So...should I buy this MR2?

So...should I buy this MR2?

1986 Toyota MR2 n/a
122,000 miles
New KYB shocks
Eibach 1" lowering springs
Suspension Techniques anti sway bars (front and rear)
Front strut tower bar
Polyurethane bushings
Rota Slipstream rims with Dunlop fm901 tires (less than 500 miles on them)
Front slotted rotors
Carbon fiber brake pads
Line lock controller
Adjustable proportioning valve
Infinity speakers with JVC CD player
Jon o short shift kit
New custom shift boot and e brake boot
Power mirrors
Needs new windshield

Interior in excellent shape (never smoked in car)
Needs paint job
Dog ate bumper so i replaced it with used one
Never been in an accident.

$1000

The owner is willing to drive it to my uncle so he can take a look at it (car is in NH..I'm in FL). I was thinking about going up to NH this summer anyways..this would be fun to bring back home..

I asked if it has rust..waiting for a reply.

its clearly been beat on.... keep that in mind

It has over 30k less than my car has..lol -- probably driven alot harder, though.

I have no idea what to look for with MR2s..

lol dog chewed on the bumper? bhahahahahah

well man. If it has rust, engine sucks and needs paint don't buy it

look for (if the price isn't cheap enough to not care, as has been for my 2 mr2 buys

rust:
quarter panels.... check in the trunk, lower valleys on either side...it hides there
battery tray (under the plastic)

check the clutch master cylinder for leaking back into the cab.... earlier years didn't use an aluminum cylinder, they pitted, and lose their seals..... = mess & no clutch

check the coolant.... make sure it's a normal color.... many that get bad head gaskets (like my 87) let oil into the coolant lines, which makes it a pain to get out (almost impossible)

take it for a drive...... put it in 5th gear and drive it under load, off load, under load (on/off gas) for a mile or so..... early mr2 trannies are known for 5th gear popout

check that the e-brake works and releases...... aw11's are known for the cables snapping and/or getting stuck.....

don't be surprised when you realize there's only 2 speakers..... early mr2's only had them in the dash.....

He said it has a few very small spots of surface rust.

I'm waiting on pics now..

Even if I have to work on it a little, is the price reasonable? KBB in 'fair' condition is $500..but I have yet to see any MR2 go for KBB value. It sounds like it's in great shape mechanically, but needs paint. Then again, I haven't looked at it myself..so I can't say for sure either way.

hard to say..... i paid $200 for a stripped mr2 with bad paint than ran incredible..... then spent $100 on my full interior good paint mr2 that blew the engine on the drive home....

with the extra stuff he's put into it, it's quite possibly worth it..... the springs, swaybars, short shift kit, and struts might make up for that $500 gap

How do the AW11s handle -- this one with the suspension work..like a night and day difference from my Corolla?

How easily could I bring it to a high 14sec quarter mile, or would I be better off keeping an autox go-cart?

there is no "neutral position" sensor that i've ever seen....... the only thing i can think of is the clutch pedal switch that resides, well, around the clutch pedal......

there seems to be a bit of rust on the driver fender, but nothing too bad really... ask for pictures of the rear arches

I have a pretty good feeling overall..I'll see if I can get more pics.

the motor is an early model bigport 4age.... one of the stronger n/a motors..... i've seen and heard of so many people rebuilding them only to find that their cams were ground down and the buckets were scraped horribly, but still ran incredibly great....

the N/A early mr2's handle great. granted, it is COMPLETELY different from your corolla. The 86 mr2 i had (race seat, stripped interior almost completely, stripped front and rear trunks, removed a/c, a/c lines, cruise control etc...) with cut front springs, uncut rear springs, and stock struts handled almost as good as my ae92. Well, handled almost as good as my ae92 with me behind the wheel of both. I haven't had classes in either of the aw11's i've owned (stripped 86 is gone, $700). My hardtop 87 with the ae101 gze in it feels like a tank is dragging in the rear, much heavier and i haven't had a chance to push this car hard yet.

That all being said, my ae92 has almost $1,000 in suspension and the aw11 had cut front springs. If i had known how to drive that car better (it feels completely different, FR and MR instincts don't mix too well) then i could possibly be able to beat my ae92 (if that makes sense). I drove another friends n/a 89 mr2 the other night and was able to hold it through the corners despite i could barely reach the steering wheel (fixed recaro race seats). They are definately fun cars in the corners. Don't go with a GZE & E51 tranny though..... you lose the fun of them.

Oh, and with a whopping (probably around 90whp) 115hp motor, i was still able to get off the line much faster than even the AWD cars that i played around with around town.....

what's the history of the car? how did the owner take care of it? if the car was well taken care off, it might be worth a try for $1K Keep in mind that with that kind of mileage and age, almost any car will need some TLC to keep it on the road (i.e. ball joints, suspension bushings, clutch/transmission, etc.) so make sure that you have some extra cash to spend besides that $1k if seriously plan on buying it and keeping it.

It would be my project car, so nothing needs to happen immediately..ie if something breaks, I don't need it fixed to get to work. That's what the Corolla is for.

I'll post the pictures in a minute..

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Looks good

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Next to the ocean...doesn't that kill cars pretty quick, or should it be alright?

Yea salt air is a killer to cars

The rims and tires alone are worth what, $500..?

They'd probably fit on my rolla..

I'm going to talk to my uncle (he's in NH)..see if he can check it out and talk the guy down a bit. Alternatively, I might fly up to NH on spring break..go skiing, etc -- then we could both check it out and make an offer.