Buying A Skyline, Thinking Ahead

[sparhawk1]

Hi everyone.

I'm a soon to be P-plater and I'm looking for my first car. Budget is less than 15k, so I'm considering a N/A, Automatic R34 as one of my options, something a bit tame. This forum has been a wealth of knowledge, however I'm still a bit apprehensive about a couple of things.

1. How will I go about getting a service done? Usually with the ford we just take it to Kmart Auto, but thats probably not really an option with a skyline.

2. Insurance. I've seen the thread about insurance, but when I go to do an RACV search, it lists a couple of skylines. Its about 700 for 3rd party, and a couple grand for comprehensive. Is this limited to only certain models? Because it seems the general consensus around here is that racv don't do imports.

3. Parts. If a service discovers something wrong, is it generally a hassle to source parts?

And one more thing. I'm planning on organising a stateroads inspection (stateroads.com.au) prior to purchase. They claim they actually come to the dealer to do the inspection. Don't they need special equipment to do this? If they're charging $300 to do an inspection I'd like them to do it thoroughly.

Thats all for now.

thanks in advance!

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

1. Service is just like normal.. it's just a car

2. Ring about insurance quotes before purchasing a car. RACV arent the onl;y insurance company

3. Depending on what the parts are.. shouldnt be a hassle on most items but also can be expensive..

4. stateroads have the equipment to do the inspection.. they don't need massive equipment.. it fits in their vehicle.. also find a mechanic who has dealt with skylines before and get them to do a check over..

Edited September 28, 2010 by .:: GimpS-R34 ::.

[sparhawk1]

Thanks heaps for your reply gimps

1. Service is just like normal.. it's just a car

Oh really? Good to know. For some reason I had the impression the regular service centers wouldn't have the expertise to deal with imports and the like.

2. Ring about insurance quotes before purchasing a car. RACV arent the onl;y insurance company

I guess what I mean is that it appears RACV do insure skylines, wheras from the threads here people seem to imply they don't. Probably another misconception of mine.

4. stateroads have the equipment to do the inspection.. they don't need massive equipment.. it fits in their vehicle.. also find a mechanic who has dealt with skylines before and get them to do a check over..

Great. What if its a private seller? I don't really imagine them setting up shop in the seller's driveway then going about doing their business

Edited September 28, 2010 by sparhawk1

[Guest baby34]

1. How will I go about getting a service done? Usually with the ford we just take it to Kmart Auto, but thats probably not really an option with a skyline.

Get your car serviced preferbly at a performance shop.. make sure your car is running with proper oils etc..

Its not a performance car, so you dont really need to worry..

2. Insurance. I've seen the thread about insurance, but when I go to do an RACV search, it lists a couple of skylines. Its about 700 for 3rd party, and a couple grand for comprehensive. Is this limited to only certain models? Because it seems the general consensus around here is that racv don't do imports.

Your getting ripped off if your paying 700$ LOL. i' had an N/a Skyline and paid $330 for 3rd party @ Justcar.

3. Parts. If a service discovers something wrong, is it generally a hassle to source parts?

Parts are awesome & fairly cheap, theres alot of wrecked skylines around

I do recommend get AT LEAST A manual R34 N/a If you're not willing to go turbo.... Great P-Plater Car and will definately pull heads.

[LANDSCRIBBLE]

justcar insurance are the only bunch that would insure me and my r33 gts-t, i rang all the bloody insurance companies. i pay a sh*tload for comprehensive so i dont have to worry if i.. you know what.

find and stick with an import mechanic/tuner shop that you know will be in good hands, research who are good and who arent.

you will get bored of the NA 2.5L inline fury as time passes, just letting you know after you spend 15k on an NA r34.

servicing/parts so far for me hasnt been an issue. a fair bit of aftermarket gear out there.

dealers that wont allow you to inspect their car(s)? ask yourself why.

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

yeah an import is still just a car.. N/A in particular is the same.. They just go by the specs of your vehicle.. turbo on servicing still isn't a major thing.. i service my own so i know that it's done right..

RACV "may" insure your car.. just call up some insurance companies and get quotes before you purchase any car.. they will say yes or no and will give you a quote.. but not sure why you're saying RACV anyway (guessing your parents are with them).. ring others also..

Yeah with private sellers they will still inspect, asz i said they don;t have monster equipment in their trucks.. however I would still be looking for a mechanic in your area that you can take the car to get up on a hoist and get everything inspected.. rust, possible chassis damage, any faults need fixing/replacing.. look at doing this before state raods inpection possibly as it will be cheaper, and if they find a fault you want to turn away from, you will then have saved $300

[mad082]

as craig said, imports aren't some magical car that has nothing in common with other cars. you can buy most parts these days through repco, autobarn, supercheap, etc. servicing them is no different. they still use an oil filter and you still pour oil into the the cap on the top of the engine that says oil, or has a little picture on it. any mechanic with half a brain will be able to do general servicing as a lot of more modern cars sold locally will be more advanced than skylines. if your parents take their car to a mechanic to get serviced, then you could just take the skyline there too. if they say that they can't do it then what that actually means is that they don't want to do it, not that they can't.