What are 2nd gen MR2's going for in your area?

Jerry said:

I have a feeling a turbo MR2 is not in the cards for me.  I can't see $20-30K in my budget for that anytime soon.

I still think you should start a "Find me a bat E36 M3 crazy fun car that is somewhat streetable under X budget" thread, and see what turns up.

I've had 3 Mk2 MR2's. A embarassing stock NA one that I had in college, A 3vze swapped one, and a Gen 4 swapped one. I sold the last one ~2 years ago. I had absolutely everything done to that car possible, but eventually just outgrew it. I went a little too hard on some of the stuff and it was just too much for the street. Cheap components had a lot to do with it. 

I'm having a hard time reading this, but are you saying that MR2 turbos are 20-30k for nice ones?......... No, just no. That's 996 money. I was a big fan of MR2's and their mid engine cache, but they are not collectors cars. I can understand the value of them going up as they are still an early 90's iconic Japanese sports car, but a FD or Supra they are not.

I dunno. Maybe I'm over the "this is really special because they don't make them like this anymore" type of thing. Pretty sure a Mk7 Gti would drag a stock MR2 through the mud with the AC on. I don't find that MR2's were particularly great at anything other than being sketchy on the edge of traction. 

However, if I were going to do it again, I'd keep it simple. 2gr with an e153. Good springs, Koni shocks, not crazy wheel and tires (wheels are impossible to find for this car because of the odd fitiment)  That would gain you about 275 whp/tq and keep it stock camry reliable. All of the project cars will need a repaint and repainting an MR2 is challenging. Small car with a ton of small parts. 

Obligatory shot of last car. I want to say I sold this in Aug of '19 for something like $12k?

Nofive_0 said:

I've had 3 Mk2 MR2's. A embarassing stock NA one that I had in college, A 3vze swapped one, and a Gen 4 swapped one. I sold the last one ~2 years ago. I had absolutely everything done to that car possible, but eventually just outgrew it. I went a little too hard on some of the stuff and it was just too much for the street. Cheap components had a lot to do with it. 

I'm having a hard time reading this, but are you saying that MR2 turbos are 20-30k for nice ones?......... No, just no. ....... I want to say I sold this in Aug of '19 for something like $12k?

Great.  Find me one now.

This is what they're going for:

https://bringatrailer.com/toyota/sw20-mr2/

Subtract 25% for equivalent examples on Facebook/Craigslist.

It's crazy that low 30s is now the price for not even one of the flagship Japanese super sports cars. Those cars are all in the 50k+ range for nice examples though so I guess it makes sense. Until recently FD RX-7s were a relative bargain in the low 30s, but that's changing as well.

Part of me wants to wrap my car in bubble wrap and watch it appreciate and cash in someday, and part of me wants to drive the ass out of it until it turns to dust under my feet because it's just so fun and lovable. I hope the second part wins.