15 year old GTR sceptics

[lwells]

Before i go and buy a 1989 GT-R i would personally check it out myself at the auction...

i would :

Check EVERYTHING possible on the car from brake pads to dints to ciggerete burns...

if the Car seems to be clean id buy it.. sometimes you get lucky and get a bargain ... sometimes you just get ript off...  

all i have to say.. there is nothing wrong witn buying a good and clean R32 GTR 89.

Your going to fly to Japan to check out a car? (Hypothetically, obviously)

LW.

[R32-GTR-89]

well , when they are available to import then .. yess i will.

id rather pay 3,000$ and get accomedation and flight return ticket then waste 15 - 18 grand.

[lwells]

well , when they are available to import then .. yess i will.

id rather pay 3,000$ and get accomedation and flight return ticket then waste 15 - 18 grand.

Well, considering you are only notified that a particular car is coming up for auction a day in advance at best, your either going to have to drop everything, pay for a full fare return flight (plus accomodation, plus meals, blah blah blah), or your going to have to go for a few days and hope a car comes up for auction while you are over there. I don't think either are very good choices...

A better idea is to find a good agent. Not only should you get the auction report but your agent's buyers in Japan will visit the auction and can personally inspect the car on the day of the auction.

Which is why finding a trustworthy agent is key.

LW.

[dairyboy]

There's quite a few auctions happening at the same time on the same day but at different place across Japan...how on earth you gonna check em all out even if you're over there?

Another question - it's a hassle to grab someone into the auction and the process takes a while (last time I was there it took me and my agent an hour to get the ok for me to go in and by the time I got into there, the car I wanted has been sold!)

[Parag0n]

My R32 GT-R was purchased from a supplier in Japan and as you would expect has been inspected and test driven and you get a report as well. I found several goodies in then that I didn't know of beforehand like a Greddy Profec-B, Tein Full height adjustable suspension, Mine's 320km/h speedo and much more...

You can pick up these car's at a relatively decent price, there are good examples and bad examples... It's also a factor of whether the car has had a hard life or not.

To all the clueless sceptics out there, I realise that most of you are crying about how you believe your gt-r will devalue because of a massive influx of all these gt-r's coming in... Deal with it, cars are a depreciating asset, whether you like it or not is something you have to ask yourself.

[Fitzpatrick Speed Works]

a good 93 or 94 r32 will always be worth more if not that its newer but due to all the sceptisism behind 89's.... i can see it being a big thing soon to brag about the year of our skylines...mines a 93 its better, mines a 89 i got a better deal than you on the same car!!! they are one and the same car, we all love them all, you are getting a bargain..not just 89's, but look in the classifieds there are a few really nice 93's in there for 30k 29k neg... thats unreal, for what you get... if you can get the same quality in a car 4-5 years older again, well done to you to... fact is most gtrs in aus arent perfect dont everyone kid themselves look at your own cars im sure they have small accident repairs or other problems, otherwise if your car was perfect it probs would of sold in the domestic market and not at an exporters auction... i guess what i wanna say is good luck to everyone with gtr's the nature of the market in japan ensures an element of instability in regards to oz getting the best cars,, if you have a good car 89- to present and you got a good deal well done to you...

[PHaT MR30]

I am sure alot of you guys would agree, it would be good if you could find out the full history of a car before you buy it. when i bought my silvia i bought it for a reason RB25DET. and from the pics it looked in good nick.

since picking it up from the boat i noticed; drivers door handle has been damaged almost beyond repair (around the actual handle). drivers door has hit a curb when opened, noticable pin dents. Left side has obviously been in an accident as FL control arm replaced, Left guard bulges out and is too close to the door (also no inner guard). scrape type ding behind door (much larger than described). paint job is not in very good order (paint on roof has that white look which won't polish out). wheel alignment showed that rear control arms are obviously either bent or need new bushes etc etc

was also once an auto, bear in mind that it only has 105K on the clock and 130K on the actual car (replaced at some stage). and the interior is in reasonable condition.

so even though there is these things wrong with it im still happy with the car, even though now its off the road to have a severe problem fixed with the engine.

you buy a cheap car you get what you paid for

[Guest INASNT]

At the end of the day u r still driving around a 15 year old car GTR or not, and its bound to have problems especially since 99% of them would have had the life thrashed out of them in those 15 years.

[EnricoPalazzo]

well just to add to the conversation, i just checked out the sale prices of r32 gtrs at auctions in japan. it seems that 89 models are selling for the same, if not more then 93-90 year models. Ahh good ol aussie buyers.

Also, every 89 model was R rated which means accident, and some where the same price as a newer grade 4 car.

hmmm very interesting.

[predator]

of course...dealers are stocking up on absolutely everything they can find to line their own pockets before the government puts a stop to it. Which should be hmm, 2 - 3 months time. Mr Ocumura who has this crapped out 1989 car sitting in his garage for the last 10 years is probably grinning ear to ear.

Imagine if 1989 VN Commodores suddenly become "cool" in like Uzebekistan and suddenly that rusted out and pox-box sitting out in your garden could suddenly be sold to somebdoy right across the world you're never going to even see for double what its worth.

I've already seen a couple of GTR advertised locally by dealers as 1989 that are here - would be interesting to see the sticker price on them and/or condition

[PHaT MR30]

reason i posted the silvia up is because they are cheap car in japan to begin with, ala why so many are drift cars.

and in japan they recycle their cars like nothing on earth, doesn't rego get more $$$ the older the car is?

At the end of the day u r still driving around a 15 year old car GTR or not, and its bound to have problems especially since 99% of them would have had the life thrashed out of them in those 15 years.

[EnricoPalazzo]

i totally agree with u pred. the problem is the people importing them, for example the mass mailing lists that i get flooding my email everyday. the problem is they are so gready to make as much money as they can, that they are using other aussies to try and convince the govt to stop the 15yo changes. Haha but no one realises that they only want this so that they can keep making money, and this has been oh so evident this last few months when every 89 year model crap condition car has been on there mailing lists.

Oviously i havent named companies but the perosn i got my car from is very responsible for the above mentioned. It makes me sick. If these greedy importers werent getttin crappy cond cars to make as much money as possible, then the 15yo rule would still be fine and not a problem. They should have only brought in the good quality ones only, and yes there are a few, but a minute number compared to the mass of them coming in.

so when u get an email saying : help stop the changes to the 15yo rule, its there fault this has happened.

[Merli]

they are so gready to make as much money as they can, that they are using other aussies to try and convince the govt to stop the 15yo changes. Haha but no one realises that they only want this so that they can keep making money.

Yep. No-one realises it. In fact, everyone on here is jumping at the chance to convince the government to keep the 15 year old rule.

That's right, no-one but you realises it.

[R32-GTR-89]

Your correct...

thou the government should even start banning 15 year old cars that really suck.... i would love to see a really nice and fast R32 89 GTR...

[Merli]

Your correct...

thou the government should even start banning 15 year old cars that really suck....  i would love to see a really nice and fast R32 89 GTR...

So what's the problem?

You can still bring the good condition 1989 GTRs in through SEVS.. Just because the 15 year old rule is going to be scrapped, it doesn't mean that you can no longer bring in those 15 year old cars... They just have to pass the strict rules and safety regulations of SEVS, and not come into Australia, with absolutely no checks on condition or safety as they would through the 15 year old rule.

[lwells]

so when u get an email saying : help stop the changes to the 15yo rule, its there fault this has happened.

Although you haven't been specific, the only people I can think you are referring to is Prestige. If that is the case, I strongly disagree with what you are saying. I am currently looking for a car through Prestige and have found them to be as straight as they come. Just last week I emailed Geoff about a car at auction that I thought looked reasonable and he was quick to point out that it had accident damage and strongly recommended I did not persue purchasing the vehicle.

Yes, there are vested interests. Yes they want to keep their businesses going, but that doesn't mean it overrides their sense of integrity.

LW.

[EnricoPalazzo]

Althou i didnt mention names purposely, i did get my car thru geoff and found him to be very good with questions and overall serice.

However now, this whole importing every 15yo car possible b4 the rule changes situation is absurd and stupid, and quite frankly u can see that they are just tryin to make as much money as possible, and really dont care wat car u want.

All they see it as is another sale to them.

However there are other importers that are the opposite to this and will not buy junk cars.

[EnricoPalazzo]

lwells, althou 15 yo cars seem to be an absolute bargin, they arent really. For example due to the current situation with sevs not being fully implemented, 15yo cars have skyrocketed in price and importing. Due to this, cars like i mentioned b4, 90-93 model r32 gtrs, which are in better overall condition are cheaper then the mostly rough 89 models.

So for example the 15 yo rule is scrapped and sevs is fully implemented, the situation would obviosly change, where people could choose whatever model they wanted.

Now cause there are alot to choose from, the prices really shouldnt change too much, althou obviously the older 89 models will be lower then the newer models.

Say an 89 model was 700,000 yen and the 92 was 850,000 which is a possible prices.

Basically the only difference in cost from 15yo rule and sevs is the compliance difference.

So basically u can get a generally shitloads better car from the 15yo rule to the sevs ruling for only about 3000 difference. as im assuming complinace would be 4000 compared to 1000 for a 15yo car.

Basically that is all the difference.

So when u think about it, the 15yo rule is basically just allowing really cheap cars to get in really cheaply, however as soon as u bring in a decent car which is still fetching good prices in japan, the difference here is very minimal, and i personally would prefer it to change as the quality of cars would be alot better due to people having more to choose from.

I hope all this makes sense.

[lwells]

I am not actually arguing against SEVS. Rather I took exception at your assertion that certain people -- and from the details you gave, I assumed (correctly it seems) you meant Geoff -- were willing to import anything that moves as I have personally experienced the exact opposite.

LW.

[predator]

EnricoPalazzo is right ... the difference is $3500 or so between SEVS and non-SEVS. Ok you do maybe have to factor in cost of replacement genuine pads, tyres, etc under SEVS which adds up, but its shouldn't be a killer if you really want a *nice* GTR and can afford it.

Personally..speaking for me -- the only reason I'd get a 1989 GTR is to fully restore it from the ground up: engine, body, everything as a project. And because you can't find a GTR thats in one piece for that here, may as well get the cheapest possible example you can find. I am tempted I'll admit.

Otherwise you may as well just buy an s13 or something and drive it into the ground..