Soarer Central: Archive through October 22, 2009

Soarer Central General Soarer Chat How loyal to the Soarer are you? Archive through October 22, 2009

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Sebastian Grant
DieHard
nsw
soarer TT

Posts: 741
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Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - 04:41 pm, by: Sebastian Grant (Saabg)

Bobby Green wrote on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - 02:52 pm:
If money was no object we would probably be on a yacht or airplane message board now. The people I know who are loaded for the most part don't give a f about cars.

Jay Leno must be a broke asse then hey Bobby. You're either a car guy or you're not regardless of how much money you have.

Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone

Posts: 1869
Reg: 08-2005

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - 06:06 pm, by: Miles Baker (Milesb)

If money was "no object" I wouldn't buy any of those cars. They're not my taste. Personally I don't have much regard for what the TV guys do any more because they do the cars so fast and don't break new ground. Eleanor isn't me.. too flashy. Maybe if my name was Con or Dino. Nor would I buy a Boss 429 because I wouldn't feel comfortable driving it around. I'd stick with the cars I have and add a variety of other models. I'd probably take the blown small block out of the 55 and change to a blown LSx with carb and dizzy conversion. I'd do the '69 up with a cammer 5.0 built to rev. I wouldn't make any of my street cars undriveable or too precious to drive. I'd probably first up buy

72/73 Cuda and change the front to a 71 twin headlight, add a hemi or a 440 magnum and a blower and paint it black with a nice white stripe down the side.
70 Chevelle SS
57 Buick. Maybe a convertible? Just a mild motor for cruising. Maybe a 409. Always wanted a 409. Pretty valve covers. Nice cushy interior and many of the mod cons.
Brand new ZR1
Hummer H1. Hey I hunt, I need a 4WD.
Brand new Cadillac CTS-V.
'01/02 Viper GTS. Either yellow with black stripes or grey with dark grey. Best looking modern car.
First gen Corvette.. maybe a 59. Best looking classic car.

I wouldn't really bother to make my cars wild looking or do crazier mods. Of course a lot of what I already do most people would consider pretty heavy duty... but the old street rod scene everything is much more modified than the Jap car scene.

Jap cars you get guys going "custom interior - custom recovered seats with custom different custom colours!! custom1!!@#". My 55 I tore the entire interior out and chucked it. The dash I cut up, reshaped and welded back together. Will be adding buckets, making my own door panels, headliner, console, parcel shelf, floor. And what I make will bear absolutely no resemblance to stock. So I guess that kind of is crazy but it's a lot more mainstream to start from scratch in a 50s car because stock is pure crap.

I wouldn't buy any Italian crap. They are in the shop too much. Plus I think Lamborghinis are the ugliest looking garbage on the road. If I wanted a modern sports car (besides the Viper) it would be either the ZR1 or Audi R8. Maybe a Porsche. Nah.

Mike Beck
Goo Roo
New Zealand
4.0GT UZZ30

Posts: 3908
Reg: 11-2005

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - 06:24 pm, by: Mike Beck (Gold_40gt)

Yeah, I would happen to agree with what Miles just said.

Bobby Green wrote on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - 02:52 pm:
If money was no object we would probably be on a yacht or airplane message board now. The people I know who are loaded for the most part don't give a f about cars.

What a false statement.

Ali Saeed
Goo Roo
WA
V8 Limited

Posts: 1209
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Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - 10:52 pm, by: Ali Saeed (Ali)

ill take one of those ZR1's too

Mike Beck
Goo Roo
New Zealand
4.0GT UZZ30

Posts: 3910
Reg: 11-2005

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - 11:03 pm, by: Mike Beck (Gold_40gt)

They are pretty awesome machines.

Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone

Posts: 1870
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Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - 11:37 pm, by: Miles Baker (Milesb)

Held the production car record for the Ring for a little while until the Viper took it. It's comfortable, it works, it has a warranty that it doesn't really have to rely on, it doesn't overheat or misbehave, it has AC and cruise and a nice stereo. Oh, and it has 600+ hp, the biggest brakes anywhere, is insanely light, goes faster than all the prima donna Italian crap and actually looks good. Unlike a Lamborghini which looks like a cross between a doorstop and a skateboard, and you expect the driver to step out of it in a white linen suit with his hair slicked back, stinking of skanky pussy.

Mike Beck
Goo Roo
New Zealand
4.0GT UZZ30

Posts: 3912
Reg: 11-2005

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Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - 11:50 pm, by: Mike Beck (Gold_40gt)

Matthew Sharpe
Goo Roo
North Island
JZZ31

Posts: 4817
Reg: 10-2005

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 06:52 am, by: Matthew Sharpe (Madmatt)

You'd still want to rip out the interior and start again though, they are just manky inside.

Mike Beck
Goo Roo
New Zealand
4.0GT UZZ30

Posts: 3917
Reg: 11-2005

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 08:54 am, by: Mike Beck (Gold_40gt)

Yeah the quality is the sad part of them.

If they were built like a Lexus... a different story.

Jol Alexander
TryHard
Vic
UZZ31 V8 (no mods)

Posts: 359
Reg: 07-2009

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 08:57 am, by: Jol Alexander (Courage)

I'd have a gold plated rocket car...

Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone

Posts: 1872
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 10:06 am, by: Miles Baker (Milesb)

Interior looked pretty god damn good when I sat in one. Certainly a lot better than ANY soarer I have seen. And the quality is fine. Falls apart a hell of a lot less than any other 650hp car, costs a fraction and goes harder. I don't know if you know anyone with a Ferrari but they find their way home not with GPS but by following the trail of parts. Corvette forum posts have not yielded many stories of warranty claims. Try a Ferrari forum.. oh I changed gears and the shifter came out in my hand. I'll just get a new one sent from Italy.. oh they don't make them any more?? But I bought this car new 3 weeks ago... time to upgrade I guess.

There is nothing sad about the quality of the Corvette. It is sad that people have to find something to poo poo about the single best sports car on the market today. Deal with it. Chevrolet made the best fcking sports car of the century so far. It's cheap, it's reliable, it's good looking, it's every day drivable and it beats all the other sh1t around the track except the Viper. Anyone who thinks otherwise is either misinformed or a snob.

Lamborghini interiors look like Liberace had an epileptic fit in a leather factory and then used accessories from Autobarn's discount bin. You'd have to wear sunglasses to get in the bloody lime green and fluro yellow fiasco. Gay-ardo. The name fits.

Daniel Clarke
Goo Roo
NSW
TT 2.5L 6 cylinder

Posts: 5567
Reg: 03-2006

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 10:44 am, by: Daniel Clarke (Dieseltrain)

The Corvette is probably the best balanced sports car available . AC , Radio , Supercharged V8 , Massive brakes and an almost perfact 50/50 weight distribution . How can you go wrong !

Im a ford man @ heart, but i would Definately consider the corvette as the ultimate streetable factory production car .

Slav Todorovic
TryHard
nsw
tt pov pack

Posts: 110
Reg: 05-2009

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 11:26 am, by: Slav Todorovic (Soar_loser)

Now imagine if toyota built a huge horsepower motor and chassis then wrapped it in plastic

David Vaughan
Goo Roo
NSW
IS300

Posts: 4654
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 11:40 am, by: David Vaughan (Davidv)

Miles Baker wrote on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 10:06 am:
Anyone who thinks otherwise is either misinformed or a snob.

or not currently enjoying a full blast of wanking with one eye firmly shut.

Thanks for your opinion on a matter of individual taste on variable criteria, Miles. I am sure everyone has written it down and is sitting to attention.

Bobby Green
TryHard
QLD
TT

Posts: 399
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 12:01 pm, by: Bobby Green (Nash)

Mike Beck wrote on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - 06:24 pm:

How is it false? I said the people I know. I've got a few mates over in Abu Dhabi who were very invested in their cars, 1000+hp jap cars and Euros. They got sick of it after a while. They are now into boats heavily. Another way to think about it, if you got everything you wanted right now, ie money was no object, then you'd get bored of it pretty damn fast. I'm sure many of us have mates who spent ages doing up their cars only to sell them off once the car was pretty much done and start over again on something else.

David Vaughan
Goo Roo
NSW
IS300

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 12:13 pm, by: David Vaughan (Davidv)

You are wrong, Bobby, or there would never be a car collection anywhere.

How much can you do in a plane anyway? Fly around in circles? On my limited observation in the press and occasional personal knowledge, people who can afford "fast stuff" include cars in what they buy. Some lean more to, say, racing yachts, stunt flying or helicopters but a stable of fast cars is usually there. How else are you supposed to turn up at the yacht club?

Mike Beck
Goo Roo
New Zealand
4.0GT UZZ30

Posts: 3919
Reg: 11-2005

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 02:55 pm, by: Mike Beck (Gold_40gt)

Bobby Green wrote on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 12:01 pm:
How is it false?

All the wealthy people I know have a passion for cars, they all own decent ones, and collect them. One for example has a bunch of American fully restored Muscle cars... GT350's and things like that, the other Old 911's and a couple of old Jags, he drives an RS4 on a daily basis.

Guess you just know people that don't like cars at heart.

Aiden Cheese
TryHard
QLD
Soarer jzz30

Posts: 131
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 03:58 pm, by: Aiden Cheese (Chillpen)

David Vaughan wrote on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 12:13 pm:
How much can you do in a plane anyway? Fly around in circles?

Woah, careful there, sounds a lot like what you do when you go on a cruise.. Except with a better view.

Mike Beck
Goo Roo
New Zealand
4.0GT UZZ30

Posts: 3922
Reg: 11-2005

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 04:14 pm, by: Mike Beck (Gold_40gt)

Aiden Cheese wrote on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 03:58 pm:
Woah, careful there, sounds a lot like what you do when you go on a cruise.. Except with a better view.

David Tra
Goo Roo
qld
TT

Posts: 1194
Reg: 11-2007

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 04:20 pm, by: David Tra (Bookie)

for starters, u cannot join the mile high club in a car.

David Vaughan
Goo Roo
NSW
IS300

Posts: 4656
Reg: 07-2005

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 05:41 pm, by: David Vaughan (Davidv)

Aiden

Damian Ware
Goo Roo
Victoria
UZZ32

Posts: 1161
Reg: 10-2005

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 06:17 pm, by: Damian Ware (Frozenpod)

Miles Baker wrote on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 10:06 am:
Interior looked pretty god damn good when I sat in one. Certainly a lot better than ANY soarer I have seen. And the quality is fine. Falls apart a hell of a lot less than any other 650hp car, costs a fraction and goes harder. I don't know if you know anyone with a Ferrari but they find their way home not with GPS but by following the trail of parts. Corvette forum posts have not yielded many stories of warranty claims. Try a Ferrari forum.. oh I changed gears and the shifter came out in my hand. I'll just get a new one sent from Italy.. oh they don't make them any more?? But I bought this car new 3 weeks ago... time to upgrade I guess.

There is nothing sad about the quality of the Corvette. It is sad that people have to find something to poo poo about the single best sports car on the market today. Deal with it. Chevrolet made the best fcking sports car of the century so far. It's cheap, it's reliable, it's good looking, it's every day drivable and it beats all the other sh1t around the track except the Viper. Anyone who thinks otherwise is either misinformed or a snob.

The Corvette's are one of the very few US cars I would own. I am a bit of a fan of them but I think your opinion comes across as highly biased.

I don't know which model you have been in but the if I recall the exact model and year correctly C5 Z06 about 2001 model had terrible interior, looked a lot like a VT commodoor excepted a bit squarer. The leather was paper thin an ergonomics were poor. Overall the interior was a big let down on the car and no where near as good as a soarer.

A number of reviews have indicated that even the latest ZR1, which a good handeling car isn't quite as exceptional as other ultra high performance cars but its slower corner and exit speeds don't effect lap times as they easily make up with the extra power and exceptional brakes.

A collage of mine working in the US purchased a second hand Z06 and recently upgraded to a ZR1 with the main reason being the better interior so hopefully on the latest model (I haven't personally been in one) they have that right.

His comments are it is the best bang for your buck ultra high performance car that he drives to work monday to friday and goes to the track once every month or so.

I would agree with that, and I think they are great bang for your buck ultra high performance car and I would buy one over a Ferrari (assuming I could afford one) and keep the change.

They did have a few issues with the Z06, with the pop up lights, constantly failing, the 1st to 4th gear flap thing also fails which are both minor details but the quality is like most cars of a modest price compared with alternatives but very high performance exceptable but not exceptional.

Bobby Green
TryHard
QLD
TT

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 06:51 pm, by: Bobby Green (Nash)

David Vaughan wrote on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 12:13 pm:

Some of you have an issue with selective reading. I said all the wealthy people I know, not every rich dude in the entire world. Don't need to get so worked up over it, but when money truly is no object, modifying cars becomes quite boring, and as you said, collecting of "rare and desirable" cars becomes more common at that level of wealth (e.g. Jay Leno, the Sultan of Brunei). Most of us actually drive our cars and the modifications we make are typically in support of our driving styles and the use of the car, not sitting in a garage wanking off over our collections (at least I hope not).

Sebastian Grant
DieHard
nsw
soarer TT

Posts: 742
Reg: 01-2008

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 09:08 pm, by: Sebastian Grant (Saabg)

Actually Bobby you said WE would be on a yacht forum which is not true. Have you seen the video on youtube of a few highway runs showing a lambo getting dominated buy a green supra. The guy driving the Supra owns both cars so he obviously has some coin and is still not over modifying cars. Jay Leno is also into modifying cars, he has a car with a tank engine for christs sake. Pretty sure that ain't factory. He even owns a purple charade with a massive body kit??? Go figure. }

Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 09:33 pm, by: Miles Baker (Milesb)

My opinion is highly biased how? I don't own one nor do I sell them. Yes I do like them. How does that mean I am biased?

We are talking about the 2010 ZR1 not the 2001 Z06. Two completely different cars.

The Corvette no longer has popup headlights, and if those two things are all that can be found wrong with Vettes, I'd say they were pretty freakin high quality. Remember the Soarer which everyone here seems to think is such fantastic quality has well known headlight and power steering pump issues. Try out a Ferrari or a Lamborghini. I dare you. The only Euro exotic which seems to have quality right is Porsche.

DV, my point is that it must be acknowledged that, on paper (eg in an imaginary Sports Car of the Decade magazine article), the Corvette would be winning right now. I am not saying it is everything to everyone. But trying to say "oh the quality sucks" is just stupid and uninformed. In fact the quality is actually very very good and possibly only beaten by Porsche. I hear even the R8 is not that fantastic on repairs required.

These "oh its a bit sad about the quality" comments stink of tall poppy syndrome - trying to find something, anything, to cut the car down. Give it up folks, Chevrolet did the business. Deservedly so, Lutz spent a burzillion dollars on it.

David Vaughan
Goo Roo
NSW
IS300

Posts: 4657
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 09:59 pm, by: David Vaughan (Davidv)

I haven't panned the Corvette here or any previous thread. It is not a car that I am interested to own before several others, but that is another question (and criteria) completely.

Lutz? Lutz? What about Zora Arkus-Duntov eh? He who turned it away from being another Ford Thudderbird? Or did I mean Thunderbox?

Damian Ware
Goo Roo
Victoria
UZZ32

Posts: 1162
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 10:24 pm, by: Damian Ware (Frozenpod)

Miles Baker wrote on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 09:33 pm:
My opinion is highly biased how? I don't own one nor do I sell them. Yes I do like them. How does that mean I am biased?

We are talking about the 2010 ZR1 not the 2001 Z06. Two completely different cars.

The Corvette no longer has popup headlights, and if those two things are all that can be found wrong with Vettes, I'd say they were pretty freakin high quality. Remember the Soarer which everyone here seems to think is such fantastic quality has well known headlight and power steering pump issues. Try out a Ferrari or a Lamborghini. I dare you. The only Euro exotic which seems to have quality right is Porsche.

Miles the Vette's over the last decade are great cars even the Z06 and I would own one as I said above.

Re being biased look at the list of cars you have suggested, (I think please let me know) a lot of this is due to styling and that Americans love American cars no offense intended.

I am not doubting there quality or performance and I wasn't suggesting they were bad quality and two minor issues is next to nothing. To your note about Soarer reliability, when they were new and for the first 10-15 years how many Soarer that were serviced have failures.

Mike Beck
Goo Roo
New Zealand
4.0GT UZZ30

Posts: 3925
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 10:33 pm, by: Mike Beck (Gold_40gt)

Miles Baker wrote on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 09:33 pm:
These "oh its a bit sad about the quality" comments stink of tall poppy syndrome - trying to find something, anything, to cut the car down. Give it up folks, Chevrolet did the business. Deservedly so, Lutz spent a burzillion dollars on it.

Yeah I'm probably wrong, as I would WANT the likes of the ZR1 to be better quality than most American V8's about at the moment.

Merely just guessing from what I have seen on other recent American cars having somewhat plasticy almost neglected interiors.

If the Vette has a decent interior then heck, what an overall car!

I know I'd take one of those over the likes of a similarly priced RS4 or IS-F.

Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone

Posts: 1876
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 10:41 pm, by: Miles Baker (Milesb)

Half my list is old cars (including the Viper - it's 1.5 generations old now) so they don't count. If you can find any other countries that have produced half way decent looking and performing muscle cars just let me know. The Hummer doesn't count because it's for going bush. Again, where else can you buy something like THAT?

The CTS-V is by far the most powerful 4dr mid sized sports sedan in its class (ISF, M3, RS4) by like 150hp. No bias really required in that decision. I like power so in a comfortable sedan that's the easy choice. If I wanted a full size luxury car, I would be looking at a Lexus for sure.

I also say I like the R8 and Porsches though the Porsche isn't wild looking enough to go for. That leaves the ZR1, R8 and Porsche. 1 American, 2 European competing for the brand new sports car.

I'm not sure how you figure I am biased based on race because of that?

I got my Soarer at 10 years old and it promptly spat out its water pump, power steering pump, ignitor, fuel pump ECU, every bush forward of the steering wheel, cracked the top tank, shat out the water level sensor, the dash cluster failed, all the normal spots in the leather looked bad, one of the freeze plugs started leaking, the rear view mirror went hazy, the AC vents all had cracks, the CD changer was long since dead and eventually the stereo amp packed it in. All within a few years. Oh, and the diff broke. And the lights all filled up with condensation. And the passenger side interior door handle broke off and both door trims were well and truly shattered before I got the car. Then the drivers exterior door handle clip broke.

Those are ALL common failures.

Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone

Posts: 1877
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 10:46 pm, by: Miles Baker (Milesb)

Jesus. In hindsight, what a sh!tbox. Worst quality car I've owned.

Peter Nitschke
Junk Filterer
South Australia
UZZ30 UZZ31

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 11:00 pm, by: Peter Nitschke (Pen)

Looks like the previous owner sold it at just the right time.

Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone

Posts: 1878
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 11:05 pm, by: Miles Baker (Milesb)

Like I said though, all common issues, and a lot of people would have a similar list. And the front left airbag popped.

Damian Ware
Goo Roo
Victoria
UZZ32

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 11:52 pm, by: Damian Ware (Frozenpod)

Miles Baker wrote on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 10:41 pm:
I got my Soarer at 10 years old and it promptly spat out its water pump, power steering pump, ignitor, fuel pump ECU, every bush forward of the steering wheel, cracked the top tank, shat out the water level sensor, the dash cluster failed, all the normal spots in the leather looked bad, one of the freeze plugs started leaking, the rear view mirror went hazy, the AC vents all had cracks, the CD changer was long since dead and eventually the stereo amp packed it in. All within a few years. Oh, and the diff broke. And the lights all filled up with condensation. And the passenger side interior door handle broke off and both door trims were well and truly shattered before I got the car. Then the drivers exterior door handle clip broke.

Those are ALL common failures.

Water pumps very rearly fail if the cooling system is maintained, hard to know the history but the other list of problem suggests the car was poorly maintained.

Power steering pump, common failure sort of I have seen some evidence to link this to again poor maintance ie not replacing power steer fluid.

Ignitor, second I have ever heard of for a 1uz not common more of a freak failure.

Fuel pump ECU, not sure why they fail could just to be too close to there load liimt with the soarer fuel pump. Still % of soarer that have had this failure would be fairly small.

Every bush forward of the steering wheel, common that bushes wear out and need to be replaced for all cars with high kms. I can only say on other toyotas specifically a Camry with well over 300,000km the bushes were fine and outlasted Holden bushes.

Cracked the top tank, often caused by being leaned on when working on the car they don't crack whilst there is a load on them but fail soon after and yes they do faitiuge and fail with age.

Shat out the water level sensor, yep they stuff up and soarers didn't have them on the 94+ models.

The dash cluster failed, easy to fix outlasted Audi and other electronic clusters of the same vintage.

All the normal spots in the leather looked bad, sounds like someone abused your car and it was worn out with bucket loads of kms on it. Generally toyota leather is thick and wears very well, after 18 years the leather is better in my soarer than my mates 4 year old R8 clubsport.

One of the freeze plugs started leaking....

The rear view mirror went hazy, yep they all do it due to the heat of summer.

The AC vents all had cracks, possibly caused by extreme temperature conditions, I have seen three soarers that in japan the vents were perfect arrived fresh of the boat and the vents were cracked. Possibly very hot and cold in the container causing this??

The CD changer was long since dead and eventually the stereo amp packed it in, amp failures are very rare but some do go with lots of use. CD stackers, well all CD lasers wear out and new players used regularly typically last 3 years before requiring realignment. Made by panasonic and they are better most other OEM stackers IMO.

Oh, and the diff broke, again abused, extreme wear from millions of kms???

Lights all filled up with condensation.....

Passenger side interior door handle broke off user error, how many people go to open the door and pull like buggery when they don't open after the auto locking...

Door trims were well and truly shattered before I got the car, common theme here, sounds like you bought an abused •••• probably wouldn't make any difference what the car was Holden Ford Nissan Audi Toyota given previous owners and the above problems it would probably have heaps of broken interior parts need lots of repairs.

Then the drivers exterior door handle clip broke....

All common failures.......

Andrew Duaso
TryHard
Victoria
V8

Posts: 396
Reg: 02-2009

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Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 12:12 am, by: Andrew Duaso (Andrewd)

wow lotsa problems

might sell my soarer and get an EA or VN, maybe if im lucky they'll give me enough to trade it on a Daweoo Lanos...

everything has it's issues.... thing i've found with the soarer is the car can still drive an operate almost as normal with the common problems, suspension bushes all worn.... handles like a boat and tracks everywhere..... but the VN and EA were like that new

Ali Saeed
Goo Roo
WA
V8 Limited

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Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 01:32 am, by: Ali Saeed (Ali)

why the hell would you take a hummer into the bush :s

Mike Beck
Goo Roo
New Zealand
4.0GT UZZ30

Posts: 3927
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Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 05:36 am, by: Mike Beck (Gold_40gt)

Ali Saeed wrote on Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 01:32 am:
why the hell would you take a hummer into the bush :s

To look cool.

Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone

Posts: 1879
Reg: 08-2005

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Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 05:57 am, by: Miles Baker (Milesb)

Wow Damian you've got excuses for every single thing that broke. And those ARE common breakages, search on here. I guess if something ever breaks on Soarers it's user error huh. Mate if you are going to even think about telling me the door trim problem is not a design failure you're dreaming.

Ali, surprisingly, the H1 is a good off road vehicle. You'd think they were designed for some kind of organisation that does a lot of that thing. Seriously mate could you ask a stupider question? Why would anyone NOT take one into the bush? What other vehicle comes setup with the wheels, tyre inflation system, wide stance, 40cm ground clearance (tucked in driveline), inboard brakes all straight from the factory? It can walk over 50cm rocks and drive through a metre of water. Straight off the showroom floor.

Or are you some gangster wannabe who would drive it on the street?

Mark Tierney
TryHard
NSW
Soarer GTT, Celsior, Ducati

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Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 09:15 am, by: Mark Tierney (Mark_t)

Miles Baker wrote on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 10:46 pm:
Jesus. In hindsight, what a sh!tbox. Worst quality car I've owned.

Maybe better to head to another forum if your opinion is that the Soarer is a •••••••• After all, this is Soarer Central, the Soarer enthusiast forum??

Christian Somerville
TryHard
South Australia
UZZ31 V8 LTD

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Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 09:54 am, by: Christian Somerville (Csomers)

Agreed, Soarer = value for money and quality.

David Vaughan
Goo Roo
NSW
IS300

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Reg: 07-2005

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Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 09:54 am, by: David Vaughan (Davidv)

He said his car was a •••••••• not Soarers in general, although clearly intending to denigrate their general reliability. He said also that a lot of those problems are commonplace, whereas I would say only a few of them are common but then, my car, although older at purchase, suffered only 2 of those 14 problems. Our views are coloured by our experiences.

You may flounce out of the room now Mark.

Mark Tierney
TryHard
NSW
Soarer GTT, Celsior, Ducati

Posts: 342
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Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 10:02 am, by: Mark Tierney (Mark_t)

Flounce yourself. the negative comments get tiring after a while

Damian Ware
Goo Roo
Victoria
UZZ32

Posts: 1164
Reg: 10-2005

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Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 10:11 am, by: Damian Ware (Frozenpod)

Miles Baker wrote on Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 05:57 am:
Wow Damian you've got excuses for every single thing that broke. And those ARE common breakages, search on here. I guess if something ever breaks on Soarers it's user error huh. Mate if you are going to even think about telling me the door trim problem is not a design failure you're dreaming.

I am aware of quite a few older soarer owners that have had there soarers from 97 to 00 that picked them up as very low km well looked after cars when they imported them. They were mostly imported before the rule changes which allowed piles of importors to import crap high km cars and wind them back.

Being well maintained they have not had any of your so called common failures.

Most of these cars now have over 200,xxxkm on them and when they were important the kms were most likely closer to original being anywhere from 30xxx to 80xxxk. Being well maintained they don’t have any so called common failures ie power pumps leaking or water pump failures.

Most that I meet are just experiencing a blinky dash and have had one other issue in 9 plus years of ownership.

I will not consider a failure caused by poor maintaince to be common when well maintained soarers do not experience these problems on a common basis.

The best example I can think of was an older guy that is not on this forum that I meet a few weeks ago.

Owned his 93 UZZ31 since 97. Purchased the car with 19,000km on it, now has 214xxxkm. He has had two problems, recently had the cam belt replaced which also was suggested to have the water pump replaced at the same time and wasn’t replaced at 100xxxkm. 2 days after getting the car back the top tank cracked which was the first failure. The second problem was the EMV stopped working.

Even though he had OEM airbags and bushes they car was still firm and not soft and floating like quite a few airbag cars that are on the way out.

Whilst I was pulling the EMV out he talked about possibly selling the car but he decided not to as one he couldn’t sell it for a great deal and it was unlikely to cost piles of money to keep running. To replace it the list of suitable new compareable cars he was interested in were all over 150k. As he suggest he would loose in depreciation on the new car than it would cost to fix anything that could realistically go wrong with his car in the new few years.

I can think of a number of examples of similar experiences without any of very minimal problems but the key is they started with good well maintained cars and continued to maintain them.

Yours clearly wasn’t.

As to the door trims “Door trims were well and truly shattered before I got the car”, this is not common.
Common failure is a small crack near the speaker, being truly shattered……

Ali Saeed
Goo Roo
WA
V8 Limited

Posts: 1218
Reg: 09-2007

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Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 02:05 pm, by: Ali Saeed (Ali)

Miles Baker wrote on Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 05:57 am:
Ali, surprisingly, the H1 is a good off road vehicle. You'd think they were designed for some kind of organisation that does a lot of that thing. Seriously mate could you ask a stupider question? Why would anyone NOT take one into the bush? What other vehicle comes setup with the wheels, tyre inflation system, wide stance, 40cm ground clearance (tucked in driveline), inboard brakes all straight from the factory? It can walk over 50cm rocks and drive through a metre of water. Straight off the showroom floor.

Or are you some gangster wannabe who would drive it on the street?

no i was very much referring to the h2 and h3. useless cars on road and offroad. i dont claim to know a lot about h1s but im pretty sure they raped the iraqi desert.

Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone

Posts: 1881
Reg: 08-2005

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Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 05:41 pm, by: Miles Baker (Milesb)

That would be why I have been saying H1 right from the start. The H2 is a rebodied piece of garbage Chevy SUV. The H1 is a marvel that has had its good name sullied by ghetto fools.

Jesus H Motherlovin Christ. I recount the various breakages on my car, all of which have popped up on the forums for multiple different people, and everyone accuses me of virtually making stuff up. Suck it up people, that's what broke on my Soarer, that's my experience. You all were claiming it is built to some lofty quality standard, well you have to listen to my evidence to the contrary. Sheesh. Only prepared to hear stuff you like Mark? I bought the car, I liked the car, I drove the car, it was fun. But honestly for a 10 year old car I think it broke a little more than I was expecting with the quality hype. Yeah maybe mine was treated badly. But I thought the mark of a quality build was partially also evidenced by its ability to take a lickin and keep on tickin. My post was in response to EVIDENCE-LESS moaning posts about another car which I said I would like to own. These posts whinged that the Corvette's quality sucked, even though these people have no experience or evidence of such. Then it was implied that if it was built by the big T (or L) it would be an ultra quality machine (like the Soarer?). Well, whine all you want. If you can't read what you think to be criticism then FFS dig a hole in the sand and stick your heads in.

And I refuse to believe that the bushes in these control arms should be failing so regularly at 10 years old. Remember, Andrew Vlamos made a business making and selling these so it is common. AND he had the opportunity to do that because bloody Toyota refuse to sell the bushes separate to the arms. That is DISGUSTING. I have cars that are 30 and 40 years old and are just getting their first replacement control arm bushes.

Miles Baker
Goo Roo
Vic
66 Mustang GT Convertible, 55 Chevy Bel Air, 69 Firebird 455, 69 Nova SS Clone

Posts: 1884
Reg: 08-2005

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Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 05:56 pm, by: Miles Baker (Milesb)

Damian,

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.

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