Buying a Skyline ... advice?

[DarkCoupe]

private import thru prestige motorsport. much cheaper howver with sevs now im not sure its still as feasible vs local buy

have you considered private sale locally?

I have ... but I haven't found anything as yet. And all the R34's advertised privately are selling for close to 40k ... far from the approximated 30-33k I was told for the private import.

[Duncan]

Well my concern about importing is the chance of something not being quite right.

In the end I've bought 1 car thru a dealer and the other I imported, so I've tried both.

Now the car I imported was dirt cheap and I expected to have to work on it to get it up to scratch......but if I was spending more (eg $40k range, which is what mine cost me 3 years ago) I would be buying from a dealer...too much to gamble for me.

[DarkCoupe]

yeah that's what I think ... 30 grand is a lot to roll dice on for me at any stage ... I guess the extra 10k I pay to someone like powerplay is for all the hassle they go to on my behalf, they do everything for me I just sit back and watch and read about it on email, plus the safety and peace of mind that if the car turns up and it's a lemon, I have a contract saying that they didn't deliver on the agreed product and I get my money back. So in a sense, it's in their best interest that for the extra coins, they get a good car.

Well ... I will be going wiht a series II R33 then. that dark gunmetal colour hopefully. I will keep you all posted. Now that I have made the decision, I am getting pretty excited deep down.

[DarkCoupe]

still looking ... btw anyone ever deal with Northshore Prestige near Mosman?

[Zagan]

I'm in the same boat as yourself though I havn't made any calls to people to find out about things.

I how ever do want a R34 GT-t via a dealer or import or a R34 GT-R via import, which I'm not quite sure about as I have some other things on my mind, even though I have found a dealer that I would buy from.

My understanding and thinking is that you gamble your money either way you go, a dealer can't give you a complete non-problem free car off the bat, and nor can a import place either, so it seems as what price you really want to pay for the car and what you do want or really what you can afford to get.

Even though I hadn't asked around the place I had guessed that you'd save around 10K on the car price via importing, but I didn't think the wait would be 6 months more 3 months (I guess that's everything going smooth and no troubles)

The dealer I would go through has the model I'm after for $38 to $48 so that's within my price range.

I've already decided that the car won't be driven much and I intend to use it on the race track here and there rather than for every day use.

Let us know what way you have decided to go, it'll be interesting for me at least.

[DarkCoupe]

yeah I will do.

I am mainly trying to find out what dealer to go with...

Powerplay

NorthShore Prestige

Any others??

anyone who has bought through a dealer and can give me their experience (good or bad) please tell me

[Abo Bob]

See my above posts but I got mine from Powerplay.

[DarkCoupe]

Well I had one checked at a dealer in QLD by the RACQ, and that didnt go so well (the car was quite banged up even though the photos looked sweet)

Anyway ... gotta keep searching

[dairyboy]

a) Powerplay knows their stuff even though it's a tad more than the others. At least they have the courtesy to entertaining ex-tyrekickers like myself :headspin:

B) Edward Lee? The guy and the sales like to play hard ball..I am playing hard ball with them trying to comply my Supra as we speak.....

One thing you might wanna investigate before considering importing it privately - there's only 2 places in Aust so far have been given the type approval to comply R34's. One is in Hornsby but last time I've spoken to them they're out of the plates (go bug them though, they said one bloke bought 90 plates off them and haven't used it up yet). The other one is Crossover Conversions in Melbourne. That place in Hornsby was asking $5500 plus $165 application fee plus tyres.

Ever considered a R33 GTR? The prices for them is coming down at the moment.

A followup question guys ...

still deciding which way to go:

a) go to someone like Powerplay Imports, who seem to have a good reputation (not sure, anyone buy from them? what's your experience like?? I feel better because I am told that if the car turns up and it's not what was discussed, I get my deposit back.  

B) anyone every deal with Edward Lee on Parramatta road? what's your experience been like?

B) go to someone Prestige motorsport. Sure, I save a good amount of money, but there's a lot more risk. I know a lot of people have bought cars though him. Has everything always turned out ok?

For a newbie like me... what do you recommend? I have the money but I am ... I guess still afraid / unsure about forking over a wad of cash without knowing more about the two above people?

[DarkCoupe]

Powerplay wants 42-45K for a R34 GT-T... I am not really looking to pay that much for one I think that's a bit over-priced.

R33 GTR ... hmm... didn't really think about it, but yeah it's a possibility, but I doubt you can get a decent example under 40k???

[Sciby]

You *can* get some decent GTR's for under $35k, but for that price, you'll be going through someone like Prestige Motorsport, who I went through for my R33 GTS25t. Took 8 weeks from the day of loan approval to the day I saw my car coming around the corner to pick me up from the train station. (still remember that moment, still havent' gotten the stains out of my jeans)

Don't be afraid of importing, but make sure you go with someone good. I have no hesitation about recommending Prestige. Geoff Risbey (owner) was great, happy to chat any time, there's travel insurance involved, etc... never had a car insured against piracy before.

The biggest leap of faith was forwarding $10k over to someone in Japan I've never met before, but considering all the good reports I'd heard, I only hesitated for a moment. When I got the car, everyone was impressed by the quality, me most of all. Even had a few extra bits that wasn't on the mechanics report.

I haven't heard anything about J-spec, good or bad...

[CWest]

Powerplay are known to be more expensive but thats because they truly choose the best cars. Funnily enough, I remember speaking to 2 other dealers that told me to buy from Joane from Powerplay simply because she choose the top cars, no accident, grade 5 cars. In the end i didnt buy from her but the dealer i did buy from still ended up screwing me for about 2 grand anyhow.

Since then my car has always been serviced and taken care of by powerplay ive only ever had 1 issue with them, but for the most part they have been good. Also u know u can ask Joanne to import a car in for u she will just charge her finders fee, i think.

[DarkCoupe]

Sciby: where did you get your loan from?? I was going to use prestige but then I heared that all finance companies will NOT finance you for a car that is not even on Australian soil?!? any advice there mate?

Cwest: I have been in constant touch with Joanne, but I haven't really seen any recommendations from her come through yet. But she's looking into it for me as an option.

[Sciby]

Ack, sorry, forgot to reply to this.

I went through bank of queensland, for an unsecured loan... they just gave me the cash, I paid out the rest of my existing car loan ($3k), then rang Geoff and went from there. I don't know what finance companies are like syd for that sort of stuff, but sinec you're currently looking for an R34, I'd say you did okay.