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Shaun Kim
Tinkerer
WA
TT

Posts: 18
Reg: 08-2005

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Thursday, December 07, 2006 - 05:25 pm, by:  Shaun Kim (Smk) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The last couple of months i've been thinking if i should sell my soarer and move on to another car. The reasons for this was it was becoming too much in terms of running cost that is servicing and wear and tear and replacement cost of old parts as our cars are mostly over decade old.
Right now i have few things that needs to be taken care of turbos,bushes all of them front n rear,pwr steering pump leak, blinky dash and aircon issues. i estimated i would need around 8k to get all this fixed and some bolt on goodies to suit the new turbos.
its alot of money when your on a student budget but if i know that i can drive my car for the next 3years without major issues it will be a better investment rather than getting a cheap car that looks crap and drives crap compared to our beasts. and plus i dont think i can receive much with current faults on my car....
dont know if any of you guys are in my position or have been in my position please feel free to share your experiences..

forgot to mention i also got a thousand bux worth of panel and bodykit dmg to repair
Steven Nanevski
DieHard
NSW
HKS 264/264 Cams are in, Cheering....

Posts: 815
Reg: 07-2005

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Thursday, December 07, 2006 - 05:35 pm, by:  Steven Nanevski (Imprestik) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think you can get away alot cheaper. As for turbos, I'm sure you can get a decent second hand set on here for around the $500 mark.

I would be surprised if your bushes are gone, I have a 91 TT and my bushes are fine, they tend to go on the UZZ series more due to the height adjustment.

I'm sure Mark can fix your blinky dash issue, not too sure how much he charges, and get in contact with either Lew or Neil about Aircon/Power steering components, they should have a good set lying around somewhere.

Either way I think you can get away alot cheaper than 8K.

btw your ride looks sweet in your profile, keep it mate...
Ben Socratous
Goo Roo
SA
I am the fibreglass/kevlar/carbonfibre king!

Posts: 1139
Reg: 07-2005

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Thursday, December 07, 2006 - 06:14 pm, by:  Ben Socratous (Socrates) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


Steven Nanevski wrote on Thursday, December 07, 2006 - 05:35 pm:

I would be surprised if your bushes are gone


The front right lower control arm bush in my '91TT had nothing left, ie all the rubber had perished away and that left the camber bolt with nearly a full inch of free play in any direction, no wonder I couldn't get the wheels aligned properly!

Shaun, keep in mind that there are other alternatives to the VFT bushes too. I am running superpro (from fulcrum suspension) in my car. Bit harder than stock, but not as bad as the nolathane ones though, then with the height of my car, I wouldn't notice it anyway :-) I have had them in for nearly 10,000km and there is not one squeak to be heard either. Oh yeah, and the complete front set only cost $250 fitted!

Steven is right, you can find second hand snails for around the $500 mark. If yours do die, just get some decent second hand ones to get you by, you don't have to go the massive T04 conversion straight up!

Do some searching and some PM'ing around here and you can usually find what you're after at great prices.
Vinh Bui
Goo Roo
NSW
94 UZZ31 (V8) / 96 JZZ30 (TT)

Posts: 1387
Reg: 07-2005

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Thursday, December 07, 2006 - 06:31 pm, by:  Vinh Bui (Hyudsjk) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think you will find that the air con issues will probably cost you the most to repair. Power steering rebuilds only cost about $300 or so from your mechanic. As for the turbos and bushes, you can just follow Steven and Ben's advice.
Bill Bogiatzis
TryHard
NSW
TT

Posts: 264
Reg: 04-2006

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Thursday, December 07, 2006 - 11:25 pm, by:  Bill Bogiatzis (Boggie23) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

To rebuild your turbos and give it a nice good service (coolant, oils, filters) you would be looking at 3500. Ebay ones go for around 1200 or so. That could save you a grand or so.

Blinky dash. It will set you back around 200 or so but you can get it done cheaper at a normal tv repair place. Probably set you back no more than 100. But they might not know what they are doing.

Power steering. Are you sure it is your pump? Mine was leaky and it was a hose. Could be anywhere between 70 to say 500 or so.

Bushes are a annoying thing. But once they are repaired you will never need to think about them again (along with all your problems)


Apart from all them you will probably be forking out 1600 a year for servicing and rego and that should be it. If you do your own service then you will need just over 1000 for rego and small parts here and there. Then insurance if you have it will set you back a fair bit more.


The main thing is though once you sort all those problems out you will not have an issue with them ever again.

You are in a similar position I was in. And I just did things slowly and am still going. In the next 5 years or so my car will hopefully have a custom interior, custom paint job, nice wheel, full exhaust, bigger turbo/s, 1.5JZ, a FC and much more. It won’t happen over night but I will just try to chip away as I go. When it comes time for the engine I will more than likely have it sitting around for a few years as I mod it on the side before I drop it in.
Vinh Bui
Goo Roo
NSW
94 UZZ31 (V8) / 96 JZZ30 (TT)

Posts: 1391
Reg: 07-2005

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Thursday, December 07, 2006 - 11:29 pm, by:  Vinh Bui (Hyudsjk) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Nice plans Bill. My plan is very similar to yours except I've already got half of that list completed :-)

Cosmetics are nearly out of the way, so now it's time for the engine to have it's turn
Ian Johnston
DieHard
South Australia
UZZ30 GT 4.0

Posts: 742
Reg: 07-2005

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Friday, December 08, 2006 - 07:17 am, by:  Ian Johnston (Ted) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

You need to look at the big picture.
If you sell, what will you get? It will devalue
as quick as anything, and cost more to purchase in the 1st place.
Spend the money slowly over a period of time as you can afford, looking at the safety items 1st.
Then when extra cash available, get the goodies you want.
In my opinion, it is worth it to keep what you have.
I have thought about this several times myself, and now I have only one car. A Soarer!!
My wife uses it as an every day car. I now cant get her out of it.
Joe Radisic
Tinkerer
WA
2JZ GTE SingleTurbo

Posts: 98
Reg: 10-2006

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Friday, December 08, 2006 - 07:35 am, by:  Joe Radisic (Joe) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I tried buying a car for my wife, all the test drives in a reasonable price range were a let down after having the comfort of our cars. Depending what your budget is what ever you buy could and will have problems as well. My biggest mistake i bought her a Mazda Eunos 800M and already spent $2500 fixing the f-ing thing should have got her a YEP Soarer.
Matthew Sharpe
Goo Roo
North Island
JZZ31

Posts: 1770
Reg: 10-2005

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Friday, December 08, 2006 - 09:37 am, by:  Matthew Sharpe (Madmatt) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Cars cost money to keep on the road, regardless. Its a fact of life. Why not spend money keeping something interesting that you enjoy driving on the road rather than something that just gets you from A to B with no joy?
Shaun Stephenson
TryHard
Vic
Jzz30 TT & ST162

Posts: 244
Reg: 04-2006

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Friday, December 08, 2006 - 09:48 am, by:  Shaun Stephenson (Neonasty) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I guess in the long run its up to you. 8K is a lot of money to drop on a Soarer. If I was you. Id deal with the lack of Air con till later. Suspension, Turbos first. Its no good having a nice cool car if you cant drive it anywhere.

Learn to service the car yourself. Get a friend to show you. Its pretty easy for a basic service and you can do it in about an hour. That'll save you $60 every 5k Kms.

Personally I always have my girlfriends car to drive if the Soarer is out of action. But I also have a Celica, the FZR a pushie etc etc. Dont fall for a false economy and cut corners just to have the car out of action later. Im a firm believer in doing it right the first time.

Save up your money, do what you can yourself, what you cant get done slowly.
Samantha Hornby
Goo Roo
WA
Factory Manual TT

Posts: 1065
Reg: 09-2005

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Friday, December 08, 2006 - 09:58 am, by:  Samantha Hornby (Marla_singer) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Personally I would avoid 2nd hand turbos unless you know the owner and the car they came out of. When my turbos blew I went through two sets of dodgy second hand ones bought both from wreckers and from PEOPLE ON THIS VERY FORUM and wasted over a thousand dollars just trying to save money. Do what I did: up the limit on your Visa and get them rebuilt with steel wheels. I'm SO glad I did because now she purrs like a kitten and still chops P-plater Commodores at the traffic lights. Boooyeh!
Greg Nikitiuk
DieHard
Vic
Celsior

Posts: 826
Reg: 07-2005

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Friday, December 08, 2006 - 01:39 pm, by:  Greg Nikitiuk (Jestr) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I agree with Sam.
Funny how all the second hand turbos are in "good condition, minimal play, due to upgrade" blah blah
Most are on the last legs or stuffed already.
Get them rebuild and for christ sake KEEP IT!
you car looks fantastic.
If you try to sell it as it is you get stuff all for it.
Then what sort car can you get for $8K?
nothing will even come close to soarer for that money.

As people above said, fix it slowly as funds become available.
Jose-Antonio Castillo
Goo Roo
NSW
Soarer VVTi

Posts: 1035
Reg: 07-2005

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Friday, December 08, 2006 - 02:17 pm, by:  Jose-Antonio Castillo (Ahh_soarer) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I was going through the same situation a couple of months back (I'm on a student's typical wage as well) and was thinking of buying a GS300. However, I don't think there's a car that is on par with Soarers in terms of value for the price. It is a buyer's market out there and you won't get the price you're looking for if you're looking to sell anytime soon.

Bite the bullet mate, keep the car and get it fixed up. You'll fall in love with it again.
Shaun Kim
Tinkerer
WA
TT

Posts: 20
Reg: 08-2005

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Friday, December 08, 2006 - 02:55 pm, by:  Shaun Kim (Smk) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

thanks guys for sharing your experiences and thoughts with the current dilemma that i have.
after alot of thought i think i know deep inside i dont want to give up on my beast just yet.
although ill have a negative bank account from now on i think ill go all the way of keeping my soarer.
i decided ill pick up locally from the supplier of those china steelies the ones Ben mentioned earlier, i know they are china made ones but i havnt heard much bad about them so far. im thinking this will be a better investment than a second hand turbos and cost effective since its just over 1k(half price compared to getting the current ones rebuilt).. and the bushes... have to take it to a suspension place to get a rough quote for that in the coming days. hey guys how much labour cost do u think ill incur if i get the turbos removed and fitted and tuned? and fitting of dumps.

yeah like you guys mentioned ill try to solve these problems one by one .. but the turbos r coming first as i feel my rear ones have let go^^. hopefully by april next year i can have my car in show room condition. jus thinking of that i lose track of reality forgetting all the bills that needs to be paid to make this happen.... but ill definately have no regrets after i get all this done for sure.
Kim Nguyen
TryHard
WA
Soarer TT

Posts: 229
Reg: 03-2006

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Friday, December 08, 2006 - 03:07 pm, by:  Kim Nguyen (Kim) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

After reading this thread, I know how you feel.
Upon buying my car and getting a mechanical check from a "soarer expert" in WA I thought I was going to cry. So much to fix and so little money, I still have my car now and still haven't fixed much but the car is still going. Broken Diff, bushes, engine mount, gearbox mount, crappy interior, no rear speakers, think my turbos are going to die, engine could be on the way out soon (Done over 200 thou Ks). Not to mention a dodgy spec paint job which I wouldn't have paid for and would have complained a lot about. But I still do enjoy the car and will hopefully fix it up slowly, Looking for a 1jz engine to replace hopefully with turbos or prices on rebuilds etc.

Shaun, I feel for you mate but good luck with everything, I think ever soarer owner must go through something like you have, I remember reading Ben's issues and there are many more =(
Vinh Bui
Goo Roo
NSW
94 UZZ31 (V8) / 96 JZZ30 (TT)

Posts: 1394
Reg: 07-2005

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Friday, December 08, 2006 - 04:01 pm, by:  Vinh Bui (Hyudsjk) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


Shaun Kim wrote on Friday, December 08, 2006 - 02:55 pm:

hey guys how much labour cost do u think ill incur if i get the turbos removed and fitted and tuned? and fitting of dumps.



What do you mean by tuned mate? You'll need a piggyback in order to be able to tune anything. They're recommended for you to be able to take full advantage of this kind of setup.

As for the labour, it should take a competent mechanic around 7-8 hours. So that cost will depend on how much they charge per hour. It will also be a lot more convenient and cheaper to install any after market dump pipes whilst the turbos are out.
Bill Bogiatzis
TryHard
NSW
TT

Posts: 265
Reg: 04-2006

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Friday, December 08, 2006 - 10:37 pm, by:  Bill Bogiatzis (Boggie23) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I dont think it will cost anything extra for a after market dump pipe to be fitted as it just bolts on. You will be looking at under 1000 for labour (should be in the 500-600 dollar zone).

I guess with the ebay ones you can probably get them installed with dump pipe for around 2500-2700. Beats paying around about 2500 to rebuild your ones.
Jose-Antonio Castillo
Goo Roo
NSW
Soarer VVTi

Posts: 1036
Reg: 07-2005

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Saturday, December 09, 2006 - 01:09 pm, by:  Jose-Antonio Castillo (Ahh_soarer) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


Kim Nguyen wrote on Friday, December 08, 2006 - 03:07 pm:

engine could be on the way out soon (Done over 200 thou Ks)



As long as the engine is serviced regularly you won't have a problem with it. I sold my old Soarer with close to 200K on the clock (it probably had more... bought it with 77K on the clock) and AFAIK it's still going strong.
Tom Nicol
Tinkerer
Vic
JZZ30 TT

Posts: 88
Reg: 01-2006

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Saturday, December 09, 2006 - 03:20 pm, by:  Tom Nicol (Goosemonger) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

This thread has reassured me to keep my car. It's just clicked over 200,000 kms, the interior is a bit raggidy and it needs some minor panel work done. I considered for a while that it might be better to invest in a newer soarer, in better nic and less kms, but now I'm gonna keep working on this one.

I'll probably do what Bill plans on doing, and get myself another engine to mod and polish up in the shed, then when this one's had the gong I'll plonk it in.
Mark Paddick
Goo Roo
ACT
UZZ31 V8 Soarer , JZZ30 TT Soarer , UZZ32 Soarer

Posts: 3304
Reg: 07-2005

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Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 03:27 am, by:  Mark Paddick (Sparks) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Have a read of some other threads too and have a THINK about what you need.

Turbos; no probs

A/C compressor or A/C screen? Only the screen is gunna be a hassle and you CAN live with a bleeding screen that you can't read at all.

Power steering pump; no worries

Alternator; ditto

ALL the above and a LOT more except the A/C display will come on a 2nd hand motor from Japan for less than $2k for sure. Possibly alot less.
The trick is NOT to try to save here. Get the latest lowest work engine you can find, so for a TT, '96 or so. If it's been sitting a few years it's not going to have travelled far before coming out.
It will have all the above in good nick on it.
Even if the engine is still OK a spare never hurts and the turbos, A/C etc will be worth the price of the whole lot on their own anyway.
I bought a late (2002)VVTi 1UZ, gearbox and ECU with less than 20,000km for about $2k landed on my doorstep (or near enough) because I knew I would need an A/C compressor eventually as it was getting noisy (it died the week the new engine arrived). If you call the compressor on the engine a new one then a VVTi V8, 5spd auto and ECU and harness cost me $700!
Got the gearbox and front crossmembers too with all mounts attached and perfect. They may not fit a soarer but they are Celsior?LS400/430 direct replacement parts so there's a bit of pocket money too.
Ben Lipman
TryHard
NSW
Soarer TT

Posts: 247
Reg: 04-2006

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Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 07:01 am, by:  Ben Lipman (Ben12a) Quote hilighted text Edit Post Delete Post Print Post   View Post/Check IP (Moderator/Admin Only) Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I have had similar sleepless nights.

I bought my car 5 years ago when they were a lot less known in Australia. The bottom fell out out the market for whatever reason and prices for them are now half what I paid or worse.

If I sell it I take a massive loss and have to outlay a lot for something with similar features (great interior, nice engine, uniqueness, driveability, comfort and performance). I would then have to expect to make a sizeable loss on the newer car also.

I decided to take the softly slowly approach and do mods over a few years.

I know what I have now. If I buy a newer second hand car I don't know what problems I am also buying.

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