2002 Toyota MR2 Spyder

Routine

Owners filed 2 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the power train › automatic transmission › park/neutral start interlock switch. No safety recall has been issued.

What fails
ComponentReportsCrashesFiresInjuries
Power Train › Automatic Transmission › Park/Neutral Start Interlock Switch1
100
Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine1
000

What owners reported

Newest filings
Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine
Filed Sep 4, 2002FL

INFORMED DEALER OF EXCESSIVE OIL CUNSUMPTION ONLY TWO WEEKS AND 2,000 MILES AFTER OIL CHANGE. CAR SERVICED REGULARLY BY DEALER. TOYOTA TECHNICAL RESPONDS THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT MAY BE CAUSING IT, BUT NUMEROUS INCIDENTS HAVE BEEN REPORTED BY OWNERS. MOST INCIDENTS LEAD TO TOTAL ENGINE LOCKUP DUE TO ABSENCE OF OIL AS THE MAIN RINGS FAIL AND OIL IS RELEASED INTO THE EXHAUST MANIFOLD AND ON TO THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER. THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER GETS CLOGGED AND BACKPRESSURE RESULTS IN A BLOWN ENGINE. TOYOTA HAS INTRODUCED A MODIFIED SHORTBLOCK THAT ADDRESSES THIS PROBLEM, BUT THE REGIONAL DISTRIBUTORSHIPS HAVE TAKEN AN ATTITUDE OF DENIAL OF THE PROBLEM. NUMEROUS COROLLAS AND CELICA GTS VEHICLES, WHICH USE THE SAME 1ZZ-FE ENGINE, HAVE EXPRESSED SIMILAR INCIDENTS.*AK

Power Train › Automatic Transmission › Park/Neutral Start Interlock SwitchCrash
Filed Mar 22, 2002CA

PARKED VEHICLE WITH EMERGENCY BRAKE, WITHOUT WARNING, VEHICLE SHIFTED OUT OF GEAR AND ROLLED BACK. *JG

2 of 2 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 2003
YearComplaintsRecallsFiresDeathsAssessment
20052000Routine
200313010Routine
2002 — this page2000Routine
20012000Routine
200010000Routine

Compare every MR2 Spyder year →

Reading this record

No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.

Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.