2001 Toyota MR2

Convertible

1.8L

5 Speed Manual

JTDFR320810037507

Clear

Gasoline

2001 TOYOTA MR2 Spyder Convertible 93,000 miles 5-speed Manual Real Birdseye Interior Mature Female** Owned & Driven since 2007 Engine Specs: Engine Family: Toyota 1ZZ-FE 1.8 Liter / 100 CID Inline 4 cylinder Gasoline 138 HP @ 6400RPM 125 lb ft of torque @ 4400 RPM Drivetrain: Rear Wheel Drive Transverse Mid-Engine / Transaxle 5-speed Manual Floor-shift Safety: Driver and Passenger Airbags wt Passenger keyed ON/OFF 4- wheel vented ABS power-disc brakes Daytime Running Lights Motion-initiated automatic door lock/unlock High Mounted Stoplamp Comfort & Convenience: Air Conditioning Power Mirrors Power Locks Power Windows wt Driver express-down Adjustable Leather-wrap Steering Wheel Leather Bucket Seats Genuine Birdseye Dash & Door Trim Variable Speed Intermittent Wipers Glass Convertible-top Rear Window wt Defroster 4-Speaker AM-FM CD/Cassette Maplight Wheels: Front: P185/55ZR15 TOYO T1R Rear: P205/50ZR15 TOYO T1R OE Factory 5-Spoke Alloy Wheels Owner's Story: Purchased in December 2007 for my wife (then aged 43), with an odometer reading of 50,376 miles at a cost of $17,255.00 at a local used car dealer. As a Mother-of-4, she had always relied on family-friendly transportation. As the children grew up and gradually left the nest, I tried to interest her in something more exciting and personal but even a 5-passenger Toyota Solara was ruled out because it had only two doors. By the Fall of 2007, all our children had become adults and no longer required "Mommy" to cart them around everywhere in the stationwagon or mini-van. It was then, that coming out of a store, she saw a "Solar Yellow" 2000 Toyota MR2 Spyder with its black top down parked near the entrance, and she remarked at what a "cute" car it was. I followed up on the interest and took her straight to our local Toyota dealer only to find that the model was a limited edition and was discontinued after 2005! The dealer took our name and number and promised to call if they got one into their pre-owned inventory. A couple of months later a local used car dealer across the street from the Toyota dealer had a shiny green Spyder on the front row of the lot. We traded my wife's 2005 Toyota wagon for the Spyder. Within a month of occasionally "borrowing" her Spyder, I too fell in love with it and decided I wanted one for myself. Since I felt she already had the most desirable color combination, I specifically chose the 8R2 (Paradise Blue Metallic) and tan top / leather combo that first became available in 2003. I found certified pre-owned one in January 2008 at a Toyota dealer 4 hours away and bought it. From January 2008 till now, we had matching "his & her's" MR2 Spyders. Within a year, we became Grandparents! As the time went on, all four of the children were married and they presented us with 7 grandchildren to-date! Sometime after the beginning of 2012, my wife began raising the topic of the need to reestablish a more "practical" mode of transport that would allow her to include the growing family. This led to the purchase of the 2008 Scion wagon which pretty much suplanted the Spyder as her daily driver. Also, my wife wound up working a 4PM - Midnight shift daily from her office here at home, which has further reduced her opportunities to make use of her Spyder. **My wife is a mature and conscientious driver who tends to drive 5mph under rather than over posted speed limits* (*Which is rather frustrating to me when we travel places together in separate cars!) She has never had a ticket in her life and she has been a licensed driver for 32+ years! As exclusively driven by her as her personal car, this Spyder was babied and never abused! However, now, as a 49 years "young" grandmother-of-7, my wife notes that it no longer makes sense to keep her Spyder since she has little-to-no opportunity to drive it anymore and has asked me to find a good home for it. So we are offering it for sale! Car Specifics / Details: Engine / Drivetrain is in very good condition. Since new, we have personally maintained it with Mobil1 Synthetic and eventually Royal Purple as well as Toyota and K&N filters. It purrs smoothly, starts easily, and accelerates as a 1.8L 1ZZ-FE Toyota engine should. There is no oil-burning / blue smoke, excessive oil consumption, or notable under-car leaking. Pre-Cat exhaust to Chi Header conversion was performed in early 2008 after reading extensive posts on various Spyder-owners blogs and websites about how the ceramic inserts could decompose and be re-drafted back into the combustion chambers during valve-timing-overlap in the VVT-i engine. The original heat-shield and O2 sensors were reinstalled for that factory-original look and inspected / double checked by a local exhaust-repair shop against leakage or vibration. Serpentine Belt was replaced in 2012. CEL (Check Engine Light) illuminated about a year ago. The OBD reader at the local repair shop indicated a code for "Idle Air Control Valve fault". The ACV is an approximately $200 part that controls the idle-speed at the throttle body, much like a choke on an older carbureted engine. It can become clogged/dirty or fail. Numerous websites discussing this function on the 1ZZ-FE engine suggest that it may only require R&R and cleaning but as it has not adversely affected operation, given the limited use currently associated with the car, we elected not repair it prior to sale. Compared to my '03 Spyder, the cold-start idle is not as initially high or smooth in under 40F temperature, but not rough or unmanageable. Once running or driven a short distance, there is no apparent difference. Brakes / Tires New OEM Toyota ceramic brake pads were installed in 2012. The tires are a recent upgrade with very little wear / mileage on them. (Look at the photos.) These are ultra-high performance TOYO T1R Z-rated tires and were featured in the Hollywood blockbuster Too Fast Too Furious: Tokyo Drift (best seen on the restored Mustang). Although my wife is not the kind of driver to push the performance limits of ANY car, the improvement to ride and road-handling I experienced after installing these on my '03 Spyder made it a no-brainer as an upgrade over the Dunlops that were on this car from the time of purchase. The car has the original factory alloy wheels. These may have some small surface blemishes but have no serious road-rash, warping, or other damage. Convertible Top was recoated with SEM flexible color coating and a satin clear topcoat in 2012. SEM did not offer an exact factory-color match and we selected the slightly lighter than original "Palomino" rather than risking "Saddle" or "Camel" being even further off-color. It matches the interior wood trim nicely and my wife actually prefers it over the original color. I can provide some matching coating for furure touchups or maintenance. The top was in overall very good condition, except for one small 1/2 puncture which has been sucessfully repaired and internally reinforced with a vinyl backing. It was recoated because the caramel tan color had impossible to remove little dark spots that are common to these tops in this coastal area and it simply never looked "clean". It seals tightly - no wind noise or rain leakage through or around. Interior is in very good overall condition for it's age. The leather seats have been regularly conditioned with leather treatment and only show minimal age on the edge panels. There are no deep cracks or tears in the seats. The OE carpets and MR2 Spyder-logo floormats are still well-piled and do not have any rub-through or bare spots, stains, fading, or discoloration. The drain ports for the convertible top were cleared and thoroughly flushed after an owner website suggested that these could become blocked and allow water to collect. The dash and doors feature a uethethane-coated real-wood birdseye trim (NOT photo-finish simulated imitation junk) installed immediately after we purchased it in 2008. The only interior shortcoming I can think of is the driver-side armrest cover - which is apparently snap fit into the top of the armrest and held with little moulded hooks. The hooks broke and the cover is held in by a couple of screws. The part may be available through the dealer or other but this "fix" satisfied my wife, so it remained. Paint / Bodywork The Code 6R4 Electric Green Mica paint work is deep and shiny. I won't oversell it. It is not dull, faded, cracked, or heavily chipped or scratched. I'm not suggesting that it is showcar perfect; the car was driven. We have a carport and it was generally also always covered with a carcover while parked at home. However, on one occasion, she was caught out during a heavy summer storm that produced small hail during the Summer of 2009. An insurance-company recommended body-shop removed the tiny dimples in the hood and refreshed the paintwork. The work is perfectly blended and invisible and without this disclosure, it would not be apparent. All the body panels are perfectly color-matched and aligned. No rust or collision-damage. Amenities All the creature comforts, from automatically-activated door lock/unlock, power-windows, AM-FM-CD-Cassette, power lumbar-support etc., all function as-new. The heater is so powerful that it keeps occupants toasty warm on cold days even with the top down and the A/C blows frosty cold in the Summer! Don't miss this chance - You won't regret owning this beauty! CONTACT ME THROUGH EBAY MESSAGING WITH ANY QUESTIONS BEFORE BIDDING ********************************************* Please Read all of the Following Before Bidding. Bidding on this vehicle constitutes a purchase contract, which includes all of the following terms: CONTACTING ME: As I stated, I own a small business. As such I work wierd hours and am almost never available directly by phone. My wife works from 4PM to Midnight M-F! So, please email me for any questions through the eBay Messaging System or at Handyman1962@msn.com and I will try to respond within 24 hours. Please understand, I am not a professional car collector or seller. I have purchased and restored cars over the years for mine and my family's personal use and enjoyment. My business is not cars and unfortunately I still need to conduct my actual livelihood during the course of this sale. This will limit, to some degree, how much, how quickly, and how extensively, I will be able to respond to a buyer's schedule in answering presale requests for inspections, or post-sale collection of the car. Thank you for understanding. TERMS OF SALE: Upon the close of the auction, the winning bidder must remit a USD$1,000.00 via PayPal within 3 days. No Exceptions! The winning bidder should also contact me by email to make arrangements to pay the balance of the purchase price in cash and in person within 7 days (unless alternate arrangements are agreed to in writing per email by both parties). Arrangements to collect the car will need to allow for me to be physically available at the time of pickup to personally exchange the signed vehicle Title and a Bill of Sale. Payment will only be excepted in valid U.S. CASH CURRENCY BEFORE THE TITLE WILL BE SIGNED AND THE CAR IS RELEASED INTO THE BUYERS CUSTODY. If you wish to avoid carrying cash, please be prepared to retrieve your funds through a local bank. Due to the increasing occurence of counterfeit registered and certified bank checks, I will not accept any other form of payment except US Dollar Currency. Once the date and time are arranged, I will meet the buyer with the car in the parking lot of my bank (OR ANOTHER LOCAL BANK OF YOUR CHOSING AS AGREED PRIOR) and exchange the Title and Bill of Sale inside the bank during normal business hours for the added security of all parties. As I stated earlier, I am not a professional auto restorer, broker, or retailer. The Buyer will have to make their own arrangements to take delivery of the car. I cannot assist in arranging for shipping or transportation. The Buyer will have to take personal delivery or send an authorized recipient with a letter of authorization, together with payment according to the terms outlined above, specififcally naming the matching identity of the person collecting the car for the buyer. PLEASE NOTE: THE CURRENT VIRGINIA ANTIQUE REGISTRATION & PLATES ARE NOT TRANSFERABLE AND WILL BE REMOVED UPON SALE. THERE IS NO WARRANTY PROVIDED. THIS VEHICLE IS 12 YRS OLD. ANY COMPONENT THAT WAS FUNCTIONING PRIOR TO OR AT THE TIME OF SALE MAY CEASE TO FUNCTION OR MALFUNCTION AT ANY TIME DUE TO AGE OR CONDITIONS BEYOND THE SELLER'S CONTROL. I HAVE TRIED TO BE MORE THOROUGH IN MY DESCRIPTION & DISCLOSURE THAN MOST SELLERS OF USED CARS, I DO NOT INTEND TO OMIT ANY IMPORTANT DETAILS. WHILE I BELIEVE THE CAR TO BE IN VGC, IT IS STILL A 12 YR OLD 'USED CAR' AND I AM NOT CLAIMING IT TO BE 'PERFECT' OR EQUIVALENT TO A 'NEW CAR' - AS SUCH I AM ALSO NOT ASKING THE $25,000 IT COST WHEN IT WAS. SO, THE DESCRIPTION "SOLD AS-IS -- NO WARRANTY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED" APPLIES TO THIS SALE. WHILE I HAVE EVERY CONFIDENCE IN THIS VEHICLE'S ABILITY TO SAFELY AND SUCESSFULLY BE DRIVEN AFTER PURCHASE TO ANY LOCATION, I CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY RISKS THAT THE BUYER MIGHT ENCOUNTER , WHILE DRIVING, RATHER THAN SHIPPING / TRANSPORTING IT TO ITS FINAL LOCATION. ALL SALES ARE FINAL. AN ON-SITE PRE-INSPECTION MAY BE CONDUCTED BY PRIOR ARRANGEMENT, ONLY BEFORE MAKING THE WINNING BID! ALSO: IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON MAKING A PRE-BUY INSPECTION, THERE WILL BE PASSENGER TEST-DRIVES ONLY- NO POTENTIAL BUYER DRIVER TEST DRIVES WILL BE PERMITTED. PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT I CANNOT AFFORD TO RISK AN "OOPSIE AND WALK-AWAY" BY AN UNOBLIGATED TEST-DRIVER. (SEE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0RC181UbYE IF YOU NEED FURTHER CLARIFICATION. ) ONCE A BIDDER WINS THE AUCTION, THERE IS NO CANCELATION OF THE SALE UNLESS THE VEHICLE IS GROSSLY MISREPRESENTED OR UNAVAILABLE FOR SALE DUE TO AN UNFORSEEN CATASTROPHY TO THE VEHICLE. IN OTHER WORDS, IF YOU BID, PLEASE UNDERSTAND YOU ARE BIDDING TO BUY, NOT TO COME FOR A TEST DRIVE, KICK THE TIRES, RENEGOTIATE THE PRICE ON-SITE.