So I wake up one day and decide it's mid-life crisis time, so I convince my wife that I need an old assed Toyota MR2 (an '89, MkI MR2 to be exact). So I find one, give it a quick test drive, look inside and go hmmm like I know what I'm looking at, and then get it sent to a Toyota dealer for a quick investigation. Here's what his 'report' says (spelling is not mine): "Reccomend to remove and reseal entire engine. Has massive oil leaks all over." The current owner insists he's never seen any oil leaking -- the car has been standing for two weeks, no oil on the ground. Oil is replaced every 3000 or so, translates to every 5 months with the low driving it gets. So the question is: how likely is it that the car has a *massive* oil leak and still be unable to determine it's origin? Is it possible that the car does have a leak and the owner doesn't know it? If it does have a leak, what's the most likely source, and how hard to fix? Advice and comments welcome. ~ ~ Dave
well I don't know much about cars but, if he's saying massive leaks all over and you can't find a sign of one... sounds a bit dodgy. Take it somewhere else for a second opinion. If they turn it back as fine then mention the oil leaks to see if they've overseen something or if they prove the 1st guy trying to make some outta £$£$ you. Ask them to point out exactly what the problems are!
toyotas are generally very reliable however due to mr2's being mid engined they are prone to overheating (a mates actually burst into flame) and any work is difficult due to inaccessability. get the aa or rac or a friendly mechanic to give you a 2nd opinion as the dealer may be trying to drum up some work. the fact that there is no visible leak is a bit sus. if you're in doubt just walk away there are plenty more fish in the sea. cheers julian
Dealers are fond of this kind of thing. Last year my Renault dealer told me my head gasket was leaking and would need to be replaced at a cost of 600 quid!!! Now I know there is a leak. I have a large piece of rag on the garage floor to catch the drips. But it only loses about 1 pint in an entire year so as far as I'm concerned it's insignificant and certainly not worth 600 quid. Other scams to watch out for are warped or worn brake discs and cracked rubber parts like suspension gaiters which cost a lot in labour to replace. No modern car should need brake discs at only 50,000 miles, or gaiters for that matter. It's a con. Personally I can't wait for the day when I can go car-free
Dave, check rear crank seal, have been know on these, usualy translates to 'weeping around' g/box mounting area, and bellhousing<>engine block section, these are generaly pretty good,oil changes at 3000 I have always insisted with my customers, on 'reasonable cars', cambox gaskets can leak, after that length of time too, Front crank/pulley seal also can weep over time, else if looked after these are very reliable cars mate. Wm
The best thing to do is to find a good small independ garage but one big enough to have all modern facilties. Dealers tend to charge a fortune. Quicks wanted £250 to change the cam belt and another £100 to change the rocker cover gasket. The garage we use wanted £180 for the cam belt (including pullys and drives etc) and £50 for the rocker. Thats for 95N Escort 1.6LX with 70k on the clock.
As already mentioned, the engines in MR2s are incredibly reliable. They put the same engine into a fwd hatch and a rwd coupe. I had a hatchback version with 145,000 miles on the clock, still pulled like a train. Just watch for rust, MR2s are prone for it in a number of areas and it's not that cheap to resolve.
if thers no oil on the ground nor on or around the engine(always check an engine for signs of it being receantly cleaned) the geezer was talking through his arse.personnaly i would report the guy to the trading thingy people,people like that should be shut down.the car would probably sit in his yard for a week before he gave it back to you and he dident even have to look at it. if hes pulling stunts like this he will pull them on anybody, massive oil leaks my arse, that sounds like a description drawn up by someone who dident even look at the car.why should we pay for this guys holliday to greese.
He he - sounds like people ARE paying for his holiday - in grease terms anyway!!!! What a tosser - I hate all that garage malarky. There was a reason I was born unable to ever drive a car - and it might be a pain, but get rid of your car Chris - if you can live without TV you can DEFO manage without a car. Get a pushbike instead
Easier said than done. I've looked into this many times now. There are just so many things I would no longer be able to do, not to mention places I would no longer be able to go. A journey to see my parents who live 45 miles away would require a 1 hr 10 min bus ride followed by a 25 minute walk, then waiting for an hourly train followed by a train ride which I would guess to be about another half hour. That's well over two hours. It only takes an hour to drive there. Public transport in central Somerset is a nightmare. It takes aeons to go anywhere. Any journey by train begins with a one to one and a half hour bus ride. The buses are only hourly so doubtless won't mesh well with train times. Bah! What's worse, the bus fares for local journeys are more per mile than the total per mile running cost of the car
Somerset? Say no more - makes Devon look like it has public transport... And yeah, bus costs are ridiculous - they won't people out of their cars while they charge single-only tickets at rush hour - what a ripoff...
I'm lucky living in Manchester, the buses are every 2 mins into the city centre, my weekly bus pass costs £9.45 and I use that on any bus in Greater Manchester so aslongs as I am not carrying anything too heavy I can get pretty much anywhere I ever need too. Its actually faster to go by bus into the city centre than it is to drive because you have to park, pay a fortune to park, then you have more walking to do. Its a bit of a pain that there is no direct bus from where I live to Salford uni though, it can take between 30 minutes and 1 hour to get there.
Have a really good look at the engine. If it is all spotlessly immaculate suspect steam cleaning. If you can see some dirt and you can't see any oil around the sump or from the part of the engine where the pulleys are you should be right. Have a look at the oil. If it has been changed every 3 months it should look absolutely brand new. If it doesn't walk away the vendor is lying. Toyota dealers do have a good rep. it's why they always do so well in JD Power and the like
Thanks for the advise guys! I'll wait and see if the seller (an individual, not a dealer) can work out where the leak is, and if he can, I may go back and take another look. For now I'll follow other avenues. ~ ~ Dave
