R35 GTR - tyres
Author
Discussion

Phooey

Original Poster:

13,546 posts

193 months

Friday 6th August 2010
quotequote all
Guys,

Spoke to Middlehurst recently r.e. the true costs of servicing and maintaining these beasts. One point i was shocked at, was the cost of replacing the rubber - £2k+ yikes. Is this correct? Apparently there are not many tyre manufacturers who make rubber for the GTR.

RightKerfuffle

86 posts

199 months

Friday 6th August 2010
quotequote all
Phoeey, get over to the gtr website. Dunlops (OEM) can only be supplied by Nissan HPC's and a hugh inflated price - yup 2k +. No other suppliers are provided with them. Or goto Kwik fit, order up 4 Bridgestones for <1k ... Hmm now 2 sets for the price of one !

Phooey

Original Poster:

13,546 posts

193 months

Friday 6th August 2010
quotequote all
Thanks for that Kevin. I would be happy at £1k, but £2k and they can bks, not sure i could put my trust in Kwik-thick though.

I keep revisiting the GTR option, i said i wouldn't have one because of the maintenance costs and frequency of servicing - i'm the kind of person that finds it an inconvenience to service the car once a year, never mind twice hehe

Also having problems finding an insurer who doesn't insist on a Cat 5 tracking device. The best quote so far is Keith Michaels at £1k, but the car has to be tracker-ed *and* garaged.

The other major niggle for me is where to have it serviced - living in Notts the closest to me is Cambridge, but understand from a quick search on GTR forums that Marshalls are st. The other option is of course Middlehursts, but it will be a complete pita having to trek up there twice a year. I wouldn't want my car on the back of an RAC low loader.

Now, i do like the idea of Litchfield imports looking after the car, and driving to Tewkesbury could tie in with a bit of business i do, but, i wonder if a collection of non franchise service stamps would knock the resale value of the car come trade in scratchchin

Oh, and it would be a tight fit in the garage biggrin

But on the plus side - the gen 1 997 Turbo i was hoping to buy for my next car, is still a little over budget, and tbh, i really would want the PDK, but can't stump up the £95-£100k needed. So, a GTR for less than £50k (half the price of the PDK 997 T) could now be a serious option. More research needed smile

Noticed Middlehursts had a silver 09/09 Black Edition with 12k miles at £46k - seemed gfvm.

RightKerfuffle

86 posts

199 months

Saturday 7th August 2010
quotequote all
Phooey said:
Thanks for that Kevin. I would be happy at £1k, but £2k and they can bks, not sure i could put my trust in Kwik-thick though.

I keep revisiting the GTR option, i said i wouldn't have one because of the maintenance costs and frequency of servicing - i'm the kind of person that finds it an inconvenience to service the car once a year, never mind twice hehe

Also having problems finding an insurer who doesn't insist on a Cat 5 tracking device. The best quote so far is Keith Michaels at £1k, but the car has to be tracker-ed *and* garaged.

The other major niggle for me is where to have it serviced - living in Notts the closest to me is Cambridge, but understand from a quick search on GTR forums that Marshalls are st. The other option is of course Middlehursts, but it will be a complete pita having to trek up there twice a year. I wouldn't want my car on the back of an RAC low loader.

Now, i do like the idea of Litchfield imports looking after the car, and driving to Tewkesbury could tie in with a bit of business i do, but, i wonder if a collection of non franchise service stamps would knock the resale value of the car come trade in scratchchin

Oh, and it would be a tight fit in the garage biggrin

But on the plus side - the gen 1 997 Turbo i was hoping to buy for my next car, is still a little over budget, and tbh, i really would want the PDK, but can't stump up the £95-£100k needed. So, a GTR for less than £50k (half the price of the PDK 997 T) could now be a serious option. More research needed smile

Noticed Middlehursts had a silver 09/09 Black Edition with 12k miles at £46k - seemed gfvm.
Tyres. Kwik fit can supply and not fit the rubber (I know what you mean . . .) Seems the simplest method. Sadly camskill will not be able to supply the OEM Dunlop .. there appears to have been an exclusive deal (!) between dunlop and nissan, with the rubber only going to the nissan HPC's.

Servicing. I myself use litchfields. And to be honest if I was purchasing second hand, and indeed anybody who does will do some homework on the cars and will soon realise that the independants are providing the level of knowledge, service and value that the current HPC's could only dream about. I would have no problems, plus visiting them is always a pleasure to see other machiney !

Insurance. This is a bit of a mixed bag. When I got my car last year, moving from and E92 M3 - my insurer wanted tracker. This was fine as I had tracker on the M3, and for £99 tracker supply and fit a new unit to the car and carry on the subscriptions. On renewal the car no longer requires a tracker ?? Go figure !

Experience. I hope you've not driven one ... if you have you will ignore the porker / garage / cost issues ! They really are that good !

Phooey

Original Poster:

13,546 posts

193 months

Sunday 8th August 2010
quotequote all
RightKerfuffle said:
Phooey said:
Thanks for that Kevin. I would be happy at £1k, but £2k and they can bks, not sure i could put my trust in Kwik-thick though.

I keep revisiting the GTR option, i said i wouldn't have one because of the maintenance costs and frequency of servicing - i'm the kind of person that finds it an inconvenience to service the car once a year, never mind twice hehe

Also having problems finding an insurer who doesn't insist on a Cat 5 tracking device. The best quote so far is Keith Michaels at £1k, but the car has to be tracker-ed *and* garaged.

The other major niggle for me is where to have it serviced - living in Notts the closest to me is Cambridge, but understand from a quick search on GTR forums that Marshalls are st. The other option is of course Middlehursts, but it will be a complete pita having to trek up there twice a year. I wouldn't want my car on the back of an RAC low loader.

Now, i do like the idea of Litchfield imports looking after the car, and driving to Tewkesbury could tie in with a bit of business i do, but, i wonder if a collection of non franchise service stamps would knock the resale value of the car come trade in scratchchin

Oh, and it would be a tight fit in the garage biggrin

But on the plus side - the gen 1 997 Turbo i was hoping to buy for my next car, is still a little over budget, and tbh, i really would want the PDK, but can't stump up the £95-£100k needed. So, a GTR for less than £50k (half the price of the PDK 997 T) could now be a serious option. More research needed smile

Noticed Middlehursts had a silver 09/09 Black Edition with 12k miles at £46k - seemed gfvm.
Tyres. Kwik fit can supply and not fit the rubber (I know what you mean . . .) Seems the simplest method. Sadly camskill will not be able to supply the OEM Dunlop .. there appears to have been an exclusive deal (!) between dunlop and nissan, with the rubber only going to the nissan HPC's.

Servicing. I myself use litchfields. And to be honest if I was purchasing second hand, and indeed anybody who does will do some homework on the cars and will soon realise that the independants are providing the level of knowledge, service and value that the current HPC's could only dream about. I would have no problems, plus visiting them is always a pleasure to see other machiney !

Insurance. This is a bit of a mixed bag. When I got my car last year, moving from and E92 M3 - my insurer wanted tracker. This was fine as I had tracker on the M3, and for £99 tracker supply and fit a new unit to the car and carry on the subscriptions. On renewal the car no longer requires a tracker ?? Go figure !

Experience. I hope you've not driven one ... if you have you will ignore the porker / garage / cost issues ! They really are that good !
I drove one a couple of months back at Prestwold hall, a friend of a friend knows/used to work with one of the instructors there - got to drive it how *i* wanted too, rather than them telling you to ease up hehe. The car totally blew me away, that gearbox was just fking AMAZING.

I spoke to Chris at Middlehurst yesterday r.e. a Gunmetal Grey 09 Black Edition, sounds a lovely car, but tbh i wanted to spend about £45k max - this car was £50k. There are cars out there for £45k, and might even buy private, just need to do a little more research, at the end of the day i don't want to be buying a car that has in some way had it's warranty voided.

I was also shocked at the cost to fit a Cobra tracker - £995! so could be handy to find a car with this already fitted smile

Cheers

Wheelrepairit

3,024 posts

228 months

Sunday 8th August 2010
quotequote all
I read somewhere that over 80% of GTRs are already fitted with a tracker, so that may help when insuring, mine was and I paid £482 a yr with Elephant.

I used Marshalls for both my services, no problems at all, ill agree its not as good since Phil, Laura and Dave left, but the tech, cant remember his name,is still spot on, well in my eyes he does a good job.

Phooey

Original Poster:

13,546 posts

193 months

Sunday 8th August 2010
quotequote all
Wheelrepairit said:
I read somewhere that over 80% of GTRs are already fitted with a tracker, so that may help when insuring, mine was and I paid £482 a yr with Elephant.

I used Marshalls for both my services, no problems at all, ill agree its not as good since Phil, Laura and Dave left, but the tech, cant remember his name,is still spot on, well in my eyes he does a good job.
True, i have noticed quite a few of these cars have the Tracker. £482 is mega cheap, £1000 is what i have been quoted.

RightKerfuffle

86 posts

199 months

Sunday 8th August 2010
quotequote all
Wheelrepairit said:
I read somewhere that over 80% of GTRs are already fitted with a tracker, so that may help when insuring, mine was and I paid £482 a yr with Elephant.

I used Marshalls for both my services, no problems at all, ill agree its not as good since Phil, Laura and Dave left, but the tech, cant remember his name,is still spot on, well in my eyes he does a good job.
I *think* nissan recommend the cobra system - which as you say is silly money. You can use tracker / trackstar etc, up to you. Tracker for me was so easy, rang them up changing car - no problem carry on subscription, £99 and we will supply and fit the latest system. Told them the car, and a specific tracker person was sent out knowing the wiring of the car, and hour later all done.

Looking around, check out the GTR forum, there were / are a few for sale and you'll find out quickly how it's been driven / mapped etc.

Good luck, and knowing you've driven one .. it won't be long until you are in one !

Phooey

Original Poster:

13,546 posts

193 months

Sunday 8th August 2010
quotequote all
Appreciate the advice Kevin, thanks. Just been looking what's out there for sale - think I quite fancy a White black edition. Decided I might up the budget and look for a sat- nav car, seems a private sale could throw up a 59 plate for £50 k smile.

RightKerfuffle

86 posts

199 months

Monday 9th August 2010
quotequote all
Phooey said:
Appreciate the advice Kevin, thanks. Just been looking what's out there for sale - think I quite fancy a White black edition. Decided I might up the budget and look for a sat- nav car, seems a private sale could throw up a 59 plate for £50 k smile.
White Black edition, with satnav you say thumbup Ooo that's my car, lol (Good combination, but then I biased) !

Paint wise all GTR's are soft, with many possible stone chips on the front end. If you are worried that the car has been cobb'd (and thus couldbe troublesome for engine/drivetrain warrantee) get the car check by an HPC/Good independant who can tell everything that's been done (Max boost, no of ECU flashes etc)


Phooey

Original Poster:

13,546 posts

193 months

Monday 9th August 2010
quotequote all
RightKerfuffle said:
Phooey said:
Appreciate the advice Kevin, thanks. Just been looking what's out there for sale - think I quite fancy a White black edition. Decided I might up the budget and look for a sat- nav car, seems a private sale could throw up a 59 plate for £50 k smile.
White Black edition, with satnav you say thumbup Ooo that's my car, lol (Good combination, but then I biased) !

Paint wise all GTR's are soft, with many possible stone chips on the front end. If you are worried that the car has been cobb'd (and thus couldbe troublesome for engine/drivetrain warrantee) get the car check by an HPC/Good independant who can tell everything that's been done (Max boost, no of ECU flashes etc)
Excellent choice of car, i do think the white suits the GTR perfectly - it was a white car i drove, and they do say..... the white cars are the fastest biggrin. When you say cobb'd, does this mean 'chipped' or 'remapped', i agree that the car would need to be standard to keep the warranty intact, although i understand a y-pipe is accepted by some HPC's. I have spoken to a guy selling a white sat/nav car with less than 3k miles on the clock - sounds a nice car, looked after by an enthusiast - only problem was he still has finance on the car - put me off.

RightKerfuffle

86 posts

199 months

Thursday 12th August 2010
quotequote all
Phooey said:
RightKerfuffle said:
Phooey said:
Appreciate the advice Kevin, thanks. Just been looking what's out there for sale - think I quite fancy a White black edition. Decided I might up the budget and look for a sat- nav car, seems a private sale could throw up a 59 plate for £50 k smile.
White Black edition, with satnav you say thumbup Ooo that's my car, lol (Good combination, but then I biased) !

Paint wise all GTR's are soft, with many possible stone chips on the front end. If you are worried that the car has been cobb'd (and thus couldbe troublesome for engine/drivetrain warrantee) get the car check by an HPC/Good independant who can tell everything that's been done (Max boost, no of ECU flashes etc)
Excellent choice of car, i do think the white suits the GTR perfectly - it was a white car i drove, and they do say..... the white cars are the fastest biggrin. When you say cobb'd, does this mean 'chipped' or 'remapped', i agree that the car would need to be standard to keep the warranty intact, although i understand a y-pipe is accepted by some HPC's. I have spoken to a guy selling a white sat/nav car with less than 3k miles on the clock - sounds a nice car, looked after by an enthusiast - only problem was he still has finance on the car - put me off.
Sorry, Cobb as in the cobb access port - it enables new engine/gearbox maps to be loaded to the car so a kind of re-map, but so much more. The y-pipe is a must it transforms the sound of the car to what it should sound like.