Should I Buy This Mr2?

[Leecifer]

Hi Everyone,

So, I'm looking to get myself an MR2 2.0 GT T-Bar. I currently have a 2001 Vauxhall Astra 1.6 Club with 72K Miles on the clock. A guy has offered to swap his 1996 Toyota MR2 2.0 GT T-Bar for my car and he'll give me an extra £300 on top. His MR2 currently has 128K Miles on the clock which seems scarily high to me.

I've taken it for a drive and it all seems nice except for a whining noise that comes from the engine during acceleration. He says that the cam belt, HT leads, brakes and calipers have recently been changed and it was serviced 6 months ago.

I was just wondering whether this sounds like a nice offer to you guys and what the engine noise might be?

Thanks,

Lee

[GIDDLEPIN]

Hi and welcome to the club Lee

I'm sure someone who knows the Mk2 better than me will come up with an answer soon

Les

[blz-8027]

Hi Everyone,

So, I'm looking to get myself an MR2 2.0 GT T-Bar. I currently have a 2001 Vauxhall Astra 1.6 Club with 72K Miles on the clock. A guy has offered to swap his 1996 Toyota MR2 2.0 GT T-Bar for my car and he'll give me an extra £300 on top. His MR2 currently has 128K Miles on the clock which seems scarily high to me.

I've taken it for a drive and it all seems nice except for a whining noise that comes from the engine during acceleration. He says that the cam belt, HT leads, brakes and calipers have recently been changed and it was serviced 6 months ago.

I was just wondering whether this sounds like a nice offer to you guys and what the engine noise might be?

Thanks,

Lee

well if it needs a cam belt (ive never heard one whine ,more like the alternator) youre looking at around £500-£600

but id say if you want one, the deal against your astra sounds fair enough ,if its a 1996 it should be a rev4 so better than the early rev1s got any pics of it ?

[JappyBeast]

And milage isnt an issue if she has been looked after. Uk spec or import?

[Leecifer]

I haven't got any pictures but I can get some, it's black and is in really good condition, full leather interior also in perfect condition. He's got a lot of service history with it. It was imported in 2001 from Ireland or somewhere? Not entirely sure on that one but he said it's not a Jap import. I have heard that the alternator can cause the whining and I've read something about the whining coming through the Speakers due to too many ground connections?? Just want to make sure the whining wouldn't be caused by a major problem that's going to cost me big bucks.

[Jamesbelfast]

In all honesty I wouldn't recommend buying may car with a noise as you describe unless you know the exact cause. You may just be buying someone elses trouble.

Also what's your Astra worth on a fair day. Is the Astra an 8 or 16 valver.

I live in Ireland and in all honesty any car that came from that area I would treat with caution unless it had a continous service history.:)

Caveat Emptor - Buyer Beware.

[Leecifer]

My Astra is only the 8v and is worth about £1500 at best. So the offer he's making sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me, if I can be sure that an engine whine isn't caused by a serious problem ie. if it's alternator interference with Speakers or even needs a new alternator (not too expensive to replace), then I'd be happy to go for it.