Hi all,

Probably been asked a few times.....but anyone know the running costs for a Skyline GTR?

Service intervals
Servicing costs
Insurance etc.

Just wondering, always wanted one and I might as well look at the alternatives to a STi (no STi whoops skyline comments please;) ) I expect brakes/tyres are going to be much more than my 94 WRX though!

Cheers

Richard

Service intervals are not too bad at 6000 miles, but bear in mind that there are only 5/6 Skyline specialists in the UK. So you may have to travel to find one. It's not recommended using your local Nissan dealership (unless it happens to be Middlehursts).

Servicing costs: Oil, filters etc are not really any more than any other car, but because they are specialist cars, the specialist tuning companies' labour rates are not cheap. Any official Nissan / Nismo part is expensive too.

Insurance costs are expensive, but it is a group 20 car so that's hardly suprising. I am 23 with 4 years no claims in a rural post code and it is costing me just under £2K on a 550bhp GTR with all mods declared. A standard car would've cost me about £1400. Another point to note, mosts insurance companies I contacted required fitment of a tracker in addition to a CAT 1 alarm/immob.

MPG depends on the state of tune. A standard car should return 23ish MPG, I am currently getting about 170 miles to £35 (dunno what MPG that works out to). If you are bothered about fuel consumption then you dont really want to be buying a Skyline GTR!

The cheapest you will find a set of decent tyres to fit standard R33 GTR Skyline rims is going to be around £160 per corner. If you have 18" wheels obviously it will be more. I have just fitted two new 265/35 ZR18 S03s to the rear of mine and with a bit of shopping around I got them for £200 each.

Brakes: I have not changed these yet, but they do seem to be ridiculously expensive. Standard front disks from Nissan are around £550!!! Although I understand aftermarket items are available a lot cheaper. A set of decent front pads is about £130.

Something you missed of your expenses is tuning costs. You may think you are going to keep the car standard, but it wont last as this tuning game is pretty addictive :D. A couple of grand will get you to around 380bhp, 450 is going to cost you 5/6K more, 550bhp you are looking at spending at least £15K to do it properly. 600bhp plus is perfectly possible, but obviously is going to cost even more.

Check out: www.gtr.co.uk (forum is down ATM) and www.gtrowner.com for more info.

Simon


Edited to say: That once you have spent your £2K and are running about 380bhp then an Sti has no chance :D and if you have 550 then you can say goodbye to Mr Porsche and Ferrari too. :D


[Edited by Simon - 4/29/2002 5:01:19 PM]

Simon's about right on this one. My R33 GTR V-Spec is standard, and is not too bad to run as a second car. Would cost me a fortune in juice and services if it was my only vehicle.

The Servicing costs are not too bad. depends if you want to tackle oil and filter changes and air filter changes yourself. To change these bits costs me £48. This is with genuine Nissan filters, and Castrol RS 10w60 Fully synthetic oil. Also, any halfwit can check over the consumable parts, ie. Pads, tyres etc. Middlehursts charge £300 for the same job! Now I wonder what makes sense?

Option Motorsport at Silverstone is a respected Jap servicing/Tuning place, as are Abbey Motorsport, Tuning Japanese and a few others. Middlehursts clearly have a name and therefore charge accordingly. You pays yer money ..............

In truth, if your car has a warranty to keep up, then get it done by the professionals. Skylines are not that scary to work on for the easy maintenance. When you need new bearings in you turbos, an HKS head gasket and some de-catted downpipes, take it to someone who knows what they're doing!

Above all, shop around, and don't be put off. I'm finding that mine is no more expensive to run than my old STI Type R. Oh, and be prepared for the grin factor! :D:D:D:D:D

Matt

Thanks for that interesting reading I was thinking of getting an STi to replace my WRX - but thought it would be rude not to consider all the alternatives ;)

I would be doing about 60 miles a day in it, so unless I borrow my girlfriends micra :( I think servicing would come around a bit too quick! Wish I could afford/house a second car.....

I used to see the guy from Option Motorsport round Oxford in his White Skyline - sounded fantastic, what a beast!

Might take one for a test drive though....just to be sure....;)

Cheers

Richard

No idea where you live, but Hiteq prices are 6k service = £75, 12k service = £150, 24k service = £225, cambelt = £175+cost of belt. So servicing is cheap enough. Insurance is barely any different than a jap import WRX.

Tyres, well my local garage do cheapies for the OEM 17's (245/45/17) @ £50 per corner, no idea about the price for brand names tyres I just saw it in an add in the paper but 17's can generally be had cheaply enough :) 18's aren't cheap either, but I believe a set of 4 falkens fk451 (very popular on jap skylines) can be had for ~ £400.

Not yet bought one, and only put a deposit on GTR so far (long story), so can't comment on fuel use. If you want to modify the car then it is generally much cheaper to buy a decent modified car like simon did than modify a standard one. 400ish bhp is cheap enough to get to, but past that costs big $$$.

That said wait 'til I find a good car before you start looking ;)

And my daughter (nearly 3) today said, "I don't want to go in your green car, I want a Nissan Skyline"

[Edited by polarbearit - 4/30/2002 12:50:15 AM]

LOL... Have I called you tight before Jon??? ;)

The way I see it is if you are spending £16 / £17K on a car, especially one that is famous for its excellent handling and amazing grip, then you don't want to be fitting ****ty £50 tyres and ruining the whole package.

Although your buying a modified car tip is a great one. :D

Simon, I'm not tight and certainly wouldn't fit £50 tyres to a skyline, just saying that tyres aren't really much dearer than for an impreza, particularly 17's...

Anyway since I can't find the skyline I want at the moment, I shouldn't be telling people to look for exactly what I want.

Oh and another tip, the red R33 on autotrader (currently £13k) has a somewhat colourful history by the looks of things (ie a GTS Chassis & engine number, but definately a GTR)... Something of a ringer :eek: