Stupid Arse Simple Question

[Mr Eps]

im sure this has been covered time and time again

but i just hav a couple questions

i have wanted an F50 cima for a long time but hav decided it's not worth the risk of something going wrong.

so

deciding on a V35 instead, probably will get a 2 door but also would be happy with a 4door

importing myself one thru you guys

approx how much am i looking at now that the aussie dollar has gone downhill?

i understand that compliance is considerably cheaper than an F50

the basic requirements i'm looking for

lowish kms (below 100K would be sweet enough)

auto (or even tiptronic)

that's all i want

nothing too nutso

just a V35...

how many moneys approximately?

please don't say too vague a price PLEASE just a general ballpark

[Blipman]

Hi Rowan,

You're probably looking at low to mid 20's landed and complied for a V35 tiptronic with the current exchange rate, that's for a good condition car (a V35 is only a couple of years old so you shouldn't have to settle for anything that needs work). For a V35 anything over about 70,000km I'd consider to be high mileage, if you don't mind something with closer to 100k then you'll pay less but in fact finding V35's with over 100k is not that common. For that sort of money you'd most likely be looking at a good condition tiptronic with no need for any real work to the body or interior, series 1 (2003 or 2004), maybe silver or pearl (other colours cost more), and maybe with leather interior, though they are cheaper without. There ARE cheaper V35's out there but I'm talking about nice condition cars here (grade 4+), not the porrer ones.

[Mr Eps]

that works out excellently cos my budget was 20-25K

the specifics that i'm after are as follows

white / black - ("silly" colours don't interest me)

no rims would be great (no headaches with compliance and rego)

no aftermarket suspension (as above)

the half leather or even full leather would be great

under 70xxx kms would be excellent

*possibly* series 2 also

i care more about getting a nicer car than i care about modification or cost effectiveness at the moment

but we shall see and i'll be in touch!

cheers Ben!

i appreciate that!

[Blipman]

You can do most of that.

- White yes, black no. In V35's for factory black you pay a big premium... they are several grand more usually

- no rims is easy, however if a car does have wheels it doesn't make compliance that much more difficult

- no aftermarket suspension easy

- half leather doable, the full leather means a 70th Anniversary, usually they are a bit more, we just bought one with 67k and at around $27k landed and complied, and that was about as cheap as they get I felt.

- under 70km no problem

- series 2 is probably not possible at that budget.

In all honesty as long as your budget is sufficient finding a good V35 is not that hard, probably more than any car I inspect at auction they are consistently good. There are bad ones, but they are rarer than most of the other models of cars which are imported into Australia. Many are one owner vehicles so the first owner paid good money for the car and therefore looked after it, they don't seem to have any common major faults, they are very rust resistant, and they don't seem to be the sort of car that gets thrashed. Anything more than minor imperfections on one and I just walk away since there are plenty out there, and you can expect better.

Edited February 5, 2009 by Blipman

[Mr Eps]

ok ben now one more simple question

what's the fundamental differences between series one and two??

i get the feeling that the headlights are different but i'm not sure, can u help me out with that one if u get a second??

ta

[Blipman]

Some v35-o-phile will probably come in and tell I'm totally wrong, but just off the top of my head here are the differences. Overall they are pretty similar, it was just a minor cosmetic facelift mostly, not a huge jump:

- series 2 headlights and tail lights are the same, series 3's (quite rare) only had different lights

- speedo cluster is slightly different

- climate control display is slightly different

- climate control and radio buttons and surround slightly different look

- I've heard some people say they find the throttle response of series 2's a little better

- in tiptronic models the shifter is different

- series 2's might have had a very minor increase in power (like 10hp or something) due to having a couple of extra hunred rpm available, bringing them up to US engine spec, but I'm not at all sure on that one

- series 2's had 19" wheels added as an option

- on manual series 2's the Brembos were optional, on manual series 1's they were standard

While a series 2 is nicer, just sitting in one with the slightly different coloured buttons and the different looking speedo cluster is the biggest difference, personally I'd be quite happy with a series 1 still as they are pretty much the same car all up.

[Mr Eps]

series one it is!!!!

this little duck shall get to work immediately and will be in touch shortly thanks once again for your time i REALLY appreciate your help!!!!!!!!

=D

im overjoyed

so series one with leather white >70km for about 20-25 u reckon?

[NISMO]

While a series 2 is nicer, just sitting in one with the slightly different coloured buttons and the different looking speedo cluster is the biggest difference, personally I'd be quite happy with a series 1 still as they are pretty much the same car all up.

I've had a series 1 and a series 2, and you're 100% correct. The Series 2 is much nicer to sit in. Sounds a bit silly that minor changes could do that, but for me the series 2 felt much classier. Saying that i sold my Series 2 and got a Series 1 but that was more cause i was after a 6sp with Brembo's. :-)

The other thing with series 2 auto's is that they had "rev matching" were when shifting down using the tiptronic the throttle is blipped by the ecu to keep revs up during the down shift. Sounds great and does work, but not really worth writing home about.

[Mr Eps]

before i commit to saying "i want a series one" im pretty much sold on it because i just want a V35 but would it be possible if either of you hav any interior shots you could upload? or head me where i can find some to compare?

i don't want a shitty interior but i'm sure i'll be happy witht he series 1

they are such gorgeous cars =)

[maclarenf1]

hmm. well i am pretty sure i am the guy who Ben referred in terms of the 70th Anniversary Car.

here are some photos of it. i normally deal with Craig at J-spec.

J-spec has being very good and are very patient with clients...

my car it seems will come to around 27500 all done (including tyres..) not Rego... compliance comes to 2000 including GST, which i though was very reasonable.

i found that $ value does make your choices very limited now as before, specially i was on very tight budget as this is my weekend car only.

i don't know if my car is Series 1 or 2 its 2004

[Blipman]

Yes Kushil it was your Skyline I was referring to (it's a nice car by the way), being a 70th Anniversary model it's a series 1. The series 2's started production in November 2004, so most 2004's are series 1.

This is a series 1 interior:

And this is a series 2:

Note the different speedo cluster, colours for the audio/climate control buttons, shifter, and climate control display. Another minor thing I forgot, on series 2's the pop up screen is motorized.... big deal.

[Mr Eps]

...dare i say i prefer the series one??

....do you REALLY think that low to mid 20's is a fair expectation for budget for a series one coupe, Ben?

thanks for your patience so far but to me at the moment looking at australia's private sale prices i just don't beleive it to be true...

like i WANT to beleive it but yeah...

[maclarenf1]

...dare i say i prefer the series one??

....do you REALLY think that low to mid 20's is a fair expectation for budget for a series one coupe, Ben?

thanks for your patience so far but to me at the moment looking at australia's private sale prices i just don't beleive it to be true...

like i WANT to beleive it but yeah...

one advantage over private sales is you can ask to look at shit loads of cars from J-spec and there are so many to choose from...

lot of fun actually..

[Beer Baron]

if I were you given the current AUD value and the current depressed local market I'd be looking at cars already here that were bought when the aud was buying 100 JPY and buyers are now finding they are hard to sell in the current local climate and are willing to sell at a big discount.

[Blipman]

...dare i say i prefer the series one??

....do you REALLY think that low to mid 20's is a fair expectation for budget for a series one coupe, Ben?

thanks for your patience so far but to me at the moment looking at australia's private sale prices i just don't beleive it to be true...

like i WANT to beleive it but yeah...

Yes I think if you're willing to go into the mid 20's then no problem. For example $25k landed and complied gives you a little under 1 million yen FOB to spend, I just did a quick search at auction and for tiptronic series 1's in grade 4 condition probably about 50% of them sell for under a million FOB. You want pearl white which will narrow down your options a little but you can see that as far as price goes it shouldn't be too difficult as long as you don't want a car with really desireable/rare options.

[Mr Eps]

hmmmmmm

ok

hopefully you may even be able to help with this... i don't know much about finance.. how do people usually go about attaining finance for this?

just bank loans? ie: unsecured personal loans?

what do your customers usually do...

[Blipman]

Yes usually just unsecured personal loans, getting actual car finance is sometimes a little difficult since the car is not in Australia... the bank gets worried that their equity (ie the car) is not instantly available to them should you not make payments and they want to get their money back.

[Mr Eps]

dammit you're so freaking helpful

haha

cheers heaps

[NISMO]

...dare i say i prefer the series one??

....do you REALLY think that low to mid 20's is a fair expectation for budget for a series one coupe, Ben?

thanks for your patience so far but to me at the moment looking at australia's private sale prices i just don't beleive it to be true...

like i WANT to beleive it but yeah...

Go and check them out in person. Pics don't do the series 2 justice. Honestly having owned both, jumping into teh series 1 from a series 2 seemed like i was going back to an R33. I know it sounds silly but you really need to check them out. The angle of the dash is quite different and the way the centre console sits between you and the passenger is quite different.

[Mr Eps]

that's very good but i can't afford a S2 i don't think... haha

plus i HAVE sat in one and was VERY impressed

until the dude at (not naming names) said i can't aquire a V35 ANYWHERE for under 40K i was like

ohrly?