Serious Mk2 Turbo Questions

[RichB]

Hi, I have the opportuity to buy a mint MR2 Turbo specs include:

17" alloys

Uprated Intercooler

Mint Interior and Exterior (and I mean MINT)

Non T-Bar, Cloth Interior

It's a stunner, it's £5500 with 30K miles on the clock on a 1994. Had a full service including cam belt.

Now.. the big questions.

Just HOW practical is this. I have a N/A at the moment as I deliverately wanted to move away from Turbos (as they are expensive) but this is getting my (ahem) juices flowing again for Turbo cars. I mean, in terms of maintenance, are we talking a full service every 3K, and expensive prices. I know changing the cam belt on these is a task, but thats been done. I have no other cars, so this would have to be "it", it would have to be reliable, not completely inpractical and not too expensive to run/maintain. I had such bad luck with my last Turbo (A Calibra) I am solidly put off. I would also ensure I had a warrenty for parts and labour on this car if I bought it.

What do you think - I think it's a good price for the car - but its the practicalities of owning one thats the problem. - oh yes, I do sometimes make high mileage - maybe 1-1.5K a month.

[RichB]

Oh yes, and what would be a good (recommended) service interval for this car.... for oil/filters and plug changes?

[TheNissanMan]

From a reliability point of view it's a Toyota, it has the 3S-GTE engine and has low mileage on it, this isn't an issue at all.... The Turbo is as reliable as the NA or any other Toyota and after 30k will only just be worn in.

The Cambelt has been done so you don't have to do that for ages so that's not a problem, it's no more impractical than the NA you already have, just more powerful and will take getting used to again, the way the power is delivered is very different. Most of the smaller stuff, Oil Changes etc you can do yourself and depending how confident you are the information is out there for you to do anything yourself without to many problems. The support for the MR2 in the UK and around the globe on the web is phenominal....

I would only get the warranty for 6 months if you bought the car as that's when your going to know if she does have any major flaws, after that there are enough breakers and people around for you to source parts on the cheap second hand, if you did want new parts you could always go Gold and get your membership discounts through Mr. T.

As for your last turbo, IMHO you could not even associate Vauxhall and Toyota in terms of level of build quality and in terms of reliability. 1-1.5k miles a month is not hight mileage, it is average so you don't have to worry from that POV....

The price sounds right, it sounds a lovelyy car (any photo's), I'd take it for a test drive (be careful, they're addictive) and get an RAC inspection, it should keep you happy for ages....

Go buy it and you'll be smiling for ages....

[screechmr2]

oil change every 4.5k, fit an induction kit and no filter changes needed and seriously that's about it. other than that it is pretty much the same as an n/a. they obviously use more fuel and get through tyres a bit quicker than an n/a but when you sample the performance you'll realise it's worth it. a turbocharger lasts 100,000k, exhausts donkeys years, clutch about 60-70k and that's about it really, most other stuff will last same as n/a.

i've got a turbo and am so glad, the performance is fantastic and the turbo rush is so addictive

[screechmr2]

forgot to say, oil change is very easy, coolant every 50k, cambelt every 5yrs or 60k

[RichB]

This is the car - I honestly think it's one of the best looking MR2s I've seen. I know the dealer is an ok guy as I bought the N/A off him, I hope he will give me a decent trade in price!

Thanks for all the responses, I am now convinced that if I look at it, and decide I like it, and it all checks out ok in the "buyers guide" sense then I will buy it!!

What fuel should you run these things on? I assume it's Optimax at the least, and Octane booster occasionally aswell?

[kan]

i use Optimax in my tubby and she loves it :)

just fill her up, drive a quarter of the tank down then reset the ecu and she will purr along :)

nice car by the way, looks like shes got a bomex front on her. (see my post in the performance forum to see my tubby that looks similar to yours)