Friday, June 30, 2006 - 03:28 pm, by: Benny Spina(Stugats)
Hi guys, I have recently come to love Soarers and am currently looking to purchasing one. I know every car has their own problems but when I was reading what people are currently experiencing with their Soarer and the problems that they have, it gets me wondering if I should purchase one. What do you reckon?
Friday, June 30, 2006 - 04:09 pm, by: Peter Nitschke(Pen)
Benny.
Like anything, get a good one and look after it, and you won't have problems.
Soarers are probably the only car anywhere that pretty much ALL possible problems are known and about 99% have known fixes with probably 90% of them being relatively inexpensive. We are still working on the last 1% of uncertain problems.
The main high cost fixes that I can think of immediately are the P/S pump and alternator for V8's, air bags for UZZ31's, blown turbo's for TT's and LCA bushes.
If you are going to thrash it, then you might do a diff as well.
If you hot it up wildly you may run into other problems, as with all cars.
Most of the rest are low cost, ie less than $500 and a lot of what gets discussed here are modifications and upgrades more than fixes.
I don't think you will find another car in this class that can in fact be maintained this cheaply simply because of all the help from the Soarer community and experts.
Don Bagnall Moderator New Zealand I have LESS Soarers than Hayden :-(
Friday, June 30, 2006 - 09:42 pm, by: Don Bagnall(Baggs)
Benny. What Peter says is true. In our case I bought a good one to start with, and have been rewarded with trouble free motoring, and the car is my daily driver.
Saturday, July 01, 2006 - 12:12 am, by: Marc Vipond(04awe)
Benny! I've owned a whole heap of high performance vehicles (mostly toyota) and I honestly reckon the soarer is amongst the most easily maintained and inexpensive vehicles I've ever driven. Choose wisely and treat your car with respect and you'll never have a drama soarer's will also take a bit of abuse as well if you are one to give your cars a bit of a strap now and then! Use high quality oils and fluids and replace them regularly to ensure longevity of all moving parts. And if you get stuck anywhere ask the guys in here they'll be quick to help you out
Saturday, July 01, 2006 - 09:51 am, by: Doug Jardine(Drj)
Benny! I am a recent owner. Peter sums up the car absolutely. And just as important, this site is a virtual workshop manual with massive help pages, social club and events management outfit all in one. Hard to beat!
Don Bagnall Moderator New Zealand I have LESS Soarers than Hayden :-(
Sunday, July 02, 2006 - 10:49 am, by: Katrina Bruns(Katrina)
Basically Benny, if you get one you wont regret it. When I got mine, I had a whole BUNCH of problems.. but thanks to the guys on here, and the end result.. it was totally worth it to have one
Sunday, July 02, 2006 - 05:25 pm, by: Sam Schreck(Schreck300)
Welcome Benny. Any time you buy a car, new or second hand, there is a chance of minor problems, huge expensive problems or even landing a cursed lemon. Any car that's 12 to 15 years old, as is the common age here, will probably have bits and pieces in need of a nip and tuck here and there. Door trims, power window regulators, dash displays, upholstery and bushes don't last forever. The good news here is that in most cases, these little fixes have already been taken care of. If not, there's a tutorial on how to do it yourself and save a bloody fortune. It's all about finding the right Soarer. Either buy a freshly imported 97 or 98 non-turbo (less chance of it being thrashed), or study the 'For Sale' section here and find one with all the fixes done for you. I'd also recommend having a read of some Holden and Ford forums and seeing just how many things can really go wrong with a car...Even brand new ones. Good luck.
Monday, July 03, 2006 - 08:23 am, by: Benny Spina(Stugats)
Thanks for all your comments guys. I will take everything on board when looking for a purchase. This is a great web site with the best support for a car that I know of and I have only just come across it. Keep up the good work to all involved.