2001 MR2 high mileage? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

penfolderoldo · 01-29-2011, 12:03 PM

hi all,

Thinking off buying a 2001 1.8 vvti triptronic, seems nice, price seems ok (£2800 / $4400) but... mileage is 104k, and there's an ever so tiny delay from when you change gear using the paddles to it actually changing gear. Seller says this is common and just needs the gearbox oil changed?

Is 100k miles mean i'm likely to be stuck with endless repair bills? there's service history up to 80k.

Any thoughts gratefully received!

thanks

***ModifierMR*** · 01-30-2011, 08:06 AM

The car averaged about 10k miles a year. Which is pretty low. And if it has a the service history, then the car was probably cared for.

I think the price is fair, and that if you buy the car, you probably wont have anything major to worry about for awhile. Just like most toyota's they last for quite a long time. And you will probably be hard pressed to find one of that age with less than 100k.

As for the tiptronic. I always thought they were garbage. I dont know much about them (because I drive strictly five speed manual) but im sure its an over complicated auto tranny and its just getting old. If anything was to turn me away from the car it would be that its not a 5spd.

But thats just me.

***MR2Jedi*** · 01-30-2011, 02:00 PM

I owned a 2001 w/5 speed, but I can tell you ,that tranny is probelematic at best. You WILL have problems with it and will be forking out the $$$ to repair it and still have trouble with it.It sounds like the problems have already begun.
I would stay away from the car just because it has that transmission.

RPAltman · 02-04-2011, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MR2Jedi

.. I can tell you ,that tranny is probelematic at best. You WILL have problems with it and will be forking out the $$$ to repair it and still have trouble with it.It sounds like the problems have already begun.
I would stay away from the car just because it has that transmission.

Agreed. The SMT transmission is plagued with all sorts of problems.. almost all of which are very costly to fix. Most Toyota dealers are inexperienced with repairing the SMT transmission because they were only offered on the MR2 Spyder.

RPAltman · 02-04-2011, 02:59 PM

Here is a link to a comprehensive write-up on what to look for when purchasing a used MR-S.