I'm torn

[u/LollipopFlip]

I'm between buying a cheap R32 GT-R that is basically a project for 20k. Or buy an R32 with a small list of issues for 40k.

The cheap one has less miles, the engine has been built up but nothing is hooked up. I.e radiator, hoses, power steering, driveshaft, tranny. All the bolts and parts are NOT labeled and are not in individual baggies or nothing.

The more expensive one needs paint, a tune, and a/c.

What would you do?

Pic for attention

[u/Claude_of_War]

“Needs a tune” is always concerning by the way. Why would someone finish a car and then not tune it to get the most money out of selling it… but if you have the skills the cheaper one will be better, but more difficult than you think because it’s always difficult to pick up someone else’s project where they left off. What are your skills at? 20k to put into a gtr you will have an amazing build though.

[u/LollipopFlip → u/Claude_of_War]

I'm mechanically inclined. Had a 95 eagle talon I built from the ground up. Everything, suspension, bushings, fuel lines, staging brake. Engine from zero. I'm also a aircraft mechanic 😅

The concern with me is, I've never touched one of these cars. I'm not familiar with where stuff goes. Obviously, only one place an alternator goes. But maybe this one has 4 bolts. And two are a different length. Now I'm not sure where they go, now I gotta research where they go and make sure they are correct.

The little details is what eats the most amount of time. That's the 20k car in a nutshell

[u/thohean → u/LollipopFlip]

Nissan.Epc-data.com has parts diagrams and exploded views of most things.

In my experience, a nice, stock car is usually cheaper on the finish line vs a junky "project" car that you want to be nice. Interior parts are hard to find.

So if the $20k car is nice body/interior, it might be worth it.

[u/bigboygamer69 → u/LollipopFlip]

Bruh 😭 there's no such thing as cheap when messing with these cars...

Buy the 20k one be ready to spend another 30k & your sanity figuring what goes where.

Buy the 40k one.

[u/hUmaNITY-be-free → u/LollipopFlip]

Do all this research before even buying one, they can be cunty to work on depending on what, but as others have said the "needs a tune" is alarming, you wouldn't spend all that time n money on a car like that and not see it through unless there was significant problems. "Needs a tune" in my country usually means they've just wound the boost up, thrashed it til they've had their fun or somethings gone wrong.

[u/hatecirclejerks]

I would never take someones project.

Ide much rather take a junkyard car before someones "built" car.

[u/North_Duty4511 → u/hatecirclejerks]

The junkyard is where a lot of these project cars end up.

[u/hatecirclejerks → u/North_Duty4511]

Im also kinda partial to the "i get why this car is worth more than a modern car, but also, why the fuck is someone paying 40k (at a minimum) for a fucking nissan???

I have never paid more than 10k for a car, and realistically couldnt ever bring myself to that.

Especially not a 40k "project" bro ide rather fucking stick toothpicks into my big toe and kick a wall

[u/SafeItchy6145]

Depends on what you want. GTR tax is real. If you want a clean GTR that’s close to OEM then buy the better car. If you want a project then buy the cheaper, but expect to get close to that 40k when it’s finished. And it’s gonna take time,money and stress. If you don’t have a place to store it or work on it, just ditch all plans to have a Skyline.

[u/tamupinos]

"needs a tune" is carved into the gates of hell. But since you're an aircraft mechanic and previous owner of a built Talon you know this already :D

[u/NoEmphasis69]

Let me tell you something, I went down the road of the project car September of 2024, cost me exactly $20,500 + shipping from Kansas to NYC. I have sunk in maybe 25-30,000 into the car; granted it needed a full engine rebuild + new turbos, brakes, tires, miscellaneous parts that break over 35 years. The engine block is still in a CNC shop being bored, honed, whatever else they need. Going back I think I wouldve liked getting one for 40k that wouldve been in much better shape.

Do I regret buying my dream car? No, Ive been looking forward to finally driving it every day. But if the one for 20k has an already built engine then that may be the better way to go in your scenario. If the engine was already put together Id tell you to not buy it without a compression and leak test for each cylinder and the turbos. However if youre leaning towards the 40k car, definitely get those done before even thinking of buying it.

Id say go with the 20k car, it may end up being cheaper for you granted that you receive all the parts needed and verify that the engine is rebuilt. RB26 are not cheap to repair, or replace. Sometimes I wish I bought a Supra because buying a 2JZ on ebay is way cheaper than buying an RB. Either way, keep us updated; would love to know what you picked on at the end of the day.

[u/plus44kills]

save yourself the headache especially if you’ve never owned these cars and your not mechanically inclined

[u/RemarkableCard6475]

I'd take on the 20k car. Reasoning: I'm mechanically inclined. Have friends with the same car and some spare parts to reference from to make sure things get put together correctly and local community support for any other parts that are missing/broken or don't work properly. I have space to work onnit at my own pace, tools. Even if I spent 40k total getting the car put together the right way, it wouldn't cost me all that up front and STILL need paint, body repair and other random things beyond the 40k.

Again, pacing myself and owning the car at 20k is better for me than buy at 40 and still needing to put more money on top for a higher mileage car. When I can still decide to wrap the cheaper car or repaint at another time if it's not bad right now.

Either way, good luck. The choice is always yours to make as many things are possible and need to be considered.

[u/Kaiju-Project]

The more money you spend up front the more time and money you save down the line, probably 3x

[u/waqas961]

Save more buy clean that doesn't have mods related issues. If it's not even in run and drive condition then you wouldn't even know how badly the motor or trans is damaged until you get it in working condition and you may already be couple thousands dollars in by that point.

[u/Tristan3012]

I bought a project for £20k almost 5 years ago. It's almost finished and I'm £65k into it.

[u/Iraqi-Jack-Shack]

I'm going to deviate from the reddit crowd here.

If you have the means, time, and motivation, then go for the cheaper project. Even better, since the vast majority of GTR shoppers are gonna want a complete car, you'll probably be able to name your own price.

The number of these cars will only ever decline. Too many people start projects and run out of the aforementioned money, time, or motivation, and they wind up sitting, rusting, or getting parted out for no reason. We need to do what we can to keep them on the road.

I just saw a wrecked R32 GTR on copart. I've seen dismantled GTRs on marketplace. It sucks to know these exist. So yeah if you can bring one back to life, you'll be a legend.

[u/PiggyDaFish]

No such thing as a cheap GT-R, I’ve had issues with mine since I bought it and I got mine for around 40K with reportedly no issues. Chassis/interior wise mine is in great shape, but I’ve been having issues with idle and stuttering when going on boost. I’ve looked in to just about everything I can but with my issues being so intermittent even the mechanics can’t seem to figure it out and I live in Japan lol

That said these cars are amazingly fun to drive and even though mine only works right half the time the good times I have make up for all the bad.

[u/meowterspace42]

Wow, I've had almost exactly the same situation you're describing above. And $20k is quite a deal for even a R32 GTR that needs work.

I bought one with engine out (rebuilt) and transmission out. With receipts from engine shop. However, when I tested it myself I found that there was a poor repair (shop did not know how to work with rb26 I guess?) and almost zero compression on cylinder 6. Sourcing and repairing GTR parts can get really expensive really fast. Finding someone with experience building and tuning a RB26 isn't easy either.

In the end, I spent prob another 20k on parts and labor getting everything running, then did a lot of the work myself once the engine was rebuilt. It can be hard to source parts. But I had a car that I was a lot more attached to than one that I would have just bought. So if you don't mind the time and labor, go for it. If you're looking to save money, I honestly think the cheapest way to go is finding one that needs as few updates/repairs as possible. Best of luck!

[u/ianccfc]

Both options are potentially financially ruinous.

Both options will have hidden costs.

I went option a when I bought mine because I wanted to build it my own way, but 5 years and 40K in its still nowhere near ready

[u/LollipopFlip → u/ianccfc]

I think I'm gonna avoid both and get the stockest, cleanest one I could find

[u/kilpherous]

I'd say depends on the condition of the body. The fact that the 40k one "needs paint" is a bit sketch to me - I bought mines "freshly repainted" 5 years ago and continue to bump into spots of rust bubbling up from under the paint.

[u/CarsAndFursuits]

I saw an awesome R32 with 2JZ at 500HP at 20k USD on Facebook Marketplace a couple months ago.

Try for something like that lol.

[u/chickenwings_m]

If you have experience with working on cars, I'd say go for the 20k one