R34 Gtr - To Buy Built Or Standard?

[vspecR]

Hi guys,

Im in the position to buy a GTR r34 at the moment and I've found two that a reasonably priced and are in my price range. ill give you a little bit of infomation about each

The built one

1999 GTR Vspec

- 60,000Kms on the clock

- its been built with forged pistons and rods, but running factory ECU and turbo ( it was rebuilt cos motor was blown), the builder is just a local mechanic in a small town with very little experience with RB's

- the owner doesnt seem to know much about this car, or anything about the build. (typical excuse if there is something wrong with the car, pretend like u know nothing)

- car has a big dent on the front bar, and keyed on the side (requires about 2-3k paint work)

- has a few light mods like boost controller, exhaust, coilovers

- in the small town i dont even know if they have RON 98 lol

The standard one

- 1999 Non-vspec

-non built engine

- completely standrad with 50,000Km on the clock

- good condition, i know the import broker that imported the car from japan, so i know the rough history

now the standard one $7000 MORE expensive than a built one

my question is which one would you take? i know buying a built one that is built by a non experience mechanic is a gamble. but the price different is BIG.

my mechanic said he would take a standard GTR r34 over a built one anyday simply because he doesnt know how much attention was put into the built and you dont know if they did anything wrong until it goes bang and you open it

If i were to buy the built one, i would put it on a dyno and get comp and leak down test done, and a thorough inspection.

so i need i need you advice guys.

cheers

Edited March 10, 2011 by vspecR

[Hybrid905]

Standard on for sure. I mean you are saying that there is about 3k to spend straight up on the paint work so that only makes the car a 4k difference then you have the 10000k difference on the odd which is nice.

And all round the stock on probably is a better base to start working on. As you said you know a bit about the history of the stock one and you never know what other problems the owner of the built one is hiding from you

So to cut a long story short I would buy the stock one which is in better condition :-)

That's my 2c

[Ten Four]

$$$?

Standard one, unless built car has receipts, always.

[vspecR]

Can source receipt of the built one, but it's the quality of the work from builder that I'm worried about.

Yeh I know logically the standard one is safest, but tempted to get the built one as it hadmore potential.

Sorry rather not state price

[KING87]

Definantly the standard one!!

Unless you know the builder and all the other associated facets of the car i would be very careful befor handing over the coin..

You have to ask the question why was the engine blown in the first place?

[NISSAN GTR]

Standard mate , you would only buy modified if the owner could tell you in detail >>>

The modifications and in detail who did the work . sometimes its worth spending extra , to save down the track !

[vspecR]

Standard one was built because previous owner overboosted it, not sure the detials, but that was the reason

The built one's owner builder can tell me bits and peice of the details. i have the list of parts used, but like i said, im worried about the builder's work, not the parts

ahhh so hard to decide lol. The built one also has my preferred colour, and its Vspec

what could i possibly do to make sure the engine is fine?

cheers

Edited March 10, 2011 by vspecR

[Ten Four]

Compression test.

[vspecR]

i will be doing a comp and leak down test. i will also put in on the dyno. but that doesnt confirm the engine is well built.

Edited March 11, 2011 by vspecR

[Touge Kyousou]

Option 3: Bargain hard on the built one, get a good deal then get a standard strip down done and refresh the engine with the money saved. An engine refresh won't be too much especially if you can do a bit of it too plus if the motor's already been built recently you can just resuse the pistons/rods etc etc.

You'll probably end up paying slightly more this way than the standard non built one, but then you have the knowledge and guarantee that the engine will be fine if your mechanic is good.

Don't forget the non built standard one is still afterall a 10+ year old motor that was built as a sports/fast car..it very likely hasn't had an easy life. You buy a sports car to drive it sportily or even harder.

Paintwork can come later, take care of mechanical stuff first imho. Besides it's only a keyed jobbie, you can get some properly mixed/matched colour and touch up the mark till you're ready to get it done properly. Or if the key mark is not even that deep, a propfessional detailer will be able to get rid of 90% of it, making it so to see it, you really need to get up close and look at the spot/know it's there.

[NISSAN GTR]

Standard one was built because previous owner overboosted it, not sure the detials, but that was the reason

The built one's owner builder can tell me bits and peice of the details. i have the list of parts used, but like i said, im worried about the builder's work, not the parts

ahhh so hard to decide lol. The built one also has my preferred colour, and its Vspec

what could i possibly do to make sure the engine is fine?

cheers

That does make it hard to choose , the decision always comes down to colour . Get your mechanic to go right over it , pull the wheels off , compression test . Check it out fully . But i would wait for another one if in doubt ! or pay 7k more !!!!!!!!!!!! GL

Edited March 11, 2011 by NISSAN GTR

[GTR-N1]

- its been built with forged pistons and rods, but running factory ECU and turbo ( it was rebuilt cos motor was blown), the builder is just a local mechanic in a small town with very little experience with RB's

- the owner doesnt seem to know much about this car, or anything about the build. (typical excuse if there is something wrong with the car, pretend like u know nothing)

MY COMMENT - BELOW

If i were to buy the built one, i would put it on a dyno and get comp and leak down test done, and a thorough inspection.

YES-S-S-S

My car is being upgraded now.

If I were to sell it, I'd even introduce the prospective owner to the technician/builder/tuner after showing itemised receipts for the wk.

I'd only have my car upgraded by a very experienced technician.

All the best!

[maclarenf1]

Don't by either

wait for good deal, where you can buy a Build one for that money "it's matter of time"

if you buy the Build one, it will go bang again due to poor quality of work

if you buy the standard one, you will realize how expensive it is to build RB to and modify in general, so you will always think about build one and why you did not buy it

so neither will be good

[vspecR]

ahhhh dilemma

i didnt want to say it, but the built ive negotiated to 35k....for R34 GTR vspec... i know most would say its lemon just based on the price. but i genuinely believe the owner is only selling it cheap due to paint work and is in debt

its hard to let this bargain(if the engine is quality build) go!

Touge- i like your suggestion, i will be lookin into that option. perhaps i can drive the built one how it is now (leave it at stock power) and look at refreshing it when im chasing more power. something around 350-380kw

and i agree, the standard one's engine is a 10yr old + engine, i dont know exactly what its gone through either.

Edited March 11, 2011 by vspecR

[Ten Four]

35k?

Def get absolutely everything inspected.

Even if engine goes pop, its 8 to 10k to rebuild at a performance place and you know you've got a R34 GTR Vspec running mint.

Make sure you run the vin too to check original colour and revs check it.

[vspecR]

Yeh its a real bargin, and ive checked everything (VIN and REVS) as thorough as i can. I think im heading towards the direction of the built one.

Gonna get it checked out next week, fingers crossed, considering the inspection is gonna cost me 400 before i even buy the car lol

[Ten Four]

Don't care. Better to spend that money now than fixing a big list of repairs you hadn't budgeted for...

Besides, you will always find something more and can negotiate into sale price = free inspection.

Also get paint thickness of entire car done so you'll know if its been sprayed before.

Are you in Perth, and does the car your looking at, have terrible tail lights?

Edited March 11, 2011 by Ten Four

[vspecR]

Yes I'm in Perth, but I think the one you're talking about is sold. Plus is looks horrible lol. Anyways after speaking to an import broker I'm looking at maybe importing myself now, price of r34 GTR can go as low as 38k landed thanks for the help guys

[(OO)SKYLINE(OO)]

The Standard one sounds like the safer option.

+ if the built one needs work done, you might end up spending $7K extra anyway...

So for a peace of mind, get the Standard one

[Ten Four]

Ah ok. But yeah, that car was really cheap!!!

Keen to go look @ 34GTRs for sale...

GL with importing mate.