| Author |
Message |
Andrew Duaso
TryHard
Victoria
V8
Posts: 401
Reg: 02-2009
|
i'll have a H1 in flat green with no roof and half doors... and i drive it wearing an american flag bandanna playing credence or similar..... gotta have roll bar mounted machine guns too!!! lol awesome
the h2/h3 suck balls, i'll just have a rusty landcruiser instead thanks |
David Vaughan
Goo Roo
NSW
IS300
Posts: 4663
Reg: 07-2005
|
I'll have an IED.
Oops! Sorry. |
Damian Ware
Goo Roo
Victoria
UZZ32
Posts: 1165
Reg: 10-2005
|
Miles Baker wrote on Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 05:56 pm:You cannot seriously be telling me that you have never heard of those breakages before? By common I am not trying to say they happen to EVERY car or even a MAJORITY. But they are well known issues. When someone posts about one, are we surprised? No. And that to me is the definition of a poor design or a problem area, or a quality issue. If it crops up often enough to be known, it's a quality issue.
The door trims crack. That is unacceptable. Any cracking is completely unacceptable. It is a design flaw and a quality issue. After they crack if you don't quickly repair or replace, they will eventually come apart. You should not HAVE to repair or replace door trims. Quality issue.
I don't care how many top notch Soarers that you have seen. I am sure there are top notch Pintos out there. It doesn't mean much. What I am talking about is there is a relatively large number of well known issues that happen more than incidentally. The car does have weaknesses.
Ofcourse I have heard of them I have seen the failures first hand.
Leaking power steering pumps where the fluid is that far stuffed it looks like it has never ever been changed. Over time the fluid become more acidic and can start to eat seals, hence why they leak. This is not a design fault or a problem with the car just a lack of maintaince.
Something you should remember is when the import rules changed what happened piles of importers that mostly imported nissans started bringing in dirt cheap soarers that were 100% •••• heaps. Heaps of miles on them with zero serivice history.
They would clean them up a bit wind back the odo and sell them for a killing as at the time soarers were still worth very good dollars. Sadly this has for a large % destroyed soarers value and ment there was piles of •••• soarers driving around.
Japs are well known for never servicing there cars until they stop being able to drive.
Which is were a large number of these problems have orignated from. Given the number of abused soarers on the road I think the reliability has proven to be very good.
As to door trims what are you on about, unless you wrench the •••• out of them they don't fall apart. Yes they have a small crack and this is one of the down sides to a soarer. |
Sebastian Grant
DieHard
nsw
soarer TT
Posts: 746
Reg: 01-2008
|
I read about an sc400 doing 700000 miles and still going strong with only the usual maintainence work performed on it. A guy in Texas of all places, he bought it brand new and it mainly does highway work. Pretty reliable by anyones standards. |
Mike Beck
Goo Roo
New Zealand
4.0GT UZZ30
Posts: 3935
Reg: 11-2005
|
This guy talks about his LS400 doing 500,000 Miles.
http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=46621
Impressive! Obviously a possibility in the USA or Australia perhaps... not so much NZ.
But at least with that many miles being done in USA on long boring effortless highways the cars can just keep clocking them up.
That's over 800,000km's Jesus Christ...
Though I wonder what that would be if it were harsher city driving kms... hmmm. |
Brett Cutts
TryHard
south australia
TT & V8
Posts: 371
Reg: 07-2008
|
common faults hmmmm lets see
As I am a mechanic hows about we compare some common problems
vs to vy commodore
inlet manifolds leaking coolant into engine, engine mounts collapsing, front radius rod bush failure, sway bar link failure, noisy idler pulleys radiator failure, leaky rocker covers window regulator failure tyres tyres and more tyres if it has independant rear suspension and thats to get you to 100 000kms
ea to au falcons
radiator failure cylinder head failure brakes brakes and more brakes power steering pumps filling the altenator with oil (sound familiar)shocker failure
holden ts astra
ignition lock failure ecu failure gearbox failure brakes and more brakes altenator failure
ford transit focus and mondeo 1st generation
a failure all round the transits were the worst I dont think there was a part that did not fail regularly from engine gearbox and diff to the lock in the fuel cap.
nissan pathfinder 4.0v6 2005
had one today 40 000 kms needed front and rear brake pads and rotors I just thought the person was heavy on brakes untill I went looking for prices and was told they are usually dead by 25 000 kms
I could sit here all night doing this, some cars have a heap of common faults some dont. Some makers fix them as they go some don't lets face it holden and ford had faults that carried from the vn to vy and added a few along the way and the ea to au falcons had hassles all the way.
For the fact that they were a completely new design and concept vehicle the soarers faults are minor compared to some of their counter parts. Go look at a early 90's maxima statesman ltd jaguar or audi and compare ther condition drivability and what still works and what repairs are needed you might get a ugly suprise compared to the problems soarers have. |
Michael Larcombe
Tinkerer
TAS
Soarer GT - TT
Posts: 26
Reg: 08-2009
|
Thanks Brett, my girlfriend was looking at an astra today. I will advise her against it 
How resourceful these forums can be 
Unfortunately I have a Soarer that well fits the description of those spoken of in this thread. The dealership didn't do the best job of 'cleaning up'. The Jap service stickers on the inner door (dash) trim were pulled off after 80,000kms, and my cluster was marked '93 soarer on the back and its a '91. 2,500kms after ownership the power steering pump failed, and the head gasket blew last week.
Having owned only toyotas and two imported MR2s, i know the japs are careless with servicing. Due to emissions laws they have to pay ridiculous fees when they have done over 100,000kms, so they only have to last until then.
Nonetheless I love my Soarer, and the potential they have is endless. It will be receiving a new H/G, 100,000km service kit, new p/s pump seals, a new aluminium radiator or predator combo, and a good engine detox with oil additive, all before uni goes back next year. My bets are i wont have any problems after some decent maintenance |
Brett Cutts
TryHard
south australia
TT & V8
Posts: 392
Reg: 07-2008
|
tell your girlfriend to look at either a mitsubishi lancer or a corrolla or camry stay away from anything medium size with a ford, holden or kia badge on it unless she has a good credit card limit for repairs. A hyundai is fine but just be aware that the self destruct sequence initiates at 99 999 kms (I kid you not the amount of them that bits start falling of at 100 000 is unreal) |
David Grab
Goo Roo
SA
T78
Posts: 2057
Reg: 01-2008
|
•••• knows what this thread has turned into but its looking more and more likely that ill be selling the black vvti and buying a jap spec 350z. Still havent made my mind up but if i get the 350z its got soem basic stuff done, i wont have the passion for it to drop serious dolalrs into it and ill also be able to recoupe some of the vlaue in a few years if need be. Its all about getting into a car you hate as i love Soarers too much and they will make me do stupid things financially. So time to get something i have no interest in perfect, 350z fits the bill. |
Aiden Cheese
TryHard
QLD
Soarer jzz30
Posts: 177
Reg: 09-2009
|
Brett Cutts wrote on Sunday, November 01, 2009 - 08:47 pm:(I kid you not the amount of them that bits start falling of at 100 000 is unreal)
Thats weird, my ex's was running fine at 350 000, basic services etc done.
My friends was running past 400k.
Those are the only two i saw and knew for more then 4 years, one drove between Gatton and Brisbane every day for 10 years and the other did a few trips from Brisbane to Mackay.
Though just because they could doesn't mean they were good cars for long distance. |
Brett Cutts
TryHard
south australia
TT & V8
Posts: 432
Reg: 07-2008
|
Just going on my experience from what I see at work on a daily basis and I have worked in both country and city workshops. A couple of recent examples.
Hyundai excell x3 in the last 12 months car is owned by a lady in her 50's and is regularly serviced last repair was at 128000. Gear selector cables, crank angle sensor ,altenator ,head gasket, clutch, power window master switch, headlight combination switch, reweld the drivers seat base.
01 hyundai granduer old boys car regular service 115 000kms last time around since 100 000 engine ecu (told by supplier common fault) auto trans (lost overdrive) power steering rack (developed sudden major leak) water pump, drivers window regulator, vehicle speed sensor, front lower control arm bushes and a calliper overhaul as 1 caliper had a sudden blow out and started pouring brake fluid everywhere
I just call them as I see them |
Matthew Sharpe
Goo Roo
North Island
JZZ31
Posts: 4906
Reg: 10-2005
|
The current model Hyundai Coupe is a nice looking car though :-) Still I'd be worried about owning one as they do have a pretty poor rep for reliability. |
Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone, 65 Mustang Fastback, 67 Mustang Convertible, 67 Camaro RS/SS
Posts: 2005
Reg: 08-2005
|
Good threads die young, so this one needs some new life ;-)
Check this out:
2011 Mustang to get 305hp 3.7L V6. That's a $20k car.
*and*
Combined with Ford’s latest track pack, the 2011 Mustang GT (V8) reportedly lapped Michigan’s GingerMan Raceway dead-even with the current BMW M3 — despite a 200 pound weight disadvantage
The track pack is about $1500.. I think it consists of Pirelli tyres, better pads, stiffer shocks. Not bad considering it's under $30k (half the price of an M3) and old dinosaur technology... |
Ali Saeed
Goo Roo
WA
V8 Limited
Posts: 1448
Reg: 09-2007
|
under 30k where..in the US? |
Damian Ware
Goo Roo
Victoria
UZZ32
Posts: 1221
Reg: 10-2005
|
Miles what is the go with 2011 model it is still 2009?
The ZR1 2010 vett in Australia the first one in the world converted to RHD is for sale at $450,000. Even though the RRP in the US is about 100k they are selling for nearly double that in the US.
I don't know why they are but it appears to be how it is in the US. A good paper figure isn't the real world cost.
The V6 Mustang's in Australia also sell for over 100k once converted to RHD so not a great deal of difference in price to an M3.
The stang's do put down good lap times even with there unstable live rear end mostly due to the large power figures. |
David Vaughan
Goo Roo
Relaxed, but no provincial.
IS300
Posts: 4728
Reg: 07-2005
|
Smooth track surfaces mask problems with a live rear which can perform quite well there. |
Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone, 65 Mustang Fastback, 67 Mustang Convertible, 67 Camaro RS/SS
Posts: 2007
Reg: 08-2005
|
Yup in the US.
2010 model is out now. They run quite a few months early over there. Most of my cars were built and bought in the year before their model year.
The RAWS people over here are rip off merchants. That's no secret. Mustangs don't have that much power. I believe the 2011 is only going to have low 400s. That's about the same as the M3. Whatever they're doing, it's working for them. Last time I heard, you race on a race track, not on the street ???? |
Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone, 65 Mustang Fastback, 67 Mustang Convertible, 67 Camaro RS/SS
Posts: 2008
Reg: 08-2005
|
Where did you hear Chevrolet are asking more than sticker price? That crap was going on before dealers got their cars, but not now. |
Damian Ware
Goo Roo
Victoria
UZZ32
Posts: 1222
Reg: 10-2005
|
A guy we worked with who has been living and working in the US for about 4 years upgraded from his Z06 to ZR1, I believe he paid close to 70k more (drive away) than the RRP, he wait about 3 months before buying one as the price was expected to drop when there was supply of cars but the selling price was well above the RRP.
Not sure about RAWS and cost of compliance, prices vary depending on the car. I know S13's can be bought in and complianced for under 7k including the cost of the car. Shipping and compliance alone for a soarer is more than that.
David I have heard similar things about live rear ends on smooth surfaces, thus I was hinting to the real world on road conditions they will not be as good as there track figures indicate. |
Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone, 65 Mustang Fastback, 67 Mustang Convertible, 67 Camaro RS/SS
Posts: 2009
Reg: 08-2005
|
I should rephrase.. the US imports are a rip off. I know they have to make a new dash and so on, but seriously... 100k or more? Before SEVS/RAWS knocked most of the guys out of the business, you could get a 90s Camaro/Vette/truck done in the mid to high teens. The ones who are left seem to be gouging the market now. Viperformance were charging 40k to do a Viper but they pull the car completely apart, cut out the firewall, everything brand new. New Mustangs were costing 60 and 70 thousand to get done. That's too much. I'm sure the Challenger is going to be ridiculous now that the one dude has the licence for it.
I have heard of people now getting calls from dealers looking to sell a ZR1. Demand drops off fast. |
Damian Ware
Goo Roo
Victoria
UZZ32
Posts: 1223
Reg: 10-2005
|
The conversion cost for a Stang I was lead to believe was about 30k from one of the local companies.
This is a completely reconstructed car as you say including fire wall modifications, new parts ect. |
Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone, 65 Mustang Fastback, 67 Mustang Convertible, 67 Camaro RS/SS
Posts: 2010
Reg: 08-2005
|
I haven't looked in a while.. last time I did they were charging $100k for a turn key car, and it was firewall *mods*. The Viperformance job is something to see. They pull the engine and trans, the entire interior, then literally cut the whole firewall out and have another they stamp. They did the cars Chrysler was selling here for 265k as brand new vehicles. |
Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone, 65 Mustang Fastback, 67 Mustang Convertible, 67 Camaro RS/SS
Posts: 2011
Reg: 08-2005
|
This is the job I did on my 55:
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h18/MilesBaker/55chev/2dr%20conversion/P1000822.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h18/MilesBaker/55chev/2dr%20conversion/P1000841.jpg
Viperformance do *more*! I know most of the compliance jobs done are just toe and tunnel reshape jobs. |
Aiden Cheese
TryHard
QLD
Soarer jzz30
Posts: 236
Reg: 09-2009
|
See that's why i don't get classic cars. You take them so far back that you'd be just as well off buying a kit car |
Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone, 65 Mustang Fastback, 67 Mustang Convertible, 67 Camaro RS/SS
Posts: 2012
Reg: 08-2005
|
Except then you would be driving some kit car shtbox not a classic. I enjoy the work. Love resto and much like people with jap cars I love to customize. Plus the degree of mods you can do to a classic is muuuuch greater. |
David Vaughan
Goo Roo
Relaxed, but no provincial.
IS300
Posts: 4729
Reg: 07-2005
|
Miles Baker wrote on Friday, December 04, 2009 - 09:44 am:Last time I heard, you race on a race track, not on the street ????
Last I heard, you were more likely to die on the street than on a race track.
Damian Ware wrote on Friday, December 04, 2009 - 10:18 am:David I have heard similar things about live rear ends on smooth surfaces, thus I was hinting to the real world on road conditions they will not be as good as there track figures indicate.
Snap. |
Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone, 65 Mustang Fastback, 67 Mustang Convertible, 67 Camaro RS/SS
Posts: 2013
Reg: 08-2005
|
I was only talking track. Come on. I'm trying to convey that being able to lap with a car double your price is a feat. I don't know about you guys but I am not likely to use the racing prowess of a car for ANYTHING on the street. What, super fast cornering? No. Handling equals safety? Come on if you can extract more safety thru betterhandling from an m3 over a mustang, you are speeding. The m3 isrenowned for a bumpy ass ride so you can't go there either. |
Ali Saeed
Goo Roo
WA
V8 Limited
Posts: 1449
Reg: 09-2007
|
why dont they just make RHD versions of these cars? not enough demand? |
Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone, 65 Mustang Fastback, 67 Mustang Convertible, 67 Camaro RS/SS
Posts: 2014
Reg: 08-2005
|
Because we are stupid and backwards and wrong for using RHD. Look at this map
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Countries_driving_on_the_left_or_right.svg
All of the high demand countries are LHD. We suck. Plus our stupid government made the ADRs which are designed to protect Australian auto makers from imports. They don't accept foreign standards so importers have to jump through expensive hoops to get a small number of cars in. Result: we have expensive cars and nowhere near the variety they have overseas, and often the lower spec models. |
David Vaughan
Goo Roo
Relaxed, but no provincial.
IS300
Posts: 4730
Reg: 07-2005
|
Agreed. It sucks. |
Luke Bell
TryHard
NSW
JZZ30 GT-TL Manual
Posts: 228
Reg: 04-2006
|
That's interesting Miles, I never knew that we were in such a minority for RHD. Still it is interesting to note that RHD includes India, Pakistan & Indonesia making up close to a third of the worlds population... I wonder how this will change things as cars become more common and available in these countries in the coming years. |
Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone, 65 Mustang Fastback, 67 Mustang Convertible, 67 Camaro RS/SS
Posts: 2015
Reg: 08-2005
|
Who cares. They are in the market for even cheaper nastier cars than people in China. If those countries were smart they would change to LHD now. You would not believe the super low prices of both new and very recent top quality used cars in the US. How's a brand new 911 for $70k strike you? They're well past 200 here. Prepared to take a 3 year old model with 20k km on the clock? Price drops to under $40k. That's about the price of a brand new base model Commodore. |
David Vaughan
Goo Roo
Relaxed, but no provincial.
IS300
Posts: 4733
Reg: 07-2005
|
We could, though, get cheaper cars simply by dropping remaining protections (and one-off ADRs), especially on second hand imports, even without switching to LHD. Compare our Soarer prices and Japanese car range with those in NZ. |
Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone, 65 Mustang Fastback, 67 Mustang Convertible, 67 Camaro RS/SS
Posts: 2017
Reg: 08-2005
|
Yeah, and RHD cars from England are also a load cheaper than they are here. No excuse for that, Australian Gov. That same Porsche 911 is $115k in the UK. That's half price. |
Damian Ware
Goo Roo
Victoria
UZZ32
Posts: 1224
Reg: 10-2005
|
Miles Baker wrote on Friday, December 04, 2009 - 01:20 pm:Except then you would be driving some kit car shtbox not a classic.
A lot of modern kit cars are far better cars than 40 year old classics there are also some total •••• heaps.
The Ultima GTR and Radicals are probably the best examples. Both great cars very fast on the street and track and the Radical current has the Ring record for a production car (available as a production car manufactured by the factory or build your own).
We certainly do get ripped off on cars here and have done for years.
Most ADR's make perfect sense and are reasonable but there are quite a few ADR's that are not clear or rediculous. IMO there are a good number of them that need to be at least reviewed if not deleted. |
Aiden Cheese
TryHard
QLD
Soarer jzz30
Posts: 238
Reg: 09-2009
|
Miles Baker wrote on Friday, December 04, 2009 - 01:20 pm:Except then you would be driving some kit car shtbox not a classic.
Not really sure what you mean by shltbox but the kit cars i've worked on have been pretty spectacular.
Perhaps you don't get kit cars
Then again perhaps it's because 21 yearolds can't afford a genuine shelby cobera. So they buy the shell, build an instrument panel, install a diff, find a powersteering rack that fits, put in a 1uz and matching tranny, their own fueltank and wireup all the lights and have a car with 290kw of power supercharged for less than $35000 and looks the part, and sounds the part.
But then again I don't really enjoy classics |
Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone, 65 Mustang Fastback, 67 Mustang Convertible, 67 Camaro RS/SS
Posts: 2018
Reg: 08-2005
|
I'm sure there are some great engineered kit cars. I'm sure plenty of them are engineered better than classics. But to me they're still kit shtboxes. Kits are not my thing at all. The cobras are about the only ones I like, but I still wouldn't really want one. It's pretendy. |
Ali Saeed
Goo Roo
WA
V8 Limited
Posts: 1452
Reg: 09-2007
|
yeh ive browsed through a lot of US used car websites, and the cars there are half or even 70% cheaper than over in AUS. Miles you are quite correct, a 911 turbo is around 350k here..costs 120K in the US, its quite annoying. |
Mike Beck
Goo Roo
New Zealand
4.0GT UZZ30
Posts: 4095
Reg: 11-2005
|
Im not loyal at all..
I just buy them, use them for 5 minutes and sell them for other cars. |
Damian Ware
Goo Roo
Victoria
UZZ32
Posts: 1227
Reg: 10-2005
|
Miles Baker wrote on Saturday, December 05, 2009 - 12:06 am:But to me they're still kit shtboxes. Kits are not my thing at all. The cobras are about the only ones I like, but I still wouldn't really want one. It's pretendy
Very much a case of each to there own and how much time and effort you have to put into it. From the restorations I have seen compared with building your own car building requiries more time effort and dedication than most restorations. (Always some exceptions)
As to being pretendy, what if the kit car was an exact match of the original, 100% in every detail except having the ability to use a modern motor and gearbox. You could still use an old school motor and tranny if you wanted to.
There are a couple of kit cars I have seen on there websites that claim to be the same exact car and they have in at least one case purchased the licience and all manufacture construction details from the original manufacture. |
Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone, 65 Mustang Fastback, 67 Mustang Convertible, 67 Camaro RS/SS
Posts: 2019
Reg: 08-2005
|
If it's supposed to be an old car and it was built last week, I'm not into it. The complete repro American cars are junk from what I've seen (the Camaro, Mustang and 55/57 Bel Airs that they completely reproduced). Some of the Cobras are very nice, but they still do nothing for me. The kit GT40s I'm not into either.. but I do like the new Ford GT and would have one. |
David Vaughan
Goo Roo
Relaxed, but no provincial.
IS300
Posts: 4742
Reg: 07-2005
|
I see you can get an E-type which is a conceptual replica rather than either a true replica or the original shape with a modern production motor. For example, to look at it you think it is an exact shape copy but it is subtly different from the original at the rear, to make it a little less fussy and to ad tyre room. It uses an XK-design engine but because this is a remake they have enlarged it to 4.7 litres, something the original block could not take having reached its limit at 4.2 I believe. |
Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone, 65 Mustang Fastback, 67 Mustang Convertible, 67 Camaro RS/SS
Posts: 2020
Reg: 08-2005
|
Yeesh. I don't even like the original! Heh heh |
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