New V35

[runner4life]

Hi all,

First time user here. Be good to get amongst the proud V35 owners of Australia.

Picking my new beast up next saturday from Melbourne and enjoying the lovely drive back to Adelaide. So PUMPED!

Im getting a 2003 V35 in black, Premium model with brand new 18s and a 3 year nation wide warranty with only 53,000kms on the clock for $22,000.

Any thoughts to some of the first things i should improve?

Look forward to talk all things V with you guys in the many years (hopefully) to come

Cheers

[Nightcrawler]

Wow $22k for a black one with those km seems MUCH too cheap .... make sure you get a thorough mechanical check done on it before you hand over $$$.

It will be nice to see another black V35 around Adelaide - join up to SAU:SA (www.sausa.com.au) if you want to come on our club cruises, track days, dinners, go-kart nights, etc etc).

Congrats on choosing to buy the best car (for the money) in the world!

[sonicii]

Might be a sedan.. which would make the price more appropriate..?

[MSKYO]

^Nope take a look at carsales.com.au and you'll see a lot of series 1 models for that sort of price and cheaper.... The fact is these cars are getting cheaper and cheaper - I ran a search on J-Spec's website using the auction prices feature, filtering down to only 2006 and 2007 series 3 coupes and got an average 'landed and complied' price of $26,000 for cars hich have been auctioned in recent months. Factor in on-roads and you'd still be looking at under $28k for a series 3.

As Nightcrawler said you will want to get a thorough mechanical check done, there is every chance the KMs are not genuine - unless you have the Jap service records or get sound mechanical advice saying otherwise. A couple of good indications of whether the kms are genuine or not include checking the drive belts for cracks (they should start showing cracks at around about 50,000kms), checking the in-cabin air filter (it may have a sticker on it telling you how many kms the car had done when it was last changed!), check for rust on the underbody, wear and tear on the upholstery etc... Not wanting to burst your bubble but I'm speaking from experience. My first V35 which is no longer in the land of the living (accident not mechanical problems!) was a 2003 and the kms were most likely not genuine, but that said mechanical and my own visual inspections still left me satisfied it was still in very good condition. That to me is the most important thing.

Good luck with your purchase and as Nightcrawler said, you are investing in the best bang for buck car out there

Edited January 29, 2012 by MSKYO

[runner4life]

Hey guys, thanks for your input.

Definately not a sedan haha made sure of that.

Ive organised a mechanical check for this week from a melbourne inspection company. So that's all good.

I knocked the price down from 23,990. But all of these types are all around that price range. Fingers crossed im not getting a lemon!

[Nightcrawler]

^Nope take a look at carsales.com.au and you'll see a lot of series 1 models for that sort of price and cheaper.... The fact is these cars are getting cheaper and cheaper - I ran a search on J-Spec's website using the auction prices feature, filtering down to only 2006 and 2007 series 3 coupes and got an average 'landed and complied' price of $26,000 for cars hich have been auctioned in recent months. Factor in on-roads and you'd still be looking at under $28k for a series 3.

As Nightcrawler said you will want to get a thorough mechanical check done, there is every chance the KMs are not genuine - unless you have the Jap service records or get sound mechanical advice saying otherwise. A couple of good indications of whether the kms are genuine or not include checking the drive belts for cracks (they should start showing cracks at around about 50,000kms), checking the in-cabin air filter (it may have a sticker on it telling you how many kms the car had done when it was last changed!), check for rust on the underbody, wear and tear on the upholstery etc... Not wanting to burst your bubble but I'm speaking from experience. My first V35 which is no longer in the land of the living (accident not mechanical problems!) was a 2003 and the kms were most likely not genuine, but that said mechanical and my own visual inspections still left me satisfied it was still in very good condition. That to me is the most important thing.

Good luck with your purchase and as Nightcrawler said, you are investing in the best bang for buck car out there

I just had a look on CarSales - fact is that there are black ones on there for as high as $38k (dreamers), and VERY few below $25k ... so buying one from a dealer for much less than private ones go for is a warning sign.

PLUS, ANY dealer adds a MINIMUM of $5k price on the price you can import one yourself .... so by your own admission Series 3s should be well over $30k ....

It is really only the silver ones that have seen massive price drops - when I paid $30k for my black one 2.5 years ago the yard offered me a silver one with same spec/kms for $22k ... all the way back then.

But I agree - NONE of the V35s in Aus have genuine kms .... mine supposedly had 48k on it when I bought it, but that was a load of bull due to the various factors you have pointed out.

[runner4life]

No instilling much confidence

Suppose will just see what the mechanical inspection comes back with. I knew the ks wouldn't be genuine, doesn't bother me too much.

Fingers crossed. Now for some positives!! haha

[interfooler]

Is yours automatic or manual?

[runner4life]

Auto. Can't stand manuals. Don't have the patience for them. Bad i know, not a true driver haha

[liger]

But I agree - NONE of the V35s in Aus have genuine kms .... mine supposedly had 48k on it when I bought it, but that was a load of bull due to the various factors you have pointed out.

this says otherwise

[Nightcrawler]

^^^ bollocks to that - there is a guy in Sydney that will come to you and change your ODO via consult for $100 and it is completely untraceable. How do you think there are so namy 20-40,000km V35s for sale in yards in Sydney (one particular yard is VERY famous for it - there ave been threads on SAU even about it), yet when you go search the Jp auction sites they are very few and far between.

[liger]

lucky for me that i didnt buy my car from a shotty dealer in sydney. direct from a company up here.

Once the inspection has taken place, AIS guarantees the quality of inspection

by placing a sticker on the windscreen and issuing a corresponding certificate to

the shipper or importer. The AIS odometer inspection process takes the overall

condition of the vehicle, the service/maintenance records, the odometer reading into consideration.

The vehicle is then put through the Japanese National Auction Association (NAK) odometer reading database to verify that the actual mileage of the vehicle measures up to the other information gather about the vehicle. This process takes between 9 – 12 minutes. In cases when it is considered that the odometer has been tampered with illegally, the odometer is then removed and undergoes a further inspection to establish its accurattecy and to find signs of tampering. This secondary process takes up to 2 hours and comes complete with an inspection report with photos of the tampering and comments by the inspecto

[runner4life]

Yeah not too fussed if the K's aren't genuine. Least i have a 3 year warranty and some very good mechanic friends

. As i said before lets focus on the positives on these cars! Puts my mind at ease that way.

[sonicii]

But I agree - NONE of the V35s in Aus have genuine kms .... mine supposedly had 48k on it when I bought it, but that was a load of bull due to the various factors you have pointed out.

Based on the factors mentioned, I think the KM on mine were genuine, or at least close to genuine. it showed 76,000km when I bought it, and only minimal sings of wear on the drivers seat, carpets, pedals, gear shifter (6MT), and only minimal lip on the brake rotors. The drive belts were fairly shagged so I am guessing they were original. It does have a coupe of squeaks, but nothing like what you expect from a car with 100,000+Km. Similar amount of wear as my wife's car which as 61,000km on it.

If it had been wound back, it must have been 'babied' most of it's life.

[Nightcrawler]

Yeah my car at a supposed 48,000km had a fair amount of wear on the drivers seat and the rotors were absolutely lipped and almost shagged. The drivers door lock actuator had already failed and the drivers window periodically won't go up or down without half a dozen attempts at the switch.

liger that looks good - I have never seen that before. Today Tonight should get them to go down to the car yards in Sydney and look at all the cars down there - would make for a GREAT news story!

As I said above, when I was looking to buy a V35 the amount of 2003 V35s with 25,000-30,000km on the clock in Sydney yards was amazing - yet when I subscribed to the Jp auction sites and Prstige/JSpec they were extremely few and far between. Almost all had 50,000km+, which is still quite low really for a 5-6 year old car at the time - even for Jp cars.

At the end of the day as long as you are happy with the car it doesn't matter what the ODO says .... until it hits near 100,000km like mine does and the lower control arm and a heap of other bushes are rooted - the retail to buy them all, press them in and labour involved is around $2k. Unless you can do it yourself like me. Also of concern is that if a car is wound back and the 100,000km service is not done until say 150,000km you run the risk of snapping a worn belt or your water pump failing/cavitating and you probably wouldn't know it until you cooked your motor.

[runner4life]

Shall see what the inspection comes back with. And then go from there.

[skyline168]

good luck mate.you are getting a beautiful car to cruise around in

i bought mine about 11/2 yrs ago from a guy who bought it from Japan

it has full japs log book with 55000 km , one owner.

its my daily and never have any issue or what soever.

wanted a change but every time i decided to keep it !!!!

[mosoto]

purchased mine privately here in Perth at 34,000kms. The bloke who had it b4 me imported it at about 19,000kms and they were genuine, as long as the Jap auction sheet is

Having said that, there was no wear on the carpets and the seats were like new so they were likely genuine K's.

Edited January 30, 2012 by mosoto

[Nightcrawler]

^^^ yeah that is the key - the Jp auction sheet. I guarantee you pretty much NO car yard in Australia will give or show you the Jp auction sheet - most will claim "we bought it from a yard in Jp so it has no auction sheet" - if that is the case ask for the dereg papers (which EVERY car has to have before leaving Japan), which always have the genuine Jp kms. They won't even show you these, as they know all the ODOs have been doctored when the cars come into Aus.

I actually found the auction sheet of a V35 sedan (here on a lot in Adelaide) stuffed in the bottom of the glove box under other stuff. It showed that the ODO was not correct, AND the car had had major rear end repairs so should never have been brought and complied here at all. Dodgy, dodgy, dodgy.

[T4NK]

I have a service sticker under my hood from Japan the KM and month on it matches the KM for when the car was imported with the KM that where on it, its a nissan service sticker to not some back yard mechanic, i have 120xxx on the clock on mine now im expecting around 18k if i sell it b4 150xxxkm