Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Hi all,

I am currently researching more information on buying a R34 Skyline GT-T. I have a few questions I was hoping you all can advise me on.

1) For those who actually own an R34 (and also may have driven / sat in an R33) ... what are the best things about this car from a driver-experience point of view? (What are some of the best things about this car?) Also, any quirks or issues you have come across that you wish you'd known about before (wether it is mechanical or otherwise)

2) I have been quoted $40k+ for this car from dealers. However, from import agents (such as Prestigemotors or J-Spec), these cars sell for at least $9k-10k less! So, is it really worth paying 10 grand extra just to be able to inspect the car visually / drive it yourself before you buy?

3) I am told the process of using a import broker is long and painful (but in most cases it's well worth the wait). Is this true? Any stories about this you guys want to share?

Thanks :rofl:

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/37052-buying-a-skyline-advice/
Share on other sites

There is a thread about this sort of thing called "baby on the way".. i myself havent been in a 34.. but one of the guys had to wait 17 weeks for his line to make its way to our shores... I myself am looking into importing somthang aswell and my personal view is that, that 9- 10 K less in relation to importing could be money well spent with mods.

Michael

I bought mine from a dealer because I felt better having seen and driven it. Also was a good dealer so when things went wrong with it, and they did go wrong, they fixed them all free of charge. To my knowledge they have spent about 10 or so hours on it and put in new splitfire coils (somewhere between $700 and $1000) and new platinum plugs (over $100 at least).

Now this isn't 10 grand but I felt a lot safer doing it this way. I would say that I would import my own next time, if there is a next time, but only because of the things I've learnt from this experience. So I would say that if you do it yourself you will save some money but you will pay for it with anxious moments along the way.

Mine is an auto and heaps of people like to bag me out for it but the fact is that I live in Sydney so it's worth the power loss for the convenience and comfort. The auto box takes a while to warm up and shifts very slowly when cold but once warm is lovely. I always use the tiptronic buttons on the steering wheel to change gears.

Can't advise on comparisons re 33/34 but I just couldn't bear the thought of selling a 99 model car to buy an older one.

I went from a Series 2 R33 GTST to a non turbo R34 GT. I cant really comment too much on the performance side as the turbod car is faster but in general things like seats, dash, steering wheel and so forth the R34 is nicer.

I bought mine from a dealer at the time only because at the time there werent many private sales around. Next time round i would definately buy 1 private or import 1 myself because i understand the import process a lot better from reading a lot of ppl posts on this forum. SAU rules. BTW there a few nice r34 for sale no need to buy of a dealer, just look in the for sale section.

Importing not to bad if u have the cash!! Banks sometimes don't like the process as they reguard it as unsecure, But the import company I used was Very Good with all the organising, he even shopped around and saved me $1600.00 on compliance with tyres. Like anything 'Good things come to those who wait'!! imho. Cant help u on a R34 as i'm still a newby to a R33. p.s Make sure you get plenty of quotes on insurance. There's a thread on it for insurance companies contacts.. Cheers

personally i reckon importing wouldn't suit the "first import" buyer.. as you probably wouldn't know what to look for or what questions to ask. But I am sure plenty have gone this route.

Just look for a private sale if you ask me. Best way to do things. If you look on here sellers, there are plenty of advantages:

a) the person is unlikely to rip you off, especially if they have been a regular member and post regularly on here.

B) you can email them questions and request photos before even looking at the car. Saves both of you wasting each others time beforehand.

c) you know they love skylines as much as you do, and have probably taken care of the car.

d) you might be able to find some of the past history of the car and any problems they might have had with it.

ok ill put in my $2 worth

i went from vl auto to r33 gtst manual the main things i noticed

1) it drove like a hovercraft, smooth handling, smooth gears, nice feel, no bodyroll

2) when giving it stick it handled it awesome, stock brakes are great, no bodyroll when going sideways, the camber is really sweet so when u do fang around a corner or stick it at the lights rather than it just tliting to one side and almost loosing control it actually tames the power you put down and handles it

3) the r34 and most of the r33 series II (and some series I) have active lsd and lsd slip which is great when u dump it at the lights, the computer controls torque so u dont just spin, but rather grip more

4) the standard features are great, aircon is good, stereo aint too bad, map lights or interioer lights are good, power windows and stuff work good, power mirrors etc, stock abs. the r33 series II had stock side intrusion bars. most of the stock stuff on skylines wasnt stock on the aussie equivalent ford/holdens till a year or two later. ie my 1997 has more standard stuff than a 1999 holden commodore.

5) the seats and general comfort is great comparred to most aussie cars (no offence). the console is aimed towards the driver on about a 25 degree angle so when your driving your in the zone and the passenger can just relax

6) the build quality of the car itself (exterior and interior) is really nice and smooth finish., stuff lookks good, operates well and generall is designed with good intention vs crappy looking dash buttons etc on other stock cars

7) the engine power is generaally considered more then stock v6 or v8 models. most skylines turbos will beat a lot of stock v8's and destroy stock v6's. even the non turbo v6 skyline will give your average v6 a good run and come up on top

8) general wear and tear doesnt seem to hurt the skylines series as much as compared to other aussie based cars, compare a 1995 r33 to a 1995 vn/vs (unsure of exact model) (the vn will be facked and show more wear, well at least thats what i tend to notice)

9) parts avaiablty generally isnt a problem and really just an urban myth among non import owners

10) you get tons of "ooo look at the skyline" when driving around

ok things that are bad

1) fuel eneconomy

2) insurance prices

:)

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments. I am now going to also consider a late model R33 Series II as well as a R34 (although personally I like the 'look' of the R34 better, the R33 seems like such a better value for money choice)

The more you guys talk ... the more you make my decision more and more solid towards getting rid of my 4-banger and getting a Sky ...

I am starting to look forward to this :) .... Now I've just got to sell my car (hopefully the person who came and looked at it tonight will buy it on the weeknd)

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments. I am now going to also consider a late model R33 Series II as well as a R34 (although personally I like the 'look' of the R34 better, the R33 seems like such a better value for money choice)
I have a '98 S2 R33 GTS25t and while I also like the 34 GT-T, I don't feel that they are worth the extra coin.

I imported mine and the cost on the road was $21k. 66000km, "B" interior, couple of scratches but nothing serious. Dead Stock so probably less chance of being "pre-thrashed".

Took 17 weeks from buying at auction to driving it away from the compliance shop but it is a BL00DY nice car.

All the creature comfort things are high quality and they ALL WORK. Build quality is tops.

Economy is not that bad, I have a K&N panel filter, HKS Super Drager exhaust and run std turbo at 10PSI and I average 12L/100km with "normal" driving :) .

I can live with that from a 165kw at the wheels (estimated) vehicle.

yeah the series II is good and the r34's still seem fairly pricey. go for a ride in an r33 series II gtst, its very nice ;)

I drove a modified Yellow R34 GT-T last year at Powerplay (man that was the best 10 minutes I've had for a while :)) and my friend (who introduced me to this forum :wavey: ) recently bought a R33 GT25-T Series II, and I drove it ... and I've got to say ... man that car is smoooooooooth as silk!! I was in love within 2 minutes!

I've been driven many Hondas (owned three so far) and also had a V8 once upon a time ... but this car was the silkiest thing I have put my paws on. Awsome. I definatly want one. If I can get an R34 for late $20k, I might think about it. But I am starting to already think that I'd rather get a R33 Series II and spend the extra on some mods (performance, with a splash of doof-doof and bling-bling) LOL :)

One question though ... I went througha total s***fight trying to get finance for a 'private' purchase. Am I going to go through the same crap for an import?

Also, someone mentioned that I should probably just buy one already here, rather than go through j-spec or prestigemotorsport for my 'first import buy'. What do you all think? From what I've read, you all feel that the best route to take is going through the pain of waiting for your personal import, only to reap the wonderful reward at the end. Any thoughts?

Given what I've seen around recently on this forum in particular, you should definitely check out some of the private 34 sales. You get to see and drive the car, no import worries, but you might have to travel around the country checking a few out. At least you are in Sydney which is going to help.

A followup question guys ...

still deciding which way to go:

a) go to someone like Powerplay Imports, who seem to have a good reputation (not sure, anyone buy from them? what's your experience like?? I feel better because I am told that if the car turns up and it's not what was discussed, I get my deposit back.

B) anyone every deal with Edward Lee on Parramatta road? what's your experience been like?

B) go to someone Prestige motorsport. Sure, I save a good amount of money, but there's a lot more risk. I know a lot of people have bought cars though him. Has everything always turned out ok?

For a newbie like me... what do you recommend? I have the money but I am ... I guess still afraid / unsure about forking over a wad of cash without knowing more about the two above people?

Hey DarkCoupe,

I've done all three of the above, and my personal experience is:

a) is the way to go if you are not *sure* about what you want and what you are going to get. I bought from them 3 years ago and they are selling the car for me again now. I have always found them to be knowledgeable and trustworthy

B) i didn't end up buying there, but others have made negative comments about their experience.

c) is the best option if you are *sure* what you want and are confident about your ability to fix problems. Also, you need to be patient about the wait....it will be up to 6 months from when you first sign them up to when your car is registered in Aus....but it can save you money.

Or.....just buy mine :D

Thanks Duncan.

I guess I am a bit nervous about which way to go (to some, this would be understandable). Deep down, I really want a R34 GT-T, but I can't afford to pay $40k for one (even though I get the assurance and safety of going through someone like powerplay).

I am trying to decide if I am confident / comfortable enough to go with Prestigemotorsport, which is a totally different process and different level of risk. The benefit it of course, I can potentially end up with the same car for $10k less, but how do I really know if the car is okay? Powerplay offers the condition that if the car has been misrepresented, they will refund your deposits. So it safer. But if the personal import gets here and theres 1001 things wrong, I am pretty much stuffed.

I know exactly what I want as far as the car is concerned. I am also happy to be patient to be later rewarded :D But what do you mean by 'fix problems'?

I just can't decide which road to take. :rofl:

Being a newbie to importing a car I had the same thoughts about the process. My car is about to depart Japan on Friday and everything has run smoothly to date. :rofl: The company I used have bidders in Japan which can go over the car u r interested in b4 bidding(think that is common with most companies) so they let me know if it was a decent car. Also you get sent Auction sheets on the body and interior via e-mail. Ring John from www.importcars.com.au in Melbourne if you want to try importing. He saved me a lot of money on compliance and has been most helpful with any questions.Not long to go and I will be in Skyline heaven :devfu: Good luck!!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Next on the to-do list was an oil and filter change. Nothing exciting to add here except the oil filter is in a really stupid place (facing the engine mount/subframe/steering rack). GReddy do a relocation kit which puts it towards the gearbox, I would have preferred towards the front but there's obviously a lot more stuff there. Something I'll have to look at for the next service perhaps. First time using Valvoline oil, although I can't see it being any different to most other brands Nice... The oil filter location... At least the subframe wont rust any time soon I picked up a genuine fuel filter, this is part of the fuel pump assembly inside the fuel tank. Access can be found underneath the rear seat, you'll see this triangular cover Remove the 3x plastic 10mm nuts and lift the cover up, pushing the rubber grommet through The yellow fuel line clips push out in opposite directions, remove these completely. The two moulded fuel lines can now pull upwards to disconnect, along with the wire electrical plug. There's 8x 8mm bolts that secure the black retaining ring. The fuel pump assembly is now ready to lift out. Be mindful of the fuel hose on the side, the hose clamp on mine was catching the hose preventing it from lifting up The fuel pump/filter has an upper and lower section held on by 4 pressure clips. These did take a little bit of force, it sounded like the plastic tabs were going to break but they didn't (don't worry!) The lower section helps mount the fuel pump, there's a circular rubber gasket/grommet/seal thing on the bottom where the sock is. Undo the hose clip on the short fuel hose on the side to disconnect it from the 3 way distribution pipe to be able to lift the upper half away. Don't forget to unplug the fuel pump too! There's a few rubber O rings that will need transferring to the new filter housing, I show these in the video at the bottom of this write up. Reassembly is the reverse Here's a photo of the new filter installed, you'll be able to see where the tabs are more clearing against the yellow OEM plastic Once the assembly is re-installed, I turned the engine over a few times to help build up fuel pressure. I did panic when the car stopped turning over but I could hear the fuel pump making a noise. It eventually started and has been fine since. Found my 'lucky' coin underneath the rear seat too The Youtube video can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLJ65pmQt44&t=6s
    • It was picked up on the MOT/Inspection that the offside front wheel bearing had excessive play along with the ball joint. It made sense to do both sides so I sourced a pair of spare IS200 hubs to do the swap. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the strip down but here's a quick run down. On the back of the hub is a large circular dust cover, using a flat head screw driver and a mallet I prised it off. Underneath will reveal a 32mm hub nut (impact gun recommended). With the hub nut removed the ABS ring can be removed (I ended up using a magnetic pick up tool to help). Next up is to remove the stub axle, this was a little trickier due to limited tools. I tried a 3 leg puller but the gap between the hub and stub axle wasn't enough for the legs to get in and under. Next option was a lump hammer and someone pulling the stub axle at the same time. After a few heavy hits it released. The lower bearing race had seized itself onto the stub axle, which was fine because I was replacing them anyway. With the upper bearing race removed and the grease cleaned off they looked like this The left one looked pristine inside but gave us the most trouble. The right one had some surface rust but came apart in a single hit, figure that out?! I got a local garage to press the new wheel bearings in, reassemble was the opposite and didn't take long at all. Removing the hub itself was simple. Starting with removing the brake caliper, 2x 14mm bolts for the caliper slider and 2x 19mm? for the carrier > hub bolts. I used a cable tie to secure the caliper to the upper arm so it was out of the way, there's a 10mm bolt securing the ABS sensor on. With the brake disc removed from the hub next are the three castle nuts for the upper and lower ball joints and track rod end. Two of these had their own R clip and one split pin. A few hits with the hammer and they're released (I left the castle nuts on by a couple of turns), the track rod ends gave me the most grief and I may have nipped the boots (oops). Fitting is the reversal and is very quick and easy to do. The lower ball joints are held onto the hub by 2x 17mm bolts. The castle nut did increase in socket size to 22mm from memory (this may vary from supplier) The two front tyres weren't in great condition, so I had those replaced with some budget tyres for the time being. I'll be replacing the wheels and tyres in the future, this was to get me on the road without the worry of the police hassling me.
    • Yep, the closest base tune available was for the GTT, I went with that and made all the logical changes I could find to convert it to Naturally Aspirated. It will rev fine in Neutral to redline but it will be cutting nearly 50% fuel the whole way.  If I let it tune the fuel map to start with that much less fuel it wont run right and has a hard time applying corrections.  These 50% cuts are with a fuel map already about half of what the GTT tune had.  I was having a whole lot of bogging when applying any throttle but seem to have fixed that for no load situations with very aggressive transient throttle settings. I made the corrections to my injectors with data I found for them online, FBCJC100 flowing 306cc.  I'll have to look to see if I can find the Cam section. I have the Bosch 4.9 from Haltech. My manifold pressure when watching it live is always in -5.9 psi/inHg
    • Hi My Tokico BM50 Brake master cylinder has a leak from the hole between the two outlets (M10x1) for brake pipes, I have attached a photo. Can anyone tell me what that hole is and what has failed to allow brake fluid to escape from it, I have looked on line and asked questions on UK forums but can not find the answer, if anyone can enlighten me I would be most grateful.
    • It will be a software setting. I don't believe many on here ever used AEM. And they're now a discontinued product,that's really hard to find any easy answers on. If it were Link or Haltech, someone would be able to just send you a ECU file though.
×
×
  • Create New...