[trevtubby]

Firstly..sorry if this is the wrong section mods..please move if you see fit. :thumbsup:

Hey Everyone,

I`ve been lurking about on these forums for quite a while now, as a huge fan of Japanese Performance cars for the past 10 years or so, i`ve been through pretty much all of them.

I`ve had the following so far:

MR2 turbo
Integra Type R
Evo IV GSR
Impreza Type RA
Celica GT4
200sx

And my current car is a Mazda RX-7.

Basically a friend of mine has made me a very good offer for my RX-7, and I`ve decided to accept it. I`ve been thinking over the past few weeks which car to buy next, with a budget of around 8/9k. I`ve narrowed it down to an R33 GTR or a TVR Cerbera.

Due to the TVR`s amazing reliability record though, I think the Skyline definately has the upper hand lol.

Obviously as the skylines are the top of the tree as far as Japanese performance cars go, it seems like a logical progression for me.

So onto my questions, should I be able to get a decent example for 8/9k? If so, what sort of mileage should I be looking for on a car?

Are there any obvious draw-backs from buying a GTR? Apart from insurance and MPG lol. I`ve heard the engines are pretty much bomb proof, is this the same for the transmission etc too?

Any common problems with these cars? Anything to look for when buying? A used buyers guide would be useful if there is such a thing online?

Oh and how many different versions of the R33 GTR is there? And what are the differences?

Thanks

Trev :thumbsup:

 

[Wills_GunR33]

Hi trev,

Great to hear you looking at 33 GTR's. i made the switch over to one about 3/4 months ago and ive loved every minuet of it.

Advice wise, im not the most technically minded person so not the best person to ask. However it took me 8 months, 14 different 33 GTR's & many weekends & miles later that i found the right one. You really need to take your time finding one. i know you will want to get one straight away but the wrong one could cost you big bucks.
Make sure you drive atleast a couple before you buy so you get an idea of what they are like. I have a mate whos a mechanic so took him along with me to them all which was a massive help.
As most of them are imported there is very little service history so you need someone who knows what they are talking about.
You should be able to pick a pretty good one for 8/9k with sub 50k miles...its a buyers market so you have power. Test some cheap ones & some expensive ones and you will soon get a feel with what to look for.

I think my main bit of advice would be don’t be swayed by nice big wheels, shining engine bay etc... These are all aesthetic enhancements you can do but the internals are the areas that you need to look into and really concentrate on!

Draw backs on them...well you will make friends with all the petrol stations in your area and once you start modding it....you wont stop. ChaChing!!

Hope this is some help and enjoy. O and use the guys on the forums, they know their stuff.

Wills

 

[Cris]

As ever if you plan on modding it buy one with the mods done - much cheaper that way!

 

[trevtubby]

Hi trev,

Great to hear you looking at 33 GTR's. i made the switch over to one about 3/4 months ago and ive loved every minuet of it.

Advice wise, im not the most technically minded person so not the best person to ask. However it took me 8 months, 14 different 33 GTR's & many weekends & miles later that i found the right one. You really need to take your time finding one. i know you will want to get one straight away but the wrong one could cost you big bucks.
Make sure you drive atleast a couple before you buy so you get an idea of what they are like. I have a mate whos a mechanic so took him along with me to them all which was a massive help.
As most of them are imported there is very little service history so you need someone who knows what they are talking about.
You should be able to pick a pretty good one for 8/9k with sub 50k miles...its a buyers market so you have power. Test some cheap ones & some expensive ones and you will soon get a feel with what to look for.

I think my main bit of advice would be don’t be swayed by nice big wheels, shining engine bay etc... These are all aesthetic enhancements you can do but the internals are the areas that you need to look into and really concentrate on!

Draw backs on them...well you will make friends with all the petrol stations in your area and once you start modding it....you wont stop. ChaChing!!

Hope this is some help and enjoy. O and use the guys on the forums, they know their stuff.

Wills

Hey,

Thanks for the reply mate, I appreciate it. I will take what you have said on-board. As for test driving a few before I buy that is a good idea and usually something I do before buying any car...I will test drive cars at garages though so im not wasting peoples time (apart from the garage owners of course...but they get paid to be there regardless lol).

When you say the internals are the areas to concentrate on, what exactly do you mean? I thought the engine blocks/internals themselves were pretty good on the GTR`s? Or were you meaning the mechanicals in general, i.e drivetrain, suspension, brakes etc...as well as the engine itself?

After looking at 14 different GTR`s, what were the major differences you found between a good and bad GTR? Anything you found to be a common problem which I should look for? What put you off buying any of the previous 13 cars?

Oh and thanks again for the reply.

Cris: Yeah I would plan on making a few modifications to it, its always been the way for me and my cars. So a car with stage 1/2 mods would be a nice starting point to save myself some money. :thumbsup:

 

[Wills_GunR33]

Hey mate no probs.

Regards to the internals etc... i think what im really trying to get at is dont get swayed & sidetracked by the nice big wheels, gadgets, gauges, shiny paintwork etc... your main concentration should be on the engine, mechanics, suspension, turbos etc... they are the areas that could cost you alot of money. Too many people pay too much attention on getting the car with the right wheels on, bodykits etc... Well thats fine but if your engine isn’t working then your pretty screwed. You can change wheels fairly cheaply these days but a new engine!!!!

Every GTR i looked at i was serious about so didnt think that i was wasting peoples time however they rarely turned out to be as good as the advert said. Major differences were general maintenance, brakes, rust, turbo condition, smoke etc... The first one i drove i thought was awesome but then from having driven some others it actually didn’t fair to well. I compromised on the colour in the end. Really really wanted a midnight purple one but just could not find a good one. In the end went for a gunmetal silver one but it just felt so solid, doesn’t smoke & low mileage.

Also dont trust anyone when you buy a skyline unless they are maybe off the forum or come recommended. So many times we were told one thing but found out another. Make and do your own inspections. I was told my camblet had been done on the one i got, no history so was one of the first things i had done. Looked pretty new but i wasnt going to risk it.

Common problems & what put me off, well alot smoked, blowing turbos,missfires,crash evidence, shabby interior exterior & engine bay condition. pretty much all had warn brakes and watch for rust. thats key and a good tell tell sign if it has been looked after. I got one with a small bit of rust on the rear arch and other areas but again not as bad as alot of ones. Also guage the owner. do they know what they are talking about, would they have warmed it before driving it hard. Again these cars are going to have been driven hard, thats the nature of them but would he ragged it from cold!?

This is a good guide that may also help:

Skyline Owners Forum.

Hope this helps bud, any other queries let me know. Noticed you use to have an Integra Type R. Love these cars and im sure i will have one one day.....turbocharged...ofcourse!! What are they like out of interest?

Wills

 

[trevtubby]

Hey mate no probs.

Regards to the internals etc... i think what im really trying to get at is dont get swayed & sidetracked by the nice big wheels, gadgets, gauges, shiny paintwork etc... your main concentration should be on the engine, mechanics, suspension, turbos etc... they are the areas that could cost you alot of money. Too many people pay too much attention on getting the car with the right wheels on, bodykits etc... Well thats fine but if your engine isn’t working then your pretty screwed. You can change wheels fairly cheaply these days but a new engine!!!!

Every GTR i looked at i was serious about so didnt think that i was wasting peoples time however they rarely turned out to be as good as the advert said. Major differences were general maintenance, brakes, rust, turbo condition, smoke etc... The first one i drove i thought was awesome but then from having driven some others it actually didn’t fair to well. I compromised on the colour in the end. Really really wanted a midnight purple one but just could not find a good one. In the end went for a gunmetal silver one but it just felt so solid, doesn’t smoke & low mileage.

Also dont trust anyone when you buy a skyline unless they are maybe off the forum or come recommended. So many times we were told one thing but found out another. Make and do your own inspections. I was told my camblet had been done on the one i got, no history so was one of the first things i had done. Looked pretty new but i wasnt going to risk it.

Common problems & what put me off, well alot smoked, blowing turbos,missfires,crash evidence, shabby interior exterior & engine bay condition. pretty much all had warn brakes and watch for rust. thats key and a good tell tell sign if it has been looked after. I got one with a small bit of rust on the rear arch and other areas but again not as bad as alot of ones. Also guage the owner. do they know what they are talking about, would they have warmed it before driving it hard. Again these cars are going to have been driven hard, thats the nature of them but would he ragged it from cold!?

This is a good guide that may also help:

Skyline Owners Forum.

Hope this helps bud, any other queries let me know. Noticed you use to have an Integra Type R. Love these cars and im sure i will have one one day.....turbocharged...ofcourse!! What are they like out of interest?

Wills

Thanks again for the reply, very helpful. :thumbsup: I certainly dont want to buy a lemon so all these tips are very handy indeed.

As for the integra, great cars, handle very well for FWD, well put together and obviously very reliable with the VTEC. They just dont have the raw straight line speed that I wanted, dont get me wrong they are not slow, but after having the turbocharged japanese cars, it will feel a bit of a let down. You also have to rev them very hard to get anything out of them..which is a bit annoying sometimes.

A turbo`d example would obviously be much better though, although as they are not designed to have anymore than 200bhp going through the front wheels, ive heard that the turbo`d/supercharged cars suffer from serious torque steer..and can be a bit of a handful because of it. This kinda defeats the object of an Integra though as they are all about the handling. :thumbsup:

 

[TheD]

Hey there,

A GTR is a top notch choice. They are monsters!

I was in a very similar position to you, about last August / September, and have owned my GTR for just over a year now.

If you'd like any advice drop me a line. I know everyone harps on about the search button, but there is an invaluable amount of knowledge, experience and information through practical research on here.

Mine is coming up for sale if you want to have a look, hehe :thumbsup: I have a baby on the way due in April and a wedding planned the following August so thats my 'Skyline Cash' re-directed straight to that instead

Last tuesday it popped an intercooler pipe off. At the time I thought it was the end of the world, thought the turbos or the engine had gone pop! Thankfully its just a case of popping the pipe back on. Lol.

I think the main advice I could give you, would be to look at the person selling the car as much as the car itself. It can give you a clue as to how much information they are willing to reveal to you about the car's history or how much they are hiding. Most owner / enthusiasts are more than happy to share everything they know about their car with you, including the bits that need attention...

Couple that with arming yourself with the information on this forum, you'll find a cracker in no time. Good luck with the hunt.

 

[davew]

Buy one from a reliable seller hrrrrrrmmmmmm TheGTRShop:thumbsup:

 

[CharlieBrown]

Hi, i've owned a 33 & a 34.
The 33 was my favorite of the 2, i prefered the gearbox but do check for syncromesh wear, 1st into 2nd and 2nd into 3rd. Ask for a road & permission on the test drive to open her up in those bands. I had to hassle the trader who eventualy paid up after an independant report.
Take it straight to a specialist for a check over as soon as you get her & keep all adverts for description of sale just in case.
Start saving for rubber, petrol & mods! LOL

 

[trevtubby]

Thanks everyone,

I have found the FAQ thread and spent a while reading through all that too, which was great.

I definately think a GTR is the right car for me. Cant wait to get one now!

 

[ru']

As already said, but take your time finding the right car; there are plenty out there, it's a buyer's market at the moment.

 

[TheD]

Do it... :thumbsup: hehe.

You know, one of things I love the most about owning a GTR is, not just the power and potential but simply that you see so few on the road.

I get the distinct impression that even today, many have no idea what they are. Not only that, but also thumbs up from bikers... cough cough and people at the petrol stations who ask you about your car...

Get used to the petrol stations, you really will be plotting your journey via them and thats almost not a joke. :nervous: