Neil Smalley

Hate to say this, but since this is a Subaru BBS. STI Type UK.
Right on your budget, enough room for 4 plus luggage and one heck of a drivers car.

Other choices. Evo 6/7 Second hand
BMW M Coupe

DavidBrown

There should be a website for things like this question, as "What 2nd hand car do you recommend in price bracket X->Y" it's asked so often.

Personally (from Skyline / Scoob experience) I'd say try and stick with a 4 door, any 2 seaters going to be a right pain in the **** for getting baby+seat in and out.

And if you're thinking Skyline, budget bigstyle for fuel (15mpg avg. Less on a heavy-foot day)

carl

Ghibli Cup. Hang on, there aren't many of those and I want one. Must stop buying Evo

RichiW

So i take it all you want is straight line speed?

If not then why is`nt the Evo6/7 in the list?

Rich.

polarbearit

for £25-30k stick to a 993 rather than a 964 if you go down the porker route... A friend of mine has a 964, and his is not what you'd call reliable

Mail me if you want details about getting a Skyline R34 GTR within your budget (jmurray@nettery.com), I'm looking at buying a skyline at the moment and have unearthed lots of useful contacts, but that is the car I'd have on that budget.

Wouldn't bother with an evo or scooby at that price, they do depreciate, and aren't in my opinion (as a current scooby owner) that 'special', certainly not in the Skyline/911 way.

No experience of the Cerbera, though I know someone who had a griffith and enjoyed it loads - a few niggley problems, but he used it daily and it was generally reliable.

polarbearit

Thought of a 4 door model to consider -

Maserati Quattroporte, personally quite like the look etc, though the build isn't great, later models should be good.

carl

What about a Honda NSX?

Cerbera's a good bet if you can stand the reliability. Particularly the 4.5. 190mph+!

Martin J Stirling

Cerbera - great looking, very fast, but very unreliable and very expensive to run

911 - for that price it'll be quite an old un or a left hooker. Great cars, but expensive to run (servicing/parts etc)

Skyline - fast, 4 seats, v.reliable, v. unique, reasonable running costs. That's what I'm getting next too.

There's no other..

MS

Blow Dog

R34 for 25-30k?

I must be looking in all the wrong places

Cem

Spudgun GTR

25k can get you a mega R33....and change for a nice holiday

EvoRSX

£25-£30k Get yourself an Evo6 Extreme 450 on sale at Ralliart Dudley for the great price of £29995.

370-380ish bhp, 420 lb-ft of torque, unbelievable handling, anti lag thrown in for nice flames etc etc.

Only disadvantage is that it might be a bit harsh on fuel and the ride is very very hard for everyday use.

Andy

DavidBrown

I'd be surprised if you can get an R34 for £25-30K. Bearing in mind that the UK cars have finally all been sold at ~£48K a piece it won't be a UK car (Leather, oil coolers, MFD2 etc.)

That import companies are charging ~£42K for import Jap Spec cars.

Most 2nd hand GTRs are going for ~£35(Jap)-£40(UK) depending on how desperate the owner is.

In fact, since the R34 Skyline is finally the end of the era and all run-out models have been snapped up, prices for these have start to go back up again.

I'd be very suspicious of a car in that price range (didn't go via Dubai did it ?)


[Edited by DavidBrown - 2/13/2002 10:40:02 AM]

Jolly Green Monster 2

Was going to say one of the P1's that is at the auction... see thread in general and you'd have enough change to enhance it further... then realised you said next year...

and also mentioned above a two door is a nightmare with a baby seat unless you can fit and leave... but still a pain to get baby in and out especially as they get bigger and bigger

STI Type UK would be on my list.. if only I could afford one..

Either that or if you are keeping the RB5 then you want a sporty little Elise

CROYDON

Yep Skyline GT R33 massive spec and enough money to insure it!!

I have a GT R33 (funny as it seems) I sold my STI5 and bought it back in August last year and have never had any regrets what so ever.

...Ian Sutton (See you all at Bedford)

PGMabley

Thanks very much for the great response guys.

I am leaning towards the R33 GTR skyline but am slightly confused about the real performance of these cars - is the drive and speed much better/exciting than Scooby?

Evo's have never really lit my fire for some unknown reason and also is too close to scooby, but I acknowledge they are fantastic cars.

Also, as tempting as it is (this has been considered long and hard and is the sensible choice )the STI UK is not worth 10k more investment than RB5 (with toys) in my view and is too similar to have both.

Where does the idea of straight line only speed come from? 911, R33 and cerbera are all EVO 4/5 star cars!?!

2 doors are not a problem as it would be rare to use baby seat other than at weekends.

Elise is a good call but too impractical i feel.

Cheers
Paul

ChrisG

I'm following this thread with a bit of interest.

I have a MY00, had it from new. Starting to think about changing it.

My wife has a new-ish Mondeo V6 24v estate - dont laugh, it is actually quite a good car. Also got two kids and two dogs. I work away from home for a fortnight at a time so my scoob is not used as the primary transport.

As the Mondeo is very practial etc, I am thinking about something a bit more serious to replace the Scoob

My list just now is similar to what is being mentioned in this thread......Cerbera, 964/993, Skyline, Evo6/7.

At best my scoob is worth say £13k. I'm just not sure any of these are worth £10-15k more than what I have.

CROYDON

Paul I'll Email you if thats okay?

...Ian

Spudgun GTR

chris
dont take this the wrong way, its not intended to be insulting ok.....

i had a my00 with ppp. i also had an sti5.

ok, your my00 is worth 13k. my r33 is worth around 23k, give or take.
my skyline has every bit of kit you could ever wish for, has 550bhp and 449lbs of torque. my car literally stops traffic sometimes, kids cheer and applaud when it goes past, and people generally leave me alone.
it would crush any car ive ever owned. when it was standard, my girlfriends evo6 would beat me on the twisties...but only just.


is a 550bhp skyline worth 10k more than a my00 scooby? IMHO a definate yes. just depends how practical you have to be.
i think the only reason i would chop my r33 now is to get something radically different, say a mad evo, or take an RA and strip it out and mod it. but to get rid and go back to a 'normal' scooby? no way.
my girlfriend has just bought an sti5. it has link etc etc. it is fast, good looking etc...but its not a skyline.

as i say, what i said wasnt meant to be a mines bigger than yours comment, i just thought i'd give my perspective on it.

if you do consider an r33, dont go for the cheapest, it works out far more expensive in the end. have a look on the gtr board, nice bunch and very knowledgeable. hope this has been of help.

CraigH

Don't get me started on TVRs

Again, not personal experience, but a close friend had one - upgraded from a Chimaera. Have to say, if I was building a kit car, I would be ashamed of myself if it was put together like a TVR. Quality is a joke. They look nice, sure - but I think they're assmembled by Stevie Wonder or someone.

Straightline, great. In dry. In wet forget it. As to the running costs - services will be anywhere from £800+ extortionate. A Porsche will be way way cheaper. So will a Skyline.

If I had £25k to spend on a Skyline or Porker and Spuds came up - I'd snap it up. There'd be no need to buy Fast and Furious then
(just needs the NOS bottles for max effect )

Oh - I don't think you'll get a baby seat in a TVR either. Assuming you CAN get in and it hasn't locked you out

DavidBrown

Also.. get a nice area of tarmac, a Skyline and you'll have the most fun you can ever have with your clothes on.

ChrisG

Spudgun,

I don't think I put my thoughts across very well.
I would love a Skyline or Evo6. It's just that I've owned my Scooby from new and therefore know how it has been treated etc. I'm just not sure about paying lots more for an older car with higher mileage that might have had a dogs life.

Got some quotes online last night, paying £680 for Scooby, quotes were Cerbera 4.2 £750!!!, EVO 6 £1200, STi 7 £1100 oh and Elise £750. All quotes from Direct Line. Very surprised with the TVR quote.

What's the going rate for EVO6's? Are the RS/RSX types much cheaper than GSR's?


And are TVR's that unreliable???

NumptyScrub

You should be able to pick up a 6 from between 15-20k, depending on mileage etc.

Prices have dropped since the 7 arrived, funnily enough. Ralliart would be more expensive than a private seller, but you'd have a dealer to aim at if they did sell you a dog.

I'd have bought an R34 if I had the cash, as it is I have to put up with my Evo 6...

Derek

CROYDON

The scoob and evo are totally different drives/cars to the Skyline/Porsche and TVR.

The later are rear wheel drive (with exception of the Skyline when lose of traction is detected a 4 wheeler)and have much longer gearing being GT cars and not Rally derived!

So you either pick one catagory or another in my view!

..Ian

PGMabley

Thanks to Jonathan and Ian for the mails.

The R33 is still edging out in front as it is easy to get 350/400bhp - thanks for pointing out (and the GTR board) that this is actually a rear drive car with fantastic steering and not a permanent 4WD.

The size and reliability and servicing are also major plusses compared especially to TVR - enquired at dealer who say it is £500 at 6000miles and £1300 at 12000miles due to valve seats needing grinding every 12000!!! It also has a healthy apetite for expensive tyres - savage mainenance costs.

Thanks again for all the replies

Cheers
Paul

Spudgun GTR

cheers graig
if someone offered me 23k i'd take it, buy an evo4 or early sti RA, and spend the difference on engine stuff
may happen yet...i get bored easily

Olly

Just my tuppence worth, but for 25 grand I would buy:

1/ Used Impreza STi5 Type R (£13000)
2/ Used Caterham 7 K series (£10000)
3/ Decent 205 GTi 1.9 (£2000)

Hope this helps. Which of course it won't.

PGMabley

Thanks for the ideas again.

By co-incidence a guy that lives near me has just got a UK R33 running (I think) approx 380bhp which I had a trip out in on Friday night.

The car was very quick compared even with Scooby and appeared to be a great handling and well sorted car.

These cars most definately do not "drive themselves"!

It is likely that I will either get a late R33 or wait for a 34 to come into my price range. I am undecided which I prefer at the moment.

I will try to go to Bolney meet also and view cars!!!

Cheers
Paul

camk

The 993 is a bit of a stinker inside(when your paying out that much). I went through something similar 18 months ago going from Merc Coupe to 993 and ended up with a 996. If you've got kids its very impracticle and from my experience I'd avoid it. We've had ours since Sept 2000 and only done 14K KM(its a lot of hassle to use with the kid and too little room for luggage so even not too good for a weekend away), our BMW has done 50K KM in the same time. Also if your going down the Porker route the C4 diff takes up massive amounts of room in the boot(sic) so I'd avoid that too(based on experience). We had a 5 Door WRX Sti before and it was the best 'Weekend' and 'Family' car we've owned. You could have good fun in it plus go places with ease. I think Lexus have also released a hot/warm Estate.

Hope that helps
Cammy

The RingMaster

R33v-spec skyline is the *MOST* dissapointing car I have
ever driven, even more than the 911.

It's interior is kak, its too heavy to throw around like a loon,
its not quick enough and has shabby nissan build quality.

Saying that, if you invested enough money tuning/improving it, you could turn it into an incredible car; I accept there are some 33's
out there that are mouthwatering, best thing to do is buy one thats
been properly played with (suspension, big brakes, and big power).

Oh, many skyline owners claim massive power....if its on stock
turbos....it aint got massive power !

34v-spec is a big improvement, infact, im waiting for my mate
to sell me his bayside blue one, big HKS turbos and a low lag
550bhp.....superb !


My own choice would be a Tommi Mak Evo6, in red. You may get one
for £25k, it will NOT depreciate at all, infact it may make you money ! Handling, looks, performance, braking, track ability,
road ability, tuning potential, four doors, road presence....
IT HAS IT ALL !!!!

Or get yourself a nice fat loan and buy a new BMW M5...ROFL


Justin

dba

156 GTA?