SoarerCentral: Why I regret buying a soarer 3 years ago!

SoarerCentral General Soarer Chat Why I regret buying a soarer 3 years ago!

Previous Next

Author

Message

Nathan Sheehan
Tinkerer
WA
Soarer TT Manual

Posts: 80
Reg: 12-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Friday, November 14, 2008 - 03:09 pm, by: Nathan Sheehan (Soarermad1)

I bought a 1991 manual soarer with bodykit mags cat back exhaust tinted windows and decent stereo 3 years ago for 19999, now look at the prices! I thought the soarer manual would hold some kind of value but I probably couldn't sell the soarer for 10 grand now! Prices in cars have plummeted, I could have waited and bought 'shock horror' a 05 falcon for less then 10 grand! But...like everything there is a plus side as well.....

I don't intend to sell my soarer, I love it to bits. It may be a money pit as it has it's faults but its still one of the most attractive looking coupes out there today.

Timeless lines *tick* decent performance *tick* comfort *tick* not a commodore or falcon *tick*

The only thing I wish was that I'd bought one of these a couple years LATER

ah well who would have thought we'd have this market crash.

Gary Poloskei
TryHard
A.C.T
JZZ30

Posts: 162
Reg: 01-2008

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Friday, November 14, 2008 - 03:31 pm, by: Gary Poloskei (Mikrucio)

mate EVERYTHING in this world is like that.
If you want things before everyone else does.
you pay more...

except of course if you own a Jaguar XJ220 or something like that. they sell for more now then they were brand new. hahahaha. but oh well.

Daniel Clarke
Goo Roo
NSW
TT 2.5L 6 cylinder

Posts: 4194
Reg: 03-2006

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Friday, November 14, 2008 - 03:39 pm, by: Daniel Clarke (Dieseltrain)

Blame all the Gumby's doing Manual conversions left right and centre . Hehehehe. IM sure my insured value went up when i rang Justcar and quoted " Hi, Yeah That Jeff bloke just did a MANUAL conversion... SO did Michael ..."

Bingo, another few thousand extra value on the old Auto,lol...

Wafi Cheebo
TryHard
Victoria
T

Posts: 144
Reg: 09-2006

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Friday, November 14, 2008 - 06:06 pm, by: Wafi Cheebo (Wafi)

I think all 1991 models are worth around 10000 these days about a year and a half ago try around between 11000-14000 mark?? But I would assume a later model like a 1997 would hold a bit of value

Daniel Clarke
Goo Roo
NSW
TT 2.5L 6 cylinder

Posts: 4200
Reg: 03-2006

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Friday, November 14, 2008 - 06:17 pm, by: Daniel Clarke (Dieseltrain)

Nope.. Its like anything with sales, SUpply and demand..

If someone out there wants a modded 91 Soarer and wants to pay 10k, they will... But stock ones wont get much more than 6-7k if that !

Even some 97 vvti Turbos are selling for under 14k.

Gotta remember, they are an old car unfortunately

gettin close to 20 years old... GReat technology though !!!

Ryan Rankovic
Goo Roo
Victoria
Soarer TT GT-TL

Posts: 1174
Reg: 07-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Friday, November 14, 2008 - 06:34 pm, by: Ryan Rankovic (Ryan1j)

you wouldnt know its 20 years old though

i still get comments on my 91 by people who dont know what it is about how new it looks!

and i have never had any type of mechanical fault with mine, compared to friends with australian built cars that are newer

Kyle Wathen
DieHard
Vic
JZZ30 Manual GT-T

Posts: 739
Reg: 02-2007

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Friday, November 14, 2008 - 07:37 pm, by: Kyle Wathen (Cspot)

Daniel Clarke wrote on Friday, November 14, 2008 - 06:17 pm:
Even some 97 vvti Turbos are selling for under 14k.

Theres a VVTi on carsales that has gone from 14k to 9.5k, these things just aernt selling these days.

Luke Streat
Tinkerer
WA
Soarer TT

Posts: 92
Reg: 09-2008

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Friday, November 14, 2008 - 07:51 pm, by: Luke Streat (Streatracer)

I bought my 94 for $4100. sure its not perfect but i still think its a hell of a lot of car for the cash and I love it

Jose-Antonio Castillo
Goo Roo
NSW
Soarer VVTi

Posts: 1605
Reg: 07-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Friday, November 14, 2008 - 09:26 pm, by: Jose-Antonio Castillo (Ahh_soarer)

Meh, what are you gonna do? They're a fantastic car but if supply doesn't meet demand...

I don't intend on selling my Soarer after the price plummet. It sits in the carport now lol

Ian Johnston
DieHard
South Australia
UZZ30 GT 4.0

Posts: 778
Reg: 07-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Saturday, November 15, 2008 - 03:54 pm, by: Ian Johnston (Ted)

Hows it goin Nathan? I see you still got your Soarer. I thought at one stage you were going to sell it.(remember me? Emmas dad)
I have had mine for 4 years(1991 model GT4.0)
Paid $11,990. Has been the best car I have ever had. Now my missus drives it. Only car we have(barr my work ute)
I plan on keeping it, and believe I have allready got my monies worth out of it.
Beats driving some little buzz box.
With the current prices, I am thinking of buying another one just to sit in the shed.
Cant find anything to compare with it for the money.

Callum Finch
Goo Roo
WA
Soarer TT & Corolla

Posts: 4209
Reg: 09-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Saturday, November 15, 2008 - 04:12 pm, by: Callum Finch (Sigeneat)

Nathan Sheehan wrote on Friday, November 14, 2008 - 03:09 pm:
I bought a 1991 manual soarer with bodykit mags cat back exhaust tinted windows and decent stereo 3 years ago for 19999, now look at the prices!

You possibly paid too much even 3 years ago >.>

Ben Socratous
Goo Roo
SA
I am the fibreglass/kevlar/carbonfibre king!

Posts: 1934
Reg: 07-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Saturday, November 15, 2008 - 05:17 pm, by: Ben Socratous (Socrates)

I paid $12.5k for mine... nearly 6 years ago!!! I guess being a sales rep kinda helps in car sales negotiation tactics a bit

I've sunk about $10k into it over the past year, and have a bit more to go. Doesn't phase me though, as it would still only have cost 1/4 of its nearest competitor in looks and performance!

Michael Keen
Goo Roo
nsw
Soarer TT

Posts: 1052
Reg: 10-2007

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Saturday, November 15, 2008 - 06:20 pm, by: Michael Keen (Spoilt)

Daniel Clarke wrote on Friday, November 14, 2008 - 03:39 pm:
Blame all the Gumby's doing Manual conversions left right and centre . Hehehehe. IM sure my insured value went up when i rang Justcar and quoted " Hi, Yeah That Jeff bloke just did a MANUAL conversion... SO did Michael ..."

jealous ar we daniel heheh. i dont look back on doing it either, is great to drive now i love it.

great cars, i would never buy anything aussie made. i stick with toyota and honda they are the best.

you want resale. dont buy a subaru ahhaha, they shocking..

Daniel Clarke
Goo Roo
NSW
TT 2.5L 6 cylinder

Posts: 4203
Reg: 03-2006

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Saturday, November 15, 2008 - 06:27 pm, by: Daniel Clarke (Dieseltrain)

HAhaha I aint jealous... IN fact, its mostly Manual drivers that get jealous at the strip

Kyle Wathen
DieHard
Vic
JZZ30 Manual GT-T

Posts: 741
Reg: 02-2007

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Saturday, November 15, 2008 - 08:46 pm, by: Kyle Wathen (Cspot)

Michael Keen wrote on Saturday, November 15, 2008 - 06:20 pm:
you want resale. dont buy a subaru ahhaha, they shocking..

That must be excluding WRX's, I cant believe how expensive they still are for the classic shape MY94-MY00. They seem to hold their value very well.

Bobby Green
TryHard
QLD
TT

Posts: 175
Reg: 09-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Saturday, November 15, 2008 - 09:51 pm, by: Bobby Green (Nash)

When I was looking at soarers 5 years ago I really had my heart set on a v8, but all that I could find were $25,000+ which was out of my price range.

Yesterday I helped my mate purchase a soarer, a '94 UZZ31 with the updated front end and tail lights, nice white respray, all genuine (even has mats and the flare), airbag suspension, etc in beautiful condition for $5000 thats including the safety cert and rego. Other cars he looked at in that price range were clapped out old camries and silvias.

I reckon they're great value and the resale doesn't bother me because if I ever write mine off at least I can replace it cheaply.

Mike Beck
Goo Roo
New Zealand
Soarer Limited UZZ31 V8

Posts: 2799
Reg: 11-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Sunday, November 16, 2008 - 08:33 pm, by: Mike Beck (Gold_40gt)

Hmmmm depreciation is a nasty thing!

I remember when I started looking into Soarers back in 2004 they were all around 8-14k in NZ. I was quite skeptical about getting one at that time. When 2005/6 rolled around 6-8k ones popped up and then 5-6k ones... since then its just got ridiculous!

Now you can get average ones for 2-4k ones in some cases!

It's problematic when this happens as they still cost a fortune to fix in an accident and maintain.... also now days many younger foolish boy racers can get their hands on them and trash them to death like a typical cheap Japanese car on the market.

Not much we can do about it accept look after ours and enjoy them for what a good car they are.

Top examples will surely increase in value in years to come... how could they not?

Steven Nanevski
Goo Roo
New South Wales
My TT is for sale

Posts: 1926
Reg: 07-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Sunday, November 16, 2008 - 10:43 pm, by: Steven Nanevski (Imprestik)

I'm in a transition period at the moment. My soarer is on the market, but have not got many hits, and when I have had a hit, they offer me a stupid amount like 4K. Then they get all pi55ed off and say, I just looked at one and he was giving it to me for 3K, but when questioning them on km's, modifications and the like they shut there mouth and drive off. It's going to be a pr1ck of a job trying to sell it, but I'm hoping with petrol prices coming down in price quickly, I hope I get a young enthuest who wants to finish off what I have begun.

Either way I have sunk well over 20K into my soarer, do I expect to make it back, no, do I regret putting all that money into it, no. It was a learning experience, expensive yes, but who cares....

But now having owned by BF MKII XR8 for the last 2 weeks and having basically replaced every fluid, filter and anything else, I'm sorry but Australian built cars are so much cheaper to service. Also being only 2 years old vs 17 years old, I don't have the drama of replacing driveline/chassis part as I did with the soarer. Also insurance seemed to be alot easier to get, alot cheaper to get but again we are compairing old vs new.
I really can't see the soarer ever increasing price in Australia, maybe on a UZZ32 you could, but that's about it....

Charlie Ters
TryHard
nsw
'Single' biggest mistake :-)

Posts: 438
Reg: 01-2007

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Sunday, November 16, 2008 - 11:35 pm, by: Charlie Ters (Ul05st)

i choose not to sell my car to a low-life ball breaker non-appreciative f**K

, instead of loosing 20k+ worth of mods, im going to transplant the whole running gear into an ae86 or ra28 sometime next year..... then i only have to pay for the install, pump and intercooler (the rest is there)....

and sell the rest as bits and pieces (thank goodness i got the factory LSD

im already $600+ )

Luke Streat
Tinkerer
WA
Soarer TT

Posts: 94
Reg: 09-2008

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Sunday, November 16, 2008 - 11:43 pm, by: Luke Streat (Streatracer)

Great call haha

Matthew Sharpe
Goo Roo
North Island
JZZ31

Posts: 3903
Reg: 10-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Monday, November 17, 2008 - 06:33 am, by: Matthew Sharpe (Madmatt)

First Soarer cost me $11,000 in 2002, was a 1991 FSG UZZ30 at 160,000km, straight body, rooted paintwork, rough interior - written off in 2005.

Second Soarer was $6995 in 2005, WRM 1996 JZZ31 with average body (minor ripples in one of the doors but I couldnt find out why as rest of car had no signs of damage) and was stupidly cheap at the time - to the point of being suspicious, but as I said, other than the left hand door I really couldn't fault it at the price.

3 years later its still going strong - needs a respray after 3 hard years exposed to the elements but its cost me almost nothing. I recon I'd get maybe $3000-$4000 if I could find a buyer - so I've had 3 years of cheap enjoyable motoring for a depreciation of $3000, and will probably get the next 2 years for $1000, so I'm happy.

Bobby Green
TryHard
QLD
TT

Posts: 178
Reg: 09-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Monday, November 17, 2008 - 03:19 pm, by: Bobby Green (Nash)

Yea in contrast my mate's 2007 BMW 525i base model was $120k new onroads and after 18 months of driving his best price was $55k trade in. $10k depreciation over a few years for a soarer doesn't seem so bad on in comparison.

David Goldthorpe
Tinkerer
NSW
UZZ31 GT-L

Posts: 73
Reg: 11-2007

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Monday, November 17, 2008 - 09:32 pm, by: David Goldthorpe (Sprocket82)

Steven Nanevski wrote on Sunday, November 16, 2008 - 10:43 pm:
But now having owned by BF MKII XR8 for the last 2 weeks and having basically replaced every fluid, filter and anything else, I'm sorry but Australian built cars are so much cheaper to service. Also being only 2 years old vs 17 years old, I don't have the drama of replacing driveline/chassis part as I did with the soarer. Also insurance seemed to be alot easier to get, alot cheaper to get but again we are compairing old vs new.

Steven, how does your new car compare with the Soarer? I'm thinking my next car might be a BF XR8 and just wondering how how they compare when it comes to build quality, perfomance etc.

Steven Nanevski
Goo Roo
New South Wales
My TT is for sale

Posts: 1930
Reg: 07-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Monday, November 17, 2008 - 11:12 pm, by: Steven Nanevski (Imprestik)

David Goldthorpe wrote on Monday, November 17, 2008 - 09:32 pm:
Steven, how does your new car compare with the Soarer? I'm thinking my next car might be a BF XR8 and just wondering how how they compare when it comes to build quality, perfomance etc.

The XR8 is solid, extremely solid. It weighs in at 1.8 tonnes. It's still early days at the moment, but Ford have got there act together when it comes to the BF. I would steer clear of the BA unless you find one with oil pump gears replaced, diff centre replaced or at least serviced regulary and either a rebuilt or regulary serviced transmission as they are all extremely weak spots on them. Driveability is excellent very smooth, handles also extremely well and takes well to modification. I just installed a Herrod Motorsport CAI and spacer and wow has it changed the response of the overall car, even the exhaust note is different.
Personally you can't go wrong, I found a great example at that was extremely cheap due to the curcumstances that the seller got himself into, I can only tell you to go for one, you wont regret it....

Charlie Ters
TryHard
nsw
'Single' biggest mistake :-)

Posts: 439
Reg: 01-2007

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - 07:30 pm, by: Charlie Ters (Ul05st)

why Steven, WHY!...... amazing what 24hours can do to someone......

i am now in the market for an XR6 Turbo (probably BA

)

for 3 reasons...
1.non cop magnet
2.all parts avaliable
3. if i get a white one, i can use it as a taxi

now its a race between getting my soarer finished, or selling everything and going the falcon....whichever comes first...

James Harris
Goo Roo
QLD
XTR T-66 Turbo

Posts: 2125
Reg: 07-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - 09:25 pm, by: James Harris (Haro)

i reckon ive come to the end of my fun run with my white whale.

Yup ive spent some cash on it and i dont really regret that (except for a couple of things i coulda done better/easier/cheaper but m-eh) I have enjoyed driving and modifying the car since i bought it in 2004.

Ill prob throw it up for sale soon and if i dont get what i would like for it ill just start selling off my bits.

$1000 diff
$1200 Sparco Seats
$1500 19" rims
$700 stereo equip (paid over 1600 for it all)

and so and and so forth. I prob wouldnt bother pulling the single turbo off though despite the fact i could get some cash back on it... i wouldnt want to go through the dramas of putting the stocko stuff back on.

It really is a buyers market at the moment but most decent/smart car buyers will be able to spot a well looked after and tastefully modded Soarer over a sh1tbox clapped out TT that runs 20psi "with no dramas what so ever" (yeh right)

Ryan McDonough
DieHard
NSW
STOCK JZZ30 TT

Posts: 517
Reg: 07-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - 06:56 pm, by: Ryan McDonough (Ryan)

Just be happy you didn't buy a new prestige car.. You can lose 50% of the purchase price with in a couple of years. I am not talking about cars over 100k either...

Benjamin Burgess
Goo Roo
NSW
Toyota Corolla Conquest

Posts: 1925
Reg: 07-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Thursday, November 20, 2008 - 01:08 pm, by: Benjamin Burgess (Jampac)

buy a saab and you'll see that in the first year.

Ryan McDonough
DieHard
NSW
STOCK JZZ30 TT

Posts: 518
Reg: 07-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Thursday, November 20, 2008 - 06:58 pm, by: Ryan McDonough (Ryan)

LOL So true Ben.. That would be why one of the dealerships in our group only sells one a month.

James Johnson
Goo Roo
Victoria
92 TT , and 93 TT Manual

Posts: 1079
Reg: 07-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Thursday, November 20, 2008 - 08:18 pm, by: James Johnson (Jamesy)

I think all the cheap nasty cars going for 4k>2k will end up being scrapped soon enough. Sure people buy them for nothing but to keep them going is still expencive. more than 50% of soarers you see on the road are clapped out •••••••• with yellow headlights and most likely with door trims glued together with paddle pop sticks!!
problem is these •••••••• bring the price down on clean good examples.

the next problem is the 1jzgte! they seem to be getting old! rough treatment from owners here and japan have taken its toll, a 17 year old engine running at 14psi, this treatment is catching up with them. all to often lately we have had to do engine swaps at work on these.
Now the most cos teffective fix is to chuck in another 2nd hand engine... but how long is this going to last? the proper fix is to rebuild and if you add up the cost of parts required + labour it will not be worth wile to do all this work on a crap soarer with shagged interior faded paint etc... that was worth $3k to buy

So my theory is all these sub 4k cars will end up at your local wreckers and we will only be left with the nice examples that are worth a bit more $$ a little bit like the classic celia.

end rant..

Brett Harris
Tinkerer
NSW
2.5TT

Posts: 74
Reg: 09-2008

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 06:24 am, by: Brett Harris (Stay_beautiful)

I have had my car for two months now and paid $10k
for this TT manual with lsd and wotnot.
Replaced the turbo's already (thanks Adam for the parts)so all up it has cost me $12K.

I am still king of the world, love it, love it.

Find me a bigger bang for my buck??
Not going to happen

Kristian Bird
Tinkerer
Victoria
Soarer GT-L V8 UZZ31

Posts: 81
Reg: 04-2007

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Tuesday, November 25, 2008 - 09:24 pm, by: Kristian Bird (Kgb)

Understandable for prices to drop somewhat in victoria, what with the new P plate laws, no more power to weight...

But still, decent ones will probably stay at a reasonable price you would think. Someone who really wants one will still pay for quality.

David Vaughan
Goo Roo
ACT
V8 Ltd manual

Posts: 4061
Reg: 07-2005

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Wednesday, November 26, 2008 - 07:20 am, by: David Vaughan (Davidv)

I bought mine nearly four years ago on the assumption I was writing off all the money over five years. So far, progress is good

.
In fact on that basis, when I sell I will probably make a profit

In tax terms you write down cars by 22.5% of present value each year, and that is not a bad start to valuation. Remember also to count the value of all modifications as zero the moment you have done them. Then you will not have an unduly optimistic view of where the market is, and might even get a pleasant surprise.

Jeff Bedsor
TryHard
QLD
TT

Posts: 468
Reg: 10-2006

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Wednesday, November 26, 2008 - 08:43 am, by: Jeff Bedsor (Jeff_bedsor)

James Harris wrote on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - 09:25 pm:
tastefully modded Soarer over a sh1tbox clapped out TT that runs 20psi "with no dramas what so ever" (yeh right)

Mine runs over 20 psi with no dramas, standard turbo's. Has been for over a year.