C34 Stagea's. Looking For Advice and Opinions

[Hambo24]

Hey guys,

I've been looking seriously at purchasing a C34 Nissan Stagea for the past few months. I've researched all the information and old threads I could find, but I'm still hoping to get some knowledge and experiences here.

I've always had a soft spot for Nissan's, and I'm getting a bit tired of my VE SS. I also play drums, and loading and unloading my current car is becoming a bit of an issue; so the Stagea, so far seems to be ticking all of the boxes

I live out in the country, and hence would like to get as much info as I can before travelling to have a look at any for sale.

I'm particularly interested in the 260rs. My budget is 25k which I'm hoping will get me a pretty neat example (when the right one comes up for sale).I'm very interested to hear people's experiences with these cars and the advantages/disadvantages of this model, as well as anything particular to watch out for when looking at potential purchases.
Also wondering if going the import route would be feasible? I've been looking at a few past sales and a grade 4 car could be imported and complied within my budget. But the idea of it makes me a little nervous to be honest.

Lastly, I've read mixed opinions regarding the legroom in these cars; I'm 6'4" and I'm worried that I might not even fit behind the wheel.

Looking forward to hearing what you guys have to say!

Thanks

[spudtatoe]

I’m about 6’2-3 and it’s fine to drive but a little more room wouldn’t hurt.

Can’t help with anything else though

[GTSBoy]

Legroom would have to be tragic.  I am 6'5" with long legs rather than long body and I drive an R32 coupe.

Stageas are an odd thing.  I tend to think that the distribution of quality of them out there will be very bimodal.  There will be very good ones, very bad ones, and not too many in between.  Find one that's been owned in Oz by one person for a long time and looked after and you will likely get the best outcome.  If you buy one that's been through 5 owners, it will be full of bodgy shit mods and mysterious service/repairs.

[KiwiRS4T]

There is a section above on what to look for in a C34 Stagea. The main faults you are likely to encounter are:

Serious rust under the mirrors.

Dreadful thirst for petrol.

I have had three C34s - they are a fun hobby and I spent $50k on the last one (the car was only $4.5k) making it go fast and handle.

The trouble with the 260 is that it is not really all that fast and you will end up spending a lot of money if you have a need for speed. I would suggest you look at a few PNM35s with the VQ350NA - a nice car which with the right wheels, tyres and suspension can be great to drive and also reliable and not too thirsty.

In any case have a good read through the Stagea (wagoneers) section to see what people do and you may be able to buy one from a member that has had all the necessary or desirable work done on it.

[Hambo24]

Thanks for the replies, I had looked into the newer models, but I have a real soft spot for the C34 shape. I was aware of the rust issue under the side mirrors, could excess fuel consumption be O2 sensor or injectors? Or likely something more suss?

I've always been a car enthusiast and I'm happy to sacrifice a bit of comfort and (maybe) reliability for the experience; but having said that yer, I don't want a headache or a real money pit.

My currrent car has 267rwkw and weighs 1,835kg. I'm not looking for any more power than that. I'm aware the RB26 can achieve about 250 or so with a power FC and some supporting mods so I think I'd be happy with that.

My real concern is that most of these cars have already been modded and could have had a dodgy previous owner, or had it's odometer rolled back at some point. As well as the ageing HICAS and ATESSA systems lol

[GTSBoy]

The high fuel consumption is a function of large vehicle mass, small engine, brickwall aerodynamics and Nissan's rich mixtures under load.

I would suggest that if you're fixated on the old Stagea shape then one with a Neo25 in it would be smarter than the 260RS.  The GTR motor is not the best match for the higher weight of the Stag.

[Hambo24]

43 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

The high fuel consumption is a function of large vehicle mass, small engine, brickwall aerodynamics and Nissan's rich mixtures under load.

I would suggest that if you're fixated on the old Stagea shape then one with a Neo25 in it would be smarter than the 260RS.  The GTR motor is not the best match for the higher weight of the Stag.

Yer I understand they're going to be thirsty lol.

Im getting 16-18L/100km around town in my current car, but I work away a fair bit so fuel isn't a big concern.

[Stagea_Neo]

On the fuel side of things,, 02 sensor replacement didn't make any real change for me, maybe a few extra km over the old kaput sensor. Others have said it made a lot of difference. 

Check for cracked/old vacum hoses, intake hoses and bov hose, that makes a fair bit of difference, also a fresh set of spark plugs, as they may not have been changed in a while on some. I went from 16-18L per 100km to now getting consistent 14.1 - 14.8L per 100km city/suburb driving after doing the hoses and plugs.

On recent trip with a mix of city/suburb/hwy got down to 11.7L per 100km with the neo motor/4wd.

Check for front drive shaft L/R play if going for 4wd, put it on full lock left and right test in forward and reverse listen for clunks. 

On auto's if the car stalls when you come to a stop and/or the AT light coming on randomly + locking out 1st gear (safe mode), more than likely needs new solenoids.

[Ben C34]

In my opinion going from a ve ss to a stagea is a backwards step. It's 10 years back in time, heaps less safety and an engine that's not going to be in as good condition. Your current ls engine will take a beating and keep giving. An Rb26 will spin a bearing, then cost more to fix ( labour etc) massive import tax for insurance and parts.

Stageas seating position is stupid high. I am 6ft 3 and with no sunroof just fit. With a helmet on don't fit. Sunroof would be worse.. Perhaps the rs260 seats are lower, and I would hope so as I had to put gtr seats in mine to make the head room ok.

They are also heaps smaller than a commodore, so rear seat room is basically non existent. Boot is a reasonable size I suppose, only cos it is a cube.

 

 

 

[Hambo24]

12 hours ago, Ben C34 said:

In my opinion going from a ve ss to a stagea is a backwards step. It's 10 years back in time, heaps less safety and an engine that's not going to be in as good condition. Your current ls engine will take a beating and keep giving. An Rb26 will spin a bearing, then cost more to fix ( labour etc) massive import tax for insurance and parts.

Stageas seating position is stupid high. I am 6ft 3 and with no sunroof just fit. With a helmet on don't fit. Sunroof would be worse.. Perhaps the rs260 seats are lower, and I would hope so as I had to put gtr seats in mine to make the head room ok.

They are also heaps smaller than a commodore, so rear seat room is basically non existent. Boot is a reasonable size I suppose, only cos it is a cube.

 

 

 

I've put a fair bit of thought into that, Ben. The Commodore is still a pretty modern car and quite nice to drive; my job pretty much means my personal car is only used on the weekends though, I'd certainly be more critical of the age of the car if it was a proper daily.

I was under the impression the RB platform were fairly resilient. I've got a few mates with skylines that have had very hard lives and are still going strong. I'm hoping by waiting out for a clean example I should be pretty safe..

I think the driving position is going to be an issue though. I believe the 260rs has the same seats, just different trim. I understand you can get aftermarket seat rails for more legroom as well. Might have to chase one down and suss it out

[GTSBoy]

You can't put aftermarket rails on the factory seats real easy though, so if you need to change the seating, you're changing all of it.

As to old car vs. new car......pick something electric/electronic on the car that will annoy the crap out of you when it fails and you can't get another one and if you can it's in the same boat because they're all the same age and all just about to fail.  Power window control box, climate control, ABS controller, etc etc.  All these things and more are more likely to drop dead on the older car and because it's a rarer car, less replacements available.  The Commonwhore might be a big ugly bogan-mobile, but parts will always be that much easier.  So there is something to the argument of not choosing the twice as old car.

I have an R32.  When I actuate the RHS power window, the passenger's door locks.  Has for years.  There's an electrical gremlin.  I'm too scared to go looking for it.  While it all still works it's OK.  But it could burn the car to the ground any day!

[Hambo24]

48 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

You can't put aftermarket rails on the factory seats real easy though, so if you need to change the seating, you're changing all of it.

As to old car vs. new car......pick something electric/electronic on the car that will annoy the crap out of you when it fails and you can't get another one and if you can it's in the same boat because they're all the same age and all just about to fail.  Power window control box, climate control, ABS controller, etc etc.  All these things and more are more likely to drop dead on the older car and because it's a rarer car, less replacements available.  The Commonwhore might be a big ugly bogan-mobile, but parts will always be that much easier.  So there is something to the argument of not choosing the twice as old car.

I have an R32.  When I actuate the RHS power window, the passenger's door locks.  Has for years.  There's an electrical gremlin.  I'm too scared to go looking for it.  While it all still works it's OK.  But it could burn the car to the ground any day!

That's always the trade off I guess.

Its reassuring to know that unless the engine does a lifter or valve spring or something like that, most other parts could be easily sourced/replaced.

Bit tired of the Commodore life though, and I certainly need a wagon. Suburu's and the Legnums don't do it for me so the C34 seemed like a good option; but maybe not Lol

[Sinista32]

Give some thought to a Nissan Elgrand. Neat units.

Room for the Drum kit and family/passengers. 3.5L

[zoomzoom]

Everyone is going to have a different experience long term with their vehicle. All I can say is that my s1 auto stagea has provided 10 years of lugging duty with minimal hassle. Sure, it's required a fair bit of maintenance replacing wear and tear items, but has only broken down once in a decade. In regards to the electrical problems, thankfully the technology in the stagea is quite simple and so work arounds can be made for electrical problems. For example my tachometer blew (both the ecu pin and tacho driver in the cluster), and so I rebuilt the driver myself using off the shelf chips.

[Chieftroller]

I had a C34 S2 from September 2017 to feb this year, until I stacked it.

 

Never had an issue aside from the fuel consumption side of things, auto went well and had plenty of power, I can't look at anything else anymore, they're an addiction, and mine helped move most of a house in about a week. don't worry about rear leg room unless you're constantly taking a full load of passengers, which even then I had 5 adults in it pretty comfortably.. the rear seats fold flat for extra room.