the orange car saga: not nuts, just 276.8rwhp..

[redzone]

yeah well i thought i might let u know whats happening with the beast at the moment, it has been off the road for about a month now, pulled the engine out as it was abit too tired to sell the car as it was. yep, the car will be for sale when its back on the road. so in it went to the panel shop, to paint the engine bay while the engine was out (bay was still silver) and also touch up some imperfections stone chips and parking lot rash it had accumulated in the last 2 years. so there goes a grand.

and i decided that i might just throw a set of forged pistons in it while i`m rebuilding it, as we all know how much people love reading in an ad that the car they`re thinking of buying has forgies. there goes another grand! plus another grand for all the other parts in the rebuild plus dynamic balancing etc as i removed the balance shafts..

MY DILEMMA!

then i realise that i have an old MOTEC fuel only ecu from my gemini sitting there doing nothing, all i need is a 3 bar map sensor, and i have a set of 440cc gtir pulsar injectors (yes guys top feed) aswell, and have been offered a sonata intake for free. i also have a jig to make a steampipe T03 manifold, and i have a cheaply available new T3 pattern turbo in my eyes......

i can sell the rebuilt JB tc06 turbo i was gonna use on it for not that much less than i can buy the newie for, just my own time and a few hundred bux to make the manifold etc.. so basically what i`m saying is that i can make this thing a whole lot more powerful and faster (and showy) for bugger all more(plus my time of course) than setting it back up with stock injection and turbo (which ran 13.9`s anyway)

SO do u think i`d get around 13 grand for it with all this crazy stuff on it running probably 12`s??

or should i just put it back the way it was and sell it for about 9 grand??

needless to say i dont think i`m being too unrealistic with the prices. look at something like this compared to a stock SR20 turbo 180sx (which sell for about 13 grand up here) the starion would KILL em...

anyone thats seen my car knows how clean it is, i`m throwing a pair of reclining race style seats in as well, as the leather on the front seats was shagged. the rest of the interior is MINT (2 tone grey, as it's a series 2 JA) it'll come with a roadworthy certificate. also will have an LSD fitted..

so what ya`s think??

[SIR GSR]

Spend up...Make it what we all want it to be. It's not like it won't sell, and it'll be appreciated too. At least you know the work will be done properly if you do it before the sale. Who knows what kind of back yard mechanic will try to boost it up if someone like yourself doesn't do it for them first.

[WANTSOM]

Would you get $13K for it?

Check out GOTSOM and what it had and what we sold it for. What they're worth and what you get are 2 different things. I aint complaining it sold for what I advertised it at but I know how much was done to that car and I put a price that I thought was market competitive.

[NXTIME]

Very few Starions sell for more than 10K. Most are worth more in parts than as a complete car. Apart from widies, the only Starion that I kow of that sold for over 10K was the yellow EVO-powered Starion [EVO20T].

[rallidave]

spend up, why not, you only live once :D

[OLD FART]

Dave when its finished and looking smick Gary wont b able to resist buying it 4 his daily driver & it would be good company for KITT :D :D :D

[MrBishi]

I think that $13K is going to be a huge stretch for the car.
Look at what other similar MPI'd Starions have sold for.
GOTSOM and my old JB.
I had absolutely no interest at $8K and it ended up selling for much less.
If you really want to sell it, spend as little as possible on it to minimise your loss. (there will be a loss :( )

[Junkers]

Theres not enough interest/demand for a starion to sell for 13K.. maybe in a few years time when we can justify them as true classics.

[Glen GSR III]

very true points.. look at cookies car, ended up as parts.

I suppose since the cars aren't well known nobody wants to pay the money. It would be a fair assumption to say that 70-80% of people who have spent big $ on a staz will not get it back, let alone make a profit.

People seem to struggle to sell starions (modded or not) for anymore than what Greg got for GOTSOM. Just the way it is...

[WANTSOM]

True, but I dont regret a minute of doing up Maries car. The attraction of these little beasties isnt their value or their resale value. It is there neverwannadie personality and the fact that some cars 20 years younger dont have the quality in them them that the Starion has.

In the end we pumped out 150kw atw in a daily driven 25 year old car. Would love to see what a WRX or 200SX can do in 25 years - not bloody much I would imagine.

[digitalsko]

the problem is that not many people know about the staz so unless a car enthusiest see's that they have a rare 12 sec car for 13k then u might have to wait a bit. my mate payed 11k for a 69 falcon that ran 11's.... but he knows his cars (he actually introduced me to the staz) anyway...... thats my t3 style turbo!!!! gimme.... hehe.... and as anthony said there wasnt much interest in his at 8 which was good for me, but it really depends on the time and who is in need of a staz. coz i bought my yellow one for 4 and it shouldve really only sold 4 2k.... so its upto suppply and demand.... anyway I hope u get the 13k.... and bring my turbo down :D :beer :beer :beer

[Entaran]

AXELR8 which was in pretty damned good condition and running a full vr4 engine with haltech and 12.x timeslips only made 8.5k or something. It was a bastard of a car to sell too.

I think 10k+ for a staz is dreaming. 13k will net you a lancer GSR or if you're really hooked up a reshelled E1 GSR. It all depends what you want. The fact of the matter is that 10k+ isn't what people pay for toys and that's really all a starion is these days.

[redzone]

hmmm all valid points and pretty much what i expected people to say!
but...

1) people do pay good money for old school done up cars. i have a mate that payed $15000 for an sr20 datsun 1600, another that payed $11000 for an sr20 datsun stanza, look at what early rotaries are worth etc etc etc.. young guys tend to go and get a bank loan,then go out looking for an already built QUICK car that shows some serious dyno sheets or time slips in the ad. thats what they look for!

2) some starions do sell for good money, i mean look at how quickly GOTSOM`s car sold! 22 hours??? and flavs JD was like 7 hours or something? that tells me they were underpriced! and hoony paid $12000 for her JD?? and that red JA with the chrome reflective signal stripes and ricey wheels sold for $13000 last year (not on this forum)... and i`m not in a rush to sell it anyway, it`s just going to pay for my gemini coupe drag project to be finished...

3) i have a chance of getting the car featured in a magazine when its finished, i`ll let u know u know how THAT goes but that always increases a cars value! and makes it easier to sell..

4)i`m pretty sure i am not gonna sell it through this forum, for the reasons most have put in above, people on here seem to let things go for a lot cheaper than i think they`re worth!

5)HORSEPOWER SELLS CARS! i sold a 13 second DAGGY gemini coupe for $5000 AS IS a couple of years ago, didn`t even have to advertise it, just word of mouth

6)if all else fails and i cant sell it for the money i want, i can just pull out the hot motor and throw in a second hand ja motor i have sitting here and sell the car for like $7000, and use the hottie motor in the JB..

most people that know the car locally were horrified that i would sell it for under 10 the way that it was, but it does have a pretty good reputation up here... i`m leaning more towards doing the crazy stuff and seeing what happens! :pimp

[MrBishi]

1) people do pay good money for old school done up cars. i have a mate that payed $15000 for an sr20 datsun 1600, another that payed $11000 for an sr20 datsun stanza, look at what early rotaries are worth etc etc etc.. young guys tend to go and get a bank loan,then go out looking for an already built QUICK car that shows some serious dyno sheets or time slips in the ad. thats what they look for!

They are Dattos & Mazdas - totally different ballgame. People have been paying silly silly money for rust free stockers to build their SR20 or 13BT powered beast. The majority follow the trends & want trendy cars and as a consequence pay mucho money for them. JA Starions are not trendy or seen in the public eye as good looking or reliable. Of course we all know better rofl

4)i`m pretty sure i am not gonna sell it through this forum, for the reasons most have put in above, people on here seem to let things go for a lot cheaper than i think they`re worth!

FYI - I had the JB in the trading post, Just Cars mag & many internet car forums with very little interest over 3 months


I really hope that you get whatever money you want for the car, but just be aware that it may be a bit harder than you anticipate.

Gemini vs Starion - I know which one I'd choose :D

[Glen GSR III]

True, but I dont regret a minute of doing up Maries car. The attraction of these little beasties isnt their value or their resale value. It is there neverwannadie personality and the fact that some cars 20 years younger dont have the quality in them them that the Starion has.

of course, i agree totally :) My main reason for spending the $ on mine is that i love the 'underdog' Most ppl i know either don't know what it is or don't want one.

I can think of no worse humiliation than getting blown away by something that u don't even know what it is.