So Im Looking At Buying A V35 Coupe

[fcruz3r]

Hi All,

My days of driving a german import are fading on me and I was looking at getting back into a skyline...but to keep the missus happy...I'm looking at the V35 coupe for easier financing etc

anyway I'd really like your honest opinion on a couple of things

1. What are the obvious signs / common problems with the semi-auto V35 coupes

2. What kind of gas milage are you getting in your cars ....obviously i dont expect it to sip like a hyundai getz...but I dont own a petrol kiosk either.

3. Bodykit ...where do i get the nismo reps here in oz?

4. what did you pay for insurance...ballpark .....?? << oh and this applies to the not so young only ...i:e: youngest driver > 30yrs

thats all I can think of atmo....plz feel free to chime in your personal experience.

am really excited on this.

[rs73]

nothing really - providing you maintain it as per manufacturer's recommendation... and common sense... e.g. no dumping high revs into Drive.

talk to your Nissan dealer and ask them to just follow 350z's service schedule you'll be alright.

the on board trip computer can easily get 'fooled' into false reading, but on daily commuting non-highway traffic I get around 500km+ per tank fill

of around 60ltr

no idea about body kit, just source them through nengun or import from japan... or usa.

very hard question to answer regarding insurance as it all depends on postcode as well as what you paid for the car. although I have got my price but I won't answer that because I found NSW people's insurance cost can be as much as $1k more than us in Victoria...

[n15m0]

I go thru Just Cars and both my V35s cost me approx $500+ each per year full comp.

The V35s are actually quite economical for what they are (3.5L V6) Average approx 500-600kms on a tank combination of suburb and highway. Have done 800kms on one full tank from Brissie to Newcastle once.

Best to test drive as many as you can and get them mechanically checked before paying any $, same goes with purchasing any used car.

Body kits there are not many available off the shelf in OZ. Investing in a nice set of wheels would pretty much set the car off. US and Japan are your other options but not cheap.

[rs73]

I told you price differs so much... you're in QLD and cost you $500 a year, I'm in VIC and it cost me $1000 a year...

ppl in NSW are likely to pay more than that...

[fcruz3r]

we get raped on insurance here in WA

I've read on the forums here of some ppl rebuilding the gearboxes on these cars....is that common or does that only apply to the cvt transmission??

do u have any regrets or personal gripes after owning the car??

I know on my stagea it was great when i first bought the car...but after a while I found that it would take too much $$$ to make any decent power and even then the weight was going to always be an issue.

thks for all the gr8 input so far guys.

[rs73]

well if you're after a power you should not start with such a heavy wagon body in the first place...

I would have thought ppl who buy stagea would have practicality as the 1st priority - the huge cargo space, and performance would be 2nd or 3rd down the priority list...

on V35 i believe practicality (sedan) or either comfort is high on priority list, since the engine is N/A from the start it won't be as responsive to mods as older skylines' turbo engine - without going to costly forced induction...

I have no regrets on the V35, despite I'm down probably 100rwkw from my old car (modified turbo r33) and have no plan whatsoever to modify the engine...

that said there are no reason to rebuild V35 6sp manual or 5sp auto gearboxes unless you are doing forced induction upgrade or the car has done over 300,000 km. 8sp CVT should be no reason for it to break down unless it had been poorly (in other word, never) maintained in japan

[rs73]

actually, I corrected re: regrets...

after having our 1st son - I actually kind of regret that I should have bought the sedan in the 1st place.

however lucky we have a RAV4 for the mrs to bring the kid around, but 2 four-doors in the house would always be great in case one is out of action e.g. service or breakdown...

but mechanically /comfort/ performance wise - no regrets...

[xscape237]

Insurance: I'm 25 in Victoria, paying just under $1,100 per annum (policy held with justcars).

Fuel economy: My trip computer shows about 8.5 KM per litre on average, and up to 12 km per litre on the freeway. It is not great but you deal with it - at least the tank is big.

My prior daily drive was a somewhat modified evo 7. I was lucky to get more than 230km out of it before the light came on... I dont mind guzzling gas but it is annoying as hell when you are at the petrol station more than once per week. Such an inconvenience.

Anyway, thats a bit off topic now.

[rs73]

nah, Brad, I reckon that's a good on topic comparison...

I refill my V35 pretty much once every 2 weeks if I don't use it on weekends. that's 5 days a week daily commuting 25km each way (50km-ish a day).

So about 550km maybe to a tank, of about 62ltr fill. so it's 11.2ltr/100km on a 206kw 3.5ltr engine

In my old R33, I had to refill every week. I think it was only doing like 300-350km a tank, of about 55ltr. so it's about 15.7ltr / 100km on a 187kw 2.5ltr engine.

when I had it modded to 230rwkw it was even worse. I think 250km-300km is the best i could get.

[HicksV35]

fcruz3r,

You can't go wrong with getting a V35 coupe mate.

Depending on how patient/lucky you are with the auctions in Japan you'll probably pay between 20K - 35K for a 2003 - 2005 V35 Coupe.

For that reasonable outlay you get the features, performance and comfort usually found in only the premium European tourers worth triple this amount.

If you read reviews for the G35 on the net (the American version of our Skyline) it was frequently compared to the BMW 350i and in many comparisons was considered the better car.

Add to this the fact that your car is almost mechanically identical to the 350Z, so servicing is a piece of cake. Any dramas you'll hear of are minor and the positives FAR outway any negatives.

Just my opinion.

(I agree with all the other points made in this thread. I also get between 500 and 600 km's to a tank with mixed driving. My insurance is $1000 with Just Cars and i'm slightly north of 30)

[HicksV35]

error on previous post everyone.

I meant the BMW 335i.

I think the 350i is just a figment of my imagination.

[fcruz3r]

Hi Hicks,

Thanks for the input man. I'm definately biased on getting the v35 now. Was previously contemplating My05 Wrx sti or the V35, but I think I'm a tad too old for a boy racer car.

I'm not really looking into importing the car myself...rather getting one off carsales or even swapping my BMW for one plus a cash adjustment to the seller.

There's a couple in the pipeline but its down to the changover price and also the condition of the car...coz i always keep my car in impeccable condition and I expect the same.

[rex2ce]

My 2 cents worth, I owned a 250rwkw single turbo Soarer before buying my V35, the Soarer was all power or no power whereas the V35 seems to have power on tap at all times, albeit less, but a lot more driveable. Very smooth , feels good on the road, just drove it from Newcastle to Canberra, got 29.91 mpg ( old speak) cant complain about that for 3.5L.

I am an old fart - over fifty, have had 60% NCD since forever, yet my insurance is $1038.00 at Shannons, they say All Skylines are in the same insurance category.

Final word , I love the car, 1000 times better to drive than the Soarer!

[spenny]

All i can say is hurry up and buy one

I just picked up mine last week,2005 Manual Coupe and its by far the best car i have owned.

Re: Fuel etc ive found it too be pretty good considering the power on offer,its like any car if you have a heavy right foot then the fuel gauge will go down faster than monica lewinsky but if you are sensible then its really good.

Insurance i went with Fastr. They seem to be a new company and believe it or not i think they are based in perth. Im in NSW,29yrs old and i got mine insured for 760 bucks,so anyone looking for insurance i would give these guys a go as they seem to be very cheap compared to other companies i got quotes from.

Hope this helps and good luck with the search.

Thanks

Spenny

[n15m0]

Just a tip with just car insurance, the reason mine is so cheap is because I opted for lower premium higher excess. If I wanted lower excess then my premium would have been around 1k too. Rating 1 and being over 30 helps too.