The Time Has Come....

[John R]

To buy.

I sold my car today so I'm ready for my 2....

So I'm on the prowl for a MkII around 1993 ( K or L plate) n/a ... any colour... T-Bar or not T-Bar (not fussed) with below 90k mileage and MOT.

I've looked on autotrader.co.uk and there's not really anything near me, but I don't mind waiting for the right one to come along.

So if you see one, in the North East of England let me know!

[GTant]

sounds like your doin exactly the same search i'll be doin in a few months..

whats your budget/model you lookin to get

i'm hopefully gonna be gettin a GT in about June time B)

[John R]

I'm looking at a MarkII rev 2 or 3. GT...

I have up to £4,000 for the car, I'm going to look at some next saturday.

A friend of a friend has a zircon blue k reg'd GT SW20 n/a that he only uses to commute to work, which is about 8 miles.

He's the only keeper since he bought it new and it's only got 40,000 miles on it ! . He's looking at a Honda s2000, he's really looked after it and he'll want top book for it... But I think it's worth it.

[ZeroBlade]

It does sound like it'l be in good nick but u don't really wanna be paying more than a few grand for it, i'd prolly pay 3 at tops.

Also according to [insert name here] (sorry can't rem who rite now!) of these boards said that a dealer was willing to pay him an extra £500 cos the zircon blue colour's more attractive. Not my cup of tea, but hey. (2 bright for my liking if your wondering) B)

-Z

[John R]

I think a rev 2 with 40k on the clock is worth more than 3 grand....

Jim payed 4grand for his rev 1 with 32k, I think. Both are in top condition.

[John R]

going to see this next weekend:

1992 K Reg Toyota MR2 2.0 GT

Red, Coupe, 2 Doors. alarm class I, Central Door Locking, electric sunroof, Immobilizer, radio/cd/cassette.17 inch 5 spoke TSW alloys. Service history. In superb condition. comes with warranrty and 12 months MOT £3,595.

NR Bates & SonDealer's Website Dealer's Location

Tel: (0114) 2396736

Distance: 58 miles

Price: £3,595

Is anyone here near Sheffield? If they are, take a look for me before i go... incase it's a shed.

[pizza boy]

Jim payed 4grand for his rev 1 with 32k miles, I think. Both are in top condition

I think you are referring to Jimlad? But he has a Turbo m8 which is why he paid more. I also met someone with a red rev1 T-bar who paid £4.5k and his had 21k miles on the clock. But to tell you the truth id be very dubious about any pre94 jap import with under 50k miles. If I was in your position id buy a mint K plate UK spec with FSH(which no doubt he will have) for 4k max as I know I wont have worries with it.

[ZeroBlade]

Yep, jim's is a tubby, which r worth a grand or two more.

As for FSH i dont always go by that.

Depends if you actually know the person who ur buyin it off. if he's an enthusiast he'd hav done services himself. A prime example woulda been rhaines when he sold his old 2 (if memory serves me right).

Didn't hav FSH cos he'd dun the wrk himself.

Can't really tell w/o looking at the car but i he's offering 12mnth warranty + mot it can't be all that bad. plus theres always the haggling price ;)

3G wouldnt be bad at all.

-Z

[Stef Derner]

Looking at the ad, it states the car has an electric sunroof. How many 2s had electric sunroof? None, so the guy doesn't know a whole lot about 2s, which could be good, 'cos he might not realise it's true worth.

12 month warranty means nothing, just that the guy has paid £130 or so to an insurance company to cover it. Just means when it breaks the insurance pays, not that it won't break. Most garages do this to avoid paying out themselves when some irate person goes back with a car that the motor just fell out of. Let's be honest, who do you think pays for the warranty anyway, if not the person buying the car? Do your own checking around the car and if you don't know much about mechanics etc., take someone with you who does.

No mileage quoted often means that they daren't tell you, so ask before you go to look.

Check the steering wheel,gear knob, seat and carpet under the pedals for wear and make sure they agree with the mileage, they are often the best clue as to how much work a car has done. Get your bargaining head on.

[Jimlad]

Jim payed 4grand for his rev 1 with 32k miles, I think. Both are in top condition

I think you are referring to Jimlad? But he has a Turbo m8 which is why he paid more. I also met someone with a red rev1 T-bar who paid £4.5k and his had 21k miles on the clock. But to tell you the truth id be very dubious about any pre94 jap import with under 50k miles. If I was in your position id buy a mint K plate UK spec with FSH(which no doubt he will have) for 4k max as I know I wont have worries with it.

yeah... my rev1 GT Turbo Tbar which had 30,500 miles on the clock cost me £4000, was £4500.. but knocked it down to £4K.

Tip top condition.

Myth: The mileage on Japanese cars is so low that they must be 'clocked'.

Truth: It is mostly the case that the mileage on Japanese cars is much lower than a car of the same age would be in, for example, the UK. There are several reasons for this. The traffic in Japan can be terribly slow, there are no roundabouts and a great amount of traffic lights making driving very slow. The speed limit on normal roads is 24Mph and the tolls on motorways are phenomenally expensive. It is also not a gross generalization that many Japanese do not venture outside of their own prefecture too often. All these factors contribute to the low mileage on most import cars.

[John R]

the friend of a friends car isn't an import, it's a UK car with full Toyota service history and 40k... He's into his cars and looks after it well.

It's definatly worth more than 3 grand.

[ZeroBlade]

I swear u just "schtole" that blurb bout jap culture from somewhere jimlad, can't rem where tho, hehe.

But it is true, as long as the car hasn't bin driven by a street racer it should be in decent nick.

john: And if you say the friend of a friend has looked after the car, defo buy it, the sooner the better, you'll love it :)

Oh and if u can try and haggle him dwn cos that leavse u w. spare money for essential first mods.

The basics: exhaust, plugs, leads, dizzy cap, rotor etc.Rest u can do l8r.

One thing that may annoy u is how high the 2 looks on its wheels initally, im not supprised toyota dropped it an inch for l8r rev's.

Gettin excited yet :D

-Z

[John R]

The first thing I'm getting is a new zorst, wheels, new springs... then bodykit, then respray.

That will use up most of my savings... with the money I have left over from moving house, I'm starting skydiving.

then I'll focus on the engine, get it mapped/leads/plugs/de-coke spray/rocket fuel. :D

[pizza boy]

Myth: The mileage on Japanese cars is so low that they must be 'clocked'.

Truth: It is mostly the case that the mileage on Japanese cars is much lower than a car of the same age would be in, for example, the UK. There are several reasons for this. The traffic in Japan can be terribly slow, there are no roundabouts and a great amount of traffic lights making driving very slow. The speed limit on normal roads is 24Mph and the tolls on motorways are phenomenally expensive. It is also not a gross generalization that many Japanese do not venture outside of their own prefecture too often. All these factors contribute to the low mileage on most import cars.

Im sure that was taken off a jap importers site :)

What I said about being 'dubious about very low milage pre94 imports' was not ONLY the clocking factor but the thrashed factor. Im not saying ALL jap cars are clocked when they have low milage. Im well aware the average milage in Japan is much lower than uk BUT you can easily buy an old import sports car with very low miles which belonged to some jap guys as a spare weekend track day car with only 20k miles... of VERY hard abuse. Remeber these cars cost jack in japan. And on the subject of jap culture, trackdays is a weekend pastime and they DO venture on to tracks very regularly.

And yes if its clocked you can look at wear and tear etc but its not difficult or expensive for an importer in japan to obtain new seats, new steering wheel, new pedals and steam clean the engine.

Remeber im not saying all of em are. All im saying is the risk is high if its a pretty old sports import with low miles.

[John R]

I'm test-driving that mk2 this weekend possibly. I went to look at it tonight whilst at work and it really is mint! It looks like it's just rolled off the showroom floor. Not even any alloy curbage.

It's:

Light metallic blue, not the same as 'midmotorsteves'

Just over 40k on the clock

PAS & ABS

Full leather interior

Goodyear eagle f1's all round

Full Toyota Service history, since new

2 owners from new

The only mod is the post 94 rear lights, everything else is standard.

<edit> It's an L-plate rev2

So, I'm going to buy a parkers guide tomorrow. 'Cause they charge you to use the website now :ffs: ...... I'm not really sure what kind of price it would fall under, whatever the range is... it will be at the top, cos it's a beaut!... And he said he wants top book for it..

[System~G]

It's a pity you didn't see mine. It was a Rev3 with lower than average mileage and in really good condition. She had full toyota history. It won second in "car of show" on the TOC Stand at JAE last year. I reluctantly sold her for £4k in the end.

By the sound of that car it's worth every penny at £3.5k

Also Check out Steve's brother's Rev3 T-Bar - It's for sale now. Very well looked after, in mint condition and in your budget. Photo below

[Jimlad]

your car looked good mate....

was it a tubby ?? ( can't see the engine slats, so can't tell )

[System~G]

The car in the pic is not mine, it's Steve's Brother's

The car in the pic (Steve's Brother's) is a Rev3 G-Ltd (N/A). Mine was the UK version. Still both cars had 173bhp as standard and after a mod or two mine had 180bhp, which is no where near Rev3 tubby fugures, but still can not be sneazed at :P

Steve's Brother (sorry I forget his name) imported the car himself and as far as I know has had it regularly serviced.

Insurance and day to day running costs plays a major roll when deciding between a tubby and N/A.

[John R]

Yeah, I did see your car, is it Garrick?.... I saw the ad but it was way to early for me to buy..

'Steves brothers' car is nice, but my insurance wouldn't take too kindly to an import. Cheers for the offer though

[System~G]

Photo's of mine (before I sold her ) are on page 28 of sporty numbers in the gallery :)

I'll get another soon

[John R]

Well I've got a Parkers guide and it says....;

New £17845

Dealer retailer £3695

Private Good £3365

Private Poor £1935

Trade £2625

The red one is the one to look at. But it's Private and Mint... so add a bit more. Those prices are also for 100k on the clock, the one I'm looking at has done just over 40k.

So I reckon about £3850.

[System~G]

Parkers is only a rough guide. Many owners who are selling will strongly dissagree with their pricing structure.

I am currently looking for a Corolla GTi as a fun runabout until I am back in another '2. Try convincing a GTi owner his car is only worth half of what he is asking for. I have seen a few examples of GTi's in the past month. They are either rust buckets, that have been accident damaged or the engines are falling apart and the owners are still expecting to sell for over £1k :o Do they not realise what else is out there for the same money?

Like I said before the MR2 you are looking at sounds good for the price.