Owner Tells All: Toyota's Toy is a hit!

I wasn't in the market for a new car until I saw this baby! It was love at lst sight. I am now one of 5,000 lucky owners. Boy, has my life taken on a new meaning. This car, is a real attention getter! I can't go anywhere through town without someone stopping me and telling me how much they love it! I have even had a policeman pull next to me to tell me how much he loved my car.

I bought the red one that you see in the picture and added wood trim to the dash which makes the car look really luxurious. Originally,there was a silver plastic dash that I thought was very cheap looking.

LIKES:

I really love the way it hugs the road and turns corners. It takes corners like a Porsche. And by the way,it also looks so much like a porsche that many people mistake it for one.

The MR2 spyder is faster than a Porsche Boxter. Motor Trend claims 0-60 mph in 6.6 seconds. Let me tell you the car is a rocket! And believe it or not, the engine only packs in 138 horsepower. It is a miracle!

The ride is soooooo smooth...a million times better than the Mazda Miata that I test drove. (A review of the Miata, Chrysler Sebring and Ford Mustang will follow shortly).

I have been averaging 23 miles in the city and 29 miles per gallon on the freeway, which is really good for a convertible. The MR2 spyder is the economy of a small car BUT with the fun and excitement of a sports car.

The seats are surprisingly comfortable. I can't wait to take this car to Santa Cruz along 17 mile drive on the ocean. What a blast! The freedom that this car provides is a thrill of my lifetime!

The sound system is great. The spyder comes with a CD player as a standard feature.

Both the heating and the air conditioning system work well in this car. This is appreciated, because when the fog hasn't lifted in San Francisco it is pretty cold and I love driving with the top down, so I just crank the heat up and don't mind the cold wind blowing in my face.

DISLIKES:

Even though the convertible top is relatively easy to put up and down, it is NOT automatic. I got caught in the rain on the freeway and had to get out of the car to put the top back down.

Trunk space is really minimal. There is only 3 cubic feet of storage space, about enough to hold a large backpack. Since the engine is located in the back of the car, there is only a tiny amount of trunk space in the hood. Most of the cubic feet lie in the tiny compartments behind the seats. On the top of the dash board is another small compartment which will hold sunglasses, make-up, etc.

Dealer Mark-up. Because there are only going to be 5,000 of these hot tamales made per year, the car is in hot demand. The dealer mark up on my car was 4,000 dollars. This was the lowest in the area. Most dealers were charging a l0,000 dollar mark-up. Some people may be intimidated by the pressure that a dealer will put on you because this car is in such demand. Now you are asking, was it worth the mark-up! An unequivocal yes! Toyota, you have done it again!

Please rate this opinion and leave a comment.