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Hello guys and girls,

My name is Jae and currently residing in the land of the rising sun.

I have owned a number of skylines from GTST’s to GTR (32) in my lifetime and while I still can, decided to get my self a BNR34 as I believe I might just have more options than any other regions before the US buyers start importing them.

My search started this time last year and I have Searched on auctions, visited many dealers, specialty shops in Japan to review the examples  but could not find the good example which was to my liking yet which doesn’t cost a fortune.

I managed to narrow it down to a couple of options,

Since most of the posts were 8-10 years old that I searched, I wanted to hear your thoughts on the topic below as thoughts may have changed due to time.

I am well aware of the differences in the std, vspec and vspec 2’s as I have been hunting for one and done my research, hypothetically speaking, if you were to buy one now in 2019/2020, do specs really matter that much? Are not all 34’s pretty rare enough anyways?

I wanted to double check what you think the added value is when choosing between the specs are.

Finally, if you had a choice of choosing between A Bayside blue VSPEC1 Nismo Omori factory S1 (Pretty much Nismo engine, exhaust, MFD etc) or a black VSpec2 (no engine mods, just exhaust, coil overs) both with low km’s which would you choose if the prices were the same.

Nismo S1 is not much to write home about, it's basically just turning up the boost and some special cams. If you really value special nismo cams then yeah the S1. The exhaust is also not that special, nor is the MFD.

Between the two I would pick condition first. Condition above all. Rust is expensive to fix, broken body/trim pieces are expensive to fix. Unwinding bad mods is also extremely expensive, any sign of a hacked up harness and I would walk.

Hello,

Thank you very much for the input, I do agree that the Nismo parts do not add a lot to the actual performance side of things Despite the really high cost.

I guess it’s the brand value more than anything. I have checked out the cars and both seem to be in great condition without the rust of rust underneath + paperwork to go with it also proving it has been maintained religiously.

I guess this car will be my weekender so some of the purpose will be for investment purposes. As of now, i am wondering which of the two will potentially hold its value more in the future, say in 2024 onwards, a kinda rare bayside blue S1 or a stock black vs2.... 

The VSpec 2 is stiffer (irrelevant due to coilovers), the hood gets a NACA duct to help cool the rear turbo and is made of carbon fiber. The rear brake rotors are a bit larger. Personally I would not take a VSpec 2 over the VSpec 1. But rarity influences market value more than functional differences. And the big money is in pure stock, low mile rare variant cars. But the RB26 is frankly a dinosaur of an engine with weak low-end torque. It shows age in stock form, really badly.

I also would not consider these cars to be an investment unless you plan to sell in a few years. I am really tired of everyone framing these cars as an investment because they really are not unless you're buying multiple and selling them off. Buying a single car now is just hedging risk, not investing in the hopes of making money. If you want to realize the gains you have to sell the car, which will only happen if it isn't totaled first and you no longer have the car. If you want to have an R34 because you want to drive the thing you can't realize any capital gains from owning one.

Edited by joshuaho96
  • Like 3

At this late stage of the GTR game, if you're in it for profit above all, you want the most standard car you can find in the best condition you can find. 
If you're thinking you will modify the car and do your own thing with it, go for a modified car that you can tailor to your liking. 

In answer to your question, Bayside blue it more Iconic but the V-SpecII should be a better car. 
Myself, i would take the V-Spec because I love the blue (unless there is a yellow or red one).

My personal thoughts on the matter is modified cars need to have the right mods. When I was searching for restoration candidates anything with hacked up harnesses, mods that I didn't like were a pass. Stuff like gauge pods, relocating the HVAC to the ashtray, deleting airbags, pods, etc...

It really is a matter of personal taste when deciding what the "right mods" are though. You may want these things.

  • Like 1

Thank you for all the input much appreciated.

Although considering a vehicle as an investment is rare in Japan compared to most of the other markets, the GTR community here is a thing of its own.

After going to most events like R’s meeting and Nismo festival here, And seeming how these great cars are disappearing year by year if I really wanted one, it’ll be lower chances the longer I hold off.

both the cars I am looking are in good nick, 20,000km range, some people say buy on condition not mileage, which I agree with, if I can get a low mileage one with km’s that reflect the condition, I don’t see why not.

price would be the only killer, and it seems to be going only up for top condition cars, and if the US markets open to them, I am not sure how it’ll be in 4-5 years to be honest, maybe no other markets would be able to compete with them as they have the most cash to dish out.

I may not even sell it and keep it as long as I live but I guess I am trying to convince my self that it’ll be a good investment haha, even if not, I will probably get one anyway because I always wanted one, I can buy one and I don’t want to pay more as time goes by.

between the two, I am leaning towards the S1 because As mentioned, 20yo stock will have some sort of degraded performance. And found out the black vs2 will be about 1.5 million yen more expensive for reasons I cannot understand although I tried very hard to see the value..

Pics for the blue attached;

rims are now LMGT4 not BBS.

link to the black vs2 is below

https://www.goo-net.com/usedcar/spread/iphone/17/700102067530191206003.html

 

0002A126-AFEC-47B0-A7FF-830CBA286F25.jpeg

0BA5D53A-97E3-407F-934B-FF4FBFE4CD3E.jpeg

C7E7E738-55DD-4AF8-B3BC-46856202CD79.jpeg

2BF0438D-1889-48CC-A6DF-797CD29A111F.jpeg

9C0BB272-DCEE-44A2-9304-539839243DB2.jpeg

C5181120-9C8E-4EDE-A870-AF702953648D.jpeg

Both look nice!
Black one looks to have Z tune bumper & taller wing stands too, coilovers look like quantum. Blue's come via Global Auto though so can't go wrong there either as their stock seems top shelf.

Great problem to have!

Fist time to fill her up,

costs approximately ¥7000, on high octane,

I wonder how the world compares to JP in terms of Fuel prices lol

I’ll spend today to go over some bitty gritty details of the car while detailing,

notices some interior speaks, trying to figure out where it’s coming from as it is pissing me off

A2FCA1F6-2DC9-46A2-A2AE-AB382773D66B.jpeg

CF5924D5-43EA-41E4-956F-3D97EE6B31EA.jpeg

On a good day in California it costs 3.3 USD/gal for 91 octane, E10. Some of the worst gas in the country, every modern turbo car pulls some timing because of it. On a bad day it spikes to 4 USD/gal, up to 4.5 USD/gal if things get bad.

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