Good looking, reliable car for the money
Nothing went wrong with the car at all, apart from when it rained heavily, it did leak on the drivers side, but it wasn't too bad.
Bought some 17 inch wheels.
Lowered it 35mm all round it, really did handle really well after this.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 31st January, 2002
A lot of car for the money
Whoever had serviced the car before I bought it was a bit messy with oil and spilled some into cylinder number 4. This resulted in the car misfiring, smelling of petrol and generally running badly. One spark plug change later and the car is running perfectly.
Front left shock absorber has leaked resulting in the car making crunching noises when travelling over speed bumps.
This car eats rear tyres (no, it's not just the way I drive!).
The build quality of this car is superb, no rattles, whines etc.
This car is pretty fast and a lot of fun to drive, however I am not 100% inspired by this car's handling. This is probably something that uprating the suspension will fix though.
If you own the model with the 14" alloys, replace them with the 15" ones as the tyres on the 14" alloys are more expensive.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 18th December, 2001
A road legal race car
Driver's door central locking switch was unreliable.
Retractable mirrors just refuse to work.
The standard wheels are too narrow!!!
Shop at HKS and this car will be snapping at the heels of 911's.
The standard stereo is OK, but a good sort out is still necessary.
Add bigger wheels and the already crisp handling is pushed to new limits.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 17th October, 2001
Nice article, I totally agree about the wheels, I was lucky as mine came with 16 inch split rims, 215/45/16 on the front and 245/45/16 on the rear. The car handles superbly in the wet and dry with Toyo Proxes T1-S tyres on, though these need replacing every 6,000 miles!
As for your retracting mirrors, these are not standard on your model at this age, so maybe they are an unreliable add on!
The most fun I had was racing against an Audi S4, the businessman driver was laughing at me when we were at the lights, but not so much half a mile later, I will give him credit though, he was alongside me up to 130 mph, and I think it was his nerve and not his car that let him down!
I've shocked a few Calibra Turbo owners too, they just don't realise that a turbo MR2 exists alongside the regular hardresser model!
Get one of these cars!!!
Un-diagnosed fluid leak.
Reversing light switch broke.
This car is seriously quick and handles like it's on rails!!!
If you lose the back end it comes back with a flick of the hand.
Standard stereo is OK, but needs upgrading.
Mmm, leather seats.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 15th July, 2001
Needed new front brake discs and brake callipers due to binding callipers. This appears to be common problem as I know about five other people with MR2s and they have all replaced the front brake callipers at some point.
Radiator holed, which is again a common problem as it's exposed.
The gear selector cable snapped leaving me stuck in reverse. This is the only time that the car has left me stranded in four years of motoring.
This car is great fun as long as you keep the engine spinning.
Driving with the roof out on a sunny day is great and unlike a convertible it's fine in winter.
It's a bit noisy on the motorway with both engine and wind noise.
For a performance car it's surprisingly economical, though you can go through the rear tyres quickly if you use the performance.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 1st June, 2001
Binding calipers can be problematic, but spares are easily sourced from places like Fensport.co.uk and guards for the radiator are available very cheap through the MR2 drivers club. It is an awesome car, and continues to put cheesy grins on your face after many, many miles of motoring.
I had the same problem with my front brakes. Apart from that, no real problems. Apart from driving in the wet, a lovely car.
I own a 91 MR2 turbo! It has almost 200,000 miles on it! Still fine. No hole in radiator, no snapped shift cable, no problem with any brakes...
...Cheap car. Go to the MR2OC website... cheap parts, good people!
5th Feb 2002, 06:59
I haven't seen one of the new model yet, it doesn't seem to be very popular, which is good=)