Used Car of the Day: 2001 Toyota MR2 Spyder

by Tim Healey

Published: October 10th, 2023

used car of the day 2001 toyota mr2 spyder

We're going back to the convertible well today with this 2001 Toyota MR2 Spyder.

Five grand will get you a manual-transmission Spyder with just under 100,000 miles on it. It is apparently in good running order and has recently passed inspection.

A Stage 2 clutch has been installed, and some notable parts have been replaced -- the water pump, spark plugs, springs, bushings, and shocks are all new. The shocks are adjustable and the car is slightly lowered.

The axles have also both been replaced within the past two years. The audio has some aftermarket upgrades, such as a touch-screen stereo, subwoofer, and amplifier.

The bad: The car has a rebuilt title after an accident and some holes in the top, though no water gets in. And there are some dents and dings.

Check out this Asheville, North Carolina-based car here.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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2 of 14 comments

Vvk on Oct 11, 2023

I briefly considered one but found out they blow up their engines due to a design flaw. If you want one, get 2004+ where the issue has supposedly been resolved.

1 Reply
ToolGuy on Oct 11, 2023

Nope.

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3-On-The-Tree Old news if it is even true. But from m my time as Firefighter/EMT fighting vehicle fires when it catches fire it is very toxic.
Akear Chinese cars simply do not have the quality of their Japanese and Korean counterparts. Remember, there are also tariffs on Chinese cars.
3-On-The-Tree My experience with turbos is that they don’t give good mpg.
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