Model: Toyota MR2
Year: 1985
Mileage: 130k
Tax: End of August
MOT: July
Ok, where to start...this is the 2nd time I've owned this car. The first was in 2007. One slightly drunken browse through ebay and in December, it came into my ownership again! I intended to keep it and slowly restore/improve it, but since I'm already doing that with an AE82 Corolla, trying to renovate a house, working full time etc, it just isn't going to happen, and it's just sat on the drive really since I bought it. This then caused the alternator to seize (common issue), so I fitted a new one (and belt) a couple of weeks back, not a job I'd care to repeat on my drive ;D
Here is the car (sorry about the rubbish phone pics, it's the best I can do at the moment):
It's an early Mk1a (there is actually a letter from Toyota confirming it landed in the UK in March 1985), meaning it has the black bumper inserts etc and no side skirts which I much prefer to the later cars. I'll go through the good points first. It has a nice private plate which is staying, decent amount of tax/test, no issues at all with 5th gear and gearchange nice and tight, pulls and revs like a 4A-GE should (the 1st time I owned it, the engine went so I had a replacement engine/gearbox fitted in 2008), has a magnex exhaust fitted, all mudflaps present, rear arches in pretty good shape, 2 brand new rear tyres, front tyres have about 6mm tread, cd player fitted, 2 keys and just about the most comprehensive service history of any car I've ever seen. It's had some serious money spent on it over the years:
All of those booklets are Toyota service invoices, that wadge of invoices is about half of what is there, the service book is present, old tax discs etc etc. I rememebr reading an invoice for replacement of the metal water pipes that run from the rad to the engine, at a cost of about £1000 at Toyota about 10 years ago.
Bad points - well it's a (nearly) 27 year old Toyota, so I'll give you three guesses ;D ! Ok, crusty bits...it's had new arches/rear pockets welded in in the past and they did a good job. The pockets are fine, but the driver's side arch now has a small bleb:
and the other side has the start of some small bubbles (probably cant make out in the pic, as you have to be really looking to see them)
Both doors have a bit of a scab at the bottom, but nothing major
The driver's side B pillar and sill has some bubbles. I'd be giving this attention sooner rather than later if I was keeping it:
It looks like it's had a plate there. It could do with sanding back, treating and painting.
The paint on the roof, bonnet and engine lid is flat. It's been resprayed at some point in the past in these areas and no matter how much you polish it won't come back. It's struck through to the original paint in places and the original paint looks far better than the newer stuff! If you look at the engine lid to the rear boot lid in the pic, you should see a difference:
When it's been polished (it has in the pics) it's not that bad and still looks like a 'clean' car, but if you wanted it A1 they'd need painting, or swap the engine lid/bonnet off another red one.
I've taken the carpet out of the passenger side (still have it) because there is a leak into the cabin. After bloody weeks of searching, I finally found that the hole through the bulkhead where the wiper linkage attaches to the motor has rotted out to make it bigger at the bottom and this is where it's coming in. To fix it would need a really small patch. You can't even see it without removing the wiper motor. This has caused the floorpan on that side to be patched where the water was collecting (it had obviously been going on a while). I'm being honest here, as if I put the carpret back in, you wouldn't know because it's backed in plastic so doesn't get wet from underneath. Here's the interior while we're at it:
If you know these engines, you'll know that at this age, they idle at about 2300rpm when first started and for about the 1st 5 mins whilst on choke. A lot of owners find this annoying, as it doesn't need to be on for so long so fit a switch instead and this has been done to this car.
Overall, it still drives really well and looks good when polished. It would make a good mini-project for someone, could make a good track car, or alternatively just use it as a cheap means of transport. I sold it with about 105k and it's done 25k over the past 2/3 years, so it can easily withstand daily use. Just please bear in mind, it's not mint and nor is it advertised as such - if it was I'd be asking at least a grand more. I don't mind taking offers on it either
If there's anything else you'd like to know, please just ask, and if I think of anything else I will add it later.
Year: 1985
Mileage: 130k
Tax: End of August
MOT: July
Ok, where to start...this is the 2nd time I've owned this car. The first was in 2007. One slightly drunken browse through ebay and in December, it came into my ownership again! I intended to keep it and slowly restore/improve it, but since I'm already doing that with an AE82 Corolla, trying to renovate a house, working full time etc, it just isn't going to happen, and it's just sat on the drive really since I bought it. This then caused the alternator to seize (common issue), so I fitted a new one (and belt) a couple of weeks back, not a job I'd care to repeat on my drive ;D
Here is the car (sorry about the rubbish phone pics, it's the best I can do at the moment):
It's an early Mk1a (there is actually a letter from Toyota confirming it landed in the UK in March 1985), meaning it has the black bumper inserts etc and no side skirts which I much prefer to the later cars. I'll go through the good points first. It has a nice private plate which is staying, decent amount of tax/test, no issues at all with 5th gear and gearchange nice and tight, pulls and revs like a 4A-GE should (the 1st time I owned it, the engine went so I had a replacement engine/gearbox fitted in 2008), has a magnex exhaust fitted, all mudflaps present, rear arches in pretty good shape, 2 brand new rear tyres, front tyres have about 6mm tread, cd player fitted, 2 keys and just about the most comprehensive service history of any car I've ever seen. It's had some serious money spent on it over the years:
All of those booklets are Toyota service invoices, that wadge of invoices is about half of what is there, the service book is present, old tax discs etc etc. I rememebr reading an invoice for replacement of the metal water pipes that run from the rad to the engine, at a cost of about £1000 at Toyota about 10 years ago.
Bad points - well it's a (nearly) 27 year old Toyota, so I'll give you three guesses ;D ! Ok, crusty bits...it's had new arches/rear pockets welded in in the past and they did a good job. The pockets are fine, but the driver's side arch now has a small bleb:
and the other side has the start of some small bubbles (probably cant make out in the pic, as you have to be really looking to see them)
Both doors have a bit of a scab at the bottom, but nothing major
The driver's side B pillar and sill has some bubbles. I'd be giving this attention sooner rather than later if I was keeping it:
It looks like it's had a plate there. It could do with sanding back, treating and painting.
The paint on the roof, bonnet and engine lid is flat. It's been resprayed at some point in the past in these areas and no matter how much you polish it won't come back. It's struck through to the original paint in places and the original paint looks far better than the newer stuff! If you look at the engine lid to the rear boot lid in the pic, you should see a difference:
When it's been polished (it has in the pics) it's not that bad and still looks like a 'clean' car, but if you wanted it A1 they'd need painting, or swap the engine lid/bonnet off another red one.
I've taken the carpet out of the passenger side (still have it) because there is a leak into the cabin. After bloody weeks of searching, I finally found that the hole through the bulkhead where the wiper linkage attaches to the motor has rotted out to make it bigger at the bottom and this is where it's coming in. To fix it would need a really small patch. You can't even see it without removing the wiper motor. This has caused the floorpan on that side to be patched where the water was collecting (it had obviously been going on a while). I'm being honest here, as if I put the carpret back in, you wouldn't know because it's backed in plastic so doesn't get wet from underneath. Here's the interior while we're at it:
If you know these engines, you'll know that at this age, they idle at about 2300rpm when first started and for about the 1st 5 mins whilst on choke. A lot of owners find this annoying, as it doesn't need to be on for so long so fit a switch instead and this has been done to this car.
Overall, it still drives really well and looks good when polished. It would make a good mini-project for someone, could make a good track car, or alternatively just use it as a cheap means of transport. I sold it with about 105k and it's done 25k over the past 2/3 years, so it can easily withstand daily use. Just please bear in mind, it's not mint and nor is it advertised as such - if it was I'd be asking at least a grand more. I don't mind taking offers on it either
If there's anything else you'd like to know, please just ask, and if I think of anything else I will add it later.
