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Price opinion from advertisements and recorded sales. Not an inspection or a certified valuation.
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Reference photograph of a Toyota MR2 Supercharged
Valuation · Toyota · AW11 · 1986-1989

Toyota MR2 Supercharged

1.6L supercharged DOHC four · 108 kW / 186 Nm · 5sp manual · RWD
BUYRated within the under $30k band · 7 of 46 at this money
Model value
$28,500
Must gain each year to break even
+11.9%
The projection does not clear it, and nor does most of the library.
CarQuant score
52/100
Scored against the under $30k band, not the whole library
Evidence grade
Thin
One to three recorded Australian sales
$28,500
$20,223 lowhigh $42,175
Calibrated to a thin record
One counted Australian sale: $12,000 in March 2024, and it is a floor rather than a value. The dearer of the two lots on this record is naturally aspirated and is excluded. Both read from the Collecting Cars lot pages.
Measured across this library, a value resting on a single Australian result runs high about six times in ten, by a median of five per cent.

Looking at an MR2 for sale?

Put in the asking price and the odometer reading. You will see what this model should make at that reading.

Should make, typical example
$28,500
At about 130,000 km. Enter an asking price to compare.

Odometer only. Colour, options, history, condition and the photographs move it further, and that is what the report reads.

A person reads the advertisement and its photographs. Usually back within 48 hours. Read a real listing report

Price history

Today $28,500 · modelled median at five years $31,254
Solid line: the value this library has carriedDashed from 2026: modelled · even money $25,452 to $36,998
The green band is the even-money range and the one to plan on: half of outcomes land inside it. The pale band behind it bounds eight in ten ($20,223 to $42,175). The path is this model's own: it starts along the momentum of its recorded history and bends toward its projected median as the horizon lengthens, so no two cars share a future curve.

The verdict

Strong within its price band. Scores 52/100, ranking 7 of 46 in the under $30k band. Scarcity is the strongest input, risk resilience the weakest.
Running it costs about $3,830 a year (13.4% of value), which is what the economics score measures. All in, including the projected value change, it is $3,655 a year.
The model's five year median is $31,254, a +9.7% move, with the tenth percentile at $20,223.
Value calibrated to a thin record. Treat the level as provisional.
Evidence
Thin1 recorded sale
Off its peak
at peak
Value band
wide
At least one recorded transaction plus a source. Direction is sound, the exact level less so.
Scored against every recent Australian sale this library holds, half its values land within 11.2 per cent of the price paid and the rest miss by more, in either direction. Projections are therefore damped toward flat in proportion to how little is known, and the plausible band is never narrower than the error the model is known to make.
Short term (1-5 years)$3,655 a year all in, +9.7% median value move
Long term (10-15 years)Scarcity case already formed
Negotiate from$28,500

Recorded sales

Every recorded observation, and when
2 rows on record
$31k$20k$10k
202420252026
the value this record published, year by yearnow $29ksoldcontext, excluded
Every row, with its price and note (2) ↓
Mar 2024Collecting Cars$12,000Sold
SOLD. 20 Mar 2024, Montrose VIC, 164,200km. 1988 MR2 Supercharged in T-top configuration, white over grey cloth, genuine 4A-GZE 1.6 twin-cam supercharged four at 108kW and 190Nm, five-speed manual. Fourteen years with the seller and about 400km driven in that time. THE CONDITION IS THE PRICE: cosmetic paintwork to the front at some point, driver-side door hinges needing re-bushing, driver-side window gears jumping teeth, a broken radio antenna, and a bonnet release cable so far gone that an external cable has been fitted through the front grille as a temporary fix. Last inspection 2011, passed with no advisories, and nothing since. Modified with 16in Rodney Jane wheels, an Autotecnica wheel, a dash boost gauge, braided hoses and a performance exhaust. Service at 164,000km covering oil, a new fuel pump and a fuel tank clean. 8,339 views, 105 bids. PPSR clear
Sep 2023Collecting Cars$24,250Context, excluded
SOLD, and excluded from this record because it is not a supercharged car. 1 Sep 2023, Berwick VIC, 326,763km. 1987 AW11 sold as The Skid Factory Edition: a rebuilt NATURALLY ASPIRATED silver-top 20-valve 4A-GE on individual throttle bodies, individual coil packs and Kelford cams, revving to 8,000rpm, on a close-ratio five-speed. Built and documented by The Skid Factory across a YouTube series titled Poor Man's Ferrari, then tested and reviewed on a second channel. Flared arches, 15in Enkei Big End Barrels, BC Racing coilovers, Haltech Elite management, Sparco R100 seats, and a fuel system converted to run E85. Engine bay and frunk resprayed about 2020, bonnet replaced and roof, pillars and front quarters resprayed early 2023. Air conditioning clutch noisy at high revs, slow to start on E85, passenger window switch intermittent. 4,822 views, 57 bids. PPSR clear and no NEVDIS written-off or stolen marker. THE DEAREST MR2 IN THIS RECORD IS THE ONE WITHOUT A SUPERCHARGER, which is why the earlier reading of this pair was wrong
1 completed Australian sale of 2 rows. Rows marked asking, no sale, or context are shown for honesty but do not count toward the evidence grade: an ask is not a transaction, a pass-in is a refusal, and a provenance or overseas result does not price the ordinary local car. The badge on every row is computed by the same rule as the grade, so the two cannot drift apart.

Score breakdown

Against the under $30k band median
46 cars in band · ink tick marks the median
Ownership economics30% of total
51/100+16
Scarcity25% of total
63/100+22
Demand durability20% of total
56/100even
Liquidity15% of total
53/100-6
Risk resilience10% of total
15/100-22
Sub-scores run 0-100 before weighting; the weighted total is 52/100. Medians are computed live from the 46 cars currently in the under $30k band, so this picture moves when the library does.
The working behind each factor: baseline and drivers ↓
Ownership economics30% weight
51/100
Baseline84 pts
− 13.4% of value a year to run-33 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)51 pts
Scarcity25% weight
63/100
Baseline20 pts
+ 55 survivors estimated in Australia+43 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)63 pts
Demand durability20% weight
56/100
Baseline48 pts
+ Mid-engined, under 1,150kg, and the shape has aged well+12 pts
− Never sold here in supercharged form, so every one is a question-12 pts
+ The eighties Japanese wedge has a following that is still growing+8 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)56 pts
Liquidity15% weight
53/100
Baseline12 pts
+ 60 days on market+35 pts
+ 4 sales a year+6 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)53 pts
Risk resilience10% weight
15/100
Baseline50 pts
− Any local supercharged car is an import or a conversion-18 pts
− Rust in sills, floor pans and strut towers is the usual killer-10 pts
− Thin transaction record-7 pts
Sub-score (baseline plus drivers, clamped 0-100)15 pts
Model output, not advice or a valuation. Verify independently before acting.

What it costs to own · about 3,377 km a year

Annual cost of access, excl. fuel
$3,830a year
Share of value per year
13.4%
Scheduled servicing$92024%
Tyres, annualised$46012%
Registration and CTP$42011%
Insurance$80021%
Sinking fund (failure table)$1,23032%
All-in annualised (a different number)
Purchase (model value plus duty)$29,640
Running costs × 5 years$19,150
Median exit, net of selling cost$30,514
All-in annualised over 5 years$3,655/yr
Share of value per year12.8%
Cost of access is what the car costs to run. All-in annualised adds depreciation, duty and selling costs across a five year hold. They answer different questions and are labelled separately for that reason.
Break-even appreciation, 5 year hold
11.9%a year, only to get the money back
This library projects
+1.9%a year
The projection falls 10.1 points a year short of the hurdle. On these assumptions this car is a cost, not an asset, which can be an entirely rational thing to buy but should be bought knowing it.
Purchase$28,500
Stamp duty$1,140
Running costs x 5 years$19,150
Selling cost at exit, 2.6% of the salescales with price
Sale price needed at +5 years$50,091
Storage
Bought at
No forecast is used to compute the hurdle. It is the purchase, the duty, any premium and 5 years of running cost, grossed up for the cost of selling and spread back over the hold. The projection it is measured against is the weakest number in this product and is drawn that way in the chart above. Transport, finance and any restoration spend sit outside it.

Specification

Engine1.6L supercharged DOHC four
Power / torque108 kW / 186 Nm
0-100 km/h6.8 s
Transmission5sp manual
DriveRWD
Kerb weight1,131 kg
Built worldwide163,000
Delivered to AustraliaNone. Every car here is an import
Effective AU survivors55 (imported)
Australian sales / year4
Typical days on market60 days
Launch priceNever sold new in Australia

What moves the price on this model

Colour hierarchy
Original paint in a factory colour+6%
Two-tone red over grey, the period combination+3%
Resprayed or colour-changed-7%
Options
Verified factory 4A-GZE with matching compliance history+35%
Rust-free with documented underbody+20%
T-bar roof with the panels present and sealing+6%
Odometer sensitivity±1.2% per 10,000 km vs 130,000 km
Applied on top of these

Condition, history, originality, ownership, delivery and modification multipliers apply to every car in the library. They are applied automatically when an advertisement is analysed, and the schedule is set out once, on the analyser page.

Projected value in five years

Projected value at five years
$31,254
+9.7% on today
The model's figure. Today it is $28,500.
Even odds it lands between $25,452 and $36,998.
$20,223 lowhigh $42,175
The shaded range is even money and 45% wide; the outer figures bound eight outcomes in ten. Band width follows the evidence - a model with a tight measured record carries a tight band.
A stronger five year outlook than 57% of the library.
-26.6% weakest projected move in the librarystrongest +73.1%
Five-year cost of ownership
Value change alone: +$2,754 across five years.
Running costs over the same period: $19,150.
Duty and expected selling costs: $1,880.
Net cost of five years of ownership: $18,275, or $3,655 a year.
The projected value rise offsets part of the running cost. It does not make the car free to own.

The case for and against

The case for

A 1,131kg mid-engined coupe with a supercharged twin-cam, and the shape has aged better than almost anything else from 1986. Rust-free cars are separating hard from the rest.

The case against

Australia never got the supercharged car, so every local example is an import or an engine conversion and needs the 4A-GZE physically verified. Two recorded Australian results is not a market.

Known faults and risks

Risk 1Australia received only the naturally aspirated 4A-GE, so any local blower car needs verifying
Risk 2Rust in sills, arches, floor pans and strut towers
Risk 3Corroded under-body coolant pipes running the length of the car
Rust in sills, arches, floor pans and strut towers$7,750
Supercharger and SC12 electromagnetic clutch and bearings$4,250
Timing belt overdue or age-cracked$2,200
Corroded under-body coolant pipes running front to rear$2,000
Alternator failure from mid-engine heat soak$1,050
Pop-up headlight motor failure$625

Similar cars, and what they cost to run

Evidence behind this valueThin · 1 recorded sale
Carried value
$28,500
Historical price
2016 · $21,1002026 · $28,500
Thin
At least one recorded transaction plus a source. Direction is sound, the exact level less so.
The reading on this record was wrong and the lot pages settle it

This entry carried two results a twofold gap apart and concluded that what separates MR2 prices is rust. It is not rust. The dearer car, $24,250 at Berwick in September 2023, is NATURALLY ASPIRATED - a rebuilt 20-valve 4A-GE on individual throttle bodies with Kelford cams and an 8,000rpm limiter, built by The Skid Factory and documented across a YouTube series. It has no supercharger, its own row here already flagged the doubt, and it was counted anyway. It is now excluded, because a famous naturally aspirated build is not the supercharged car this record prices.

Read the rest of the evidence notes (3 more)
One counted sale remains and it describes the bottom of the market

$12,000 at Montrose in March 2024 is a genuine 4A-GZE T-top and it is also a 164,200km car with cosmetic paintwork to the front, door hinges needing re-bushing, window gears jumping teeth, a broken antenna, a bonnet release cable replaced by one hanging out of the grille, and no inspection since 2011 - on a car driven 400km in fourteen years of ownership. The research band put a rough example at $12,000 and this one landed exactly there, which corroborates the floor and says nothing at all about the middle.

The value is unchanged at $28,500 because nothing here has measured a good car

What has changed is that the page now says so.

Australia never sold the supercharged car

Toyota Australia offered the AW11 in one trim with the naturally aspirated 4A-GE, so any supercharged AW11 here is a Japanese import or a conversion, and the 4A-GZE needs verifying on the specific car - the Montrose lot page states the engine explicitly, which is why it counts. FOR CALIBRATION, independent Australian assessment puts rough naturally aspirated cars near $15,000, better cars from $20,000 and prime examples around $40,000, with supercharged cars carrying an estimated twenty to thirty-five per cent premium on top.

This page prices the model.
The report prices the car in the advertisement.

Send the link. A person reads the advertisement and its photographs and sends back what that Toyota MR2 Supercharged is worth, what to offer and when to walk away, with five years of costs at the distance you drive.

Read a real listing report

The evidence on this model is thin and the report says so on its cover. Read a complete one on a real car first. Seventeen sections, no account, nothing to pay.

This model, today$28,500
Half of sales are further out than$3,186
The report$249
13×
the price of the report: what half of real sales of this model sit further from this page's number than, on this car
Watch this model
Told when the next one is called.

One line of email when this desk publishes a call on a Toyota MR2 Supercharged, or records a new Australian sale of one. Nothing else, no schedule, and on a quiet model you may hear nothing for months, which is itself worth knowing about a car you are chasing.

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MR2 for sale?Priced by a person, $249