Hey all,
Well Ive been reading for a while and I have found some useful information relative to my first purchase of an R33 GTST. Ive found two cars(out of around 10) which both have their pro's and cons but I cant determine what to do. Hopefully seeking some advice to point in the right direction.
Below is a rundown of both cars, listing pros and cons.
Car One: 1997 Nissan Skyline R33 GTST Black
Pros: Car is completely standard apart from GReddy boost controller, BOV and turbo timer.
Stock exhaust, stock engine, stock airbox.
67000km's
First aus owner, owned car for 3 years selling due to recently having a child and requiring a family car. Nice and tidy inside. Engine sounds very smooth idle, no black or blue exhaust fumes. Oil looks around 6000km old. From top of engine, there appears to be no engine leaks. Suspension feels strong but it has been a tad bit lowered on sports suspension so feels abit too stiff. Has a sunroof. Very clean and tidy. No signs of burnouts.
Cons: Has its fair share of scratches on LHS near the door and rear panel. Hole cut inside of the dash on passenger side to fit a boost gauge. Has 18" rims which are all damaged and one has sever damage from clipping a kerb(the rim is bent, used to leak air). Front bar looks like the paint is starting to deteriorate and does not look as shiny as it should. A couple of 1cm scratches which are exposing rusting metal, only surface rust.
He is asking $13500.
Car Two: 1997 Nissan Skyline R33 GTST Black
Pro's: Car is stock, including the wheels. Only modification is an exhaust system(Cat back, I cant recall make). 92000km's. First owner in aus, has owned the car for around 2 - 3 years and during the time he claims to have only driven around 15000km's. I asked how, he says he only takes it out when traveling around the city and beaches(Any chance of excess salt water exposure?). Mature driver, ~30 years old. Recently changed the clutch and oils. Selling because going overseas for 6 months. Interior is immaculate. Dual alarm systems. Very smooth drive, beautiful sound, no odd clicking or rattling sounds. No rust. Only very minor visible outside scratches(read cons). No oil leaks from top inspection. Rear tires and undercarriage of rear did not indicate he was doing any burnouts(usually rear bold tires + rubber residue around tire guard)
Cons: At time of viewing, car was very dirty. Its was covered in dust. I asked why. Claims he hasn't taken the car out for weeks. I then thought to my self why would it get dirty in a garage? Front LHS tire bold on the outer side, leads me to believe it needs a wheel alignment. Front of car has been in a very minor accident. Someone backed up into his car damaging the LHS light + pushing in the front bar causing some denting in the bar. Does not appear to have had any panels changed and appears to me no front structural damage. The from LHS light was changed and for this reason I'm brought to another(somewhat) con. The LHS light is sparkling, clear and looks so friggin awesome. RHS light has the general yellow tinge making it look.... ugly. He said he couldn't justify paying $500 for another light(the guy hit his car and ran, he was parked).
Another con is that because the car was dirty, I could not properly check the quality of the paint. It only had front bar scratches/damage. From the front panels to the back of the vehicle, there were no visible scratches and the paint looked consistant but I cant play judgement because of the dirt on the car at the time.
He is asking $14500.
First car has already slashed $500 off but I think that $13000 is still abit expensive considering the scratches and rim damage. He said he will give me a few days to make him an offer and we can go from there.
Second car seems fairly solid on the price but stated that if I'm not wasting his time, he will accept a reasonable offer.
What should I do? I need advice. I'm going to get a proper pre purchase vehicle inspection but I don't want to outlay $200 for two separate inspections. I want to choose one car and have the test done on that.
Based on this information, what kind of price would be reasonable on the vehicles? Which vehicle would you deem worthy of a pre purchase inspection. I'm leaning towards the second vehicle.
Cheers guys!