Wednesday, October 08, 2008 - 01:11 pm, by: John Beaton(Jbeaton)
Hello y'all
I'm a new member here. I've just test-driven a soarer, and I'm getting it checked by a mechanic Thursday, but I wanted your two cents first. The car drives very well and seems very responsive. Despite the high ks it has a recent ( 2005 ) transmission and turbo rebuild.
The only real issue i have with the car is that there is a sound it makes noise/vibrates and then. The dealer tells me its a brake booster and is normal. (The car has TRC by the way.)
I've never driven a soarer before so I don't know if its normal - also - if say its on the blink, how much is it going to cost me to fix?
Wednesday, October 08, 2008 - 04:02 pm, by: Kyle Wathen(Cspot)
John Beaton wrote on Wednesday, October 08, 2008 - 12:11 pm:
The only real issue i have with the car is that there is a sound it makes noise/vibrates and then. The dealer tells me its a brake booster and is normal. (The car has TRC by the way.)
Soarers equipped with TRC have a brake master cylinder up where the standard brake booster usually is (top of engine bay on drivers side). These units have a nitrogen accumulator attached to them (the round black & yellow cylinder thing on the master cylinder) which charge the brakes after they have been used.
Its usual to here a faint charging noise every 4-6 pumps of the brakes.
If it is activating the pump every time you touch the brakes, making a squeaking noise or you can hear the pump running for more than 15 seconds you will need a new nitrogen accumulator – about $500 for a refurbished unit, labour and brake fluid flush.
If the actual master cylinder is making abnormal noises and/or leaking they cannot be repaired (as far as I know) and your only choices are track down a second hand unit or buy new which will set you back well over $2,000.
If the master cylinder unit is activating properly you should not feel ANY vibrations and it is normal to only hear a faint charging noise for 4-10 seconds every couple of times you pump the brakes. If it is behaving in any other way it’s a good indication the unit may need attention or is running low on nitrogen.
Most of these cars are getting to the stage where the nitrogen accumulator needs to be replaced at this stage in their life.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008 - 05:28 pm, by: Tom Nicol(Goosemonger)
"These top of the range super cars cost over $100,000 new and give Ferrari performance."
It seems we drive Ferrari super cars.
Looks like a pretty good buy, but the dealer will tell you anything to sell it. Hopefully the mechanic you got is good and will give you some sound advice. Did you tell the mechanic about the noise?
Wednesday, October 08, 2008 - 07:07 pm, by: John Beaton(Jbeaton)
Haha i know... Well now i cant remember if it vibrated or not ... on second thoughts i think it was only the sound ... i'll take it for another drive friday and let the mechanic know tomorrow morning (he's checking it in the arvo i think).
If the nitrogen accumulator does go i'm not too worried about coughing up another $500 or so. If its the master cylinder, I think i'll be looking elsewhere ^__^
Wednesday, October 08, 2008 - 08:30 pm, by: Callum Finch(Sigeneat)
John Beaton wrote on Wednesday, October 08, 2008 - 06:07 pm:
If the nitrogen accumulator does go i'm not too worried about coughing up another $500 or so. If its the master cylinder, I think i'll be looking elsewhere ^__^
Get him to drop the price by however much the mechanic quotes to fix it... if it is broke.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008 - 10:10 pm, by: Ben Kelly(Ace)
John soarers are a money pit. I know all the costs of running a v8 but in some respects the tt models are cheaper esp if the turbos and transmission have been rebuilt; although id ask for evidence. It actually seems like a nice example i reckon go for it but keep 2-4k spare for any immediate fixes.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008 - 10:39 pm, by: John Beaton(Jbeaton)
Yep, I've got 3k in the bank set aside for just that =p. I have read the receipts of the auto and turbos so I'm satisfied it has been done. I'm tossing up whether to cough up $2000 for full compo or just get 3rd party and drive like a granny ... hrm ...
Wednesday, October 08, 2008 - 11:10 pm, by: Dave Rose(Sand_groper)
John next time you drive the car ,just switch it on..the buzzing will start, wait till it stops..you should be able to push the brakes twice before you hear the buzz again.
Thursday, October 09, 2008 - 10:03 am, by: Kyle Wathen(Cspot)
Which shop were the turbo's rebuilt at?
John Beaton wrote on Wednesday, October 08, 2008 - 09:39 pm:
I'm tossing up whether to cough up $2000 for full compo or just get 3rd party and drive like a granny
In my opinion its not worth paying 25% the value of the car in insurance.
Say you write-off the car you purchased for $8k and you get that $8k back from the insurance company after your claim. Take away the $2k insurance premium and most likely a $1.5-2k excess and all you are left with is $4k.
On the other hand you might only have 3rd party and when you write it off you could get that $4k back by parting it out (well unless the car burns to a shell).
So theres a good chance you will be in s similar position after choosing either option BUT if you dont crash and have 3rd party, you will have an extra $1.5k in your pocket each year.
Thats the way I would look at it if i were to pay $2k insurance on an $8k car.
Thursday, October 09, 2008 - 12:04 pm, by: John Beaton(Jbeaton)
Which shop were the turbo's rebuilt at?
I don't have the receipts on hand, but I'll check tomorrow. The dealer told me that they were rebuilt with stainless steel turbos.
Yeah good point about the insurance Kyle ... I'll have a think about it.
The other thing was ... has anyone on the forum done a CarPC for the soarer? Being the TT model, it doesn't have that EMV screen, which is probably a blessing from a CarPC point of view because I have a double din slot to work with.
Thursday, October 09, 2008 - 02:54 pm, by: Kyle Wathen(Cspot)
I’d be getting the dealer to rectify those issues before purchasing.
What exactly did he say was wrong with traction control? Flashing lights on the dash or you could just bag the wheels up with no interruption with TRC on?
Also have you done a VIN check with Vicroads?
I noticed the VIN is different to every JZZ30 I have seen. They usually start with 6U900JZZ0XXXXX .
Imports with VIN’s starting with 6T9REPXXXX mean they have been re-shelled, I’m wondering if 6T91MPXXXX means something else?
Thursday, October 09, 2008 - 05:03 pm, by: John Beaton(Jbeaton)
What exactly did he say was wrong with traction control? Flashing lights on the dash or you could just bag the wheels up with no interruption with TRC on?
The latter.
Also have you done a VIN check with Vicroads?
I noticed the VIN is different to every JZZ30 I have seen. They usually start with 6U900JZZ0XXXXX .
Never even thought of that :| I'll make sure I check it.
Saturday, October 11, 2008 - 12:10 pm, by: James Harris(Haro)
I agree with Kyle regarding the insurance.
Its just not worth it hey. Just get some 3rd Party with fire and THEFT !!
I ended up getting fully comp on my Soarer but only cos i turned over 25 years old and i wanted my car insured for an agreed value as opposed to the poo market value that has bottomed out with these bloody cars in the past 5 years.
Im insured with LSV (Lumley Special Vehicles) and im paying high 800s/year and i pay quarterly with no extra charges. My car is insured with ALL my mods (extensive) and for $16000... AND i have salvage rights which is important also.
Now all i gotta do is get it stolen then recovered as a write off and then wreck it myself HAHAH
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