Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Hello there,

I'm in the market for a first car, im looking at a 180SX or a Silvia with about 10k to spend, when i go to inspect possible cars, what should i look out for, and what pitfalls should i be weary of ?

When i do get my 180/s13 i want to do some basic mods etc, etc, is it better if i buy a stockie, or if i get one that's allreaddy modded ?

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/47400-buyer-beware/
Share on other sites

Theres a thread that tells you about stuff you should look for if you search - i think its a sticky. It's for skylines but it will apply to a lot of cars.

As for 180's and s13's it's pretty safe to say (in my mind anyway) that they are all thrashed.

Be aware of that when you're buying them so you know what you may need to change/replace/recon/service.

I've never owned a sil or 180 so I can't tell you specifically about them but my friend put one through hell and it took everything he gave it - respect to the sil and respect to the SR20.

Other than that I have no idea - good luck.

oh . .. finally if you find a 180/s13 that's not about to blow up for that price let me know, all the good ones i've seen are more than that.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/47400-buyer-beware/#findComment-957837
Share on other sites

GET IT CHECKED OUT BY A MECHANIC YOU TRUST BEFORE BUYING REGARDLESS OF HOW MUCH EXTRA THAT COSTS (we took the list of things that needed to be fixed back to our dealer and got them fixed before we took the car home, it saved us quite a bit of money)

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/47400-buyer-beware/#findComment-958239
Share on other sites

Theres more demand for 180SX's over Silvias, and more demand means higher prices.

As the others said, beware of what you buy. A friend bought a 1989 180SX last year for $9000 locally (CA18DET/manual) and thought he got a bargain. It turned out to be one of the biggest shitters in existance, and now requires massive amounts of money to fix it up. Things from the floor pan rusting and bending if you put much pressure on it, to engine being stuffed and making a measly 59kw on a dyno. It also had stuffed/bent suspension from where its been slid up a gutter. It quite literally had been taken to hell and back.

Which made me just think, make sure you check all the panels for correct fitment and under the car for rust, as they are quite a popular 'drift' car, and id bet a majority have seen a few gutters in their lifetime and arnt quite straight. Make sure you take any youre interested in for a drive, and if the steering wheel shakes at any speed, its a good sign something is bent somewhere.

You get what you pay for, if you skimp on the car, you will get burned. If you pay a few thousand extra to pick up a top quality example, you will love and enjoy it for many years to come.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/47400-buyer-beware/#findComment-959159
Share on other sites

rev happy very much so, the CA18 i believe is a better car for drifting, im buying a 180sx with a SR20 in the coming months as i had to sell my other two cars haha (lost my licence for 6 months)......find a nice sileighty or a one'via, they r great cars

in regards to wat to look for, a mechanic that works on these types of cars, test drive, make sure the body is straight, check for damage...also sus the owner out... does he/she keep the interior clean?? ex. inbetween all the lil gaps becoz a person that keeps their interior clean i usually find are pretty festideous (excuse any spelling errors) about the whole car ingeneral (just from my past experience).

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/47400-buyer-beware/#findComment-961067
Share on other sites

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


  • Latest Posts

    • Sounds good.  I don't 100% understand what your getting at here. When you say, "I keep seeing YouTube videos where people have new paint and primer land on the old clearcoat that isn't even dulled down" do you mean this - there is a panel with factory paint, without any prep work, they paint the entire panel with primer, then colour then clear?  If that's what you mean, sure it will "stick" for a year, 2 years, maybe 3 years? Who knows. But at some stage it will flake off and when it does it's going to come off in huge chunks and look horrific.  Of course read your technical data sheet for your paint, but generally speaking, you can apply primer to a scuffed/prepped clear coat. Generally speaking, I wouldn't do this. I would scuff/prep the clear and then lay colour then clear. Adding the primer to these steps just adds cost and time. It will stick to the clear coat provided it has been appropriately scuffed/prepped first.  When you say, "but the new paint is landing on the old clearcoat" I am imagining someone not masking up the car and just letting overspray go wherever it wants. Surely this isn't what you mean?  So I'll assume the following scenario - there is a small scratch. The person manages to somehow fill the scratch and now has a perfectly flat surface. They then spray colour and clear over this small masked off section of the car. Is this what you mean? If this is the case, yes the new paint will eventually flake off in X number of years time.  The easy solution is to scuff/prep all of the paint that hasn't been masked off in the repair area then lay the paint.  So you want to prep the surface, lay primer, then lay filler, then lay primer, then colour, then clear?  Life seems so much simpler if you prep, fill, primer, colour then clear.  There are very few reasons to go to bare metal. Chasing rust is a good example of why you'd go to bare metal.  A simple dent, there is no way in hell I'm going to bare metal for that repair. I've got enough on my plate without creating extra work for myself lol. 
    • Hi, Got the membership renewal email but haven't acted yet.  I need to change my address first. So if somebody can email me so I can change it that would be good.    
    • Bit of a similar question, apprently with epoxy primer you can just sand the panel to 240 grit then apply it and put body filler on top. So does that basically mean you almost never have to go to bare metal for simple dents?
    • Good to hear. Hopefully you're happy enough not to notice when driving and just enjoy yourself.
    • I mean, most of us just love cars. Doesnt necessarily have to be a skyline.
×
×
  • Create New...