Newbie Question

[Tonba]

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Greetings All.

Im kinda new to the import scene and im interested in buying a skyline, (my hero car..)

LOL! I REALLY love the R32's but im worryed about a couple of things:

-INSURENCE! (Is the extra money worth it???)

-Reliability

-Driveability

Now, Ive never really driven a turbo before, the only car i have ever owned is a mistubishi magna that i started to mod, then started looking for a manual (its between a 98 magna manual, or a R32 GTS-T, considering i cant afford a GTR...)

Now, i want to know what sort of things should i look out for??

(high K's etc..)

Cheers,

--Tonba

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[Slide]

i cant beleive you are considering a magna of any sort in the same feild as a skyline :confused:

buy a skyline but dont become a statistic

[Tonba]

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Greetings...

To be honest, i KNOW it is a reliable and SAFE car...i know it goes quite well not to mention comfortable...

I really want to kknow what to look out for before i buy a R32...

Cheers,

--Tonba

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[Shell]

-INSURENCE! (Is the extra money worth it???)

-Reliability

-Driveability

you'll get different opinions on here, but insurance is worth it. If u write the car off, it's a lot of money to throw away if u dont have it! And it should only get cheaper as you build up a good NCB.

Reliability is very good as long as you keep up proper servicing. Skylines are an awesome build quality compared to lots of aussie cars...you dont hear many stories about things breaking for no reason.

Driveability...they are seriously such an easy and comfortable car to drive. You can drive around town under boost or very low boost...the clutch is light and easy...you'll have no dramas. Just be careful when u decide to put your foot down, or in the wet, especially if you're not used to RWD!

As for kms, try to ignore them as most are crap anyway...you're better of looking at the wear and general condition, and get a proper inspection done by someone who knows their stuff..

hope that's helped!

[Tonba]

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Howdy...

Hey there!! Do you think it is possible to get a relible good condition R32 GTS-T for no more then $11,250...?

Im searching, but hey...money is tight being a 19yr old apprentice...

(I gotta keep saveing a bit of $$ each week for insurence...

Do you think i should do comprehesive or just fire & theft??

Cheers All!

--Tonba

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[Beer Baron]

i think comprehensive is a good idea for one simple thing. if your car is stolen and not recovered you will get most of your money. forget about little accidents etc as the NCB penalty and excess will always be pretty hefty. theft is what frightens me.

i think you will have to search for a while and be in the right place at the right time with cash in hand to get a decent R32GTST for under $12K. I reckon $14K is more realistic.

[Dee 33]

Well you really get what you pay for and I personally wouldn't spend that little on an R32 Gts-t because for that cheap, there could be things which start going wrong. If you can save a little longer and perhaps get about 13k you should be able to get a very decent one.

As for the insurance, well it's really up to you. I'd feel too insecure having only fire and theft on my Skyline although when I had my old Ford Laser it was fire and theft all the way with no issues ever. Do whichever one you feel most comfortable with and consider the quotes for insurance as well. If you are getting ridiculous full comp prices, some calculations might show you that you'll be better off with third party for any crashes under 5k damage or so considering the very high excesses etc.

As for driveability? I teach my little brother to drive in my manual stock R33 Gts-t. Well, it's in the shop now getting some upgrades so I might have to cancel future lessons but as a stock car they are very driveable. He loves it

[Eug]

another option you may want to include: non-turbo

i personally went for non-turbo, purely because of insurance, and the fact that i had

never driven a rwd car... they handle far more differently to a fwd, a story that happened

to a mate of mine:

its raining and he's at the set of lights, he gets on the throttle to turn a corner.

hits boost and the rear end flicks out...

having no experience what so ever in how to correct himself - fish tails it and slams

sideways into a pole.

everyone thinks turbo's are the the best and thats all there is to it - most definately you

get your money's worth in terms of power. i dont know about you, but when doing my

homework into an r33 gtst - i found it quite hard to find someone that would cover me,

and even when they did - was quoted up into the thousands for 3rd party insurance.

more importantly the deciding factor in whether you should get a turbo or not is...

can you afford running costs?! do you absolutely need forced induction? ie. are you drag racing? doing track work? (reads: not on the street)

i intend on doing track work in my gts, and don't see any reason why i need a turbo for

that. i know someone who owns an na 31 (stock motor) and manages to keep up with

the turbo cars on the mountains.

forget about what other's think - and choose what's right for your budget and needs.

i am suggesting a more realistic opinion you may not have taken into consideration.

[flagger]

go the skyline mate, you only live once

btw, i got my r32 gtst in vgc for $13500. as for insurance im going through JCI and getting 3rd party fire and theft for $497 a year, and I have no driving history save for a speeding fine 7 years ago (!!! im surprised too). I am 25.

but my brother who just bought a moderatly modified r33 gtst who does have a driving record (1 criminal charge) got quoted around about $1200 by JCI and he is 23 yo. (was quotes $700 for 3rd pf&t).

as for handling a turbo, this is my 1st turboed car as well. Ive taken it easy since i got the car (well as reasonable as you can be when your doing cruises/etc) and i got it about 5 weeks ago. so far ive onlyspun the rears twice, once in the wet going around a small roundabout at 20kmh, that showed me what kinda power to expect. and the 2nd time got it slightly sideways turning right across a major arterial, so nowi know where the "slide" point is now.

other than that, driving a gtst is pretty easy and a joy as well, because of the direct feel of the steering and the extra power when needed.

[PHATGTR]

I would go for Full Comprehensive.

Third Party Fire & Theft will only cover you for a maximum of $4000 if your car gets stolen or you write it off. Then minus your age excess and more than likely a theft excess and you'll be lucky to have $2000 to put towards a new car. If there's any finance on the car then you will spend a long time paying for something you haven't got

It is alot of money for full comp, but if you ever end up being one of those poor bastards that gets their car stolen then you will regret not paying the extra.

Don't think it won't happen to you!!!!!

If you can't afford insurance then maybe you should hold off on buying the car until you can.

Good luck

[R33S2]

When i got my car I went through a new set of rear tyres in 3 months, I went from a 1300 323 to my powerhouse, having driven for over 20 yrs power is easy to control now, but back when .. if I had this car then, I would be in some serious trouble (and the envy of every living soul now its just nonline owners)

Conclusion:- heaps of power handles like a dream supercar at affordable price, accidents happen and they're sometimes with uninsured ppl in the wrong, if you an "aware" type of driver with experience I'd say no worries but if not go the full comp.

[paulr33]

hi guys, its been covered a lot in the n/a area regarding insurance. most places will charge you about $100 extra per year for turbo vs non turbo. this is because regardless of turbo or non turbo they assume stupid stuff like its gonna be stolen, have its wheels flogged, will break down and parts will be harder to get. so they jack up the premium on them cos they are more hassles to deal with. buying an n/a because of insurance pricing isnt really a factor as most wont give you a massive discount for getting a non turbo. the car is a grey import regardless of displacment and induction so they just jack it up either way

[paulr33]

never driven a rwd car... they handle far more differently to a fwd, a story that happened

to a mate of mine:

its raining and he's at the set of lights, he gets on the throttle to turn a corner.

hits boost and the rear end flicks out...

having no experience what so ever in how to correct himself - fish tails it and slams

sideways into a pole.

thats just the same as any car, dont blame the car. the driver needs more experience and practice. tyres play a big part when you have a turbocharged car. $80 tyres aren't considered "good". most n/a's can get a set of tyres for $500. tyres for a turbo car should be around 1000+ for all four. tyres that are $350+ each for the rear are considered good, fronts about $250 each. the problem your friend had could have happened in a v8, a v6, heck even a 2 litre 4 cyclinder. experience experience experience

[paulr33]

more importantly the deciding factor in where you should get a turbo or not is...

can you afford running costs?! do you absolutely need forced induction? ie. are you drag racing? doing track work? (reads: not on the street)

i intend on doing track work in my gts, and don't see any reason why i need a turbo for

that. i know someone who owns an na 31 (stock motor) and manages to keep up with

the turbo cars on the mountains.

not having a go at your directly. the running costs between turbo and non turbo wont be that dramatic. they both will use a fair bit of fuel, most nissans run rich regardless and most have their stocker oxygen sensor still fitted so it doesnt run in "save fuel mode" until you change the 02 sensor, which most owners never know about. tyres are a bit different, the turbo in theory should have better tyres as it has more rwd power however it wouldnt put gay $80 tyres on a 18000 skyline even if it was non turbo. you sacrifice a lot of handling from gay tyres. take an r33 gtst around a corner with $500 each pzero 255's on the rear and see how it handles vs an r33 gtst with $80 shit ass 215's on the rear. ive had my gtst for 2 years and have done no track work at all, dont plan on it either so hardly an argument. any car can keep up with another. driving through traffic you can have a 80rwkw vk commodore keep up with a 250rwkw gtst as you have traffic lights, obstacles etc. the rush from a powerful acceleration curve is where the fun comes from. the 80rwkw commo will take off and be bored shitless and have no "grunt" the 250rwkw will launch like a rocket and pull like a freight train. you still need to do oil changes all the time, discs, brakes, clutch, tyres, regular servicing wether its gts or gtst. the rb25's are pretty similar. fuel maps, manfiold, turbo parts, injectors, fuel pump, clutch and a few other bits are different but they arent completely different engines. i wouldnt service a gts rb25de every 30,000 just cos its non turbo.

[geordie]

You can get third party fire and theft to an agreed value. Ie i have mine set at 10k, then got third party property aswell. And as a bonus if i get in an accident and im 100% not at fault then i get my money for that aswell.....

So basicly im not covered for being a bad driver, other than that im all sweet.

Grand total of just under $600 per yr. I got this with 0yrs driving experience when i was 17yrs old. 2yrs from that i still have this policy. I was quoted the exact same price for a turbo 180sx (which i almost purchased) but the sale fell through and i ended up with my NA skyline.

[slamm]

i know its not a 32 but my 33 costs at least 6k a year to run and maintain, thats not including mods. full comp, petrol and servicing. so having my car for two years almost, its over more than half what i initially paid for it. thats what is killing me now. though, if i had a shitter, i would only save about 2g im guessing. insurance is so worth it. the seconds it takes for an accident to occur will easily make worth the hours you spend working to insure it.