AxlOz

If this were FS a year ago, and in Sydney I probably woulda grabbed it at 12.5k.. These are great cars, and i'd rather buy from someone on SAU who is an enthusiast, not a hack..

I've never had this problem with my 350z, but I had it with an older car (a ford laser) and it was simply a dead starter motor.. Are you getting any noise at all when you turn the ignition to start? Going by your previous experience it's probably more likely to be related to the immobiliser - maybe your previous fix didnt actually fix the problem properly, only temporarily..?

I'm in the same boat rawpower, shopping for one! Best advice I can offer now is to be very skeptical of v35's with very low kms. Many will have had the odometer wound back between the time its de-registered in Japan, and then complianced here is AU. I recommend asking sellers for all the import paperwork to verify this. This should also give you an indication of it's condition prior to de-reg, and whether it was written off or badly damaged in Japan. Also, it's worth taking it to a decent mechanic who knows the cars to have it looked over before putting money down. Essentially, just take the usual precautions you would when buying a used car, but with the extra step of checking the legitimacy of the odometer reading and it's previous life in Japan.

I can attest to JOC's service. I was keen on a 2003 v35 recently. Looked tidy when I inspected it with my layman eyes, and had ~46k kms on the dial (I knew this was not true). The JOC report showed me that the car was exported from Japan in 07/2009, and had ~98k kms on the odo at that time. So when you think about it having been over here for 4 years, it realistically has probably done at least 130~140k kms.. The car in question is still up on carsales fwiw.. Buyer beware!

BIG thankyou to the guys out there that take the time to name and shame! I'm in the market for a skyline now and have come up against all sorts of bastardised imports. Enough to sway me away from them and towards the local 350z's.. Without bagging the dealers etc etc - Lets just hope someday one of the Paramatta rd dealers man's up and starts selling cars that are legit, and advertised as such. Publish the paperwork even! It may have higher kms, and cost a bit more, but you'd likely get my business, and I'm sure once your reputation came up even slightly, you'd get more. For anyone else out there new to this stuff and shopping around - as above, do your home work! Do the checks. Ask questions from people who have no vested interest in the car/s you like and learn a few tricks along the way. SAU is a great place to start!

Black rims on a white car looks sweet - nice one!

Danny, we're neighbours! I'm in Drummoyne also. Am just looking to buy my first V35 actually so I can't offer any specific experiences, sorry. The only thing I will say though (based on experiences with other cars) is don't bother bargaining with mechanics too much. If you don't like the look of their quote, question it by all means, but it may be best to just go elsewhere for a 2nd. Don't play them off against each other either, or they'll get pissed off at the drop of a hat. Another forum member suggested JLM in Rydalmere in another thread for V35's - formerly known as Japlink in Haberfield. Try them?

How many kms do you have on it? I'm no expert but I've read that early V35's are known to chew through brake rotors every 40k kms. Which is about every 2-4 years for most of us.

liger - thats really useful, thankyou! Its not cheap (~$85AUD), but worth it if I'm gonna drop $15k on car. Are there local guys who do this sorta check?

So the 'R' in the top right corner of that sheet indicates its a write off of some sort, correct? Either way, I'm unlikely to import myself (through a broker of course), given the number of them available over here. I'll only head down that path if everything I find over here turns out to be dodgy. I'm flexible on colours and some features, so its more a question of finding a solid and 'honest' car.

so japantradecar.com has this one for sale: http://www.japantradecar.com/Used-Car/Nissan/Skyline/9138.aspx at only $4,880 USD = ~ $5400AUD + all the importation and compliance costs. If local dealers are importing at this price and selling for 15-18k they'd be making a killing!

Thats an amazingly useful post dodgyimports, thankyou! Where did you get the de-reg papers? I agree that the winding back just has to be policed somehow, it's just daylight robbery. Decent people like us who are genuineliy interested in these cars are just getting screwed.. So my rule is to sight the ORIGINAL de-reg papers and just compare the key info - condition rating, kms, and noted defects. Otherwise no deal.

Will check them out, thanks for the headsup! And yes - I'm in Sydney.

Or you could always do a weekend trip in your V35 to Sydney...?

I agree its a buyer's market at the moment. There's quite a few v35's out there, with all the options etc available. I tested one a few days ago that I would've bought, but the seller wanted too much for it and wasn't interested in negotiating at all.. I asked him how long he'd been trying to sell it for and he said about 6 months... Nightcrawler - shame you're in Adelaide! Its not my usual preference, but I think the v35's look pretty good black. And I like the white wheels you've put on yours. I'll buy locally, but if you have a FS thread or carsales link I'll check it out nonetheless.

yeah, I think there's a medium to be found somewhere between redbook and reality. There are some 2003 v35's out there with 120k kms+ that fit within the redbook 'price guide'. Its just most of them on the market are showing rediculously low kms, compared to redbook's guide, so I think you're on the money saying that most have been wound back somewhere in their life.. And sellers are cashing in on it. It really is just a case of buyer (me) beware!

also - you've only had it 6 months - did you buy from a dealer/importer that offers warranty?

this may be an obvious question - but can you smell fuel anywhere after it's been parked for a while?

which puts them at: 2003: $13.100 - $15,600 2004: $14,300 - $16,800 2005: $16,300 - $18,900 So why am I seeing '03 models with asking prices over 20k..?

Some sound advice there, thanks n15m0. I've been driving a bunch to get a feel for them. Dealers/importers seem to have a good number to choose from, and I'm starting to get a feel for which dealers are the shadier ones. Being very new to the Skyline range I'm absorbing as much info as I can, and you guys are a great help, so thank you!

True! But I feel there's more opportunity for a grey import to be dodged up than a local car.. I'll just have to be careful and have it checked out properly. Probably take all the odo readings with a grain of salt. Would you say that buying from a dealer is safer than private sales in this regard?

I hate that about these cars... So as I understand, the only way to find one with genuine kms is to get the de-reg papers from Japan - and then hope that it wasn't dodged before being auctioned! This sort of caper actually really turns me off buying one at all..

or this maybe.. http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/private/details.aspx?R=15297473&silo=stock&eapi=2&vertical=car

this one could be good too, though getting up there in kms: http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/private/details.aspx?R=15192511&silo=stock&eapi=2&vertical=car

The white one looks good on paper - kms, features, etc. Though the carbon fibre looks kinda daft.. again, think I better go check it out in person. Agree with your comment Smokey - assume the odo has been wound back. How hard would it be for someone to do this? Its a digital readout, but where/how is the data captured?