And The Winner is.... [Part 2]

For the past 2 weeks, I've been scouring the online classifieds for a black (or red), '95 (or '94), Normally Aspirated, unmodded Toyota MR2 T-Top within 250 miles of D.C. (yea, I really am this picky). Since the recent chilly weather, the Alfa has been acting a little peculiar, and I'd rather my brother experience the performance of its first winter in his ownership. This being the case, I had to hasten my search and therefore be a little more flexible in my requirements. I found this little gem on autotrader.com.



I've actually had my eye on it for the past week. When it first came up in my search, I wrote it off because it was green, but after getting more information on it, I couldn't have found one in better condition this close to D.C. A '94 Dark Green NA Toyota MR2 T-Top with a clean bill of health from both CarFax.com and Autocheck.com. The only hitch? It's in Pittsburg, PA. At first I thought "no prob!" when that couldn't be further from the truth logistically. First, I have to test drive and inspect it. Second, I have to have an independant professional inspect it. Third, I need a car to drive up to PA. And fourth, I need to drive said car back to D.C.

Fortunately for me, my dad has taken off all of this week for the holidays and volunteered to be the return car driver.

We started out early this morning, and drove 4.5 hours to Canonsburg, PA. On our arrival to the used car dealer, I walked in, said who I was, asked for the keys, and drove off (without even presenting ID) with the car to the nearest Toyota dealer who I had an appointment with. They performed their 130 point inspection and found that there were only a few minor oil seals (surprise!) that needed to be replaced.

Then it was my turn to inspect the car. Having as many accidents and mechanical failures as I have had in my Prelude, I've become sort of an automobile forensic scientist. From the pictures the dealer sent me before I came up, I thought I was going to need to do a little sprucing up with the interior, but that turns out not to be the case. The seats in the pics looked very sun bleached and somewhat stained and upon looking at them I thought the dealer should invest in a better digital camera. The seats and the interior were remarkable for a non-parish owned '94. It even had the OEM radio from Toyota with the "LOUD" button. The paint I was very suspicious of from seeing it both in the pictures and up close. The color is a deep dark green, but it is a little sparkly (kind of like crest sparkle if you remember it) giving me the impression that this was not the original paint job. Under the hood, it was the same color, a good sign, so I checked underneath the passenger side door to see if it was as well, and sure enough, it was. If it wasn't original, it was done extremely well so I didn't mind that much. [Edit from the FUTURE] I later found out this color was one of two colors with the Toyota "Pearl" designation. These Pearl colors were the only two colors that were Clear Coated (makes colors last A LOT longer). There were very few blemishes in the paint and the bigger ones were on the front bumper. The exposed yellowish plastic of the front bumper and extremely slight warpage gave me the "aftermarket shit" taste in my mouth, and when I got down to look closer I could see that the radiator has a big ole dent in it, telling me this car had been in a minor front collision. Bargaining power. The rest of the body was in tip top shape; no evidence of frame damage/repairs, no dings or dents, and no irregular body seams.

But what about the Oil, Magellan? For you just joining us, my Prelude's oil burning power is why the price of crude is so high right now. 2 quarts per 12 gallons of gas. A-mazing. This at least gave me the knowledge of what to look for in the engine. I opened up the engine compartment to find.....oil. BUT. From the pattern I was seeing, it was from a one time event as opposed to oil refill after oil refill. The oiled area was rather large on the block, very dusty brown, and didn't show signs of the ceramic coating flaking off, so my guess is that they left the oil cap off one time a while back, and just didn't clean it off the engine block. Aside from this puddle, the engine looked pretty tight.

After taking the long way back to the dealer, and deciding that I had to have this car, I sat down with the dealer and started haggling. And by haggling I mean cry about how I drove 250 miles to see a car with a few problems. After agreeing on a price, we started processing the paperwork when who should walk in? A cute girl there to see the MR2. (HAha! IT'S MINE BIATCH!) She was looking all over for MR2's to test drive. We all discussed how hard they were to find and she asked if I could drive her around in it (THAT'S RIGHT, IT'S MINE) and of course, being the gentleman that I am (MINE...BACK OFF) I did. During the drive, I was amazed at how knowledgable she was of the MR2 (She had read her history as well). She said she was looking for a yellow one (probably the rarest of the rare MR2s) to replace her sports car her recently-exhusband (yea, she was like 27) was awarded in the settlement. So... cute, loves sports cars, has knowledge of a pretty niche car, recently single through divorce, and talking to me voluntarily!?!? (GET THE FUCK OUT, IT'S MY GOD DAMN CAR....OUT OUT OUT....MINE MINE MINE) Line up sister.

My dad and I left the dealer at 5pm and headed back home. 11 damn hours in a car in one day. Many thanks to my dad, I'm sure he wants to kill me at this point.