Opinions On This 1993 R33 Gts

[dclayw]

My son is set on getting a skyline as his first car, (had his license for about 6 months now). I don't think it's a good idea actually but no matter what I do I cannot talk him out of it. He's going to pay for it himself so budget is quite limited. He's looking at around $5,000 mark with 3rd party insurance only.

I don't know a lot about cars myself but I wanted to ask what the experts here thought about this 1993 R33 GTS

We'll be having a look at the car over the next couple of days and if that checks out together with advice I get here, we'll probably get an RACQ check on it.

The car is also listed on ebay with a few more details and pics, see 1993 R33 GTS

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

[GTR-N1]

Hi,

One thing you've done so appropriately is to talk to us on a car club.

We've had two sons and they both drove a manual on the purchase of their first car. If your son is trained to drive a manual, it seems a retrograde step to buy an auto. There is obviously more control with a manual (of that era). Mark had an R31 Nissan Skyline as his first and Matt had a Gen 3 Honda Prelude.

Has your son got a licence based on a manual shift? If so, stick with a manual.

How mature is he? This as much as anything else, determines if you feel compelled to stay up late to hear that car come home.

Has he got an intention to get advanced driver's courses under his belt? I certainly hope so.

The car you mentioned just needs to be checked over like any other car = thorougly. Plus the fact that since it's a grey import, one should look carefully for rust, accident damage etc by looking over the rails, wheel well, cross members and evidence of panel removal.

[Dingus]

Why wouldn't it be a good idea? Unless he drives like a twat, he'll be fine.

[Truffles]

As Terry noted, you've definitely come to the right place, as opposed to asking friends/relatives whom are seemingly in the 'know' about cars.

Also, as pointed out; Was this particular car your son's own choice? It seems a backward step if one has a manual license to choose an early 90's era automatic. If it was, I'm guessing he targeted the car because it was cheaper than manual equivelents.

The majority of us on here can vouch for the expense of our skyline/hobby. Comparatively speaking (for cars of the era) they're a bit more expensive to run and maintain, which will need to be taken into account.

Given you have admitted to not havin extensive knowledge about cars, you've taken an intelligent step in considering an inspection by a qualified third party. Skylines by nature are often driven hard, albeit this is a non-turbo and auto, so this is less likely. But a few hundred dollars on an inspection could save you many more in the long run. In my time of skyline ownership, I've spent many unforseen dollars and hours fixing inherent problems caused by the nature of the car/previous owners.

Given I was in your son's shoes at one point in time (I'm only 21 now), it's very hard to convince him otherwise. Just ensure he is not spending above his means in regards to owning such a car. I can certainly tell you that in hindsight, I would have done a few things differently with cars.

[045HOW]

A skyline that has been in the country for over 11 years to have 1 female driver (apparently) sounds very good.

should choose a manual if he has a manual licence but other than that, get all the appropriate checks done and it should be sweet.

[jjman]

ive owned this model of car previosuly n then sold it on to my mate who bought it for his daughter on her 18th.

She ended up selling it for 2 reasons.

1: fuel consumption.

It is high on these for the size of motor and in comparison to a small 4cyl. you need to feed it premuim to be caring toward it and you will not see below 10L-100km unless you baby it like nothing else (id put money on your son not babying it). 18yr olds seldom have the money to pay for this unless they are working alot or drive very little...

2: this is a tricky car in the wet.

With the HICAS (4 wheel steering), limited slip diff, no traction control or stability control, skinny stock tyres and reasonably torquey motor it is very easy to get this thing out of shape on damp or wet roads. This happened to her a couple of times and scared her silly. She was a good driver but 18yr olds, no matter how much talent and training they have, can fully understand the road like an experienced road user and know how every combination of corner, road camber, standing water etc etc will affect the car.

If you can take it for a spin on a wet day and 'provoke it' in a safe environment to get a sense of what i mean...

I hate to be a nay sayer but its definately worth thinking about these factors before committing to this purchase.

N if he does get it, get him some advanced driver training...

cheers

Justin

[dclayw]

He'll be 19 next month, only has a manual license at the moment. He's very responsible so I don't think I'll have to worry too much about him driving like a maniac. In fact his sister (who is currently still on Ls) reckons he drives way too slow. He's also planning on joining the police force after finishing his degree, initially the QLD police, then federal, so there can be no funny business going on and I would say a defensive driving course very much on the cards. I think he needs to get his manual licence before joining the police force.

He is not a car nut, I guess he just likes the appeal and look of the skylines. I must admit they are very nice looking cars, they have a certain appeal, no question about that.

The comment I made about it not being a very good idea to buy a skyline (at least as a first car) was because of the running/maintenance costs. Don't want him to have a money pit when he's paying off uni debts etc. He was initially looking at later models, late 90s/early 2000s for around the $12-14000 mark. Then he realised he would definiately have to comprehensively insure that and it was just out of range without borrowing any money. Like all parents I guess we were trying to talk him into getting a cheap second hand small car where initial outlay and running costs are reasonable, and the occasional ding here and there is not going to matter much. His compromise was to look at the older skylines around the $5000 mark. Looks like there is not a great deal of demand around for these near 20 year old skylines, particularly the autos, so there might be a few well maintained ones out there that people just want to get rid of. The car I mentioned in the initial post might fit that bill.

Can anyone comment specifically on the car I mentioned, e.g. is there anything inherently wrong with that model, specific things to look out for etc. I've read through the general posts about what to look for when buying a skyline.

@truffles

What would you have done differently? Not bought a skyline?

[Marlin]

All Skylines are VERY sturdy and reliable cars. They're also quite cheap to repair as there an entire industry servicing them with 2nd hand parts.

Servicing costs are on par with any other six cyliner car.

Fuel consumption is also typical small 6 clyinder, although, repairs will typically be cheaper than a similar FRONT wheel drive car.

So, all in all, they are not a bad option, HOWEVER, I strongly recommend a manual gearbox version. Your son is at the beginning of his driving career, and if he doesn't master a manual gearbox now, he likely never will. It's my humble opinion that if a person cannot manage a manual, then they do not deserve a license. he has his manual license, and in my opinion, moving away from a manual now is unwise.

A Skyline of this vintage is an excellent "learner" vehicle for manual transmission drivers, because they really are virtually bulletproof.

*** Be aware that he needs to be expected to get pulled over by the police a lot more than if he drove, say, a Lancer. Especially if he's out and about at night on weekends. So he'll need to behave.

Edited August 3, 2011 by Marlin

[Dingus]

Yeah, so long as you maintain them right, they are great cars. Have known people who have complained about them, but they are the sort of people who thrashed it and didn't maintain it right (this was a turbo model though, which the above one isn't), but my old 33 GTST copped a hiding most weekends and never skipped a beat, I just maintained it right and gave it decent quality oils and filters. Unless he neglects it, the worst your son is possibly going to do is thrash the auto box out, but if he's sensible as he should be if he's trying to get into a respectable government job then he shouldn't have any problems.

Just be prepared to give it a good service when he gets it, and service it every 3 months / 5,000km's, don't skimp on oil and filters, and it'll be a great car.

[Chris_Beli]

My advice would be exactly what my parents said to me, wait till your off your p's and get a proper turbo one, from what I've heard the na skylines aren't particularly quick and coupled with an auto transmission I can't imagine it being a very fun car to drive, again like my parents said either get something that's cheap to run like a (I hate to say it) commo or falcon or consider something p plate legal that still pulls pretty hard, like say a SSS pulsar, Honda prelude etc. I'm now 22 and am glad I took there advice and waited, survived borrowing my mums car while on my p's and bought a turbo stagea as my first car, as someone else mentioned it's probably a good idea to get him to really work out how much he can afford to spend on his first car, how much money will he need for petrol and servicing etc because chances are it will be a reasonable amount of his income and when he really thinks about it he might rather having his money for going out and having fun

[jjman]

Ding- on the money Chris.

Also builds a good appreciation of the purchase

[045HOW]

ive owned this model of car previosuly n then sold it on to my mate who bought it for his daughter on her 18th.

She ended up selling it for 2 reasons.

1: fuel consumption.

It is high on these for the size of motor and in comparison to a small 4cyl. you need to feed it premuim to be caring toward it and you will not see below 10L-100km unless you baby it like nothing else (id put money on your son not babying it). 18yr olds seldom have the money to pay for this unless they are working alot or drive very little...

2: this is a tricky car in the wet.

With the HICAS (4 wheel steering), limited slip diff, no traction control or stability control, skinny stock tyres and reasonably torquey motor it is very easy to get this thing out of shape on damp or wet roads. This happened to her a couple of times and scared her silly. She was a good driver but 18yr olds, no matter how much talent and training they have, can fully understand the road like an experienced road user and know how every combination of corner, road camber, standing water etc etc will affect the car.

If you can take it for a spin on a wet day and 'provoke it' in a safe environment to get a sense of what i mean...

I hate to be a nay sayer but its definately worth thinking about these factors before committing to this purchase.

N if he does get it, get him some advanced driver training...

cheers

Justin

say what?

GTS25T doesnt even have LSD, it has open Viscous LSD.

(IIRC) open to corrections.

[Miguelone]

say what?

GTS25T doesnt even have LSD, it has open Viscous LSD.

(IIRC) open to corrections.

Open =/= LSD

[jez NF]

I would get a "cheaper to run" car first.....my two cents...

The skyline is probably his choice because he doesnt want to be seen in a barina or the like......(which I can personally relate to - I drove a mazda 121 as my student car coz tats all I could afford).

HOWEVER sometimes its better to start off small.....fully understand the value of a car, get an idea of costs involved, repairs etc...and then graduate to a more powerful "expensive to run" car.

I would advise ANYONE getting a skyline to wait and get a good one......then you can appreciate its capabilities.

So start small.....get a proper job...settle down..and then invest in a decent car...that you can spend time and money on..and that you can enjoy

Having said that....an automatic skyline of that era is going to be slow....and besides handling issues in the wet (as mentioned before) I dont see it doing much harm. So you get to "look cool" coz ur in a SKYLINE...and you not shelling out a packet to be in one.

At the end of the day the choice lies with you guys..from the ad...the car looks in decent condition...and seems a good buy....YES I would check it out thoroughly.

Cheers..n good luck

[tweety bird]

read this and good luck to you and your son.

[dclayw]

Thanks for the advice everyone, all taken onboard. I think we'll go and have a look at the car, see if it really is in good nic and then take it from there.

By the way, in post #7 I meant to say "he only has an automatic license at the moment."

[Marlin]

Then I suggest someone teach him to drive a manual.

If he can't, then ensure his cars are comprehensively insured.

Cheers and best of luck.

[boostn0199]

One more thing youd want to take into consideration is skylines are cop targets espxially on P's and clearing defects again and again can be hard and expensive.

[Truffles]

@truffles

What would you have done differently? Not bought a skyline?

I don't regret buying one as such, just the one I bought and the amount of money that I've spent on it. I love my car now but in hindsight, because young and stubborn at the time, the process in which I arrived to this point in time could have been improved.

If your son is not a car nut, as you said and not a huge car enthusiast, it's important to find one that has been looked after. I purchased an R32 GTS-T that needed small amounts of work, which in turn became about $4000+ before I got it on the road with registration and insurance (which isn't so bad when you consider it's an 18 year old car that has had a lot of the wrong kind of 'love' in the past). This one you've selected as a possible purchase seems to be in fine condition, which will probably avoid any major costs other then running and servicing.

Other than that, the fuel consumption is expensive. For my 35km round trip to university 4 days a week, I've worked out that my car uses roughly $6.60 of fuel if fuel is $1.55 a litre. Depending on how much your son does or doesn't drive a week, he could reasonably expect to spend $50 plus on fuel for as little as 300km travelled. I know petrol is a bit of a no brainer but I think it's something that doesn't have magnitude with younger people (like myself and quite possibly your son) until you're handing your money over at the petrol station.

All that said, they're a great car and do put a smile on people's faces. If he's committed to wanting one, he'll enjoy every minute of it.

Edited August 4, 2011 by Truffles

[jjman]

say what?

GTS25T doesnt even have LSD, it has open Viscous LSD.

(IIRC) open to corrections.

yeah i had the 'type M' GTS which came with the GTS-T Type M bodykit and a bit more mumbo (about 3 or 4kw more)

This one def had a nice tight LSD on it that feels exactly the same as the one on my current GTST. Not sure if they put different ones on different specs of the non-turbo...