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.

More by Tim Healey

Comments

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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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Recent Comments

Wolfwagen Am I the only one who thinks that this car should be saved and resto-moded with an early 2000's VTEC? Perhaps go a little crazy and swap in the power train from an S2000?
Ger65690267 Well, the TFL guys who have a Cybertruck with even more miles have noted their tires still look fine. They drive all sorts of terrain and situations, and they haven't seen the wear, which means that guy is running his truck probably rather hard more than he cares to admit.
SCE to AUX "EVs tend to chew through tires in a way that surprises many new owners". That hasn't been my experience. My EV has 210 ft-lbs of torque on 16-inch tires, 3100 lbs curb weight. Tire life has been just like a gas car, which varies according to driving habits. So I agree with the "big surprise" headline.
1995 SC Led me down a rabbit hole to see what the OEM tires were. I was curious if they were using some sort of ultra high. performance summer tire (didn't seem to be). However it does look like you need that specific sidewall design or part of the wheel cover won't fit. Not a "feature" I'd want.
Cprescott I used to love spy shots when cars changed so often. No point now in even paying attention to them since cars barely exist and the lard butt CUV/SUV's clog up our roads