Anyone here ever owned a Toyota MR2? There’s a 91 model for sale near me that appears to be in top physical condition. I didn’t see any physical damage anywhere except for a small ding near the driver side door handle. The paint looks practically flawless. It has nice rims on it as well. I haven’t been inside yet but the interior appears to be amazing looking. It has an Alpine stereo in it as well. The thing is this: I have a restored 78 Datsun 280Z that I have to sell even though I don’t want to. My problem is that now that I’m single I will need a daily driver car that can be driven all year round. The Z can only be driven in the warmer months because I’m not insane enough to drive it in snow. That leaves me with my Pulsar NX which runs just fine and has always been extremely reliable especially in the winter, but the Pulsar is 20 years old and I have to be sensible about the fact that it can’t just keep going on forever. I really need to get something newer. I’m selling the Z because I can get several thousand for it while the Pulsar probably wouldn’t sell for much. I was considering a used Nissan Maxima (and in fact I still am) but I just noticed the MR2 today. I’ve always liked those cars but I know nothing about them. Has anyone here had a second generation MR2 before? Is it a bad idea to drive it in the winter? I know it’s rear wheel drive which usually means BAD on snow but the engine is near the back so maybe that helps? Also the blue book value for an MR2 that age is around 4000-4500 but he’s asking 6300 due the car being so rare and being in such great condition. That seems way too high to me but if he was willing to take a lower offer I might consider it if this car can be reasonably driven in winter. Also another downer about the MR2 is that it’s the standard engine and not the turbo model. So that sucks. I’m guessing an MR2 in the winter is a bad idea but I figured I’d ask around and see if others have had one before. I’m more likely to buy a Maxima or maybe a 90s Toyota Celica but who knows. Really more than anything else I’m concerned about driving a rare car like an MR2 in bad weather (snow, salt etc) because it will probably eat the body up and rust the crap out of it. Has anyone else ever had an MR2 they used in the winter or is that just a REALLY bad idea? Please keep in mind I don’t have a garage so the car would be kept outside in the elements year round.
Bah, RWD is fun in the snow, man! :E
I’ve heard lots of good things about that gen of MR2 and not much bad. If you can pick one of those cars up for not much money, go for it!
I’ve heard (that being the key word) that mid mount cars are fine in the winter if you just put a set of good winter tires on them. The guy I bought my car from told me this. He had an NSX and drove it in the winter all the time.
I wouls NOT drive an MR2 in the winter. This one I am assuming is non-turbo, but I still wouldn’t recommend it. It suffers from snap oversteer which could be deadly in the winter. I owned one up until last week. Also they are tiny and will have you cursing all winter because there will be no room for anything.
Well after reading many reviews and getting opinions from people on the web and from friends I’ve decided to stay very far away from these cars. Everyone keeps telling me the same thing. If I’m not careful and experienced with driving a mid-engine car I’m likely to end up dead. Everyone says the same thing, turning in one of these cars can send you into a crazy spin very easliy and it’s highly reccomended NEVER to drive one in rain and escpecially never in the snow. So nevermind on getting an MR2. I’ll still go ahead and sell the Z and just save up money until I have enough for a newer model used Altima or Maxima. I guess I’ll just get some boring 4 door sedan. In the meantime I’ll keep driving the Pulsar as it’s never let me down and can plow through any crazy weather I put it in. It’s just so old now that I’m constantly afraid that any day it will crap out on me and leave me stranded somewhere even though it’s never given me any indication that it would do that. Oh by the way, I’m not real tall and I love tiny cars. The small size was one of the pluses for me. But knowing how dangerous the car is is a BIG negative. Years ago I had considered buying a Pontiac Fiero (another small MR2-like car) but decided against because supposedly they are known to catch fire and kill the occupants. I chose the Nissan Pulsar because it was similar to the Fiero and MR2 but front wheel drive and cheaply priced. I don’t regret that decision but the Fiero and MR2 definitely look much cooler even if they are more dangerous.
Always good to hear
Bah, that was a bit of an urban legend. Yes, the first year model cars with the 2.5L 4 did start on fire, but no one was even seriously injured as far as I was able to find out.
I believe the culprit was an oil hose that could burn on the exhaust manifold, and GM immediately issued a recall to fix the problem. The later v6 cars never had the fire problem.