looking at purchasing a Stagea AR-X Four 2002

[smooth silver]

Hi, could any one advise me about the AR-X Four 2002 Turbo Stagea Wagon apparently the issue with it is a Starter Relay any idea of cost of parts and who i could purchase them from preferable NSW.

Thank you

[Duncan]

Hi mate, what is the symptom of the problem, who diagnosed it, and did they say exactly "starter relay"?

It's possible there may be a starter relay causing a problem, but if someone has diagnosed that they would also spend 4 seconds replacing it for 4 cents.  More likely it needs a new/reconditioned starter motor because the solenoid on the starter motor has failed.  Any auto elec or mechanic should be able to take it out and have it reconditioned in a day.

[smooth silver]

Hi Duncan,

Apparently a mechanic diagnosed it said a starter relay issue, cost somewhere between 500-1000 to replace. According to the owner it starts 1 out of every 10.Yet when i looked at it started 1st turn of they key and it had been sitting for 1month in all the rain as well.Not to say it will start next time.

The other point i am being told is that the parts a very expensive to replace as these are fully imported.

Thank you for replying.

Edited August 10, 2016 by smooth silver

[Duncan]

that seems like a reasonable price to reco or replace a starter motor. some failures are more common when cold, others when hot. genuinely random failures are less likely and will probably become more common until that really annoying time when you end up stuck  I just did the one on my C34 because it was failing when hot (but it is manual so I could clutch start....)

the job is easy enough for any mechanic, probably 30min in and out. I'd take it to someone more familiar with imports and see if they know where to find a new one or repair it cheaper; whereabouts in NSW are you?

[smooth silver]

Dubbo,there is a company reasonably good in doing rebuilds of your original,not sure how good they are on imports.Ah for a manual no luck this is auto

You mention a C34 i looked in the GTR Registry.com (thank you to the person who did all that work it is fantastic.) I could not find any mention of AR-X Four also the Vin no that i was given is the RMS one starts with a 6.

I'm also wondering about the turbo and dirt roads.Any advice gratefully accepted.(no i do not want a 4 wheel drive or a tank ha ha!)

I can not afford to be stuck  as i live rather remote.

 

[Duncan]

Well I hope one of the forum members more familiar with M35s can help with where to source a second hand starter and get it shipped out there.  Alternatively, while your local guy may not have parts on the shelf it will be no harder to rebuild than any other starter once the right parts are there.

There is absolutely no problem with using a turbo on dirt roads etc, just think of all those turbo diesel utes and trucks running around.  You would need to replace or clean your air filter more often but hopefully whoever services the car will have that under control.

There are 2 series of Stageas, C34 (earlier) and M35 (later), while they are similar from a marketing point of view (mid/large wagons) the platforms they are built on is very different, so any threads you see about C34 is unlikely to be directly relevant to your M35.  While it's a bit touchy, I think everyone here could agree that C34s are easier to modify, and M35s are nicer and more comfortable.

The main thing you may notice about any stagea is the fuel economy is not awesome, parts can sometimes be tricky (as you've found) but nothing impossible.  I think M35 stageas have issues with air flow meters (maybe carry a spare) and turbos (replace yours if it hasn't been done yet) but are otherwise reliable, but again the forum members more familiar with M35s could confirm