Wednesday, June 09, 2010 - 10:15 pm, by: Ryan Rankovic(Ryan1j)
I de registered my Soarer the other day
Me and my buddies couldn't find the problem after we pulled it apart, and I cant afford to pay someone to check it out.
I've been driving a friends car in the meantime while its been busted, which I'm grateful for, (Celsior) but now its time to get another car and give his back.
I'm looking at a Starlet. Non turbo
I need something cheap to buy and even cheaper to run.
I'm buildign a house which is well under way, I need to furnish it, get a fence, driveway, whitegoods etc and all that •••• and can't afford a car I really want I wanted to get an Aristo, Chaser or newer Soarer, but I have no time and I'd be stretching the budget way too much.
Hopefully after 1.5 - 2 years I have enough equity in the house to redraw and buy a real nice car that I want, like a Chaser, Aristo etc... but for the meantime, a buzzbox seems like all I'll be driving.
I loved driving a nice car, but I've got to bite the bullet and get priorities sorted.
Starlet I only have max $6k to spend and I think its a good option... I'd like a 2002 Corolla but they're too expensive.
I never really spend any money on myself, but always enjoyed driving a nice car, but sadly, not the case anymore
I know there are millions more problems in the world that are billions times worse, but this makes me sad
Thursday, June 10, 2010 - 01:42 am, by: Aiden Cheese(Chillpen)
Damian Ware wrote on Wednesday, June 09, 2010 - 11:01 pm:
Fix the soarer
And then sell it. It'd be worth 7-8 if its only in okay condition if it works, but its only worth 3000 if it doesn't work.
In other words you could spend 3000 dollars on fixing it and still break even
Edit: Buy my daihatsu charade: for you i'd sell it for 3000 dollars! less than 166 000kms on the odo 1.6L engine, plenty of punch! I undid the couple of minor tweaks but it would outdrag a xr6 turbo to 100kph before the heavier/more powerful car would overtake again
Good on fuel economy and i've spent a lot of time making sure the car is in good mechanical condition with everything i can think of replaced that's bad mechanically!
Thursday, June 10, 2010 - 07:27 am, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
Sad to hear that Ryan - as you say, priorities! Be patient, in a few years you'll be sitting pretty I'm sure.
Thats life I guess. I'm in a situation now where after 5 years with the same car, I would like to replace the Soarer with something newer - maybe a 350Z - but unlike a few years ago now with kids we don't have loads of disposable income. Lucky I can afford to keep the Soarer running so I just have to stick with it for a couple more years until my wife is back at work, then I can spend some money on myself again.
Thursday, June 10, 2010 - 12:00 pm, by: David Tra(Bookie)
Buy a camry! I was in the same path as you Ryan. Originally my budget was 6k. I didn't want a Honda civic and everything within my budget I've inspected had tons of ks, poor maintenance etc etc. For me, something to consider was cheap and reliable, I didn't want to buy a car then spend more money fixing it. So I pushed my budget to 8k. Gf parents were willing to lend me more money but I couldn't do that. I looked at cars that were out of my budget 10 - 14k. I made my offer at 8k cash tomorrow. Few people knocked me back of course... Within 2 weeks I opted for a caldina gtt (advetised for 11k). About a month later someone decided to take my offer on a jza80 tt for 8k. Pity they didn't takey offer first time round lol.
Good luck Ryan!
Hopefully I will be priviledged enough to get another RWD! I might opt for a ft 86. Really depends, do I want to volunteer throughout the world or settle down and buy a house lol. Decisions decisions.... If I were single I'd be travelling no doubt!
Thursday, June 10, 2010 - 08:19 pm, by: Ryan Rankovic(Ryan1j)
The car was very tired. It would ping at 3500rpm on boost, would burn oil, rings were worn, auto was slipping from the power it was making. It started making a real loud tapping noise that was so loud that it blocked out the radio, (this happened over a period of maybe 10 seconds) then it just died.
A fix would involve a new engine and gearbox... I just don't have the time for it, and neither do my mates.
I'll keep it in the garage and hopefully one day I can revive it for a weekend drag car if I ever have the chance again!
James' Starlet is also a pretty sweet looking turbo, not an EP91 Life
Thursday, June 10, 2010 - 08:45 pm, by: Ben Kelly(Ace)
a starlet for chrissake! how bout get yourself a gas converted ford or commonwhore till you get your finances sorted out. at least...well...at least you wont be driving a starlet with 80's motel curtains for seat coverings. jeez for four grand id even get an old datsun rather than a starlet. man. seriously. in fact id sell my ass for coin before id even get in a starlet.
Thursday, June 10, 2010 - 09:55 pm, by: David Tra(Bookie)
You should be able to pick up a turbo starlet for 5k! How about echo? Lol
nice project Ryan. keep us posted an I will be watching this thread if want something new/different. I may have a friend of a friend who would like an Australian man hahaha
Saturday, June 12, 2010 - 01:31 pm, by: Aiden Cheese(Chillpen)
Ryan Rankovic wrote on Thursday, June 10, 2010 - 08:19 pm:
A fix would involve a new engine and gearbox... I just don't have the time for it, and neither do my mates.
If its same for same its a weekend job + halfcut (we got a chaser halfcut for 3000 dollars).
Honestly you'd still be better off fixing it. All you do is unclip everything, and take off the aircon compressor accessory... then you pull it out, put in the other one with gearbox attached, slide it in, hook back on the aircon compressor and hook up the hoses and electricals again.
Its not that hard of job, its literally 12 hours of work. A single daylight day.
Hell, i'd do it for you if you gave me like 600~ dollars (i'd split the work with a mate )
Sunday, June 13, 2010 - 11:50 am, by: James Harris(Haro)
I would love to get into another Soarer though. That red manual JZZ30 VVT-i on ebay is bloody lovely! If he was in Brissy I would have been looking at it already.
Sunday, June 13, 2010 - 12:39 pm, by: Glen Muller(Doom_and_gloom)
I know the feeling mate... I'll be buzzing around the streets in a beep-beep Barina for a while, and the Soarer is being parked up and the rego cancelled. I can't afford the fuel while I'm at Uni again and there are suspension and transmission issues that need to be rectified. I'm so glad I can keep my Soarer, because I didn't want to sell it and have to find another one in a few years' time!
Hope you get a car you enjoy Ryan!
Dan McColl Goo Roo Victoria (The Nazi State) Active V8 and the Beast.
Sunday, June 13, 2010 - 02:37 pm, by: Daniel Clarke(Dieseltrain)
Dont waste money on a starlet champ .
Get a Hyundai . Way cheaper to run and heaps more reliable . Plus you wont need to spend 6k to get a decent one . Resale is very good and easily sold too .
Good luck with the house too . Much more important than a soarer , some of these guys just dont get it , lol .
Monday, June 14, 2010 - 12:48 pm, by: Damian Ware(Frozenpod)
Ryan Rankovic wrote on Thursday, June 10, 2010 - 08:19 pm:
A fix would involve a new engine and gearbox... I just don't have the time for it, and neither do my mates
Replacement engine gearbox ECU ect in good condition can be purchased for about $1500.
Installation if you pay a mechanic about 1k. Add a full service timing belt, ideler bearings, water pump and you will probably spend 3k in total.
Still 3k ahead of buying another car.
If you really want to fix it on the cheap you can find a second hand short motor for about 1k. If you hunt around for prices of installation you could probably get a better deal than 1k.
Daniel Clarke wrote on Sunday, June 13, 2010 - 02:37 pm:
Good luck with the house too . Much more important than a soarer , some of these guys just dont get it , lol .
Agreed good luck with the house but some common sense goes a long way, house and land costs at least 300k and could be a lot more, fixing the soarer 3k. Therefore fixing the soarer only costs 1% of the price of the house, it is small potatoes in the scheme of things.
3k to fix the soarer is also bugger all compared with buying another car which you might have to spend as you have suggested 6k, probably even more to get a good car on road.
Monday, June 14, 2010 - 08:32 pm, by: Ryan Rankovic(Ryan1j)
James your Starlet is hot though!
I'm simply not going to bother fixing it at this stage. I have NO time at all, and am pissed that I need to take time to find another car.
And I have $6k to spend, I'm hoping I don't have to spend it all, I just want a simple cheapo car that will last me a few years and that's it. It's been done before I'm sure.
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