roadsters, all the other fun to drive cars within budget seemed to have potential for too many bills. At about this time my girlfriend suggested that she wasn’t too keen on the long drive to the south of France, which then made me think I’d be better off buying the car that would be best for me for 50 weeks of the year, rather than for one 2 week trip.
So that was me set on buying an MR2 Roadster, the next weekend I went to test drive one and liked it, but decided to look at a few more first. The next MR2 I saw seemed to have some dodgy modifications and I wasn’t convinced I wanted to do business with the dealer anyway. I then missed one locally but the next day went to view the one I bought, it was in much better condition than the others I’d seen, so a deal was struck.
I collected it 2 days later, having arranged 24 hours insurance (through Avviva) and spent the day getting used to it. The first trip out was to Tesco for the weekly shop, which we managed to fit into the storage bins behind the seat without any trouble – I think this was my girlfriend’s main concern! Then we went for a hoon around the Cotswolds, the car drove well, it wasn’t as refined as my MX-5, but for a fun car I can live with that. The steering felt lighter than the MX-5, but it felt like there was more grip. The hood mechanism is similar to the mk1 MX-5, with a clip on each side, it is possible to raise/lower it from the driver’s seat but it isn’t as good as the mk3+ MX-5s, which are by far the best I’ve used.
The car is currently stashed away off the road as I can’t justify running two cars, so I will insure it again when my MX-5 goes back, in the meantime I’m planning to replace the OEM headunit with an aftermarket one, which will do iPod control and possibly Bluetooth hands free, if I can find somewhere to mount the mic. I was thinking of going for a double DIN navigation unit, but I think the screen would be too low down to use safely, so I will save some cash and reuse my old single DIN unit.
After having had an initial taste, I can't wait to get it out of storage and drive it again!
Edited by Craikeybaby on Tuesday 25th March 12:00
Edited by Craikeybaby on Monday 12th December 21:51
Edited by Craikeybaby on Monday 12th December 21:51
Edited by Craikeybaby on Thursday 18th April 17:29
I got the paperwork back from the DVLA for getting my number plate on retention, so have sent it straight back with the paperwork to transfer it onto the MR2. Hopefully I get it back before I need to insure it as I'm sure insurance companies will charge an admin fee for updating the policy 
Looks tidy, nice colour combo.
If it's not already had the pre-cats gutted, or has one of these..... http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?sbk=1&am... then I'd definitely invest in one. The later, post facelift cars aren't as susceptible to the earlier model's engine woes, but for such little outlay it's a no brainer. Pre-cat failure is catastrophic.
I loved mine, I'm sure you will too!
If it's not already had the pre-cats gutted, or has one of these..... http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?sbk=1&am... then I'd definitely invest in one. The later, post facelift cars aren't as susceptible to the earlier model's engine woes, but for such little outlay it's a no brainer. Pre-cat failure is catastrophic.
I loved mine, I'm sure you will too!
moribund said:
That's a very good looking car. Would a luggage rack be a practical solution for the euro trip? Be a shame not to tour in a nice convertible!
I think mine was about £100+ used and was rock steady.
Yours is definitely the best colour and what I'd go for if I were to get another one
Good advice on the precat; it's not a big job to get them smashed out or you can do it yourself.
Edited by deadmau5 on Saturday 17th August 22:07
Bloody cars!
I just spent the last hour removing the OEM headunit from the MR2. What should have been a 5 minute, 10 screw job ended up with a broken screwdriver and needing to drill out the last screw. The drill also caught the trim piece, I'll need to refit it all to see if the marks will be visible.
I'd missed out this aspect of car ownership running a brand new car for the last 2 years!
In other news my PH stickers arrived this morning, so I've got to work out where to put them. On the MX-5s I'd gone for the quarter lights, but the MR2 doesn't have them.
I just spent the last hour removing the OEM headunit from the MR2. What should have been a 5 minute, 10 screw job ended up with a broken screwdriver and needing to drill out the last screw. The drill also caught the trim piece, I'll need to refit it all to see if the marks will be visible.
I'd missed out this aspect of car ownership running a brand new car for the last 2 years!
In other news my PH stickers arrived this morning, so I've got to work out where to put them. On the MX-5s I'd gone for the quarter lights, but the MR2 doesn't have them.
Craikeybaby said:
Ooops. If you don't need the practicality they are brilliant. Fuel consumption seems to be working out much the same as my girlfriend's Fiat 500 too!
I've had more than one passenger in the back twice in three months...They've got so little weight to move around which certainly helps.
I sold my last one because I grew to hate it because it kept having problems. Clutch, radiator, brakes (wear and tear so fair enough), rear shocks, minor big end bearing failure, O2 sensors. All those in 18 months and usually about a month apart took it's toll. I could never really enjoy it because I didn't want to drive it hard for fear of another bill just around the corner.
I was actually after a bright one, I looked at a red one, but the condition wasn't anywhere near as good as this one was.
I did an order from Polished Bliss earlier to get some leather cleaner, as this is the first car I've owned with leather seats. When I get it back to mine I should have it looking even better.
I did an order from Polished Bliss earlier to get some leather cleaner, as this is the first car I've owned with leather seats. When I get it back to mine I should have it looking even better.
The MX-5 was picked up earlier, so today is the day!
I've still got to fit my headunit, I've now got all the bits, so that is my job for this afternoon. I tested the ISO adapter the other day, and despite not using 2 of the connectors to the OEM headunit my Alpine headunit seemed to work fine. My concern was that the tweeters wouldn't be connected, because of not using all the OEM plugs, but dropping the bass & raising the treble showed they were working. The facia kit arrived today, so I can crack on with fitting it. I have managed to replace the screw I drilled out with some I found at work - result! I think now the only tricky bit of the install will be tidying the extra loose wires under the dash and routing the iPod lead to the cubby hole in the facia adapter.
I've also got some small PH smilies to fit I'm thinking one on the wind deflector and one on the rear window.
I've still got to fit my headunit, I've now got all the bits, so that is my job for this afternoon. I tested the ISO adapter the other day, and despite not using 2 of the connectors to the OEM headunit my Alpine headunit seemed to work fine. My concern was that the tweeters wouldn't be connected, because of not using all the OEM plugs, but dropping the bass & raising the treble showed they were working. The facia kit arrived today, so I can crack on with fitting it. I have managed to replace the screw I drilled out with some I found at work - result! I think now the only tricky bit of the install will be tidying the extra loose wires under the dash and routing the iPod lead to the cubby hole in the facia adapter.
I've also got some small PH smilies to fit I'm thinking one on the wind deflector and one on the rear window.
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