Wtb: Cheap Performance - $5,000 - $7,000 (melbourne)

[simonwood0609]

Hi Forum,

I've always loved Japanese performance > never owned my dream car, and now might be my last chance. With our first baby on the way, my wife is close to giving me permission to buy a performance coupe. < Yeah yeah, here come the trolls.

I took an R33 GTST for a test drive last night, and loved it. The R34 has always been my favourite shape.

I'm on a very tight budget, my wife said 5 grand but I know I can lift that higher if well justified. 4 doors would actually work to my advantage here, but I much prefer 2 door.

I don't want:

• To buy a ticking bomb that will die in 1 year (I want to re-sell it for in the future for more than scrap metal).

• To have a hard time finding parts, or very high maintenance.

I'm okay with:

• Average fuel efficiency.

• Any number of seats.

• Basic maintenance.

I always do my research before hand, so far R33 GTST seems to be the "cheapest performance" I can find in my budget. Anybody else have any ideas / suggested cars?

Edited May 18, 2015 by simonwood0609

[Birds]

33 GTS-T all the way

[Humbla]

Agree,r33 best bang for buck cheapey around. :-)

[V28VX37]

There's been a few R34 GTT sedans for sale for not much over the 5k mark over the past year, you can fit a couple of baby seats in the back easy. They're all auto though and I'd really check things out thoroughly at that price. Good luck

[simonwood0609]

Thanks guys, R33 GTST seems to be the best budget performance, especially now that I've had a taste of it, I don't want to go back.

By the way, have a look here - interesting conversations:

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2407644

[junkie]

ugh. whirlpool "experts" who argue about servicing costs all day

[Birds]

lol @ whirlpool

Blanket statements of cars being lemons or costly or cheap is a waste of fkin time given we don't all treat cars the same hence not all of them turn out that way. The reality is that any car Ferrari or BMW or even a renowned reliable Toyota can be a lemon if it's been thrashed or uncared for and vice versa. Get a car properly inspected and take your time finding the right one for your budget and you shouldn't have any major issues. The Japanese do have a name for reliability at least in the engine/mechanical side of things - if it drives fine on test drive and inspection there's a good chance you won't have any problems if you take measures to maintain, regular servicing etc.