Hi everyone

Anyone interested in helping me hide the signs of aging for my Magna Solara? It has a enw sports exhaust but there are some exhausted bits and pieces and as I think some of you are good at mods or even servicing Magnas, you should have some simple fixes for me?


Let's begin:

* Side skirt bit has come off a bit, I think its held on my 3M tape but I have been unable to make the tap touch the plastic.
- There was actually a screw that I could unscrew and re-screw to secure the bottom bit back tightly.

* The plastic rim bit on the door has fallen off but currently held by duct tape haha, seems to do the job but would you recommend anything else?
- Kept using duct tape but have hidden it a bit better so it's not too obvious that it's a duct tape mod/job.

* Wireless entry doesn't work no more, I had reset (Pair it with car) the remote and it works for a while and then stops.........
- I have two remotes, one can only open and one can only close. Given up.

* I have this really stubborn sticker glue mark and I have tried scraping it off, using alcohol etc. and it won't come off, any suggestions on products?
- I got a really sharp blade designed for stanley knives, sprayed the sticker gluen with windex, let it settle for 15 seconds and scrapped it all off, yes! clear windows again.

* The gear knob can bounce off if you press it too hard, it use to just click now it actually launches off lol
- I spray painted the knob as it was fading in colour anyway but the thickness of the extra paint seems to have made it less lose.

* The roof of the inside of the car (the carpet covering) is coming off a bit towards the front of the car..........
- Looks crap still but hidden from most angles, I applied some hobby glue to the fabric and pushed it against the foam, the glue dried and seems to hold the fabric tightly but its obvious where the glue was as its bonded tighter than other fabric bits.



* The D light does not illuminate when it is in D but fine for other gears

* The dash lighting is overall not that bright

* Half the Radio buttons are not lit as well ( I assume same issues as D sign, bulbs?)

* Power windows seem slow and weak for Drivers seat

* Headlights a bit yellow and not that bright

* If I use the key to unlock the door and turn the key too far it goes from unlock to lock again and sometimes does a whole pattern, unlock, lock, unlock etc.

* The front dash bit is peeling a bit,

* Some general paintwork scratches

> The car flies with V-power but a few cosmetic issues


Thanks, hope you guys actually enjoy reading that ..........

Hope my fixes can help someone.

Sorry, should this be in the Mit-Fix section? I am not looking for mechanical advice so i was unsure. Thanks

Your in the right section for your car. The Mits-fix section is a specific area for MadMagna's business inquiries/sales

As Subzero said, Mits-Fix is the forum section for club sponsor Mits-Fix. So unless you have a question directly for Mits-Fix, it's not the place to post.

My answers:

* Half the Radio buttons are not lit as well ( I assume same issues as D sign, bulbs?)
Use it as an excuse to upgrade to a new aftermarket CD player? :P

* Power windows seem slow and weak for Drivers seat
Mine are the same, not sure if there's much you can do, apart from giving the rails they run on a good lube. Use silicon spray - available from hardware stores and Supercheap etc. Take your door trims off and give the rails a generous spray. Run them up and down a few times, add more spray, etc; that's about the most you can do.

* Headlights a bit yellow and not that bright
Philips Xtremepower bulbs: not cheap, but some of the best lighting you can get without going overboard. Available from most auto stores, or cheaper from www.powerbulbs.com . Bulbs do lose efficiency as they age, so if money's tight, a vanilla set of bulbs may make a difference. Since we're talking about headlights, I would stick to a name brand though.

* Wireless entry doesn't work no more, I had reset (Pair it with car) the remote and it works for a while and then stops.........
Battery? The transponder itself?

* I have this really stubborn sticker glue mark and I have tried scraping it off, using alcohol etc. and it won't come off, any suggestions on products?
Try heating it up first before scraping it off. Leave it in the sun for a while. Or use a heat gun if you have access to one - since it's on glass the heat gun shouldn't damage anything.

* Some general paintwork scratches
Meguiars ScratchX (available from Supercheap and Autobarn) and a fair bit of elbow grease. Most scratches you cannot completely remove, but you can make them less obvious.

* Some general paintwork scratches
Meguiars ScratchX (available from Supercheap and Autobarn) and a fair bit of elbow grease. Most scratches you cannot completely remove, but you can make them less obvious.

That stuff works a treat on surface scratches more than anything.........unfortunately any deep scratches wont come out :( but it does conceal them a bit.

Re: the dash lighting, you can swap out the globes for some bright LED globes which might help brighten things up a bit. Not sure what part of the dash is peeling, but you could always pick up a cheap dash mat to conceal it & protect it a little from further deterioration.

Thanks, all great answers, very helpful.

A few of those require some technical knowledge of how to remove trims and other parts, so looks like more homework for me.

Screwdriver(s) + self-serve wreckers = new globes
and if you want to go to all the trouble of a new dash, get a black one. Or just a dash mat. I have a black one and a dash mat here, pm me if you're interested in buying either.
Workshop manuals here: http://www.lisho.net/?page_id=3 can help with trim removal.

Done a bit of work today, re-screwed the side skirt (door thingo) on, fixed the handle trim, removed some of the glue residue from stickers, cleaned the interior with jiff (it was so dirty I had to use Jiff.......).

Things left:

* Dash
* Roof padding
* Chips and scratches on the car (not sure if I'll even bother :(
* The black rubber bits are peeling, tried to use a Sharpie permanent texta, but not that awesome.
* Dash lights

And more but not that critical

wow, it really is not cheap running a car older than 5 years old :(