To Buy...or Not To Buy...a Skyline

[james85]

G'day,

I was just after some advice from people re getting a Skyline. I've liked them for a few years and not really had the cash to get one due to being at uni and povvo. I've got a 2000 Lancer which is good on fuel, reliable, cheap to run...but boring! However, now I'm working full time I can save a bit of cash with the cheap car, but in the back of my mind I still want a Skyline. The only things really stopping me are that I don't have a garage, so it would have to be carported, I drive 100kms return to work each day ($), and wouldn't mind being able to save some $ to get a house someday...I think I've still got a tendency to be tight with money from uni& maybe stress too much about a nice car getting stolen...

So what would you recommend? Is there anyone here who took a bit of a leap to get their car but doesn't regret it? Another thing which seems good from this forum is there's a bit of a lifestyle that goes with the cars, ie the cruises on weekends etc, that I reckon I'd enjoy. So should I stop being a tightarse and just get one?!

This is the sort of car I'm after-stock, series two, no mods. Does this seem expensive? $20k seems like the limit for series 2's however I've heard good things about autoworx.

Cheers!

http://www.autoworx.com.au/ecr33-135341.htm

[KeeFy]

Essentially, it really boils down to your budget. On the average, a stock skyline would do anything from 400k ~550k / full tank of 50~55 litres. Based on the current fuel prices BP ultimate running around 1.35/lit and slated to go up even further in the future, you rekkon u'd be able to cope with about 70 bucks per 4 ~ 5 days just for commuting btw work and home? You might want to buy a bunky for normal work commuting and using the skyline as a weekender.

Also factor in that these cars are high maintenance cars. Needs to be serviced every 5000k, and also due to their age, might have something go wrong with the car and needs to be repaired. I pay about $120 for a service that includes motul esters and oil filter change every 4500k. If you want some oomph in conering and handling, better than average tyres avg about $200 a side for 17's, so that $800 every 20 ~ 30k? And decent suspensions would cost you around $1800 mark. Then consider the modification bug, which hits most of the pple here, you'll end up spending more than you'd expect.

Insurance also is not exactly cheap, depending on ur record. I'm on 50% ncb with just cars and paying $1.1k/year comprehensive. Don't get me wrong, i'm all out for another skyliner joining, but it always boils down to if you can afford it in the end. It's no good if you're starving and scrimping like i am just to keep the skyline.

Think things through, think about ur finances and if you'll be able to upkeep the car, and still enjoy it at the end of the day.

[R DIRTY 3]

Dude i have a wife, 3 kids and a mortagage. I wanted a skyline for several years but had to wait until it was right finacially. For me to get this car i had to wait for my wife to get back into the workforce, get ahead on the morgage etc etc.

Daily driving to work and back i cover 80 km a day so fuel is quite expensive. Think its about $70 to fill up the tank with ultimate.

I guess my point is that its great to have one of these cars, and adopt the lifestyle that comes with it, but if financially your not in a good enough position yet then wait. I could think of nothing worse than to have the car parked in the driveway because i cant afford to run it, insure it, mod it and repair it.

Good luck with your decision dude, i hope you make the right choice for yourself

[32vspecII]

apart from insurance if your young I dont think theres really anything majorly expensive about skylines

insurance 600$ from HBF for 28 max NCB , 100$ more than my wifes hyundai getz

fuel about 13l per 100km , slightly better than the 3l mitsubishi magna we used to have .

repairs hardly anything . I have never had a major repair yet in 4 skylines and 2 silvias so far . my brother has a vt commodore where everything has seemed to go wrong

service , every 5000km vs 10 or 15 but at 88$ for a oil/filter change it doesnt break the bank

the only real expensive thing is modification addition and that has added up to 10s of thousands over the years! but its a choice thing not a necessity

[shenronR33]

okay time for my 2c i was a bit like that when it came to buying my r33 i got a fulltime job and saved like a tight arse for a few months then paid cash. as the other boys said u need to work out ur budget and finances. i brought my car and i used to drive it to work everyday, but now i catch the bus and drive on weekends so i can save for other things. so what im saying is that u can get one and still have money to save but ive had mine for 18mths and im still a bit broke with modding and services and petrol. so just consider all the things u have to buy for the car or will need and go from there. im a bit broke these days but i love my car and i love the scene. so i deal with the money issues later on. the car from autoworx that u had there looked pretty nice but the autoworx boys will look after u thats were i got my car had no problems with it and any problems they take a look for me.

[Boostzor]

Wow i woulod have t hought for sure a thread like this would have been started by a 17 yr old. Nice 1 james and welcome.

If you are looking at it in financila point of view the answer is a resounding NO!

If you are looking at it in a "im only young once" perspective its a YES.

They do cost way more than youd be used to with the lancer in fuel, maintainence (every 5000 instead of 10,000 and higher quality materials) and then there is the whole bottle neck theroy where you just go from one mod to the next at breakneck speed.

All in all they are fun, instead of going out for drink on saturdays i used to find myself going for a drive, they are fun indeed.

Justy gotta try not to do anything stupid in teh first year where most ppl get over confident and make a "w00t" kinda sound directly before hitting some inanimate object, come on most of us have.

[Lucy in the Sky]

ditch the lancer and get a skyline =]

i had a 2000 lancer too....

i work full time and am on average wages... i drive to work everyday and use my car alot on the weekend.. fuel is expensive, but i love driving my car now.

i dont drive that far to work.. probably like 30kms a day

but having said that - you could catch the bus or the train into work? and just use your car for leisure.

because im 19 my insurance is a killer.. 1900 a year.. then if i need to make a claim its something stupid like excess 400 bucks, then an extra 500 because im 19 and then an extra 1000 because its a skyline.

but i think its worth it.

[mitchy_]

i have a skyline for sale.. mint condition, just a minor scratch on the rear bumper.

in all seriousness though, i took a bit of a leap to get my car, and i spent almost all my money on it for a year or two.

admittedly not the best idea, but i loved driving it, even the 5 minute drive from balcatta to ossy park in the mornings was fun.

have a look around, i've just been reading through the autotrader for a new car, and there are some nice skylines for under 20k, hell you could get a really nice S1 with a body kit, suspension, few mods for under $20k (i was going to sell mine for $18k).

i was after a S2 aswell when i bought mine, but at the time they were $35k+, so i 'settled' for a nice stockish S1 with a body kit.. and ended up spending over $35k by the end of it anyway

[fr0st]

I think the solution here is not to get an R33, R32 ftw

I regularly get 8.5 - 9L/100km commuting, people with 350rwhp RB20's get the same

With the money you save on buying it you can either save for a rainy day or put it into some mods and some track/autocross days. Your only young and stupid once... and nothing says young and stupid like a Skyline

[ix9]

I agree - you will SAVE money buying an R32 which is at least 4years older than any S2 R33 around Old cars never break stuff

[fr0st]

haha The sarcasm is strong with that post

Just because there older doesn't mean they're guaranteed to blow, it may need a little more love but parts for R32's are cheap. You can easily get a RB20DET and box for a lot less than what a RB25DET box is worth. For something that is 10k cheaper, you can replace anything thats worn out with aftermarket parts and end up with a nicely modified car compared to a dead stock R33 for the same money.

There are already enough R33's around, you guys are going to be the import version of the commodore soon

[mitchy_]

but the real question is.. who WANTS an rb20det + box?

there is a reason rb20's + boxes are cheaper, may aswell just start with 25, and a newer car.

[james85]

Hey,

Good to hear that nobody has really regretted getting their cars. True that you're only young once too hey.The only other thing I'm thinking about is whether I should keep the runabout for during the week, and just have the Skyline for weekends.

So do you guys reckon that around $22 for that S2 is pretty fair (ie just due to the fact its a 98 or something?)

I usually change oils every 5000 and get the car serviced at 10000, are Skylines easy enough to keep doing that, or do they need to go to a shop ever 5000?

As far as the finances go...I'm looking at $1k through Just Car, and I'm budgeting on about $60 a week in fuel (for 400kms...sound about right?)

Finally, is it going to be a bad idea to keep one of these in a carport...ie do they get stolen all the time like WRX's?

Cheers for the opinions!

[fr0st]

Each to there own... if you want an R33 then get one!

I'd prefer an R32 with 10k worth of mods over a tidy near stock R33... but thats just me.

10k is a fair bit of money to play with, sink that money into a RB30DET and RB25 box then go have some fun

[KeeFy]

Hey,

Good to hear that nobody has really regretted getting their cars. True that you're only young once too hey.The only other thing I'm thinking about is whether I should keep the runabout for during the week, and just have the Skyline for weekends.

So do you guys reckon that around $22 for that S2 is pretty fair (ie just due to the fact its a 98 or something?)

I usually change oils every 5000 and get the car serviced at 10000, are Skylines easy enough to keep doing that, or do they need to go to a shop ever 5000?

As far as the finances go...I'm looking at $1k through Just Car, and I'm budgeting on about $60 a week in fuel (for 400kms...sound about right?)

Finally, is it going to be a bad idea to keep one of these in a carport...ie do they get stolen all the time like WRX's?

Cheers for the opinions!

It's a joy to drive, but budgeting $60 a week for 400kms is not enough. As current petrol prices are goin up, currently 1.45 avg @ 50 lits = $72.5, with some spirited driving, be prepared to pay a little more. Then again, if it's a weekend car, life will be much much sweeter. Own oil change is a good idea, if u're lazy, invest in a good set of spark plugs that need changing every 20k KM. Shop servicing would only be necessary if u need to do a little more major stuff, diy is cheap as... and easy. Size 14 for the oil sump plug, an oil filter changy thingy, jack, and somewhere to throw the oil legally, and u're good to go.

Getting the car stolen is not common if u have a good alarm & immobiliser, but it still does happen when ur keys get knicked from the house, and off they go with the car. If u're gonna put loads of gauges and electronics, then beware of breakins. My car has always been in a carport, but... they have nothing to steal from my car! So they won't bother.

[Marco-R34GTT]

The car from autoworx that u had there looked pretty nice but the autoworx boys will look after u thats were i got my car had no problems with it and any problems they take a look for me.

I concur, I got my R34 from Autoworx and I was more than happy with the advice, service, proffesionalism and knowledge of the Autoworx crew, kudos to Paul. Very easy to do business with and I'm a very happy vegemite with the GTT. I'd definately go back to Autoworx without batting an eyelid, and I'd recommend them to anyone.

[R32 Driver]

Yes you can get much cheaper R33 S2's but being old cars and paying for the extra warranty is awesome

if anything goes boom you can get it replaced!

depends how tight ur budget it i guess

and if you get one privately get it inspected by a workshop with engine comp tests done

and unless you can afford to run it, insure it i wont recommend getting it as they send you broke

[Tofu]

I regret buying my car everyday. Not regretting the choice of car, just this one. It has taken me over a year just to fix the car from the last guy.

I am very happy with the skyline, specifically the r32 with a 20 and box. I have not had any issues mecahnically (engine and box) yet.

Its your preference, 32/33 Get what you want. I chose a 32. why? More profound shape and I'm definitely not a captain of a boat. Sure they are older but parts are cheaper. son of rajab knows you wont be wanting to push 400hp in the first year or so. RB20s can handle 350hp easy with running stock internals, gtr injectors and better turbo. The best thing about a 20 is if the engine does go bang you can pick up one for less than 1K.

In the furture Im sure you will want to put in something with more power so you have two options, 25 or 26 into the r32. You're budget is the limit to what you can do. Or if you do not like the 32 after a year or so you can sell and go to the 34.

"unless you can afford to run it, insure it i wont recommend getting it as they send you broke"

- completely agreed. IIf you cant afford 1K+ per year insurance, maintenance ets stay with the lance.

Peace,

[SKYRYAN]

Siff 33 is a boat, put a 33 next to a commodore and its still very small. Nothin a little suspension work wont fix lol

[R34GTTSKY]

G'day,

I was just after some advice from people re getting a Skyline. I've liked them for a few years and not really had the cash to get one due to being at uni and povvo. I've got a 2000 Lancer which is good on fuel, reliable, cheap to run...but boring! However, now I'm working full time I can save a bit of cash with the cheap car, but in the back of my mind I still want a Skyline. The only things really stopping me are that I don't have a garage, so it would have to be carported, I drive 100kms return to work each day ($), and wouldn't mind being able to save some $ to get a house someday...I think I've still got a tendency to be tight with money from uni& maybe stress too much about a nice car getting stolen...

So what would you recommend? Is there anyone here who took a bit of a leap to get their car but doesn't regret it? Another thing which seems good from this forum is there's a bit of a lifestyle that goes with the cars, ie the cruises on weekends etc, that I reckon I'd enjoy. So should I stop being a tightarse and just get one?!

This is the sort of car I'm after-stock, series two, no mods. Does this seem expensive? $20k seems like the limit for series 2's however I've heard good things about autoworx.

Cheers!

http://www.autoworx.com.au/ecr33-135341.htm

i know how u feel use to have a 2000 lancer fully riced up=P eeventually moved on the the GTT, if ur lookin to spend aro und the 20k mark n u dun necessarily have to hav ea turbo look in the WA for sale section private cars i htink EV 17 WA is sellin his 34 for aro und 17 -18k fuel consumption on those arn't bad

he sai dhe gets about 500km's off a tank =)

gdluck