Your Views On Buying An R32 As A First Car

[Rhyou]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the site as I wasn't sure if this was the right place to post such a question.

(lol, I am possibly the only person on the forum without a car of my own :s)

Anyways, I have one general question that may be broken up into more specific questions, but I'll start with the major one:

1) What are your views on buying an R32 as a first car?

Now I'm still doing uni and only have a casual job, plus I've still got 2 more years on my Ps (green). That automatically rules any 'turbo'd' cars and I don't see any point in buying an R32 that does not have a turbo or 2 in them. The plan is to save up money from my job over the 2 years and get an R32 after receiving my full licence. I just want to know if that's a reasonable plan, though I'll probably be borrowing cars from the parents to get around in the mean time .

2) How hard is it find a decent R32 (lightly modded preferably; the more stock the better xD) these days?

I read the guide about the steps in purchasing a skyline and damn, did it scare me a little. Lemons, rebirthed cars, dodgy dealers... and I thought finding the finances would be hard enough. I have spotted a handful of R32s that look promising on websites, but I'm still being cautious. Some seem too good to be true.

3) Finally, is there anyone on the forum who has had a Skyline (any model) as their first car? Posts about your experience would be greatly appreciated

Sorry, for the long post. Thanks in advance for the help.

[__PhaseShiftDown]

1. Just save the money 4 now and your decision on which car to get may change by the time you coming out of your Ps. But nothing wrong with the r32 as a 1st car. They are cheap and fun car to drive. Although not the cheapest on petrol.

2. You just have to take your time when you look 4 one. Check out half a dozen should give you a good idea of what's a good and whats not. Preferably, you should bring someone knowledgable about skylines with you. And if you are able to find one that you want to buy, be sure to get it checked out by a professional 3rd party to make sure it is not a lemon.

3. My 1st car was a 180sx, and my current and 2nd car is a 32GTR. Its a love/hate relationship. I love how they drive, but hate it how they suck my wallet dry.

[GTR-N1]

I'd have to agree about saving $$.

Perhaps get a Corolla to 'sit in' + a Tamiya R32 GT-R to 'look at'

The money you save will bring you a better car later. Patience is a virtue.

I'd hate for instance for you to get an NA R32 that you weren't happy with and let that experience put you off the best 'bang for your bucks' car in existence.

IMHO

[eeiko321]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the site as I wasn't sure if this was the right place to post such a question.

(lol, I am possibly the only person on the forum without a car of my own :s)

Anyways, I have one general question that may be broken up into more specific questions, but I'll start with the major one:

1) What are your views on buying an R32 as a first car?

Now I'm still doing uni and only have a casual job, plus I've still got 2 more years on my Ps (green). That automatically rules any 'turbo'd' cars and I don't see any point in buying an R32 that does not have a turbo or 2 in them. The plan is to save up money from my job over the 2 years and get an R32 after receiving my full licence. I just want to know if that's a reasonable plan, though I'll probably be borrowing cars from the parents to get around in the mean time .

2) How hard is it find a decent R32 (lightly modded preferably; the more stock the better xD) these days?

I read the guide about the steps in purchasing a skyline and damn, did it scare me a little. Lemons, rebirthed cars, dodgy dealers... and I thought finding the finances would be hard enough. I have spotted a handful of R32s that look promising on websites, but I'm still being cautious. Some seem too good to be true.

3) Finally, is there anyone on the forum who has had a Skyline (any model) as their first car? Posts about your experience would be greatly appreciated

Sorry, for the long post. Thanks in advance for the help.

it depends on how picky you are with your cars...

because say a 1989 GT-R and your gonna purchase 1 in 2011....

thats a 22 year old car....

to me....thats pretty dated...

but if you really like the shape ..then i think its a good choice as a first car

[ali-turko]

if your at uni and have a casual job you will find it extremely hard to maintain a r32 gtr

my first car was an r32 gtr and when i bought i was on apprentice wages, and most on my wage towards my car

if i were you i wait till you got a decent paying job before you buy a gtr or any skyline for that matter

[eeiko321]

if your at uni and have a casual job you will find it extremely hard to maintain a r32 gtr

my first car was an r32 gtr and when i bought i was on apprentice wages, and most on my wage towards my car

if i were you i wait till you got a decent paying job before you buy a gtr or any skyline for that matter

well you see that depends.........

if he is doing what your doing...putting every penny on the car and living at home with parents and most likely not paying board..... then its ok.....

i dont think its wrong for him to go ahead with his decision....

[Ten Four]

I bought a audi 80 as a first car (lasted 2 weeks got bored)

then bought R33 NA, super reliable and decent on fuel too, 550kms a tank. (never cost me a cent mechanically wise)

sold that now and bought a r32 gts4 (turbo) (also never cost me a cent mechanically wise, but this current car is 110% better than my old R33, just so much smoother imo)

non economical but fun this current one i have is insanely good, smoothest auto g/box and engine i've ever driven. (More smooth than my dad's 560sel merc)

Just find a good one and they will be reliable with regular servicing and they can still be driven hard, just not all the time. My R32 is for sale now though, i get bored really easily.....

Im 16 and already on my 3rd car

Edited February 18, 2009 by Ten Four

[Rhyou]

Hey, thanks for all the replies, greatly appreciated.

@ Terry: I fully agree with being patient; there's no real point buying an Na R32 IMO. I'd want to appreciate the car for its (near) full potential.

@ eeiko321: Yea... 22 years is definitely a negative, but I'll wait and see how it plays out over the 2 years - the cars stillb eautiful in my eyes . Wish I was born 10 years sooner though.

@ ali-turko: I've been thinking about financing the car, should I get it. Ideally I should have a full time job after I graduate, so it maintianence and insurance shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Heh, I'll have plenty of time to research during my 2 year wait

[GTR-N1]

Now here's a wise man !

[Rhyou]

Haha, thanks Terry. In order to further easy the pain of waiting on the dream I'll probably buy a good steering wheel and Gran Turismo 5 for the PS3 when its out; then I'll be able to 'drive' any time I feel inclined to. Its all coming together now

[NZM.031]

i say no.

i owned a 33 a while back... awesome car, good power, reasonably new at the time... but always wanted a 32, so 4 years later, i now have a 32 gtst. i bought it completly stock.. thinking it would be unthrashed, and just hav general wear and tear.

so far all ive done is fix the bloody thing.. upgrading bits if possible. if i hadnt been prepared for it, and didnt know how good its going to be when it all comes together, then i would have sold it by now... ive had it for 4 months, and every week there has been something going wrong.. money id saved for a performance part, has gone to the incredibly high price importers charge for a small part.. its my daily driver so i cant have it off the road, and the importer is 2 min up the road.

in hindsight, i probs should have saved up and bought a gtr like ive always wanted, but i can only just afford the gtst.

sooo.. say you buy your NA 32 with your savings, or a loan... spend your money on keeping it going... for what?? it wont be worth anything in a few years when you can get a turbo... and you wont be happy with it because it will always be an atmo 32.. trust me, the years go fast when your saving for something. i moved out of home 3 years ago... yet it feels like yesterday, my dog is 2 years old, yet it feels like yesterday that we got him.. my g/f and i have been together for 8 years... yet it doesnt seem anywhere near that long.

if i could go back to my first car... id get an 1985 cressida, a 1990 cressida, or a ke70. i had a 31 and it was just soo much work to keep the thing as parts were few an far between or expensive. cressidas share alot of parts as chasers/supras and ke70 with ae71 or ae86.

any car you buy, always expect it to break.. in most cases, its better to buy a shitter off someone whos honest and tells you all the problems they've had, and problems its got.. you'll have to spend money either way... its better to know about it first. then you can plan for it.

cheers

Linton

Edited February 19, 2009 by NZM.031

[Rhyou]

Well, I'll have to agree with you Linton.

That's why my goal is to get a R32 GTR as my first car after my P's expire (lol, a little ambitious). My reasoning being, I want an AWD Skyline and my impression is that owner's tend to take better care of a rarer GTR (that's probably completely wrong, but I'm a noob ). I'm probably not gonna settle for anything less than an AWD with a turbo in it.

Ultimately that means I'll have to save up more money to finance it - I'm quite sure the price of a GTR and its insurance costs would be much higher. Oh well, I'm willing to wait for it

[Ten Four]

Selling a r32 gts4 turbo... seriously hasn't cost me a cent other than general maintainance once on the road... i know everybody probably says this if they are selling but its true?

[CARSICK]

I'd wait for the right one = no regrets = V8 killa

[r32line]

1) Save up like you said, I was in the exact same situation. I did not want to buy a $2k econo box as my first car. If u can borrow cars when you need etc and save money for now you will be rewarded with a first car that is enjoyable to drive etc. I had an r32 gts-t as first car and it was great. Only had normal wear and tear things to fix during the years i had it, (clutch and general servicing).

2) It is harder to find clean ones these days but they are out there but you will need to be patient. Id it were me i would steer cler of the 89/90 models and get one imported under full compliance that had to be in good condition (no rust, serious accident damage) before it left japan unlike those brought in under 15yr rule.

3) Kinda covered that in point 1 above. A clean one that has been looked after and only lightly modded should be a fun and reliable car.

[-Jimmy-]

First car Skyline owner here. I bought mine when I was 15 just before I got my L's and I'm on my green P's now. Been almost 2 and a half years and I love it and plan on owning it for a lot longer. Its non turbo but still does the job. I say if you want one, then get one because then you will be satisfied.

[Rhyou]

Hey, I'm really grateful for all the replies so far.

@ r32line: Well, i've spotted a few cleaner ones, but damn are they expensive xD Most likely due to 'original' value. I've been wondering about imports lately but is the prospect much of a hassle (or more expensive) ? That white R32 in ur sig is what I'm looking out for Awesome car mate!

@ Jimmy: Yea, I really don't want to buy a dirt cheap car for transport in the meantime. I can just borrow cars of the parents when necessary.

[r32line]

@ r32line: Well, i've spotted a few cleaner ones, but damn are they expensive xD Most likely due to 'original' value. I've been wondering about imports lately but is the prospect much of a hassle (or more expensive) ? That white R32 in ur sig is what I'm looking out for Awesome car mate!

Yeah that white 32 is a gtr and cost a pretty penny... I know wat you are saying about the cleaner ones being expensive though but when it comes to cars you get what you pay for. If you are a person that wants a clean example that has been well looked after then its gunna cost you. If you want a 32 that aint too bad and will still get the job done then there are plenty of reasonable examples that aren't too bad.

You gotta work out what you are prepared to pay and see what you can get for that. If the examples that amount buys aint what you want then maybe consider another car?

As for importing, with the level the JPY is at against the AUD, it is not a realistic prospect at the moment .

Edited February 22, 2009 by r32line

[eeiko321]

I'd wait for the right one = no regrets = V8 killa

i cant remember what car it was, but wasnt there a no# plate saying "IH8V8S" ???

i think it was either a GT-R or a 350rwkw WRX on a QLD plate

Edited February 23, 2009 by eeiko321

[SDEWY5]

Theres a really nice R32 GTSt somewhere in newcastle that u should buy if it ever comes up for sale, its ford Tickford blue, tan interior, RB25 conversion with box and diff, set up awesome, lol it was my mates car n just about everything on it shat itself so now its like brand new lol....wonder if the new owner is on here AUO-19P anyone?