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Buying An Import

3LGODZILA

By 3LGODZILA,
in General Automotive Discussion

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3LGODZILA Proficient

3LGODZILA

Posted
Posted (edited)

im buying from a dealer so i can trade in my car, the cars im interested in is a late 1997 manual r33 gts-t and a 1998 tiptronic r34 gt-t.

the 33 is $16,000 and the 34 is $18,000. the r34 is pushing mi budget tho.

we went for a drive in the 34, (i wasnt loud to drive it) it was smooth but not a quick as wat i thought (i drove a 280hp silvia the day b4 it felt nothing like this)

so about the cars

r33- late 97 model, manual, turbo, 2 door, 110,000km's (hasnt dont 100k service), cat back exhaust, 33gtr spoiler, front bar, side skirts, other then that STOCK

r34- 98 model, auto, turbo, 2 door, 120,000km's (done 100k service), sunroof, normal looking gt-t with spoiler, STOCK

ok so i love the look of the r34 in white, but i dont like the auto (dealer recons he does manual conversions for $3,500) the 34 has a ceremic turbine wheel (is this right?) which means if i mod it later ill need to upgrade? or will i have to upgrade the 33 one aswell. im trying to work out how ill go in the long run too, (modifying it, and reselling it wen i have to)

so wat would use do, are the autos realy that gay, will the 34 be too expensive to manualize and modify in the long run? (remembering imo wen it comes down to looks the 34 wins hands down)

EDT: im not looking to highly modify my car wen i get 1, as i said i drove a manual silvia with around 200rwkw. i would be more then happy with that power (maybe a tad more coz the skylines a bit heavier)

Edited by xdef
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HEKT1K Grand Master

HEKT1K

Posted
Posted

depends on your goals i guess mate. 200rwkw can be had pretty easily with either car... i would get the 33.. but hey i have a manual r33 so im biased towards them :(

i reckon if 18k for the 34 is pushing your budget, spending another 3.5k getting it converted to manual would be even worse.

take a look at the cars for sale on the forums, you could probably get a manual 34 with a few mods for similar money if the 34 looks are what you're after.

either way let us know how your purchase goes, and good luck

Ric

some_cs_student Veteran

some_cs_student

Posted
Posted
we went for a drive in the 34, (i wasnt loud to drive it) it was smooth but not a quick as wat i thought (i drove a 280hp silvia the day b4 it felt nothing like this)

<cut>

so wat would use do, are the autos realy that gay, will the 34 be too expensive to manualize and modify in the long run? (remembering imo wen it comes down to looks the 34 wins hands down)

EDT: im not looking to highly modify my car wen i get 1, as i said i drove a manual silvia with around 200rwkw. i would be more then happy with that power (maybe a tad more coz the skylines a bit heavier)

Your comparing a Silvia with a lot of power to a stock R34, it will be a lot different power wise until its modded...

Just wanted to say R33 and R34 turbo's are ceramic in this case from what I know...

I personally would wait for a manual rather than going down the auto conversion path, check the forums, check Carpoint, carsales, even the trading post, I'm sure you can find something similar...follow the stickies about getting the car checked out.

EDIT: even check drive.com.au :(

3LGODZILA Proficient

3LGODZILA

Posted
  • Author
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yeh im leaning towards the 33 more now, more affordable too.

ps. mi god SAU members are so much more helpful then the keyboard warrior ns.com ppl, ffs there a bunch of grammar correcting post whoring 'mad kuntzzzzz' coz they rip on ppl ova the net

Howie Grand Master

Howie

Posted
Posted
yeh im leaning towards the 33 more now, more affordable too.

ps. mi god SAU members are so much more helpful then the keyboard warrior ns.com ppl, ffs there a bunch of grammar correcting post whoring 'mad kuntzzzzz' coz they rip on ppl ova the net

Get a 33 I reckon... I don't want to see too many 34's on the street :P

RBPOWA-(TJ) Grand Master

RBPOWA-(TJ)

Posted
Posted

im driving a s2 stagea.

triptonic. mad fun to drive .... and can be good if cbf using a clutch and changin gears, just chuck it in drive.

sometimes i can be driving and just wish it was manual. triptonic gives me that feel though, can be a little slow underpower to change up.

but being a r34 coupe, sporty looking. it will eat you up inside everyday you drive it if you get the auto.

3LGODZILA Proficient

3LGODZILA

Posted
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yeh the r34 is still slightly out of my price range if i wanna get insured... +im trying to trade mi car into a dealer coz i wanna turbo so badly now, driving the 280hp manual silvia was f*kin awsome, i love the feeling of boost kicking in at 3-4000revs, im not even thinking of buying an ss commo anymore.

ill prbly go either a stock 33 for low 10's from a dealer and trade mine in, or buy a modified 33 privatly and just sell mi car after. im getting so excited about owning a turbo import i cant sleep at night haha

~Hypnotik~ Rising Star

~Hypnotik~

Posted
Posted

Get the R33 manual. You'll be kicking yourself in the long run if you end up getting the auto. I've heard so many people say they'll buy an automatic car and then convert it to manual a few months later. It rarely happens...

Kinks Grand Master

Kinks

Posted
Posted

Do *not* buy an auto car and try to convert it to manual later. That's money down the toilet, you'll never get a cent back for it and it'll never be as good as a factory manual. Don't even consider it.

If you decide to get the R33 that hasn't had its 100k service yet then put the screws on the dealer for price. You should be getting $1000 off the car straight away because the car hasn't been serviced. Or in other words purchase price + $1000 = the going rate for other cars similar mileage similar condition. Get a very thorough inspection in either case to make sure general servicing hasn't been neglected. State Roads did a written 5 page report for me which was great peace of mind.

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