Just bought mine in Aotearoa / New Zealand. I got the goblin green and didn’t know it was rare colour until I saw your colour list at end of the video, so I’m stoked! We are RHD like Japan and get a lot of Japaneses imports so mine has the “MR-S” badge on it. Thanks for doing this vid.
Just got the LP Monocraft widebody kit. Came from a life of v8's owning various muscle cars. Gas prices has pushed me to look to JDM reliability and fun/practicality. Fell in love with the Spyder and currently k24 swapping it. Keep the content up!! I know this will appreciate in value over time!
I learnt my lesson when I brought my Spyder. Just because I liked the cape green doesn't mean I should have got it! From the day I brought it It was burning oil at an alarming rate, the radiator was shot along with the suspension, the handbrake was binding and not to forget the rusty situation that had developed on the underside. The previous owner only knew how to take it to the garage to have it repaired and they obviously did the bare minimum to get it passed inspection. Drove it for around 4000 miles before ripping it to pieces to slowly put it back together! Got aspirations to turbo the car once it passes inspection. Love your MR2 content! Keep it up!
Wasn't the pre-cats, it was something with the oil return / control rings on the cylinders. The facelift models had 'wider holes' I believe. Oil could enter the combustion chambers on the older models and this in turn would lead to the pre-cats disintergrating exacebating the issue.
I saw your video and I liked it, I literally just got 1 cheap it was sleeping for 10 years and was about to be broken for parts. I'm currently looking for parts which it needs so i can get it back and running. Fingers crossed it works.
About to buy mine for $10k with 60k miles as my daily for college. I can’t wait to go blasting through some mountain roads and tear it up at my college’s autocross!
Bought mine new back in 2004 as my first car. cost me around 20k still got it sat in my garage. Future classic 👌 had no problems with it . Great fun to drive.
@@hakosan86 From what I've seen about 250-270whp is a pretty good number for a stock engine. If I can get anywhere close to that I'm going to be very happy.
Always loved these cars. I had a Celica GTS a long time ago in high school. People were always surprised when they got smoked by a little Celica. I just called it my fwd lotus 😂.
I had a 93 NA with a sun roof in metallic light blue it was fun to drive I miss that car, but now I drive a 450HP E46 sedan. I hope I would one day run into my old car again so I can buy it back and keep it next time and swap its motor with the 2GR-FE V6.
Also bought one three years ago. Saw an RCR review of it and went all in on a 2001 in a neighboring state, 5 grand cash. 15K miles later it's been decatted (after cat failure) with a Celica GTS motor swap and MWR pipes, new windshield, new headlights, new clutch, new brake calipers, new e-brake cable, period correct Sony double din head unit, new gaskets and seals all around, retensioned shift cable, new sparkplugs, new coil plugs, new clutch master cylinder, recharged AC, and a new AC compressor. About to have a Novus front bumper and some taikyu headlight covers shipped once I have the dough to have factory paint restored. Then I'll get the replacement soft top and have the wheels refinished. As cars are getting bigger, heavier, more complicated and less fun, cars like these will be as exotic as unmolested DC2s.
@@itsjuskey.__ Do it ASAP if you have a 2000, 2001, or 2002. Once it starts burning oil, it's only a matter of time. You don't want to be stranded in one of these, especially with blind turns since the car is so small. I'd secure a replacement motor just to have it on standby.
@@12ealDealOfficial YES! Do right away or too late. I learned the hard way and replaced engine....but did go 2zz and it is crazy! MWR is local to me and was a big help.....had them do valve adjustments and purchased swap kit parts. All high quality stuff and easy build.
I live in japan and the parts are rather cheap and i got to buy a 6 speed manual with LSD, but im super jealous of how easier it is to 2ZZ swap one in the USA and would trade in a heartbeat.
got mine a little under two years ago. prices were going up then. prices have continued to go up but I've put so much money into it since it's negated out. 2zz and many other engine mods. people tote the K swap around so much, I'd say keep it toyota. the engine fits in so well, and often can find a cheap one with almost everything from a wrecked celica. or turbo
Dude! My thoughts exactly. I'm fine with engine swaps, but for this over looked car I'd rather keep it toyota. I still have a 1zz in mine but I dream to swap it to the 2zz
I bought my spyder 3 years ago for 3k. You can still get a deal but it’s a lot harder. Would have been nice to include the RU-vid channel names of all the footage you yoinked 😉. No one reads the description.
About to buy mine today for $10k with 60k miles. In today’s market, I’d call that a pretty good deal. Granted it’s a pre-facelift, but I got no issue gutting the pre-cats. At least it’ll give me something to do during the summer.
I have owned one and the prefacelift looks better IMO. The front head lights have more contrast with dark sections and it is slightly lighter. The facelift one has a stupid smile and so looks like an MX5. You need an engine mount adaptor when going 2zz.
Everything that can go wrong with a SMT happen to me.... Mr2 was my dream car, I live in Puerto Rico so our main language is Spanish and there's a lot that I didn't know at that time. I was able to find a good looking MR2 online 112,000 miles for 7K. Was the cheapest one at the time. I communicate with the seller I saw the car, it look perfect it had a weird transmission but everything work well. Bought the car and seller just explain me a little bit about the transmission, that every time I open the door I was going to heard the pump. Then when I was driving right away I notice a light in the dash, but I didn't pay that much attention. Then a friend when to see my car and that's when we look for the gear warning online. And the nightmare start.... I lose 7k I just drove the car for a month, I start making my research on how to fix it. Took it to 5 different mecanics none of them could do anything and they just told me to sell the car, so my only choice was look for info online. Then I learn everything... 3k for a new smt transmission, I needed a old labtop with a old toyota obd reader to install the new transmission, too expensive for me. Then I had the option to do it manual, but I wasn't a mechanic and shipping the full conversion to Puerto Rico was going to be like 5k. I didn't have a choice to do anything so the car seated until I use it to trade in for another car. Love the MR2, I hate the SMT system. A car like that shouldn't exist in a place like Puerto Rico.
I bought my miata right before the boom. Ive pulled up to gas stations and had people offer me nearly twice what i payed. It helps that i keep it super clean
@@Adam-wt5id was about to buy a nb for 3600, but a prelude popped up, and that’s my child dream car. Let’s see how it goes. Still, as soon as I find money Miata is on the list
Couple mistakes with this vid. The pre-cats are a symptom of bad piston ring design for the 2000-2002 models. The rings go bad oil blows by and destroys the pre-cats. The pieces can then go back into the motor or main cat causing more problems. Second, the 2zz swap requires a different mounting bracket and the wiring is not straight forward. You can buy wiring adapters to make it easier. Don't turbo the car if you're doing lap races. The engine bay gets really hot on these cars. Third, It's subjective but the pre-facelift tail lights look better and less feminine then the post-facelift. Also the pre-face lift doesn't have HIDs so it's much cheaper to replace the most likely yellowed headlamps.
There is a guy with an EJ swap I’ve seen on RU-vid. It’s a really neat swap, but the k swap is cheaper. There’s more availability for it which means you’re chasing down more well known issues.
actually it is not the precat which kills the engine, it is the engine itself. the piston rings in the preface version had too small holes, which got blocked by bad service (old oil) pretty quickly. resulting in burning oil which damages the precats. good service and good quality oil prevents this issue for long time.
I love the Mr2-S and especially with the 2zz swap. It’d be a dream to own one but with these prices it makes it harder haha. Someone wanted to trade their Spyder for my 05 is300 however it’s not bar’d here for California and I wouldn’t be able to have the down time as it’d be my only car sadly
@@zhyde07 Oh I don’t know if he still has it or not. It had a body kit on it with a nice green color. Had the 2zz swap done but only had the stock 5 speed. He said he had the 6 speed swap as well but for a different car. The car was his girlfriend’s but she no longer could use it because she was in an accident.
@@dz_gt500 oh okay thank you for replying! The tag didn’t work last time I think lol. I am considering one but don’t want to have manual or at least as a primary. I would maybe look into the smt first and could do a swap after. But I live in a big traffic area in Texas and would need a decent auto car first if I go for a manual option
Me and my dad had no idea this cat existed until we saw one on the side of the road and bought it. We’ve had problems with the transmission, but when it runs it’s a fun car to drive. Do you have any recommendations on where to get a hard top? I didn’t know you could get a hard top until watching this video. Anyways, thanks and I enjoyed this video a lot!
Thanks for watching! Heres a link to a website if you really wanted a hardtop. They aren’t cheap… midshipgarage.com/products/oem-hardtop-3p0-absolutely-red?variant=3340675645464
I bought a 2006 AP2V2 S2000 (Laguna Blue) before the prices went up (2016), but I'd have tried to get the best year of one of these if I'd never gotten it.
Bought mine 6 years ago for $3400. It’s ridiculously modified now but I’ve had people offer me $13,000 recently. With the work I’ve put into it and how much I love it I just can’t sell.
you know.. I really was going to buy a 2000 and 2005 Toyota MR2 Spyder, but my preference on the three generations has changed. Now, I want the 90s mr2 sw20. Why? well.. at first I kind of thought they were meh, but somebody at my job showed up with a 90s MR2 and the more I looked at it, the more I became interested and attached to it. so, one day I couldn't hold my curiosity anymore and decided to ask him about the MR2 since I was standing next to it. one of the major concerns that I have about the spider MK3 is that since I'm kind of a tall person, I think I may feel a little bit "cramped" in the car lol. I know that you can do mods to make the MR2 Spyder a little bit more spacious as I've seen in some RU-vid videos but after the owner of the '90s MR2 let me sit in the car for the first time and I mean this is the first time I've ever sit in ANY MR2, I instantly felt in love with the '90s sw20. I didn't feel cramped at all once I sat in it. since my 2001 Celica GT was towed to the junkyard because the third cylinder blew up on me, I've been looking for an project car to replace the celica and once I sat in that MR2 sw20, I felt like I was in my Celica again. Which brought a huge smile to my face. The owner didn't have a sunroof or a t-top but I'm sure once I find my own sw20 I'll probably have those things installed as I've seen people do before. The whole reason why I wanted to buy an MR2 in the first place is because I want to do a V6 swap with turbo from the 2gr and I know you could do a 2GR swap with any of the three generations. For me though, I just prefer the sw20 cuz it's more spacious to me and it really brings out the Ferrari style look, but that's just my opinion though. I do like the aftermarket support for the MK3 spider though. I know that there is a really expensive kit out there in Thailand that makes these wide bodies for the MR2 spider that makes it look like a Porsche Carrera gt and I like those wide bodies but they're just way expensive. Doing the V6 swap with turbo alone is going to be hitting me my pockets I know that for sure but part of my passion is building cars and racing on the track, so I'll definitely be in on the action when building and putting the car together. My goal is to basically just have a budget exotic car build that I'm going to enjoy for a long while.
Bought mine just before COVID, mine wasn’t cheap as it was a low km minter from a dealership but has gone up in value since then. I’ve swapped it to a three pedal manual since and still deciding whether I want to turbocharge or 2ZZ swap the engine.
all the other MR2s and the porsches have underbody flat panels which reduce drag. This MR2 is very turbulent under the car and that would be it's biggest downside. Toyota didn't put any money into engineering aerodynamics under the car and cheaped out on it - leaving it bare. It is also an older convertible - so chassis rigidity is very low and makes lots of creaky/noise from the body bending and wobbling back and forth on the highway (drive an ND miata to see what a modern open top chassis feels like for comparison. it's night and day.) The only way to fix this is with a roll cage of some sort. These are the 2 areas i'd invest in the car if I had to buy one: Chassis stiffness and fabricating a flat floor to cover up all those awful bumps and holes underneath. that will at least get it on par with older MR2s. then you can take advantage of it's long wheelbase and have a higher top speed without the body flopping in the wind or wasting gas.
Great advise! I purchased my 01 from a Toyota dealer with only 59k miles and engine was trash from cat failure. Upgraded to 2zz/C60/LSD and now faster than my MK-2 turbo.
I bought 2 way back when they were cheaper one has a carbon hard top got both for under 10k with each under 50k miles.. Doing a k swap on the hard top one.. 2zz is a waste of time and money today unless your trying to stick to OEM kinda style
I’m almost positive it’s for every car that was sold outside of the states because even the same car has different safety features per region. In japan you could get one without a passenger airbag which would not comply with US laws making it illegal to own until it’s 25 years old.
@@hakosan86 I looked it up and you are right. But so am I kind of. . . it depends on the standard to which the car was built. Here's what it says on the NHTSA website: "If the vehicle is less than 25 years old and was not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable FMVSS, and/or was not so certified by its original manufacturer, it cannot be lawfully imported into the U.S. on a permanent basis unless NHTSA determines it eligible for importation."
The biggest difference between the 00-02 and 03-05 is the pistons. That’s a biggest most important thing because the oil consumption is greatly reduced in the 04-05 models.
@@hakosan86 No swap it with a 2GR V6 which is the Camry's engine also used by the Lotus Evora super car. It sounds amazing almost like a F1 car with the right exhaust set up.
I gutted my pre a few days ago and I started driving the car and at first it was fine but then all the sudden the car started shaking and it seemed like the car was about to turn off so I turned it off and when I turned it on the check engine light was on and i opened the trunk and there was a lot of smoke does anyone know what could be the cause of this. I replaced the gaskets as well and the smoke was coming from the exhaust to manifold section I don’t know if that’s bc it’s burning something off but I was wondering why the check engine light came on all the sudden.
or you can just turn the smt into a real manual transmission lol it literally is a manual transmission just take the hydraulics out and add a 3rd pedal and you can keep the SMT lol..
Theres that DDRP shop that could probably do that for you but they will charge you an arm and a leg. You should try to do it yourself and maybe watch my videos on it. If you have any questions lmk.
@@godsiege5080 honestly for best fitment japanese made kitsch are your best options but hard to find. Modelodrive makes a decent kit but idk if they still manufacture them. Dont spend money on apr performance or duraflex as these are brittle and you will spend alot to get them to fit correctly. Might as well buy from luxurypart but the wait time and expenses will cost you
@@hakosan86 obviously you can find a part for any car in a junk yard idiot. I'm saying if thats the only place you can find parts you have a junk car, something I'm sure you are familiar with
ya I bought a GTI about 2 yrs ago but I wanna get rid of it. Everything Im looking for is laughably priced. fuck outta here if you thhink im paying 20k for a 25 yr old car with 110k miles
