So firstly hi everyone first post here after lurking as a guest for a month.
Recently the floorboard gave away on my old car and so I did some research and decided to have a look at buying a soarer . Was first exposed to them when my brother (who is a member here) bought one and fell in love with them.
Being a P-plater in vic i'm restricted to the 3.0L SC300. The JZZ31 I believe? Not too knowledgable with the JZZ terms
Now I have found three soarers on carsales which suite me and my price range. One is quite meh. the other looks like it has been in good condition with 140,000kms (approximating here).
Brother is on a holiday at the moment, and isn't back for another 10 days so I'm waiting for him to return so I can check it out. But I thought I'd briefly and vaguely get some assistance in things to check or whether it is too good to be true. Because the low KMS and 9800 ONO would be great.
In the images the car looks great. few small scratches in the first picture which i'm fine with for now, interior looks sweet. But is there anyway I can know or be reasonably confident that the owner hasn't altered the odometer if that's even possible, or whether there's something that I can look out for which might cause me to avoid buying it
Thursday, July 05, 2012 - 05:00 pm, by: Rory Braatvedt(Fallward)
Most Japanese-import vehicles have their odometers wound back between 50,000-150,000kms before crossing the border. Source: Uncle who works as car salesman, friend who works at Compliance, and I used to wash cars for Toyota. Apparently it's common knowledge.
Also, 9,800 seems VERY expensive. I could buy that car in New Zealand for 6,000 absolute max. Hell, i can get a manual single-turbo for 9grand here.
Thursday, July 05, 2012 - 06:33 pm, by: Wayne Womersley(A49kidx)
You're right Rory, they are all wound back, in Japan, not here. It is pretty well common knowledge by anyone who has an interest in Jap imports. I bought my 91 Limited from the importer/compliance place in 2002 with 87K on it. Yea right, 87k in 11 years. And the wear on the "hands on" stuff, wheel, shifter etc was more than 87, probably more like 130+k. They can only push it so far without it looking silly. I knew it was a wank, but the car was still in pretty good condition. And my V8 has now done 204k??? and will probably go on for ever.
Ohh man had no idea. So best I stay away from it them I'm guessing.
I wouldn't be able to tell you if theres any service history as I am waiting on brother to return to come check it out with me as he is an ex owner.
If it was no more than '150,000 actual' I wouldn't mind but yes 9800 is a quite steep for it.
Had look in your cars for sale section but no non turbos that I could see. Anyone know of any decent jzz31's down in Melbourne? Looking at spending. 8600 max excluding rego etc.
Also thanks heaps for letting me know guys. Much appreciated. Glad I came here first
Thursday, July 05, 2012 - 09:16 pm, by: Dave Rose(Sand_groper)
Its a may 1996 just before the upgrade ,so it has old style front /rear /sills. Not all Soarers are wound back some come with JP Toyota history also Japan transport system is very good so it is used a lot, as to take a car into a city to work costs, lots of cars are weekenders.
So you reckon it would be worth checking out? I was hoping to bargain it down to about 8500. Or would that still be too much.
Looks absolutely mint in the photos. I grabbed a copy of the car facts history mentioned on it and it says all is good with the car, no write offs or odometer rollbacks but again they're not necessarily 100% correct are they?
Thursday, July 05, 2012 - 10:35 pm, by: Ali Saeed(Ali)
mate that car looks schmik. the interior looks very clean. I reckon thats probably got under 100,000km. Definitely have a look at that one. The price is a touch too high. 8.5k sounds like a fair price to me.
PS. Contrary to popular belief VERY FEW Japanese dealers wind back odometers because of their stringent laws. Most of it is done in Australia
Thursday, July 05, 2012 - 10:45 pm, by: Mike Triggs(Mikeandimah)
Tharaka, I've owned 2 Jzz-31s, they're excellent. The present ride (owned for 6 years) is a '97. Bought in as a Personal Import, odo not wound back (well, don't think so, it had 163,000km on it!). The one in the link looks good, if you like black interiors (which apparently command a premium) but as others have suggested, a tad overpriced. Part of that price is probably the wheels.
Yea I'm thinking of taking both my brother and dad, brother being a Soarer owner and dad being a mechanic to check it out. I was hoping 8.5 would be reasonable for it. 9,800 seemed a little much and out of budget. If anything I'm hoping he'll have his service history for both aus and jap. I've sent him a message through the carsales enquiry and will wait to get back from him.
I've been told to check for wear and tear such as the steering wheel, buttons which are used a lot, door trims etc and check for the condition under the hood.
Again thanks guys for the advice and your thoughts on the car. Obviously will have to have a full inspection it person. But much appreciated.
Friday, July 06, 2012 - 08:17 am, by: Mike Triggs(Mikeandimah)
It's a pity Toyota took so long to update the body on the JZZ-31. My car's from Sept 1997, just a month after they finally put the turbo's body parts on and went to VVTi engine (not that there's anything wrong with the non-VVTi, I thought the '95 we had a more "fun" and sporty drive).
Friday, July 06, 2012 - 08:19 am, by: Rory Braatvedt(Fallward)
Yeah 8.5k sounds more reasonable, I definitely wouldn't go above that. Check door trims are secure, look for sloppy gear changes, look around all the sills for rust, obviously look for oil/water leaks and smoke, check correct digital dash operation, I doubt much would be wrong with that car but it will be coming up on the big 100,000km service including leads, plugs, filters, cambelt, etc etc
Friday, July 06, 2012 - 01:52 pm, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
I've had my 1996 JZZ31 for 8 years. It came with a service history in Japanese that went through to 65,000km/2002 - I bought the car in 2004 at 85,000km as the first NZ owner, so I was pretty happy the K's were genuinish. I discovered things that both backed this up and refuted it - for example the cam belt had either never been done, or been done with all genuine Toyota parts (plus) but one of the rear shocks had been replaced - AND that replaced shock looked like it had been in there for a long time - minus. But on the whole I think it was genuine considering it's now done 220,000km's and has only had stuff you would expect need doing at those kinds of KM's.
Incidentally, mine cost me $6995 NZD cash, on the road in 2004 (through a direct importer)... so $9500 AUD seems a total rip to me.
Friday, July 06, 2012 - 02:25 pm, by: Mike Triggs(Mikeandimah)
Matthew, Au prices are vastly different to NZ, it's because of many factors, one of which is the high compliancing costs to get an import on the roads her, since we have some of the most stringent safety rules in the world. Also, we've never had access to the imports NZ has had, so prices are high here are relatively for 2nd hand stuff. Our Soarer was only $3200 in Japan- but $8000 on the road on Norfolk due freight and import duty, no compliancing costs, only a roadworthy check for NFI registration.
Yea thanks Rory. Did notice a few threads on the 100K service that's done for soarers which shouldn't be too bad. Will mostly be a weekend car as I am usually working and use Public Transport bar sat nights. So definitely hoping not to run into too many troubles.
When you say "check correct digital dash operation" what exactly do you mean?
Unfortunately things in australia tend to cost a lot more compared to other countries Matthew haha. Not just with imports either
Friday, July 06, 2012 - 05:19 pm, by: Rory Braatvedt(Fallward)
Regarding digital dash: Ensure it doesn't display symptoms of 'blinky dash' or fading, also fuel gauges are common to play up due to some of the fuel over there compromising the makeup of the sender.
Yea but if you have a look In my original post I'm a vic p plater haha. So I'm bound to non turbo v6's until I turn. 22 which is a few years down the track. The only other eligible Soarer I found has done 251,000 Kms which is far too much and that's not taking into consideration the possible Kms rollback if I'm going to be cautious.
I'd love to buy a tt and have seen quite a few on this forum I really like but hoons (and I'm being very general and very broad here) have caused certain limits to be imposed limiting the cars to choose from. But hey I will still definitely be looking around and asking around till brother gets back so I have some time to come across another one of possible
Saturday, July 07, 2012 - 07:23 am, by: Rory Braatvedt(Fallward)
Sorry I just feel the need to correct you, they are straight 6 engines not V6
I have to agree with Tom, the JZZ31 is the awkward model because it's basically worse (based on engine alone) than the V8 and TT yet still costs the same if not more? I got nothing against them i just don't think they make sense.
Saturday, July 07, 2012 - 09:20 am, by: Mike Triggs(Mikeandimah)
Tharaka, I understood the reason you needed a non-turbo or V8, and for selecting the Jzz-31. It's a great choice. You get most of the "fruit" associated with the (in Japan) more expensive models, with lower insurance costs and perfectly adequate performance (and depending on how you drive, economy).
The reason 3.0s are relatively rare is that they weren't introduced until, from memory, late '93 with the "second model", so the oldest you can find in general are '94 models. There are heaps of '91-93 TTs and V8s getting about because they were the biggest production years (again, from memory) and the years imported into this country in the highest numbers.
The JZZ-31 has none of the mechanical problems associated with the other models (turbos and leaking power steering pumps) and nor do they (in my limited experience, 8 years with two cars) get blinky dash. They do suffer from the a/c display bleed issue (because they share exactly the same part in non-EMV cars). Even our '97 has it.
Anyway, Tharaka, the JZZ-31s are out there, and worth looking at. Few non-enthusiasts looking at your car would even know it wasn't a turbo or V8. I get tourists at my station and some "enthusiasts" have asked me whether my car is turbo or V8, and they're surprised to learn that the Soarer was even available in the 3.0l non-turbo motor. Our car is a G-Pack model and has more "fruit" than most turbos get.
As a matter of interest, where do you come from? I'll have a wild guess and say Nepal
Haha no worries Rory absolutely correct with it being a straight 6.
Yea will definitely have to look around some more Mike, hopefully looking to pick up a gem. Haha I actually am Sri Lankan although born here and I've been told to have one of the best aussie accents around ;) and surprise people when they first meet me.
Take the Milage as a very rough guide only, would you buy a 30,000km car with torn leather seats and low compression on motor and 5 leaks?
When Digital displays go bad people replace them so they will have different mileage anyway sometimes.
The condition of the car is best indicator.
Also don't go bargain hunting or turning away a car because of a high price before you have seen it in person most of the times the cheap cars are selling for cheap because they are not working out for the person who owns them buy something that is a reasonable price for reasonable condition I saw a z30 sell for $20,000 but it was Mint in every aspect
You really have to be your own judge and listen to your own gut feeling and opinions when buying cars because everybody is going to tell you different things.
Look at a few cars and make a check list that has 1-10 markings for each section e.g interior engine. Look at 5 Different Cars and fill that list out, and then compare your results with the prices and get what you reckon is worth it the most.
Cheers Boris thanks for the advice mate. Will certainly take that into consideration especially that checklist. Sounds like a great idea.
Yea definitely don't want to just focus on bargain hunting as I'm generally someone who is more than happy to pay a price for something as long as I consider it to be a reasonable offer for what I am getting in return.
Thanks again to everyone, will report back upon a full in person inspection
Well unfortunately the car ended up being a dud :/ was quite disappointing actually.
Went and checked it out yesterday. At first we were really surprised and pleased with the condition of the car. Was like brand new. Never driven or registered here. Had imported it and kept it in the garage.
Then came the bad news. The service history was in order. First bit of doubt crept in when it said service was done at 70,000KMS on the dot. But I put it to the side for later.
The major warning bells came when the guy said the car wasn't his, it was his brothers who actually resided overseas permanently. Had no documentation which gave any proof this guy was allowed to sell on his brothers behalf. He kept using the trust me line. He offered to give his brothers number which wasn't much satisfying.
The third thing was that there was an amount owing on the car as well. Had no idea what was left owing just said that 9800 would cover it. Yet he was happy to bargain down to 8.5 which screamed scam.
Car was perfect mechanically, interior was amazing drove beautifully but those issues was where I drew the line with my decision.
so now it's back to car searching...
Thanks for all your help guys again. Much appreciated.
well it was imported in january and as Dave mentioned the compliancing and RWC had been done. This stuff he had document ion for.
It wasn't that there was anything mechanically wrong with it just that he couldn't provide papers about the finance on the car, amount owing, amount paid and he wasnt the actual owner or seller.
Dad double checked it all and said the car was great mechanically, maximum rollback of the odometer would of been no more than about 50,000KMS and that was overestimating. Rollback was something I expected and was fine with. Just those other issues which turned me away didn't really want to end up with legal issues down the track, or find out I had purchased from a dodgy seller etc.
Monday, July 16, 2012 - 02:48 pm, by: Alistair David(Aldmo87)
I wouldn't worry about the finance owing etc. Just pay for a Vicroads check. It's about $110 or something and it means that if they screw up the check and there actually is finance on it, then Vicroads will pay you the costs of the car. Whilst the finance company would reposess it.