Buying A High-Mileage R32 Gt-R

[brett982441]

Hi all,

I'm planning to purchase an R32 GT-R here in Japan, and have found a completely stock example for 450,000 JPY (around $5700 AUD). The car has no accident history, and is very clean, but has almost 240,000km on the clock.

Personally, high-kilometre figures don't really phase me, coming from a Toyota with almost 350,000km on the clock, but of course I'm a bit hesitant. For an extra $1000 I could pick up one with 100,000km less in similar condition, but I am starting to wonder whether it is really worth my while to pay the extra for a lower-mileage example.

I am not concerned about resale value at all, and I will be doing a complete engine rebuild regardless of what's on the odometer, so I was hoping to get some opinions on what sort of issues I'd be looking at.

Before coming to Japan, I never even considered purchasing such a high-mileage GT-R, as all I read on this forum (and others) is that "it will be thrashed", and "you will end up spending more on maintenance", but is this really the case?

Since being here, I've made friends with an R32 GT-R owner who purchased his car for a little over 400,000 JPY (around $5000 AUD), and I truly can't fault it. His car is also getting up there at around 180,000km, but apart from the figure on the dash, it is mechanically A1. I like to think of it as more of a testament to the RB26's (and the R32's) strength and reliability instead of looking down on it as some kind of ticking time-bomb (as is the general consensus).

I'm starting to think that a high-mileage example isn't as stupid an idea as I once thought. Taking into account the fact that I will be able to test drive the car and give it a thorough check-over before making a decision, I could save a lot of money that would comfortably cover a complete rebuild and then some, compared to paying the premium for a sub 100,000km example.

Thoughts/opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers.

[xALmoN]

find out how much a spare rb26 costs.

find out how much it costs to replace all the bushes, not that a car with lower mileage wont need its bushes replaced.

as long as the body is straight, and its pretty free of rust, i dont see a problem there.

[Ruxis]

I wonder how Many more times those Axels have spun, and how much more heat every hose has seen from extra running time, and how more worn out the interior is.

My girlfriend was looking for a new run around car and wad looking at the year model.

In my eyes a car is as old as it's been driven. A car that isnt rusty with a rebuilt engine isn't a reliable car. There's alot more involved then that. Just think about every component and how tired it'd be. 1000 more dollars in these cars is Nothinggggg.

[Waxhead]

I personally would spend the extra $1K and get the low km car.

[Berk]

Just buy a pushbike.