Buying a GT4, but need assistance.

[ZeroFallen]

Hi...
First time posting, but hopefully it won't be the last.
I had my current car die on me back in November last year, and I've been looking around at imports since (I'm from Australia). I've been pursuing a yellow GT4, but have now got the results of the detailed inspection and don't know whether to proceed or not.

These are the pics from it-
http://www.j-spec.com.au/clients/Mic.../index.php?a=1

And this is what the results detailed:
TIMING BELT CHANGED AT 70430KM - NOVEMBER 2001
REPAINT - GUNMETAL TO YELLOW
PAINT CONDITION IS GOOD
MINOR SCUFF ON RIGHT REAR GUARD
LARGE SCUFF/SCRAPE ON LEFT REAR GAURD
ROOF HAS MARK FROM ROOF RACK
LEFT SIDE SKIRT HAS REPAIR HISTORY
DRIVERS SEAT HAS 2 CIGARETTE BURN HOLES
DASH IS POPPED OUT AROUND HEATER VENTS
AC DUCT CENTRE (TOP) FAN IS BROKEN (47)
NO AUDIO (ALTHOUGH THERE IS A MONITOR)
CLUTCH & TRANSMISSION OK
PS PW SUNROOF MIRROR OK
AC DOES NOT WORK
UNDERBODY RUST AND DENT
LEFT FLOOR SIDE RAIL HAS DENT
SUSPENSION RUBBER BUSH HAS CRACKS
NO OIL / WATER LEAK
ENGINE RUNS WELL WHEN COLD OR WARM
NO FUNNY NOISE
ENGINE OIL NEEDS TO BE CHANGED

PRESSURE IS A LITTLE DOWN (COMPRESSION)
MIGHT HAVE BLOWN HEAD GASKET - NEED TO REPLACE AT SOME STAGE
OTHERWISE THE CAR LOOKS GOOD

The car itself is 260k Yen which will be just over AU$3000, and after importing the total cost will be roughly AU$6500. Just wondering considering its condition, is it worth it? And how bad are the problems, superficial or going to take alot of work?

Thanks for the help guys.
Really appreciate it.

[Insanity-74]

TIMING BELT CHANGED AT 70430KM - NOVEMBER 2001 - probably will need changing again soon, big job lots of $$$
REPAINT - GUNMETAL TO YELLOW - no problems there
PAINT CONDITION IS GOOD
MINOR SCUFF ON RIGHT REAR GUARD - T-cut
LARGE SCUFF/SCRAPE ON LEFT REAR GAURD - Respray probab;y cost a couple hundred $$$ to get a descent match but not too much of a problem
ROOF HAS MARK FROM ROOF RACK - T-Cut
LEFT SIDE SKIRT HAS REPAIR HISTORY - What from, sounds dodgy to me, check theres no chassis damage
DRIVERS SEAT HAS 2 CIGARETTE BURN HOLES - bugger
DASH IS POPPED OUT AROUND HEATER VENTS - Could be a pain to fix, depending on extent of damage
AC DUCT CENTRE (TOP) FAN IS BROKEN (47) - ??? never had this problem before
NO AUDIO (ALTHOUGH THERE IS A MONITOR)
CLUTCH & TRANSMISSION OK - change gearbox oil asap use fully synthetic
PS PW SUNROOF MIRROR OK
AC DOES NOT WORK - In the UK, not a problem but over there!!!!! could be a big problem, depends whats wrong
UNDERBODY RUST AND DENT - should be no underbody rust as it`s coated to protect it, and they dont salt the roads in winter in Japan???? strange!!
LEFT FLOOR SIDE RAIL HAS DENT - has the car ever been grounded, could lead to bigger problems, bent prop shaft etc
SUSPENSION RUBBER BUSH HAS CRACKS - a nightmare to replace on the GT4
NO OIL / WATER LEAK - always a good thing
ENGINE RUNS WELL WHEN COLD OR WARM
NO FUNNY NOISE
ENGINE OIL NEEDS TO BE CHANGED - Only use fully synthetic 15w 50 if possible, good for your turbo in the heat.

PRESSURE IS A LITTLE DOWN (COMPRESSION) - Could be as simple as a loose spark plug, if its the head gasket there might be other problems, depends how long its been bad for.
MIGHT HAVE BLOWN HEAD GASKET - NEED TO REPLACE AT SOME STAGE - ASAP
OTHERWISE THE CAR LOOKS GOOD

The car itself is 260k Yen which will be just over AU$3000, and after importing the total cost will be roughly AU$6500. Just wondering considering its condition, is it worth it? And how bad are the problems, superficial or going to take alot of work? - I`d say alot of work to put right, not a bad price though, depends upon how much time and money your willing to put into it!

[Hatch]

Zero, part of the work that my company does is import/export of vehicles. I can purchase a GT-4 from Japan for you and ship it directly to your door, of course inspecting it before purchase. To ensure a much shorter list of problems than the one that you are looking at. If you are interested PM me and we can have a discussion.

Jeff

[ZeroFallen]

I guess I should have said that I only have a budget of $9k, and that needs to include compliance and registration (excluding tyres though).

[Pineapple]

Still that doesn't mean you should buy a car for $6000 and spend another $6000 to fix it later. This one doesn't looks too good. Might had been in bad accident.

[ZeroFallen]

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking... I guess I'll still keep looking.

[Pineapple]

Talk to Hatch and see how much $$$ he want.
You never know.

[ZeroFallen]

Well I just got off the phone with the importer, btw I'm dealing with J-Spec, and I knocked back the GT4. Said he wasn't surprised and if I actually did say I wanted to go for it he'd try to talk me out of it. So now he'll be doing his hardest to grab me a GT4, so all is not lost yet.

[EggBeater59]

he sounds like a yes man. anyways, here's the deal with all trac's-
they are project cars. even if it is running well when you look at it, don't be surprised if suddenly you have to put 1 grand of work into it. i honestly suggest you keep that much money in reserve just in case something happens. i keep trying to save up for preformance parts for mine, but stuff keeps needing fixin'. if you can do your own work, then you'll save money, and buying this car can be alot of fun. if you can't do this work, then either learn how, or stay the hell away
anyways, good luck on your purchase. you should check out the sale forum on alltrac.net.
cheers!

[A-Yellow-MR2]

Can anyone tell if the GT4 can go faster then 180km?http://www.j-spec.com.au/clients/Mic...gton/th_46.jpg

[Insanity-74]

Easily, you get a "Kph - Mph converter", (its a gismo that interupts the feed between the speedo cable and the speedo dial). Cover up the KPH sign on the speedo with a MPH sticker, and presto, instant 180MPH top speed, if you could actualy get it to go that quick. personally I `ve had 144mph out of my`n. On a private race track of course...

[Pineapple]

I can do 160kph in my 92 Corolla

[ZeroFallen]

Well the top speed in the GT4s is apparently 220km/h or something like that...

[Insanity-74]

Originally Posted by ZeroFallen

Well the top speed in the GT4s is apparently 220km/h or something like that...

Its gotta be higher than that, 144mph = 231.7 Kph. I recon 155mph (250kph) would be the limit judging by what the car felt like it had left in it. You`d need a very long straight road and good life insurance to try it.

[Hatch]

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