Faults:

Rear nearside brake disc sticking.

Driver's side window seal perished.

Bonnet (front) internal release catch broke.

Buckled front nearside alloy.

Weird electrical feedback on stereo.

General Comments:

Looking extremely smart in white, and with only a handful of owners from new and having been garaged most of its life, this was a great looking car, and in very good nick for its age, with zero rust to speak of.

What a fun car for £1100!! When I bought it, the tyres were past their best and I quickly figured out that the guy who'd had it previously had the wrong tyres on the back, 205 instead of 225 width. Being VERY obsessive about these things, I went out straight away and bought new Falken tyres all round at the correct sizes, and it made a huge difference to the handling. These things corner like they're on rails and have massive grip levels, at least in the dry!

However, I was always very wary of pushing it in the wet as one of only 2 cars I've ever spun (in the wet) was a mk2 MR2!! And, the previous owner told me he'd also spun it, so its mid-engined reputation as a killing machine in the wet was almost at the back of my mind!!

Mine also had no ABS, although it was the first of the power steering as standard models in the UK.

I would've ideally liked a T-bar, but as they cost a bit more, the sunroof did me fine, although it did seem to heat up like a greenhouse in the sun, with very little ventilation.

Great sounding engine, but always had a slightly weird rattle under acceleration, but no sign of anything ever wrong with it. Although it was quick, it DEFINITELY didn't feel as a quick as the 0 to 60 in 6.7 secs quoted off an old Autocar road test. My previous car was an Audi A4 2.8 V6 quattro and that felt quicker to me, even though its 0 to 60 time was supposedly less.

What really put me off the MR2 was how tiring it was to drive on long journeys. It was so noisy, both engine and wind noise (partly due to a worn driver's window seal), I never wanted to drive it that far.

At its best on a winding country back road, windows down, in the sun, stereo off, revving that twin cam!!

Faults:

Power steering solenoid on way out.. apparently £170 from Toyota.

Alternator belt stretched/ needed replacing at 75k.

Rear damper needed replacing at 79k.

But it's nearly 16 years old and has needed nothing else except tyres, brakes.

General Comments:

Seriously quick up to the limiter. Bought for the odd track day, but not made it yet. Reliable, handles pretty well (mine has the LSD), surprisingly practical.. but not good for 2 up + dog!

Faults:

Slight leak in the t-bar roof... (easily fixed though).

Thermostat has started playing up a bit.

Black is harder than you think to keep clean!!

General Comments:

Great looking car... really turns heads.

Engine sounds are brilliant also.

Handling in the dry is very good... although in the wet it's scary!!!

Faults:

Clutch has just started to slip on occasions.

Thermostat needed replacing.

Rocker cover needed replacing.

Slight leak from drive-shaft seals.

General Comments:

I owned an MR2 G-Limited for 3 years, that was a very good car, but I craved more power so decided to sell up and buy a revision 3 GT-S turbo model.

This car handles very well, adjustable suspension helps it further. The car gives a lot of confidence when taking the bends at speed. You just have to be wary in wet conditions obviously due to the mid-engine and rear wheel drive setup. Bearing in mind the power output the chassis holds up very well. Good tyres are essential on this car.

Performance is really impressive due to the twin entry turbo which is bolted onto an already quick 2 litre 16 valve engine. Stock power is around 240bhp on the revision 3 and 0-60 is about 5.5ish seconds which is very quick. Many people seem surprised by the speed of this machine. It's almost supercar quick. Minor modifications can make it even quicker.

The car sounds great when driving, the exhaust burbles and pops nicely, the turbo spools up loudly behind you and the recirculating valve gives off a pleasing dump 'tsshh' sound when changing gear. The engine sounds lovely too when giving it some revs.

Needless to say the car looks great. Despite being 14 years old it still gets plenty of heads turning with it's curvy lines, rounded rear lights, unique spoiler and pop-up headlights.

Maintenance and running costs can vary depending on the individual car. Most MR2's are reliable, but turbo models can have problems if not looked after properly and repairs can get expensive. Fuel and insurance costs can be quite high. I get around 25mpg with mixed driving. Servicing is fairly cheap if you avoid the dealer.

The MR2 turbo gives mega performance and handling to match. Excellent value-for-money and reliable as an everyday car.