A newbie who can't settle on a car...

[Ten Four]

Right so today I looked at a car.
First off, I'll start by saying I emailed (who I thought was the seller) a price before viewing the car. I did this because it'd been for sale for a while but has had a few price drops - still outside my budget but you never know. Listed at 40, I offered 30 after a viewing.

Got a reply on Friday to come view it.. Yay.

So this afternoon I went to view said car. It had a bit of paint fade on the bonnet and rear spoiler and after a brief inspection by my mechanic, it was given the A-OK with a few hundred dollars needing to be spent at most (excluding the paint).

Then.. On the way back, I learnt the seller hadn't got my email about my pre-viewing offer and he wanted 38k minimum. Great waste of my time and inspection fee

What I suspect happened, was because the car was at a dealership, I'd emailed the dealer who had no say in the price as the car was owned by a "mate" of the dealership... As I type this, I can't find any feasible way of getting the extra 6-8k and am totally devastated. I got all emotional too, haven't been like that for a good while...

I suppose you're wondering what this car is....
Well, here is a picture from the advertisement.



Yep, a 1992 red Honda NSX.
Con: Auto, 20" Chrome wheels.
Pro: LOOK AT IT







Did I mention it was turbo?

That's right... The shop who built it said the motor cost approx $25k, strengthening the box cost $7k, then you get into the suspension, exhausts etc... Basically, a car built with no budget. This was apparently a high 10sec car (1/4 mile) with smaller wheels and slicks. True or not I don't know, but feels damn fast on half throttle, already pushing you far back in those comfy supportive leather seats....

I seriously wish I had another 6-8k... Everything else to me right now seems so limp and pathetic in comparison!

I was supposed to be importing an AE86 Trueno GT-APEX from Japan and my broker has found me my ideal car... Right now though, purchasing that AE86 feels like total defeat...

Yes I know I'm very, very spoilt

Before you suggest, I've tried dad - he's having trouble with his finances so that's a no-go. Mum will never lend me any funds for my car cravings... I don't and won't ask granddad and I'm not sure he could lend me such a figure.

Whatever shall I do!?
Still pretty depressed about the whole thing... It wouldn't matter so much if I hadn't gone and seen it but now I can't get it out of my head!

Edited by Ten Four on Monday 5th December 13:07

[Downton Mini]

Wow that is some car I would love one totally underrated imo just becuase it hasn't got the right badge. Buy several lottery tickets and keep your fingers crossed?

[John Boy 616]

Cant you sell the bubble car thing that you use as daily? Buy a wreck and do it up a bit and sell on for profit as you have done with some success?

[Meldonte]

with some of the 30k buy some fairly cheapish (in comparison) cars that you can make a couple of grand on each like you have done in the past. If the times comes and the NSX is still for sale offer 36,500 and the guy would bite your arm off.. if its gone you have still made some decent money and increased your potential budget. Only problem here is finding the right cars which you know you can make a killing on - you don't necessarily have to like them if there's a quick buck to be made.

[omgus]

Gutted for you

But I now await the next two car purchases that you do up in order to sell for a profit in order to buy that car.

I really hope you can either get the AE and enjoy it or find the money for the NSX.

I love this thread.

[Ten Four]

The bubble I have would be worth 1500-2000 max so that would bring me to 32 with essentially nothing left haha.

I have been looking hard high and low for cars to make a quick buck on but can't seem to find any atm. I'm actually pretty annoyed with my dad cause I did find a Hyundai Getz about 3 weeks ago for 6350, worth 11300 but he chose to sell it to his ex-gf without telling me... (That car was a one-off insane bargain..) Other than that, I'm still looking everywhere to try and either scrounge some money together or find a car to turnover!

[Madmatt74]

Ten Four said:

The bubble I have would be worth 1500-2000 max so that would bring me to 32 with essentially nothing left haha.

I have been looking hard high and low for cars to make a quick buck on but can't seem to find any atm. I'm actually pretty annoyed with my dad cause I did find a Hyundai Getz about 3 weeks ago for 6350, worth 11300 but he chose to sell it to his ex-gf without telling me... (That car was a one-off insane bargain..) Other than that, I'm still looking everywhere to try and either scrounge some money together or find a car to turnover!

No Hyundai should ever be worth that much!

[Rocketman105]

Just got up to date after reading this over several days - fantastic! Great mix of cars, narration and photos.

This puts my car history to shame. I must try harder! Only since owning a JDM MX5 have I really understood the attraction of Japanese cars and seeing your eclectic mix reinforces this, there's something about them which more soulful Euro / Yank cars don't have.

I'm amazed you had some of the cars for sale for so long too - I can't wait longer than a week before I go mad. Normally because I've already committed to the next car before selling the first.......should have learnt by now.

I look forward to more updates

[Ten Four]

Rocketman105 said:

Just got up to date after reading this over several days - fantastic! Great mix of cars, narration and photos.

This puts my car history to shame. I must try harder! Only since owning a JDM MX5 have I really understood the attraction of Japanese cars and seeing your eclectic mix reinforces this, there's something about them which more soulful Euro / Yank cars don't have.

I'm amazed you had some of the cars for sale for so long too - I can't wait longer than a week before I go mad. Normally because I've already committed to the next car before selling the first.......should have learnt by now.

I look forward to more updates

Haha thanks mate

You're right though. For some reason I always come back :|. I could think of nothing else but another Japper. Haha re selling it doesn't bother me much at all unless I need the money, otherwise I just use it when I want/can as my mums place has a rather large shed out back capable of storing 2 cars.

I'm picking up another Hyundai Getz tonight for $7300. If all goes well, it should be sold for minimum 8500 in the coming days/weeks...

[tommy vercetti]

Fantastic car history. Love your skylines.

[Ten Four]

tommy vercetti said:

Fantastic car history. Love your skylines.

Thanks mate
Name from GTA Vice City lol?





2 Spots of bad news coming.
A) NSX got sold
B) Another speeding ticket :\

A) Pretty upset about this... Nothing I can do about it now though. I thought it would take a lot longer to sell but evidently not.

B) Got done doing 70kmh in a 60kmh zone (road becomes 70 after a point..), meaning another 2 points and $150 fine... Leaving me with 3 points left :| . Didn't even know I got a fine till it arrived in the mail... I damn well hate these laws. Biggest island in the world with the most sparsely populated cities, yet lowest speed limits...

Thinking about buying a jammer...


If I get speeding fines driving a damn Mazda 121 bubble (2nd one now), what'll it be like in a proper car... Maybe I shouldn't buy anything at all....

[Madmatt74]

Head up and get looking for a new car!

You need a new car so when you do get banned from driving its not in a bubble!

And you have loads of us waiting for the next installment, so get out of bed and get car hunting! lol

[Ihavcndygetinvan]

Amazing write up mate, throughly good read. Shame about the NSX, but it was an auto so don't think I'd settle on that. Your very much like me, let your heart rule your head when it comes to cars, see a car on a whim your not even concidering buying, and it becomes your must have, even tho it's usually out of reach (budget wise), and ends up selling, you feel crushed initially, one of the worst feelings when you realise you must have that car and the seller replies it's already sold But hats off to you, you always seem to make good on the bad deals with profit Looking forward to your next purchase, good luck mate!

[Ten Four]

Madmatt74 said:

Head up and get looking for a new car!

You need a new car so when you do get banned from driving its not in a bubble!

And you have loads of us waiting for the next installment, so get out of bed and get car hunting! lol

Needed that

Ihavcndygetinvan said:

Amazing write up mate, throughly good read. Shame about the NSX, but it was an auto so don't think I'd settle on that. Your very much like me, let your heart rule your head when it comes to cars, see a car on a whim your not even concidering buying, and it becomes your must have, even tho it's usually out of reach (budget wise), and ends up selling, you feel crushed initially, one of the worst feelings when you realise you must have that car and the seller replies it's already sold But hats off to you, you always seem to make good on the bad deals with profit Looking forward to your next purchase, good luck mate!

Mate my damn heart is too big for cars, yet too small for the ladies?? Haha.. No I'm not gay
You're describing my every feeling..! Glad there's others out there like me!


Well, tonight I came home in a Honda S2000. Wait a minute, you're saying, there wasn't any for sale...
I ended up posting a wanted add on gumtree and got a response last night. (I move quick you see...) The response was of a hail damaged Honda S2000 in red with 109km and full dealer log books. I kind of hoped he'd be reasonable on price as its a total monopoly out there at the minute.. I asked him what he was thinking of in $ terms as-is with the hail damage (basically everywhere but not "heavy", panels can be fixed). He said 16.5k.

Music to my ears.

When are you free for a viewing? I questioned...
Whenever I'm free was the reply.
Now?? I queried...
Sure, my address is x, cya soon.

I should note that right now (and yesterday), I can barely drive an auto let alone a manual due to a stuffed wrist I hurt in the gym 3 days ago... Clever one eh?

Anyway he lived about 35mins away but it was rush hour. This turned into an hour trip . Oh yeah, during that hour, Perth received its entire summer rainfall forecast... It also managed to hail on us for a little, stuck in the middle of the road, with all the other poor people trying to get home. I'd brought my sister and her car and that was fairly scary as all 4 bulbs in her headlights are different (think she may get around to buying some more now ).

Luckily, the hail wasn't as bad as it was about 2 years ago where they were golf-tennis ball sized and her car didn't get dented.

Turning into the bloke's street was fun... There was a lake across the road. I'm actually pretty thankful that her car has standard suspension now... We managed to crawl through unscathed. (Looked at it this morning and the suspension struts are squeaky clean.. hmmm)

Finally we arrived outside the guys house.......... to find him not home. This was turning out fantastic although it did stop raining literally as we parked. I learnt via the wonderful world of text messaging that he'd be back in 5mins from the local shops.

5mins later he arrived in a big 4wd which I wish I had at the time.. (I love going through puddles as fast as possible you see... I only got to briefly enjoy that in the Range Rover )

I was then shown the car. The hail damage did worry me $ wise to fix as it'd require a full respray but the rest of the car seemed great! Immaculate inside, under the bonnet and the roof was brand new with a glass rear window which worked perfectly.

I asked if he could take me for a quick spin which he replied was fine. After a quick spurt, he offered me a go. I had to decline due to my dodgy wrist. The car seemed great from the passenger seat! Obviously it hasn't got the pace of some of the previous toys I've had but the handling and sound were to die for.

Nearly back at his place, he offered me a drive to which I had to politely decline again . I checked the log books - the last 100km service hasn't been stamped but he has the receipt for which was fine - I'll go get it stamped. Registration till March next year.. Seemed fine.

Next "argument" was price. He wouldn't budge much, best I could get out of him was 16k, deal done.
He said his mate who runs a panel shop had quoted him 3k for a full respray and fixing all the hail dents which was open to me if I wanted to go down that path after I bought it - I may in-fact do this after I get a few quotes myself.


After signing a piece of paper saying I'd left xx deposit for xx car etc, I was off home. Last night I got stuff all sleep.. I was tossing and turning all night thinking and planning about future modifications....

Even today, I had to wait until 8pm to go collect the car, carrying the most amount of cash I'd literally ever held (he insisted it was cash and not a bank cheque..). That was a scary experience in itself.. I did a REVs check before I went to buy the car (basically tells you if there is any money owing or previous accident damage) and it came up with CALL THE REVs GROUP who close at 530pm . I was thinking it could've been due to hail damage but wasn't sure and didn't want to take the risk.

Hoping the website was dodgy, I broke out mum's rego documents and put that through the website. The exact same thing came on the screen! I then tried my sister's car - that came up all good with a clear status. Hmmm I thought.. Not good.

I quadruple checked the engine and vin number only to find I'd missed out a 1. Stupid idiot . It now came up as all clear - same as my mum's car after I went through the digits again... (No sleep you see..)

Right, finally, the time had come. Off to the guys house!

Arrival, the S2000 sat there, ready for me to take it. Signing transfer papers and counting money took an age... Finally though all was done, I got in, struggled to initially find then select reverse and off I went.

God the S2000 is just so different again to the Supra / Skylines / M3 etc. Wanting to be sure everything was ok, I just cruised home sitting on about 90kmh in 6th watching the temperature gauge (which was perfect!), occasionally giving it a quick squirt here and there (how could you not..). The only criticism I have, is the wind noise with the roof up (weather is still way too dodgy right now for roof down business..). I've read there are fixes for this and is mostly down to the latches flapping around due to age so this should be easily fixed.

Pretty happy right now, everything's working out again . Its sitting pretty in the garage right now because a) its night and could rain at any second and b) low on fuel .

I hope to sort things out bit by bit and enjoy it for a good while yet. I'll update this when things get done / I sell the Hyundai and/or bubble and buy another silly car as a replacement

Sorry but I have no advertisement pics or pics of my own but I promise to take some tomorrow

PS, a few of my mates are now expecting me to cut their hair

Edited by Ten Four on Tuesday 13th December 14:24

[Mannginger]

Result! Look forward to the pics

[ali4390]

I always get excited when I see this thread has been updated. it's turning into a mini Secret Room 2 thread for me!!

Looking forward to pics.

[Mr Tumble]

You Sir are a true petrol head! A very good car history for your age and all done via trading up not through bank of mum and dad, you seem to have a keen eye too for making a few $$ and picking up decent cars under budget!

I salute you, I am 33 and nowhere near as many or as good a cars as yourself! I don't know why but the ex cop car, the falcon? sticks out to me, looks really mean on the steel wheels..

Cannot wait for an update! One of my fave threads on PH!

[Ten Four]

Mr Tumble said:

You Sir are a true petrol head! A very good car history for your age and all done via trading up not through bank of mum and dad, you seem to have a keen eye too for making a few $$ and picking up decent cars under budget!

I salute you, I am 33 and nowhere near as many or as good a cars as yourself! I don't know why but the ex cop car, the falcon? sticks out to me, looks really mean on the steel wheels..

Cannot wait for an update! One of my fave threads on PH!

Thanks mate
Everyone thinks I do live through mum/dad for funding but I really don't! (Other than the occasional lend which I do repay)

I'm thinking of spending too much money on this car.. Its just so much fun to drive and you don't need to be thrashing it to have fun

Some stty phone pictures for now..









The hail makes it look crap
That'll be first thing on the to do list aside from a service. Then the mods will start

[carreauchompeur]

Nice, I've fancied an S2000 for a while...

[Ten Four]

carreauchompeur said:

Nice, I've fancied an S2000 for a while...

Mate do it! They're pennies in comparison in the UK and they're so rewarding and enjoyable to drive! Its also a Honda, so it won't break! I'm a big believer of you only live once so go for it .

I've done around 200kms in it already and loving every bit of it. Did 150km today, roof down all day and have sunburn to prove it .

Edited by Ten Four on Wednesday 14th December 15:23