To Spyder or get the Baygon

My purchase of an sw20 fell through and I've been thinking of buying a Spyder instead as there are a couple on Carsales that are in my budget and the kms are much lower than any SW20 I can find,

BUT-- I know nothing about them atall nor am I familiar with the semi auto (?)
Can anyone help me out -

1 / Is the gearbox fault prone and what sevicing does it need .

2/ Does the car have a timing belt and if so what are the change intervals.

3 / What are the cars like as a driver overall.

Any feedback will be most gratefully received.:o

ive had my 1st one for 2 years now and still love it. The SMT is different ,a little slow to change sometimes . cant race through the gears but never felt it a problem when at higher revs hitting the twisties. and you cant drop the clutch and take off at the lights. its not as fast as a SW in a straight line but beats them through the tight turns. and great to have the option to pop the top down and enjoy the wind and sun.
havent had a problem with it yet. now own one i am making into a track car. Dont know what surok means by it will drive you crazy?
also you can get performance parts but not the same range and easy availability as you can for the SWs. but you get the ultimate MR2 and a car thats a bit different to all the SWs.

quote:

---

Originally posted by surok

it will drive you nuts.

---

I have to ask--why--?

They shift slower than an automatic. And very slow in a straight line. Apart from that, I like them.

Thanks for the replys everyone , did a bit of investigating and---

After a couple of enquirys I've found out that the car is good but has an Achillies heel of huge proportions.

It's all good major service at 120000kms ,about 700 bucks timing chain, not belt, so nice.

Until you get to the clutch around a grand +, (up to two grand at Toyota). Fine you say ?

But the clutch actuator can be a replacer (at any time)that'll set you back $4000.00, yup four grand.

AND don't miss the Acumulator pump at another 3 grand buckeroons it won't miss you yup $3000.00.

One thing you wont be doing if you get copped with the full clutch monty is [88]

You can however do a manual conversion for $3K, which all things considered if you got the car at the right price could be a very attractive option.

actually that would be a blessing in disguise.

because you then explain to your wife that you it much cheaper for you to do a 6mt+lsd swap than get it repaired.
and then the old addage
"while the gearbox is out"
you "might as well just put a 2zz in there"
"because darling, i think that 1ZZ-FED was on the way out anyway"

quote:

---

Originally posted by surok

actually that would be a blessing in disguise.
because you then explain to your wife that you it much cheaper for you to do a 6mt+lsd swap than get it repaired.
and then the old addage
"while the gearbox is out"
you "might as well just put a 2zz in there"
"because darling, i think that 1ZZ-FED was on the woutanyway"

---

Voice of experiance Hmm ? [(#)]