R32 Gtr Common Problems/maintenance Costs

[Lord_Muck]

I myself have recently purchased an R32 GTR, 1993 model, 136K kms, mild mods (HKS front pipes, Blitz catback, hi-flow cat, Tein suspension, Nardi Wheel, aftermarket wheels, few Defi's and a HKS EVC (both electronic devices not been reconnected since being registered here in W.A.).

I looked at ones in car yards, private sales, varying prices. In the end i bought a "cheaper" one because the qulity of the car that you can see, was better than that of one that was $5000 more in a car yard and some other more expensive private sale ones.

It has minimal mods, i did a compression test that i was happy with (range of compression within 10% of eachother which is passable).

The car is currently at the mechanics for a full check up and service where required, but as far as i see it, you pay a price you're happy with, for a car you're happy with, check it out to the best of your ability, then weigh the options.

You could buy a $30,000 example, burn up all you're cash and hope nothing goes wrong with it, coz you paid so much, or you pay a reasonable price and say to yourself "you know what, an R32 GTR is the car i want most, so if anything goes wrong, i'll keep it and fix it".

Buying a more expensive car that's 17yo, does not garuantee there's nothing wrong with it, no matter how much you check it out.

I've owned about 16 cars already, 11 Nissan, 6 of those were turbo. The amount of money i must have wasted on selling some of those because they weren't quite "right" is probably far more than if i had just bitten the bullet and spent the money on them.

Now i'm of the opinion that what else would i change it for (Nissan only obviously), as an R32 GTR is one of my favourite cars of all time, i've wanted one for a long time and what is going to be better than it except an R34 GTR (3 times the price) or an R35 GTR (5 to 6 times the price). If the motor sh*ts itself, then i'll rebuild it somewhere not far from standard, because i want to drive it daily and i don't want more than 300kw ATW anyway. Even if i have to do this, i'll still have a vey reasonably priced R32 GTR.

So if you really love R32 GTR's, go for the best thing you can find to suit you're budget, if it goes wrong, fix it. You probably shouldn't buy one if you don't have a love of Nissans, GTR's, repairing cars, or putting up with cars/Nissans common faults because it will drive you insane.

I reach this conclusion after many years, many cars, much time under the bonnet, under Nissans and many lessons learnt.

Best of luck on the purchase!