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where's best to buy?

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 9:51 pm
by jungle-jim
i have pretty much convinced myself to buy a car already in the uk with a few mods etc done and maybe a couple of mot's under its belt.

but the prices vary so much with people guessing the value of their car.

this can give me older cars with my potential budget.

the thing is, is it easier and safer to still import your own car without getting rogered up the wrongun' ?

i like 33 gts-t's for example but could stretch to a 32 gtr if i got one from a jap auction?

any thoughts guys?

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 9:57 pm
by Ben
Well for me I didn't want the risk so bought the best one i could whatever the cost - and touch wood it worked for me, but knowing what I know now I'd rather see what i'm buying.

I would save the money to buy a GTR too, 33 GTR's are now becoming quite affordable considering what they cost 18 months ago, but from preference I would buy a 32 again and again and again.

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 9:59 pm
by Bladerider
if you are talking about skyline ownership then the following words worry me alot....

Mods
Older
Budget
Stretch
Auction

If you cant afford to just buy one then you cant afford to run one. Sorry mate, buts its that simple. They are by no means a cheap affordable car to pootle around in, and the minute you start tweaking it they will make most regular cars that get tuned in the UK look like bargain basement - spark plugs cost a fortune, coil packs cost a fortune, clutches are expensive etc etc

If you have to buy cheap then get a one already in the UK and save at least a grand back from your total realistic budget so you can fix what will almost certainly go wrong in the first three months.

J.

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:03 pm
by slaphead
It depends on how much you have to spend.

The older 32 GTRs certainly don't bust the bank these days, prices range from 6 to 10k - I'd certainly consider doing it through the forums as the cars are reasonably priced and are known to other members on those forums - if you want an honest opinion or advise on them.

~Mark

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:05 pm
by Ben
Yeh J is totally right, a simple problem can set up back a few pennies, when I trashed my clutch on the QTR that was

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:05 pm
by gary@apt
theres a company we pass on way to work,wcs they some times have a few liners

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:05 pm
by jungle-jim
Bladerider wrote:if you are talking about skyline ownership then the following words worry me alot....

Mods
Older
Budget
Stretch
Auction

If you cant afford to just buy one then you cant afford to run one. Sorry mate, buts its that simple. They are by no means a cheap affordable car to pootle around in, and the minute you start tweaking it they will make most regular cars that get tuned in the UK look like bargain basement - spark plugs cost a fortune, coil packs cost a fortune, clutches are expensive etc etc

If you have to buy cheap then get a one already in the UK and save at least a grand back from your total realistic budget so you can fix what will almost certainly go wrong in the first three months.

J.
fair enough, but sometimes you've got to set yourself a budget. it doesn't matter what you may have in reserv for any repairs or mods.

would you not think a guy joining this forum saying he paid

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:08 pm
by jungle-jim
gary@apt wrote:theres a company we pass on way to work,wcs they some times have a few liners
i should point out the skyline was just an example.

i could easily buy a nice EVO 3 but i really like the EVO 4's. but if i get one in a jap auction i could get an EVO 4 for EVO 3 money? if you see what i mean?

i have seen a couple of people get "done" on a couple of cars on the MLR forum. a chap came all the way from sweden or something and it broke down 3 times. the guy was a regular user of the forum from what i could gather?

but you can still get burned?

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:17 pm
by Bladerider
No,

You are wrong. It totally does matter with this kind of car what you have in reserve for fixing problems unless you dont think the joy of ownership will be heavily tarnished a few weeks later when you find it will be off the road for the next 6 months until you can scrape 3k together to fix a failed oil pump as you have just raided all your pennies to buy the thing !!

I dont care if someone has paid top dollar or bargain basement for a gts, GTT, GTR or micra, as long as they enjoy the car, have fun in it and use it the way a performance car is meant to be used. If they think a stock GTS-t warranted an 8k price tag presumably they searched other options out and found a reason for it to be worth that price.

I spent a grand total of 72k on my R34 - but I sold it for half that, doesnt mean it was a good deal a bad deal or a better car than Bens 32. its just that was what someone was willing to pay for it and the price was one I felt comfortable letting the car go for !!!

My advice was meant to help, gaining the beneift from my own unfortunate experiences but if you want to ignore it then thats cool, thats what being an adult is all about !! lol

If you buy your car and it works faultlessly we will all say well done. if it goes wrong a day after you get it home we will all say "how can we help, or have you tried XYZ to resolve your problem" thats what BigPower is all about !!

Have a good un,

J. :D :D

Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 10:19 pm
by Bladerider
Oh,

and if you want a cheap Evo4 then ours is gonna go for about 5k soon !!

J.