State Roads 180sx Check, Thoughts?

[liquidx]

Hi everyone, I'm new here, having been browsing for a while and thought I would post this up to help anyone else looking to buy a 180sx. Not sure if im allowed to post photos of the actual car or not for privacy reasons, can anyone let me know before I do so and I'll put some shots up of the undercarriage etc.

I've been keen on one particular car, its a 95 180sx, just had it checked over by State Roads cause it seemed quite good after myself and a friend had a bit of a look over it. I've attached the report if you would like to have a read through, seems to have had panel repairs which I assume is only cosmetic. BUT, has some rust on the undercarriage, exhaust looks like a bit of a worry, not sure whether these could be sanded down, welded or what. Other than that, common oil leaks for its age and worn bushes which could be expensive, not sure. He wants 8k for it, I wanted a fairly stock 180 as I want to work on it, only thing done to this is the exhaust... I personally don't think its worth 8, maybe 7-7.5 after repairs. As far as I know you can't replace the steering wheel on these as of 1995 as they have drivers side airbag, correct?

Darren

SR.pdf

Edited November 11, 2009 by liquidx

[KURAUN]

honestly seems like it isnt taken care of to much, if the owner was fussy wouldve cleaned up all the oil leaks and that himself

rust is always bad in cars, needs to be fixed for rwc and it shouldve been fixed when the panel work had been done previously

so sounds like it hasnt been taken care of to well, but thats jsut my opinion.

Maybe look for a car that costs a bit more, but is in much better condition

[trel]

the car is a shitbox. not only has it been painted, but has according to the tester, bog on pretty much every panel. oil leaks, rust etc.

i had my first r33 tested by stateroads, and i know how pedantic they are when they check. i looked at 6 before i found the one i bought.

shop around mate, take your time and find something decent.

thumbs down on this 180

[AnDyStYLe]

Bloody hell those guys are thorough!!! How much does it cost for a check?

Cheers,

Andy

[(OO)SKYLINE(OO)]

^^ I think it cost about $200 - $500, I can't remember exactly how much... ($200 rings a bell...)

Saves you buying a shit car and keep dumping cash into it to get it fixed.

But how many times can you keep forking out couple of hundreds of dollars to keep inspecting cars until you find a good one...

My friend used State Roads to check up on a Nissan El Grand up in Syd while he is in Melb.

It looked good on the outside but after the report it was above pass... 60%

So yes State Roads is worth it.

[liquidx]

Bloody hell those guys are thorough!!! How much does it cost for a check?

Cheers,

Andy

$285 if i remember correctly.

[Kinkstaah]

Saves you buying a shit car and keep dumping cash into it to get it fixed.

...snip

So yes State Roads is worth it.

Be careful though, I had State Roads inspect my car and give it an absolutely stunning report, enough so I bought the car.

It'll be a few thousand dollars and a couple of months @ RE Customs and Status until this thing is what was actually advertised.

So I personally would use them again; but then I'd take the car to a well known, reputable workshop to check it, again to be 100% sure.

[(OO)SKYLINE(OO)]

Be careful though, I had State Roads inspect my car and give it an absolutely stunning report, enough so I bought the car.

It'll be a few thousand dollars and a couple of months @ RE Customs and Status until this thing is what was actually advertised.

So I personally would use them again; but then I'd take the car to a well known, reputable workshop to check it, again to be 100% sure.

So what happened?

State Roads gave a great report, you bought the car, found out that it needed work?

...

[Do-Luck]

Used Stateroads when I bought my 180, and definitely gave it a thorough look.

OP, I'd buy a 180sx that already has a bit of work done to it already, you'll save yourself so much coin.

[Kinkstaah]

So what happened?

State Roads gave a great report, you bought the car, found out that it needed work?

...

Yep that pretty much sums it up..

[(OO)SKYLINE(OO)]

Yep that pretty much sums it up..

Fcuk!

I would have went nuts!

All is fixed now, I hope...

[Kinkstaah]

Fcuk!

I would have went nuts!

All is fixed now, I hope...

Nope.

However they werent too far off the mark, I dont blame State Roads, all I am saying is that if they check out the car, and their review is positive (infact on mine it was 100% positive, there was literally nothing wrong with the vehicle) it is still very worth taking the car to a shop that specializes in the specific nuances that that car may or may not have.

My issues werent that the car was full of rust when they said it wasnt, or is about to fall apart when they gave it a clean bill of health, my issues are more "skyline modification" specific which they didnt pick up, nor did I expect them to - Hence my comment that they are infact very thorough, but to get it checked by a specialist/known tuner in addition if they give you a clean bill of health.

Or I could have been very unlucky - I would still recommend their services in any case.

[STATUS]

those reports aint worth shit, pics tell the story a million times better.

I used to similar reports for another company and you have to pick the shit out of a car, we could make anyone's car not matter how good look shit on the report...

[R31Nismoid]

The reports were fully detailed and at least gave you a good grounding for where the car was at as an initial inspection.

I could tell him over the phone what it meant (he knows very little about cars), and where to take it from there.

Pictures most certainly do not tell the full story, they are no better/worse than a written report IMO.

I could bring a car to you or Racepace for example, however the car is in Tullamarine, and there is no workshop I'd trust out there.

So hence it can be a very expensive trip, bordering on impossible to organise.

At least with State Roads you get an idea/feel for the car if you look at the report objectively and just the facts.

You might see that the body work is a bit rough and perhaps you need to take it to a panel shop.

You could see that there are some possible mechanical problems which means going to a more specific skyline/performance shop.

See what im getting at here?

As far as initial onsite/base level inspection goes, I think they cannot be beaten.

Yes you can write up any car to look good/bad whatever, and that can come down to the person doing the inspection, however overall there is exceptional merit there.

Kinkstaah - unfortunately as per the above, I don't really agree with some of the things you've said either as you expected more from the report that you were ever going to get. If you wanted specific performance/skyline information/checking, then you should have had the car taken to such a place.

State Roads should only be used as a "tier 1" inspection. If you are really keen and the car is not standard, then a "tier 2" inspection might be required in addition to initial checks (panel shop, performance shop etc etc).

[Kinkstaah]

Kinkstaah - unfortunately as per the above, I don't really agree with some of the things you've said either as you expected more from the report that you were ever going to get. If you wanted specific performance/skyline information/checking, then you should have had the car taken to such a place.

State Roads should only be used as a "tier 1" inspection. If you are really keen and the car is not standard, then a "tier 2" inspection might be required in addition to initial checks (panel shop, performance shop etc etc).

This is exactly what I was saying - Just forwarning that its best to get that "Tier2" inspection done. In my case my "Tier2" inspection WAS done, but it was done by a notorious liar who-shall-not-be-named-on-forums. (but didnt know at the time)

In my example.. after I found out my "Tier2" was completely dishonest, I took it to Tier3, who coincidentally.. is Trent @ Status tuning who posted a few posts above, and gave it a good ol WTF, and it's now at RE Customs WTF'ing Ray @ Co down there, and has been for about 6 weeks now

Point being though, don't take it as a be-all, end all report of EVERY possible vehicle fault, as Mr Nismoid said and I (attempted) to do.