Best Buy For Low Budget

[Beijing09]

Hi,

I'm new here and had a quick question;

For someone on a limited budget say £5000 and under is it possible to get a fairly powerful Jap car? If so what type would you choose?

I have had a look at some old single turbo R33's and some even older twin turbo GTO's etc but wanted to know what you guys thought.

Cheers

[Marf]

You need to narrow it down a little. £5k would buy you a whole range of fast jap machinery.

Do you want FWD/AWD/RWD?

2 seats? 4 Seats?

[Marf]

Some Ideas

http://pistonheads.com/sales/662841.htm
http://pistonheads.com/sales/747726.htm
http://pistonheads.com/sales/806357.htm
http://pistonheads.com/sales/704851.htm

[Beijing09]

Thanks for giving me some ideas Marf.

4 Doors would be pref but I know a lot of decent cars are only 2. Would pref 4wd not sure if I could handle a fast rwd lol.

Ideally I would like a skyline but thought I would struggle to get anything that had not been hammered or that was after 1995 with a turbo etc.

The Scooby looks nice though.

Edited by Beijing09 on Friday 19th December 14:27

[Marf]

Yeah you'll struggle to get a nice GT-R32 for £5k.

If you need a 4 door then you could look at non type R STi scooby. They are still effing quick.

[havoc]

That ZX and the MR2 look pretty good for the money!

RWD? If it's a turbo'd motor, then you would need to drive it with some sense, wet or dry (esp. in the wet). A well set-up car driven sympathetically should never bite though.

But a non-Type-R Scooby will understeer quite noticeably at the limit...which some people will find frustrating. (Type-R's come with an adjustable centre diff so you can tweak the handling from totally front-led to almost rwd-like).


Depends what you're used to. If you're coming from a fwd 90s-era hot hatch (or similar), then I'd suggest either lower-power rwd (IMHO rwd is fun even with under 200bhp), or 4wd turbo.


One other point - a £5k Scooby or ZX or similar will still have £25k car bills...and being older there's a higher risk of something going wrong. So make sure you've a maintenance pot stashed away somewhere, just-in-case...

[Marf]

Yeah I like the look of the MR2 as well, but then I'm biased owning a GG Rev3 Turbo. Those TOMs wheels are lush

[Beijing09]

havoc said:

That ZX and the MR2 look pretty good for the money!

RWD? If it's a turbo'd motor, then you would need to drive it with some sense, wet or dry (esp. in the wet). A well set-up car driven sympathetically should never bite though.

But a non-Type-R Scooby will understeer quite noticeably at the limit...which some people will find frustrating. (Type-R's come with an adjustable centre diff so you can tweak the handling from totally front-led to almost rwd-like).


Depends what you're used to. If you're coming from a fwd 90s-era hot hatch (or similar), then I'd suggest either lower-power rwd (IMHO rwd is fun even with under 200bhp), or 4wd turbo.


One other point - a £5k Scooby or ZX or similar will still have £25k car bills...and being older there's a higher risk of something going wrong. So make sure you've a maintenance pot stashed away somewhere, just-in-case...

Hi Havoc,

25k bills? Lot of money to have spare... Is that because these cars are unreliable in general? I know earlier Scoobies were known to be a bit temperamental.

What would type of car would you plump for?

[Marf]

Beijing09 said:

25k bills?

He means expect the kind of bills/maintenance that a car costing £25k new would bring.

Lunch an engine on a ZX/STi and you're talking about alot of money for a rebuild.

Edited by Marf on Friday 19th December 15:40

[Beijing09]

Oh I see,

Although they are not top spec what do you think of these:

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/803298.htm

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/802108.htm

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/721935.htm

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/769660.htm

How many is too many miles for a car like this in your opinion?

Edited by Beijing09 on Friday 19th December 15:53

Edited by Beijing09 on Friday 19th December 15:56

[havoc]

Depends on how it's been used/abused.

The stock Nissan lumps are very strong, so as long as they've not been starved of oil or subject to high boost without proper modding, then none of those should give you any problems for a while. Weaker are likely to be turbos (if not properly cooled after use, or if over-stressed) and transmissions (no idea how robust the stock Skyline 'box is...might not be an issue).

Other stuff:-
- Suspension. If not tracked, then 80k shouldn't be an issue, even on a heavy-ish car like a Skyline. Closer to 100k and bushes and dampers will probably need looking at, possibly sooner for bushes...worth asking the owners club there, as I'm just guessing sensible numbers here.
- Electrics. Not usually a Jap weak-point, but worth investigating any known issues, as 'leccy gremlins can be a real pain. Again, go see the owners club forum.

I think at this end of the market you buy into the current owner as much as the car, IYSWIM - someone who sounds legit and sounds like they know the car is less likely to be flogging a lemon than someone who wears their baseball cap sideways and goes on about how quick it is!

[mattley]

R33GTST is a great car and you can easily find a very good one for 5K.

[mr2-turbo-gar]

Accord type r!!

cant go wrong with that,
quick, comforftable, reliable and you should be able to pick up a mint one for 5k

www.pistonheads.com/sales/819414.htm
www.pistonheads.com/sales/824171.htm
www.pistonheads.com/sales/800207.htm
www.pistonheads.com/sales/798048.htm

to list but a few!

[Wadeski]

if you want four doors, then its really a case of Evo4 or WRX STi.

both can be quite pricey to insure, however.


I would drive an MR2 turbo, an Evo, and an R33 GTST and see which you enjoy the most.

oh one other thing - do you like the Celica GT4?



4 seats, 4WD, and at bargain basement prices now too.

[woodytype S]

Hi,if you want a car that you will not have to spends £££££££££££££££££ on it to keep if on the road,buy mine.200+bhp service history as long as your arm,and need to sell it.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/717090.htm

no harm in trying.

Woody.