roadster opinions...
 

my sister is getting a new car and her top choice is a toyota mr2 spyder. I suggested she get a newer boxster since its gonna be her everyday car but she rejected the idea because both my brother and i now drive boxsters lol anyway does anyone have any opinions about this car since i know very little about it and never drove one. Does anyone have any experiances with it, would it be an ok daily driver, any reliability issues...etc?

anyway just wanted to get some opinions...

thanks in advance guys

forgot to mention she'll probably get a 2002-2003...so it would be the convertable..

Despite my love for Boxsters, if she doesn't want to get killed on things like maintenance and tires, she should get a Miata.

My buddy has a spyder and loves it. Great little car, but he quickly discovered the engine is woefully too small. He's since dropped in a Celica GT engine and a 6 speed and he's as fast as some Carreras on the road now.

Be sure she drives it during traffic and attempts to get on the freeway with it to experience the lack of acceleration before she makes her final opinion.

My dad put 360,000 miles (no kidding) on his 91 MR2 Turbo before the turbo and engine gave out at the same time. Toyota knows how to build long lasting cars.

MR2 vs BOXSTER
 

WOW! Glad to see MR2 noted in here someplace! :-) I sold my 1995 turbo MR2 to buy my 2004 Boxter. I owned and loved 3 MR2s and the '95 was my favourite. Fabulous car, excellently maintained (I kept a spreadsheet on it's maintenance) and sold it for nearly 20k with 92k miles on it to a collector in Austin. I still love that car.....Well, when I was 6 or 7, I sat in my cousin David's 911 and vowed to own a Porsche one day. I did the math on how long my beloved MR2 would last and figured I would be in it at least another 20 years....so I sold and got the 2004 special, #145 of 1953. It had 15k miles and it's first mileage check up (the 15k maintenance) which I split the cost on with the then owner, and I drove it from New Jersey to Dallas. So far....I am just under 25k miles, I have had no worries....At 19k, the dealership, when detailing it, noticed the mail engine seal leaked and replaced under warranty. And without looking at my spreadsheet, I want to say the beloved MR2 had an engine seal replaced too....around 60k miles or so. But the car so far "acts" like the MR2 as far as seeming to be well built and solid and ready to go! It is obviously much more muscled and sounds beautiful.

I am planning to get 350 out of this engine...guess time will tell.

Mr2
 

Hi there! I love and know the MR2 very well. I would suggest she get either the orig body MR2 or the 2nd body style, 91-95. The cars are now considered collectible and there is not a bad one in the bunch. Just get it from someone anal like me that loves and maintains it and drive it like bat from haides! I am very new to Porschedom....owned a 2004 now for 10k miles, or 15 months. The Boxter S is much faster than the MR2 turbo, which has 200 hp and a fabulous gear box, by the way....so far the Boxter gear box and ride et all is very nice...but I keep hearing about expensive maint and that kind of scares me. I drove the MR2 for 22 years and have a comfort level with that car, inside and out knowledge.

Thanks for the posts so far guys, she doesnt care much about speed so i guess thats not a huge factor for her but i know its not a fast car regardless lol we have 4 porsches in the family now (my dad has been a porsche fan all his life), so she doesnt want a porsche for sure lol but i might suggest a miata like suggested below

Umm.. There's ZERO storage capacity in the MR2 spyder. Ok.. maybe room for a bathing suit. I would get a Miata over an MR2 for this reason alone. Or, well, maybe a boxster ;)

Hi,

Miata over MR2. The lastest gen is related to the gen 1, 2 or 3 cars in name only. The Maintenance will be much less on the Miata and service costs will be lower because it's not a mid-engine...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

I traded an 01 MR2 Spyder for my Box. Loved the MR2. Great gas mileage (30mpg city), inexpensive maintenance, and rock solid reliable. It was geared low, so it was quick in city driving (I had the 5spd). And I was able to get around in winter driving with a set of all season tires (not possible with the Box I found out). Mr Two had 48K miles on it when I traded him. I have seen on MR2 forums that they have some trouble with the cat conv clogging - might want to ask sellers about that. And there is 0 storage - not a problem for me but it can be an issue for others (either my golf clubs or a passanger went with me, but not both).

I got more questions about Mr Two than I do the Box. Plus there are fewer of them around (sold under 5K per yr). I see more Boxs than MR2 Spyders.

I suggest she gets an 02 and I will make her a great deal on a set of Motegi whls and Yokohama tires with 13K. I could use the garage space. ;)

I had a Miata, lots of mods, great car for the weekend autocross and top down cruising.
NOT a car to be driving everyday.

It's a tin can. Under no circumstances would I allow my wife, sister, dog, gold fish, to drive this car on a daily basis.
Same goes for the MR2. The cars are simply too small to do daily duty on the highways with 4 ton SUVs. My friend's miata was squashed like a grape by a Sequioa. Luckily he was in his apartment when it went down. But looking at the wreckage no way he walks away.

Tell her to get a VW Eos, Audi A4 convertible, BMW 3 series or Z4 if she doesn't want to be cool and buy a Porsche.

Respectfully -1 on these comments.

I don't TELL my sister what to do, I offer advice and let her make her own decisions. She's an intelligent person and an adult. I'm also tired of everyone thinking they have to drive an M1 Abrahms to be safe. If you live your life in fear of something that might happen, have you really lived? No sports car is going to come out a winner vs an SUV. Based on the safety issue, how can anyone justify driving a convertible sports car? Road rash on top of the cranium isn't pretty.

Alex, offer the following advice to your sister. Explain to her a car like an MR2 (or Boxster or Eos or whatever) comes with extra responsibility. Put the cell phone down, take out the iPod earbuds, and drive defensively. Assume cars around you don't see you, never drive in someone's blind spot, and always anticipate a bonehead move. Also be aware of the cars around you. The blind spots on an MR2 are just as bad as the Box. I drove my MR2 for 4 yrs as a daily driver and never had any problems but the words above saved me several times.

Also forgot to mention in my earlier post that the MR2 has a harsh ride. If your sister has not driven one, she may be unpleasantly surprised by it. I imagine the expansion strips and potholes of Chicago could literally become a pain in the arse.

I hope your sister finds a car she enjoys.

This disparity in size is a real challenge when driving.

For one, the issue of whether you can be SEEN is real. The size of a Miata, say, when alonside an Escalade. These folks in the large trucks and SUVs cannot see large areas around their vehicles.

Couple that with kids and cell phones and I think many of us are simply not there, visually. LIkely can't be heard either.


Now, if you ride a motorycle, you simply like risk.

I like risk, I guess.

:)

^ agree 100%

even if she drives her MR2/Miata safely, the bone heads on the highways are an ever present threat. And I don't about your area but around here I regularly see the SUV's going well over 80mph. That's 4 tons of massive momentum waiting to flip over on top of that tuna fish can of a Mazda/Toyota roadster.

Its not all bad, Miatas, MR2 are pretty good during rollovers. A friend's sister rolled his miata and she walked away fine, of course they were both wearing their seatbelts.
But Miatas, MR2s vs. Boxster, BMW Z4, S2000, EOS in the crash worthyness department is another matter altogether. A 986 Boxster is basically a Carrera from the seats forward and behind the seats its a substantial car if impacted from behind. The decibel levels in Miatas and MR2 clue you into how thinly constructed the cars are.

I've had several friends die in auto wrecks, one very recently and memorial day weekend another was in a bad crash with a drunk driver and is still in the hospital. The crash worthyness of a daily driven car should always be primary consideration.

Good points. The NHTSB would agree with you and have taken a position against increasing mandatory MPG standards.

Their position is clear: Lighter cars cost lives.

I wrestled with this decision as well. I drove everything from the miata, to the s2000, boxster z3, z4, every convertible I could find. I've decided I want a boxster and shoudl be purchasing one in the next few months.

s2000 was a brilliant car but had no soul, z4 was too cushy although fun to drive, miata and MR2 felt cheap as did the z3. I know it's more money to get and maintain the porsche, but I feel it should be well worth the trouble. As a friend of mine who owns a 930 and 996 said to me... "buddy at the end of the day you're driving a honda... or a porsche, come on..." He wrestled with the same decision as well and almost ended up with the honda until he drove the porsche.