roadster opinions... - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

xxxalexxxx · 06-02-2007, 12:21 PM

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

xxxalexxxx · 06-02-2007, 12:26 PM

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

Rodger · 06-02-2007, 12:32 PM

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

RandallNeighbour · 06-02-2007, 04:21 PM

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.

blue2000s · 06-02-2007, 04:47 PM

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.

Suz · 06-03-2007, 08:22 AM

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.

Suz · 06-03-2007, 08:27 AM

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.

xxxalexxxx · 06-03-2007, 09:14 AM

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

racer_d · 06-03-2007, 12:08 PM

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

MNBoxster · 06-03-2007, 08:49 PM

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

husker boxster · 06-04-2007, 02:03 PM

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.