Looking To Purchase R34

[Christo Kong]

Hey Guys,

This is my first post on here, im not sure how the pecking order works over in this part of town but ive previously always been a member of the commodore brigade, and have decided to buy a sports car rather than a fast family sedan..

I am looking to buy an R34 GT-T, i would like a GTR but i refuse to sell my house and sacrifice my first born

i have a budget of 17k - 18k at most, what are common things i should look for when shopping the second hand market?? i have seen a few cars so far that i like

but i haven't actually gotten to the point of test driving any cars, im looking at buying something with a few mods already but not where to draw the line??

i would prefer to find something sub 100,000k which doesnt seem to be too hard, coilovers, aftermarket ecu seem to be par for the course with most second hand examples

anyhow, if you were in my shoes what would you have liked to know before you purchased your R34??

Cheers

Chris

Edited March 20, 2012 by Christo Kong

[nathanau]

anyhow, if you were in my shoes what would you have liked to know before you purchased your R34??

Cheers

Chris

Heya, I had them all MTA inspected. They all looked good on the outside! what a shock after an inspection lol. Nowdays its easy for me BUT id still have the engine checked out, id still have a decent or trusted Mechanic check anything before i buy it. But common things, look in the boot under the carpet, around the seals, where the shocks join into the car particularly, youll see rust in many cars !

Same for the front, check the engine bay around the shocks and seals, youll find rust in so many skylines. I have seen some for sale recently in some car yards where they have tried to sand back the rust, then re paint around the struts and put 17K on them, when in reality, those car will never pass another rego, its a case of buyer seriously beware!

Check for accident damage under the car, welds out of place or signs of repairs. I have also seen cars come along that are repairable right offs.... good or bad , could be either pending…. but what i found is many had dodgy work done and unless u hoist the car, you wont see it. Paint miss matches, wear and tear, smoke, obvious stuff is always a no go, ruff cars and faded paint!

If it is your first, id get it MTA checked, they will come to the cars location. Dont buy something if you dont know a lot about them, these cars come from so many different backgrounds and fk knows what type of life they have had over time.

Also, watch out for mods, spacers, BOV, over sized rims, engine mods, etc, most mods are illegal unless they have been RTA engineered. If you get stopped by Police ( and u will at some point) they will go over your car, any mod that does not have a Eng Cert will probably get defected and or referred to other bodies for approval. These will cost you plenty.

Even if a car costs 7K id still have it checked by a credible person let alone 17 or 18K`s worth of car, its a lot of money to blow if it turns out to be a lemon. And what suburb are u in ? I know of a white GTT, front mount intercooler, Turbo timer, K& N pod and custom cover, Nismo R tune G Attack coil overs, 18 inch rims, new tyres 90% tread, 3.5 inch cat back HKS Hi flow, service history, DECC and EPA inspected and approved, RTA engineered as well, it is immaculate, this type of car will check out on all of the above and its asking price is 15K ( i think i have a pic of it here ill try to include) and also I know of another one Bay side blue, i understand its pretty decent as well, If u want ill find out all the info for you, both cars in a Sydney GTR shop.

[Christo Kong]

I forgot to mention, im in QLD, north brisbane, but i would be happy to travel for the right vehicle... this is starting to sound like a mine field to be honest

[nathanau]

I forgot to mention, im in QLD, north brisbane, but i would be happy to travel for the right vehicle... this is starting to sound like a mine field to be honest

Arrr but did i mention the shear fun youll have dont be disheartened!!

Ive driven a LOT of cars over time and Skylines are a serious class of their own! Youll probably end up loving the entire experience and stay with it.

Its more than just driving a car, you have clubs social events lots of great people youll get to know, forums are fun to get involved in. Most of these cars really are head turners. I get Loads of compliments on my car where ever I go, and its nice to see your car being appreciated. They all have personalities, they all mean something MUCH more than just a car! It’s a whole experience, not to mention the performance side ☺ ☺ ☺ . When I got into these in the beginning I was a bit ‘iffy’ on it all…. And as much as I complain about Police haha! I wouldn’t have any other car regardless! It’s a Awsum experience. If you love to have something different and a car to be admired, you wont regret owning one of these.

All you need to do is stick to advice, make sure someone credible/qualified checks the car before you hand over cash, stick to that and youll be fine.

[nathanau]

P.S a qualified person will advise u on Mods as well, some may be so extreme it wont be a good idea legally... others may be ok, i don't know what rules apply in QLD for mods, it changes per state but someone qualified will know and advise you when they see the car, initially stick to the first post, look for those things, if it seems to check out that far and u like it, then get it inspected. Talk to a reputable mechanic.

Edited March 20, 2012 by nathanau

[ahhbee]

just check the simple stuff and get a mechanic to go over it if your not sure. pull out the rear carpet in the boot and check for new/differernt colour filler, at the engine bay your looking for little dimples like from a bench vice where the front guards bolt up. find either of these and theres a good chance its had a little spill at some stage, its not all bad though mine had a light hit in the back, sub frame is straight and panels are fine. when you start it dont immediatly get worried about a couple of noises coming from the engine the tick, tick, tick is just the injectors and the light tap, tap, tap (if its there) is usually slightly worn lifters. these are a real problem its just a slightly annoying noise. mines made it for over 10,000kms no probs. when you take one for a drive just be aware that it has a pull type clutch and tends to engage at a slightly higher point than a 'normal' push type, again nothing to be worried about but if it is the standard clutch and you ever plan to wind 12psi or so into it better off with a heavy duty, if it already has one bonus. theres not really to much to go wrong with these as long as there is no noise or vibration through the pedal. gearbox wise it should hopefuly be alright but be aware that if its had a harder life syncros may be worn, i myself have a pretty mangled 2nd gear syncro, just means you have to rev match pretty well. thats all i tend to look for on the mechanical side, visually check panels dont have huge gaps etc. if your not happy to fork out for a mechanic inspection atleast take a mate into cars (preferable one who knows imports) as they may very well catch some of these problems you may miss. either way best of luck, and enjoy the money pit that becomes your skyline

[RSFOURDayz]

I personally wouldn't by one on the second market here in Australia. Buy one straight from the source (Japan), low k's, untouched by bogan hands, and a but load cheaper. I'm importing an R34 GTT sedan for 9k with only 77,000k's on it, aftermarket exhaust, 18's, body kit and a few other tasteful mods... it's an auto which is a downside but for 2k more i coulda gotten the same thing in manual and then for another 2k coulda gotten a coupe in same nic etc. So 13k. Go through a broker/importer, surely you'd have a few up yr way on the gold coast, or there's a few down south.

Shoot Phil at Tokyo Prestige an email and see what stock he has either already here or awaiting a purchaser to be sent over. I have bought two cars off him now and both have been quality.

[StevenCJR31]

I personally wouldn't by one on the second market here in Australia. Buy one straight from the source (Japan), low k's, untouched by bogan hands, and a but load cheaper. I'm importing an R34 GTT sedan for 9k with only 77,000k's on it, aftermarket exhaust, 18's, body kit and a few other tasteful mods... it's an auto which is a downside but for 2k more i coulda gotten the same thing in manual and then for another 2k coulda gotten a coupe in same nic etc. So 13k. Go through a broker/importer, surely you'd have a few up yr way on the gold coast, or there's a few down south.

Shoot Phil at Tokyo Prestige an email and see what stock he has either already here or awaiting a purchaser to be sent over. I have bought two cars off him now and both have been quality.

This^^^^ picked up a 34 sedan from phil ten days ago, its got a service history (Phil doesnt bring over crap) with books and its completely stock and goes like a rocket,

[M O P S K I]

hey, i recently bought an r34 25gt sedan (non turbo) about 6 weeks ago, it had been in australia and had been sitting in a factory for a short amount of time before i bought it, it was advertised with no rego no rwc and had not been complianced yet, after inspecting my car, i said to the dealer that i wouldnt buy it without a rwc and rego, all sorted by him not me. I myself litterally inspected every possible spot on the car for rust, dent, scratches and any signs crash related damage, and to my suprise there was only a few scratches from someone wearing a watch while having their hand down the side of the door and 2 tiny dents that I wasnt able to noticeable from anything more than 10 metres away, the other thing i noticed was the seal in the boot, down the drivers side had a tiny bit of surface rust and grime roughly 2-3cm in diameter, while knowing this, i purchased the car, compliance passed, rwc passed and it was then rego'd, since having the car i havn't found any problems with the car at all. the engine and auto is still mechanically sound and runs as smoothly as the day I bought it.

In my opinion, when buying r34 or any car for that fact, try to search the whole car and every seal that u can possibly get to, this will also show some enthusiasm that ur interested in buying the car not just a 'joy rider' and the seller may reduce the price (if they are nice enough). If the seller becomes frustrated at you for searching through the whole car, their most likely hiding something from you, and that something could be something major like crash damage or roadworthy problems, I myself was looking at another skyline before I bought mine and the owner got frustrated at me when I asked him to start the car and let it warm up before I took it for a drive, and made the excuse that 'fuel price are rediculous today, I don't want to keep the car running all day for joy riders' I immediately turned around to him and said 'good luck selling your car' and left, because he was most likely hiding something, and bad luck if he wasnt and honestly $10-15 in fuel is a small price to pay if your selling a 7.5k car.

so not only looking out for visible damage, make sure you keep an eye on the seller, if the seller is uneasy when your looking at the car, they could be hiding something.

I hope this help, this my personal opinion.. im fairly sure there is a 'guide to buying a skyline' thread somewhere on the forums.

-MOPSKI

[-Boz-]

Agreed with above comments. If you can afford the time investment and are willing to take a bit of a risk going through a broker is the way to go. Can get some CRAZY good condition cars for less than you'd pay here.

[Kinkstaah]

If you are going to modify your car, do your research on what you want to eventually get out of it, and then wait and buy one that's done it already and you will save mega mega mega bucks for the same result.

[adamskill]

Hey Guys,

This is my first post on here, im not sure how the pecking order works over in this part of town but ive previously always been a member of the commodore brigade, and have decided to buy a sports car rather than a fast family sedan..

I am looking to buy an R34 GT-T, i would like a GTR but i refuse to sell my house and sacrifice my first born

i have a budget of 17k - 18k at most, what are common things i should look for when shopping the second hand market?? i have seen a few cars so far that i like

but i haven't actually gotten to the point of test driving any cars, im looking at buying something with a few mods already but not where to draw the line??

i would prefer to find something sub 100,000k which doesnt seem to be too hard, coilovers, aftermarket ecu seem to be par for the course with most second hand examples

anyhow, if you were in my shoes what would you have liked to know before you purchased your R34??

Cheers

Chris

mate to be perfectly honest, its just like buying ANY other second hand car.

Do the basic checks, get a mechanic to look the car over before purchase, make sure the car is sold with a current RWC!

I'd personally be looking for a stock one if it was me. the rest is pretty simple. your not buying the delorean.. its just a nissan sports car. look for rust, service history, body damage, general condition of the car etc etc etc..

BUT, these are all things you should do when buying ANY CAR. dont let the fact that is a "SKYLINE!!" change how you inspect it.

[swarzee]

I would have to agree with nathanau about the whole skyline experiance... What he describes in his post is excaly how it is for me too. most ppl appreciate a nice skyline and driving one you appreciate how far ahead of their time they actually where. i love my 34 and after 5 years of owning it i still get out with a big smile on my face... to me thats priceless and you just dont get that with many cars in their price range. parts can be hard to get in qld though as i have bought a few around brissy myself. my best advice is dont rush into anything, take your time and find exacly what u want and have it inspected as others have already mentioned. good luck !

[swarzee]

I would have to agree with nathanau about the whole skyline experiance... What he describes in his post is excaly how it is for me too. most ppl appreciate a nice skyline and driving one you appreciate how far ahead of their time they actually where. i love my 34 and after 5 years of owning it i still get out with a big smile on my face... to me thats priceless and you just dont get that with many cars in their price range. parts can be hard to get in qld though as i have bought a few around brissy myself. my best advice is dont rush into anything, take your time and find exacly what u want and have it inspected as others have already mentioned. good luck !

[swarzee]

Opps sorry onmy phone... double post =\

[GTR-N1]

Lots of common sense posts above Christo

[SKYL1N]

perhaps its worth driving a stock one as well as one with a few mods to feel the difference and work out if it was what you were expecting. driving a standard one will give you a good base to start on how it should drive and feel, so you can tell easier if the mods have had a positive or negative effect.

i test drove one with a few mods and it ended up been a slower car then the stock one i ended up buying.