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Buying Skylines - Stock V Modified - The Pros And Cons


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What I am trying to figure out and have been unable to determine which is best to buy and here is some scenarios

Buy stock (non-turbo) and add a turbo then other mods (less worn engine perhaps due to no turbo?)

Buy stock (turbo) and then modify (what are the cost involved in adding a turbo system to car do they outweigh option 1)

Buy modified (Save a lot of time and money because no one makes their money back on mods)

Some of my thoughts on buying a modified car would be that i'm looking at getting in particular an R33 and this is an old car. Would it be better to have a modified car because some of the old parts have been replaced such as the turbo, suspension, brakes. Could you also though be opening yourself up to much more expensive maintenance and repair through the mods?

Generally I don't think I want to sink a lot of money into mods for an R33 because I want to be saving more cash and trading up my first skyline for an R34 and then repeating that for an R35. So this kind of makes me lean towards buying modified cars so that I can have fun in some powerful cars without losing all the money on mods?

I think this could be a good topic for future potential buyers and would like to develop this into an article over time. Help me out and list ALLLL the pros and cons you can think of :D

Edited by jukic.j
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Well you can throw option 1 in the bin and if you don't want to do that i hope someone forces you to eat it. Enough said. Money will end up in that bin if the idea doesn't.

And the basic answer is you should buy modified as you are buying someone elses money pit instead of creating your own. Its an old car and most are thrashed regardless of mods or not. So why not go with a modified car that has had some things replaced. But you have to be smart and have the right mechanics look over these cars because you could pick any option and end up f**ked if you didn't have it looked over properly and you bought a lemon.

Also there isn't too much of a difference i price between a quality modified 33 and a quality modified 34. Just save your money and buy a 34 if that's what you want. No point in spending money on a 33 that will definitely be worth less than you payed just to go and buy a 34 later on.

Remove your signature. You sound like a f**khead,but considering you wrote it im of the opinion that you actually are.

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Well you can throw option 1 in the bin and if you don't want to do that i hope someone forces you to eat it. Enough said. Money will end up in that bin if the idea doesn't.

And the basic answer is you should buy modified as you are buying someone elses money pit instead of creating your own. Its an old car and most are thrashed regardless of mods or not. So why not go with a modified car that has had some things replaced. But you have to be smart and have the right mechanics look over these cars because you could pick any option and end up f**ked if you didn't have it looked over properly and you bought a lemon.

Also there isn't too much of a difference i price between a quality modified 33 and a quality modified 34. Just save your money and buy a 34 if that's what you want. No point in spending money on a 33 that will definitely be worth less than you payed just to go and buy a 34 later on.

Remove your signature. You sound like a f**khead,but considering you wrote it im of the opinion that you actually are.

Ok I struck out option 1 rather than removing it so people know which option you are referring to.

So by the right mechanics do you mean someone like state roads I have seen them recommended a lot or someone particular to imports or skylines or modified cars? What kind of checks does the right mechanic do? Compression/leak-down/dyno what about things like rust? is this covered in paid inspections?

Also it might have helped to know that i'm probably looking at $8,000 - $10,000 for my first skyline hence R33 and then making the jump whatever it may be to R34 which will be probably double budget and then R35 which will be a significant jump.

I re-worded my signature is that better?

Edited by jukic.j
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Ok I struck out option 1 rather than removing it so people know which option you are referring to.

So by the right mechanics do you mean someone like state roads I have seen them recommended a lot or someone particular to imports or skylines or modified cars? What kind of checks does the right mechanic do? Compression/leak-down/dyno what about things like rust? is this covered in paid inspections?

Also it might have helped to know that i'm probably looking at $8,000 - $10,000 for my first skyline hence R33 and then making the jump whatever it may be to R34 which will be probably double budget and then R35 which will be a significant jump.

I re-worded my signature is that better?

I mean anyone qualified or Capable of looking over the whole car and engine and telling you exactly whats what. Not fool-proof but definitely a must.

And if you have 8-10k and want a 34 then why not save 5 more and buy a shmick 34 with better everything from chassis to engine.

And yes that signature is much better. Its fine and reasonable.

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Ok I struck out option 1 rather than removing it so people know which option you are referring to.

So by the right mechanics do you mean someone like state roads I have seen them recommended a lot or someone particular to imports or skylines or modified cars? What kind of checks does the right mechanic do? Compression/leak-down/dyno what about things like rust? is this covered in paid inspections?

Also it might have helped to know that i'm probably looking at $8,000 - $10,000 for my first skyline hence R33 and then making the jump whatever it may be to R34 which will be probably double budget and then R35 which will be a significant jump.

I re-worded my signature is that better?

Ok, this is giving me a nose bleed...

IF you can even entertain the thought of purchasing an R35, that why the fuck would you waste your time and money buying an R33, just to sell it (and loose plenty of dollars) in, say, a year or 2 time, then buy an R34??

JUST BUY AN R34!

It is so obvious that you are new to modified cars. You do not NEED to buy a modified skyline as your first one. Buy a stock one, they are still great fun and shit on many cars. I enjoyed my first skyline in stock trim for over a year until I started modding it. It gives you a great chance to get to know your car, and not get behind the wheel of a car you may not be ready for.

So my advice is..

Search around for a nice STOCK R34, and start from there. you will get one for just a wee bit more than an R33 anyway.

Learn in it. have fun in it. enjoy paying heaps to insure it. THEN, IF you want to spend some money to mod it, go for it, OR just sell it for the $12k you bought it for, and with the $100k you have in that shoebox under your bed, go buy your R35 ya muppet.

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What I am trying to figure out and have been unable to determine which is best to buy and here is some scenarios

Buy stock (non-turbo) and add a turbo then other mods (less worn engine perhaps due to no turbo?)

Buy stock (turbo) and then modify (what are the cost involved in adding a turbo system to car do they outweigh option 1)

Buy modified (Save a lot of time and money because no one makes their money back on mods)

Some of my thoughts on buying a modified car would be that i'm looking at getting in particular an R33 and this is an old car. Would it be better to have a modified car because some of the old parts have been replaced such as the turbo, suspension, brakes. Could you also though be opening yourself up to much more expensive maintenance and repair through the mods?

Generally I don't think I want to sink a lot of money into mods for an R33 because I want to be saving more cash and trading up my first skyline for an R34 and then repeating that for an R35. So this kind of makes me lean towards buying modified cars so that I can have fun in some powerful cars without losing all the money on mods?

I think this could be a good topic for future potential buyers and would like to develop this into an article over time. Help me out and list ALLLL the pros and cons you can think of :D

I hope you know that a R35 is not a Skyline, a V35 is but not a R35.

My advice is to either go buy a stock R33 and enjoy it or go buy a R34 if thats the car you really want - unless you really do have $180k + to buy a new R35

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