Autostyle

[Szemen]

I am in in deep thought about a s2 Manual RSFour in Autostyle. Even from a reputable dealer like Autostyle, is it still worth double checking, gettin someone professsional to check out the body and engine first? Would it be cheaper to find on on J-spec? Im so lost....

[AMS]

Can we have some stats? Price?

[Szemen]

29,990 to be accurate. Done 48,000 ks...although that seems a bit suss...i don't know. Modifications that i found were a pod filter, exhaust, and coilovers. The trim inside was immaculate, hardly any stratches, inside looked really new, dual sunroof. Bit of dust though ahahah. umm...thats all i can think of right now.

[-FUZZY-]

contact vrfour on here, he'll be able to import u one at a damn good price!!

[Ska]

I bought my Stagea through a dealer at a much higher cost than they were going for, mainly because mine had a butt load of mods and was in very, very, very good condition.

Honestly I would prefer buying from a dealer and getting a warrantee, but that is just me.

But just because you buy from a dealer with a warrantee doesnt mean you wont be buying a heap of crap.

Try talking to others who have bought from the dealer before. Take the car to a trusted mechanic to do an once over and a compression test. Do your homework on the car, meaning grab the VIN number and run it through FAST, (ask AlexCim to here ).

Other than that, it is really up to you wether you want to import through companies like JSpec/vrfour/etc, buy privatly or buy through a dealer. Each have the pro's and cons. Each could save you thousands. Each could land you a bargain. Each could land you a lemon.

[Szemen]

Thank you, You all have been very helpful.

With the VIN number, who do i get in contact with to do a check up on it? RTA?

[Ska]

I dunno about RTA.....

But you can take a look at DOTARS..? Stick in the VIN and the plates and you can check out all the RAWS details listed for the vehicle, here:

http://raws.dotars.gov.au/rawswebpublic/RAWPubVehSearch.asp

If you ask someone who has the Nissan FAST software (do a search here or AliexCim has it installed, might pay to PM him), and chuck the VIN into that, it will tell you what it rolled off the factory floor with, like options and paint colour.

I dunno, anyone else got any other suggestions?

[thedriver]

I am in in deep thought about a s2 Manual RSFour in Autostyle. Even from a reputable dealer like Autostyle, is it still worth double checking, gettin someone professsional to check out the body and engine first? Would it be cheaper to find on on J-spec? Im so lost....

Szemen,

I paid $29k for my S2 manual through a dealer - Northshore Prestige Imports. It had an original 46000km on it, no sunroof, but with the TV/SAT nav/climate control touch screen LCD.

The manual's are rare and wonderful and the conversion from an auto to a manual sounds like a bitch.

Definitely get the car checked out independently ! It'll cost you between $200 and $300 dollars for a full report and it's peace of mind that a warranty just can't compete with. A dealer warranty is only 5000km or three months. And you might not notice everything that is wrong with the car in that time.

A mechanical inspection can tell you about brake pad wear, suspension components and tyre alignments, engine requirements and other stuff that you might not be aware of or able to test.

Regardless, get them to put a car on a hoist for you and check out:

Look for rust around the door sills, door hinges, suspension, engine bay, under the spare wheel and around the chassis.

Make sure the wipers don't hit the bonnet and wipers and fluid dispenser work (both front and rear).

All lights internal and external.

Abnormal wear on the tyres, particularly the inside of the rear tyres.

All engine fluid level.

Colour and texture of the engine oil and coolant.

Ensure all door rubbers are OK.

Lose or not snug fitting lights, particularlay on the rear of the car - which may indicate body panel damage or repair.

Hope some of that helps.

Also, work them on price. Maybe see if you can get a set of aftermarket wheels and tyres thrown in (they might have some that fit from other vehicles), or get them to pay your stamp duty and rego. Work a hard bargain.

[GoldZilla]

Also, don't forget to check out the Buyer's Guide here, for other stuff to look out for, plus common features, etc.

[ian]

29,990 to be accurate. Done 48,000 ks...although that seems a bit suss...i don't know. Modifications that i found were a pod filter, exhaust, and coilovers. The trim inside was immaculate, hardly any stratches, inside looked really new, dual sunroof. Bit of dust though ahahah. umm...thats all i can think of right now.

As I've said in many many posts - the km's WILL NOT BE GENUINE. I looked at every series 2 S in the Japanese Auction system for over 6 months and RARELY saw one with less that 60K kms, with most having over 80K kms.

Take todays auctions for example - there are series 2 S having 136,000kms (starting price 650K) , 67,000kms (starting price 790K), 142,000 kms (starting price 750K). And they are grade Accident, 4.0, and 3.5 respectively..

Lets see how much the 67,000kms grade 4.0 one goes for...

Look back through some old auctions, there was one 1999 Four S with 45,000Kms a few weeks ago which you would have been able to directly buy, get here, and rego for about $30K. But that's no profit for the dealer, and reasonably rare....

But what I've also said in quite a few posts IGNORE THE KM'S ANYWAY. These cars are made to go and last, it doesn't fall apart at 100,00kms (or even 200,000kms+). So as one of the other posts says, look at it in detail and decide on what you can see, not the kms..

Ian