# Incoming - Not a watch this time....



## Davey P (Sep 9, 2010)

Well, I've had a pretty good year financially, so I decided to treat myself and the future Mrs P to a little toy that we can play with at weekends. It's a 2003 Toyota MR2 Roadster, with 60K miles on the clock, in bright red. I went to see it yesterday, and should be picking it up tomorrow after the trader has sorted out a new MOT. Just a bit of fun really, I've never owned more than one car at a time, so this is all new to me - Hopefully it won't be a slippery slope, like the watch collecting... :laughing2dw:

Ruthie had an MR2 Roadster a while ago, and she always regretted selling it, so there's a good chance we will end up getting rid of her Ford Ka and just keep the MR2 for her, instead of sharing it...  that is something we can look at sometime next year anyway.

I'll post a few pics on here when I've got "Ruby" back home (Yes, Ruthie has already named the bloody thing, ha ha!). In the meantime, if anyone wants a sneak preview, here's the ebay advert:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-MR2-1-8-VVT-i-Just-60k-miles-with-Service-History-New-MOT-Hpi-clear/143046851489?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

:yahoo:


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## jsud2002 (Nov 7, 2015)

I do like the MR2's I bought an old one quite a few years back and owned it about 4 weeks then had my leg amputated and could no longer drive it as it was a manual gearbox, luckily I made a slight profit when I sold it.

First rear wheel car I had drove and spun it on the day I collected it .... Great fun


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## Davey P (Sep 9, 2010)

I think the mid engine layout can be a handful if you're not careful. Luckily, Ruthie and I both drive like grannies, so that shouldn't be a problem for us :laughing2dw:


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## scottswatches (Sep 22, 2009)

lot of fun for not too much money. enjoy


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## Bonzodog (Aug 29, 2018)

Give it some wellie lad,that will cure any constipation. :laugh: .Mid engine,rear wheel drive ,what's not to like.


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## relaxer7 (Feb 18, 2016)

Watch that wig doesn't blow off with the top down mate :laughing2dw:


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## Davey P (Sep 9, 2010)

relaxer7 said:


> Watch that wig doesn't blow off with the top down mate :laughing2dw:


 Wait..... woaah.... the top comes down??? :swoon:

:laughing2dw:


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## Karrusel (Aug 13, 2016)

Davey P said:


> Wait..... woaah.... the top comes down??? :swoon:
> 
> :laughing2dw:


 Phew, that's a relief, hope it has hands free as well ?

Ruthie is going to have her hands full hanging onto those skis. :tongue:

Looks good!

:thumbsup:


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## wrenny1969 (Jun 24, 2008)

Very nice, that's great money aswell. Quest TV channel had a repeated 5th gear episode on this week which had this as one of 3 options for fun motors. Congratulationson the good year aswell :thumbsup:


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## Andy Jackson (Nov 9, 2018)

Lovely little motor for that price mate


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## Teg62x (Dec 28, 2016)

I've had three MR2s in the past but never the roadster, I had two MKIIs and a MKI. I loved all of them, great motors and a fantastic engine. Enjoy your new "toy" mate.


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## spinynorman (Apr 2, 2014)

That looks fantastic, you'll love it.

I had a late life crisis back in June and bought a Mk1 Mazda MX5. It's invigorating with the top down on a cold morning.


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## Davey P (Sep 9, 2010)

Thanks for all the nice comments guys.

Well, I got the train down to Billingshurst early this morning to collect the new toy, and had a 3 hour drive back home to check it out. Unfortunately, the engine management light came on soon into the journey, so I couldn't give it a good hammering (and to be honest, I don't drive like that these days anyway) and I was watching the temperature gauge like a hawk. However, it ran fine, the engine and 6-speed gearbox seem excellent, and I think this one has got great potential once the warning light has been investigated. Not much point trying to guess what it might be, I've got it booked into my local trustworthy garage on 3rd January, and they will run the diagnostics to see what the problem is. In the meantime, we will have an expensive ornament on the driveway for a couple of weeks :laughing2dw:

Here is the red beast, sat on the driveway next to my ultra-reliable Beetle:





Apart from the warning light issue, I'm chuffed to bits with it. :yahoo:

Externally it won't take much to turn this into a great car. The only paint issues I could see are some minor lacquer peeling in a few places (not even bad enough to bother with, to be honest) and the driver's door mirror has been replaced (which I knew about), but is badly painted in a darker shade of red, so that will probably get done sometime. No dents or scrapes, and no rust either, so that is great news. :thumbs_up: The roof looks sound, with no rips that I can see. Not tested the folding mechanism yet, but I wouldn't expect that to be a problem. The alloys are in good condition as well. I know from past experience those wheels are prone to peeling and/or corrosion, but these look excellent to me. The rear light clusters and front fog lights have got some condensation inside, so I'll have to do something about that when I get time, but that's not a massive problem.

Inside there won't be much to do either. It's got a decent stereo, but it's been poorly fitted with a missing trim surround, and just generally looks like a bit of a dog's dinner, so again that will get sorted sometime. I might replace it with a double DIN head unit eventually, to add a bit of instant bling :tongue: The driver's seat cushion has got some wear on one side, probably caused by the method of entry, which in my case involves falling into the seat and squeezing your legs under the steering wheel - Very elegant! :laughing2dw: It looked worse in the advert photos, and isn't really that bad in real life, so not worth worrying about unless it wears through to the foam inside.

I reckon I'll probably end up spending about another grand over the next few months turning this bad boy into an awesome weekend toy - Just in time for Ruthie to claim it as hers, when the weather gets better, ha ha!

As always, any more comments from you lot are welcome :biggrin:


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## Steve D UK (Sep 28, 2016)

Get that roof down and let the wind blow through those lovely blonde locks of your.....


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## Davey P (Sep 9, 2010)

Ruthie saw the car for the first time tonight after she finished work, and it gets the thumbs-up :thumbs_up:


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## WRENCH (Jun 20, 2016)

Blonde in a sports car eh ?

Ding dong.










:laughing2dw:


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## Davey P (Sep 9, 2010)

A mate of mine came round this morning with his OBD2 tester, and got the fault code for the engine management warning light. Turns out it's an O2 sensor heater circuit malfunction (bank 2 sensor 2) which is a great relief, and easily fixable. I've got a few other bits for my garage man to look at at the same time. There's a loose heat shield on the exhaust (common problem), and I want them to check out the tyres, as I am quite OCD about that, and will probably get them changed for some decent rubber.

So, a promising start, and nothing to worry about after all - Get in! :yahoo:


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## Teg62x (Dec 28, 2016)

My first MKii great number plate on it too!!!


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## Steve D UK (Sep 28, 2016)

Davey P said:


> I﻿ want them to check out the tyres, as I am quite OCD about that, and will probably get them changed for some decent rubbe﻿r.﻿﻿


 My mates daughter bought one of those once and asked me to get a set of tyres for her. I just noted the tyre size down and ordered a set in. When I came to fit them, two wouldn't fit and then I noticed that they have different size wheels on the front and back. Oops!


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## Davey P (Sep 9, 2010)

Teg62x said:


> My first MKii great number plate on it too!!!


 Excellent stuff, I had a MkII T-Bar years ago, probably one of the nicest cars I've ever had :thumbs_up:



Steve D UK said:


> My mates daughter bought one of those once and asked me to get a set of tyres for her. I just noted the tyre size down and ordered a set in. When I came to fit them, two wouldn't fit and then I noticed that they have different size wheels on the front and back. Oops!


 Yep, that is one of the Roadster's quirks. The tyre pressures are also massively different front and rear, which I guess is quite unusual.


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## Garry (Feb 25, 2003)

Nice cars, I nearly bought one a while back.

You can be unlucky though - some are prone to big end failure, and not through lack of maintenance.


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## Davey P (Sep 9, 2010)

I've joined the MR2 Roadster Owners Club (MR2ROC for short) and they have been really helpful so far. The fault code for the O2 sensor is an easy fix, so they have talked me into ordering the parts needed, and I'll fix it myself and save some money. If all else fails, my neighbour is quite handy with cars, so he can probably help me if I get stuck. It's still booked in to my local garage for an oil & filter change, plus a few other minor bits - All of which are possible DIY jobs, but I can't be bothered to crawl around under the car at this time of year, so I'm taking the easy option this time.

I took it for a spin today for the first time since I drove it home (they have said it's perfectly safe to drive with that fault code) and it's a cracking car. Can't wait for the better weather, when the top can come down and we will get the benefit of open top motoring again - Get in! :yahoo:

I had a proper look at the stereo today, and it's actually better than I thought, so it won't need changing. It's a Pioneer unit with Bluetooth capability, so I'll be able to use it to make and receive hands-free calls. I think it needs a wired microphone, unless it's already got one that I can't see, and the double DIN fascia + mounting cage need replacing as they're the wrong size. Also, the electric aerial doesn't retract, so I think the wire inside the mast needs replacing, but they are all bits that I can pick up cheaply on ebay.

I am really chuffed with this car, I think we'll have a lot of fun with this one :thumbs_up:


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## Craftycockney (Nov 5, 2015)

Hi Dave just a little Fyi.

O2 sensor faults, you may not notice any difference in the drive but might happen is you can damage the cat due to incorrect reading/malfunction. Also the sensors don't often go wrong it is normally something else that causes the fault code to show up o2 sensor.

Also if you ever want a cheap trick for oil changes, try using national tyres(if local) they normally do oil + filter change for about £50 ish with decent oil:

https://www.national.co.uk/oil-change


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## Davey P (Sep 9, 2010)

Craftycockney said:


> O2 sensor faults, you may not notice any difference in the drive but might happen is you can damage the cat due to incorrect reading/malfunction. Also the sensors don't often go wrong it is normally something else that causes the fault code to show up o2 sensor.
> 
> Also if you ever want a cheap trick for oil changes, try using national tyres(if local) they normally do oil + filter change for about £50 ish with decent oil


 Cheers mate. From what I have seen on the owner's club, it looks like the sensors are a bit of a weak point, and they are prone to failure. All the advice is to have the two pre-CATs removed as well, but I'm still not convinced about that either...

My local garage will probably charge around 50-ish quid for the oil change, and they are extremely trustworthy, so I am happy to use them for general work and MOT's. But thanks for the tip anyway :thumbsup:


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