Hey guys,

This is my first post here although I am a member of a whole bunch of Toyota MR2 forums (summer toy = 1989 MKI MR2 SC). I'll give you the story of what brought me here.

My name is Jon and I live in Montreal (Canada). I'm 39 and am married with 2 kids (my son is a future gear head which is great!). Enough with the boring stuff, here is what the title of this thread is all about;

I've been looking over the last few weeks for a DD/winter car to replace my 2002 Sentra SE-R that was becoming a bit of a problem due to the fact that it was manual and my wife can't drive stick (she even refuses to attempt to learn...!). She has her own car (03 Santa Fe) but a month ago a brake line burst and it left her stuck without a car for a few days. The main criteria for my new-old car was that it absolutely needed to be automatic...

Well, looking for a sub $3000 car here in Quebec is a tricky thing. Most cars are rusted as our winters are fairly harsh by North American standards and the lack of safety/emissions inspections do not help. I'd say that 1/3 or so of cars 7 years and older have cracked windshields and this is just the tip of the iceberg!

Ok, I prefer Japanese cars myself but I was keeping an open mind thinking that some European models (Volvo, Audi, VW) could be a good option and I even looked at a couple of American cars (sorry, not a big fan) as the parts are cheaper and the bodies are less prone to rust. Obviously as a car guy I was hoping to get a "cool" car and I am not afraid of age or mileage. I was simply looking to get the most bang for my buck. I did sell my SE-R which was a great car and I didn't really want to downgrade.

After looking at 2 older Accords, a Camry, numerous Mazda Protege5s (major rust buckets), a Mazda Millenia (Miller cycle AND supercharged!), a Pontiac Grand Am GT (I almost bought it until the CEL lit up at the tail end of my test drive!) and finally a 1996 Maxima!

The car was listed by a wholesaler (which in itself is already a bad sign...) but he insisted that the car was super clean and that it drove perfectly. This is usually a ploy to reel you in and try to unload a crap box on you. I was only 15 minutes away so I figured I didn't have much to lose.

Here are the specs of the Maxima;
1996 GLE champagne/Pebble beige?
Fully loaded (leather, climate control, heated seats, power everything, sunroof, Bose stereo etc)
153 000km (+/- 95k Miles)
Minimal rust/dents
No repairs required at first glance

Ok, I showed up and the car looked really good - I was pleasantly surprised!!! It was pretty clean paint and body wise with the only surface rust being on the passenger side rear fender by the mud flap and the 2 front fenders on the bottom lips near the front bumper. Windshield is intact and very little sandblasting/pitting, all of the accessories work as they should including the OEM power antenna, interior super clean with only a bit of wear on the left bolster of the drivers seat which is pretty normal for leather and the carpet needs a good shampoo (beige interior is a bad idea but beggars can't be choosers I guess!). I was impressed but the test drive was the make it or break it obviously...

The car started up well and had no rattles or weird noises so it was time to hit the road! The motor was super smooth and the power was linear. The tranny shifted really well and I was impressed with the lack of torque steer which was a problem with my old SE-R! We hit the highway and the ride is very soft and a bit floaty (65 series tires - my MR2 is running 205/40/17's so the difference is quite drastic!) for my taste however the lack of road noise and the luxury touches are becoming more and more appealing as I hover closer to 40 every day! No warning lights on the dash, suspension, brakes, motor, tranny etc all seemed good and the price was well below my budget so it was a no brainer! The papers were filled out and the cash left my pocket and yet I felt like a thief! It appeared almost too good to be true, but so far so good.

The next morning my new car got her first good scrubbing to get a better idea of what I had. There is nothing like the first wash/wax to get to know the true condition of a car. Well, wash - check, clay bar to remove paint contaminants - check, wax - check, mag cleaner to get rid of brake dust buildup - check, scrubbing the leather with a brush and some cleaner - check, the end result was incredible! The exterior shines as new apart from the rust obviously, the leather looks as good as new although I still need to rub some conditioner on it. All that's left is to shampoo the carpets (too cold now, it will have to wait until the springtime) and tackle the fluid changes as well as a wheel alignment. I also changed the wiper blades, headlights to some Sylvania super brights, added a chrome exhaust tip (OEM style) and bought a cassette adaptor so I could listen to my i-pod through the stereo.

I've driven the car about 200 miles since I got her on Saturday and I am in awe of the ride and power delivery of my new car. The problem is that my mind is spinning with the idea of potential mods that I can do. A quick search on flea-bay makes me appreciate having a high volume popular car with plenty of aftermarket support which is in stark contrast to my first gen MR2 which is more difficult and much more expensive to modify.

So to conclude this saga, the answer to the title is.... Not to be a beater! Although the car will see salt and slush on a daily basis, it will be well taken care of and slowly modded to my liking (without going crazy of course!). The car will be driven with pride and taken care of like it should be. I'll visit this site for technical info as well as the classifieds!

I will try to add some pics as well but the car is box stock and beige so you can look at a file photo to get an idea!!!

Thanks for taking the time to read my introduction post.

Jon

 

Check the radiator core support. Make sure its not rusted out. That would be my major concern with a 4th gen from up north.

 

THIS.

But good on you!!!

 

congrats on your new car! and welcome

 

Wow! You scared me enough to go outside quickly and take a quick peek...

By looking through the lower grill of the bumper I can see some surface rust in the front middle but it looks ok at a glance. I'll have to pull off the underbody protectors and check it out this weekend when I do the oil and coolant change.

Thanks for the heads up on a known issue that I didn't know about... I'm going thru all of the how to's and stickies now to see the common problems and fixes.

Jon

 

Thanks!

 

haha ^ how u like your max compared to your spec-v? my bro has a 06 spec v with I/E/H and he claims he can accelarate just as quick as my 03 maxima with alot more mods then he does but i would rip him easy in a race lol

 

My Sentra was a SE-R base (not a spec V) so it was only a 5 speed and I think 5 less hp or so... The difference is that my Maxima is waaaaay more refined with very little torque steer and it's quiet inside - my Sentra had a Nismo header and a full exhaust so it was annoyingly loud. No contest here for me - the Maxima is like a SE-R that grew up and had kids. Kind of like me! It's not about racing others for me, it's more about having the power when you need it and not getting beat up all day long when you don't.

Jon

 

<--- Didn't read.

 

he's not using it as a winter beater.

 

Welcome! What do you have done to the mr2?

 

o nice oops my bad i read the whole post and came back after liek 10 15 minutes and reposted so i forgot it was just a se-r lol and yea the vq3.0s are extremely smooth my first car was a 2000 maxima auomatic and i put a catback exhaust on it and it was extremely smooth and felt sooo good driving.

 

It's all good!

 

o yea i always wondered why do people like the older mr2s so much but seem to dislike the new liek 2000 era mr2s?

 

The MR2 has had a complete interior swap (original blue cloth interior swapped to black leather), TRD lowering springs, Tokico Illuminas, Tein camber plates, Cusco front and rear strut tower bars +++. I've been playing extensively with this car for 2 years now and she's a keeper. I have a 2nd 89 MR2 NA hardtop as well which is a project car I guess...! Lots of mods planned as well such as a oversized SC pulley, HKS piggyback ECU and more. The budget is always holding me back! Lets just say that I am very involved in the 1st gen (AW11) MR2 scene. I go to multiple shows/meets all over the Northeast.

I'll have to try and hold back on being too passionate concerning my Maxi!

Thanks for your interest!

Jon

 

My 2nd car (my first NICE car as well) was a 1986 MR2 so it's a car that is close to my heart. It's also a reliable, well balanced, mid-engined, rear wheel drive, 2 seater sports car!!! The handling is great and it feels faster than it is - bottom line is that I smile a little every time I look at it and I smile a lot every time I drive it!

For the record, the 3rd gen MR2 (Spyder) from 2000+ has its own cult like following. I think they're cool especially because they were never sold in Canada (although a bunch have been imported) so you don't see them often here.
Jon

 

Thank you.

 

You're welcome.