i always loved and wanted to own a skyline but never thought that i would be fortunate to own one at 17. when i turn 16 and got my g1 i realized if i wanted a car i would have to stop wasting my money so i started to save up started working more hours and then i got my g2 8 months later. at this point i had about $9,000 saved up .i kept saving up and in the summer i worked almost full time. when i turned 17 i was going to buy a car but didnt think i could afford a skyline because i only had about $16,600 at this point. then my uncle said that he saw a skyline r32 GTR for $9,500 he said it was good condition. i told my dad he said that its gonna cost alot of money to insure and to maintain. i found out it would be around $370 a month under my dads name. i told my uncle to go test drive the skyline he said it was really hard to drive because its right hand drive and will take alot of getting used to and its impossible to make left urns because he cant see anything. i told him to buy it anyways. he said he will bring it down when the weathers a little better which is hopfully soon. but i want to find another insurance company that will insure me for less, i also want to make it a left hand drive car does any one no how much it would cost to switch it from right to left hand drive?
The whole point of having a skyline is for it to be Unique. How many cars in the US do you see that have drivers sides on the right? (besides mail cars). I dont know how much it would cost, but I can bet you it would be a few hundred if not thousands. I would just keep it that way, you will get used to it.
you will pay around 15-20k to have this done and it will not drive the same or look good...
also where are you getting the GTR from?
for 9500 i doubt its a GTR... prolly a GTS-t
also since you are in the USA the car has to be 25yrs old before its eligible for import into the USA where as in Canada its 15yrs
what has been done to it? is it compliant with your states regulations? it may need the following
DOT headlights
3rd brake light
nuetral safety switch(if automatic or manual with remote start)
DOT tires(if you can find the same tire here as in japan it may pass)
DOT glass, although AS1 and AS2 comply as well just gotta look for it
front and rear sidemarkers
and emmsissons controls(state depending)
i dont want to burst your bubble but you should know what you are getting into before you jump
parts are not cheap like domestics and usually come from japan i can recommend a VERY reputable guy in japan he has gotten me stuff for my GTR32 very fast and at the price i could afford...
insurance shouldnt be tha much... it should be comparable to any other 15yr old car on the road... so 370 per month is VERY high... im looking at paying about 140 per month.... thats in Canada mind you...
also driving it is easy... takes about 15-30min before you are used to road positioning.... as for left hand turns, sure they are a lil more difficult because you sometimes* cant see oncoming traffic but the same goes for LHD vehicles...
for every thing thats more difficult there is something that is easier like right hand turns, parralell parking... observing pedestrians or bicycle traffic
after you drive it for 2 weeks it will be like driving anything else....
youd have more difficulty going to the UK and driving on the left of the road than driving on the right of a car on the right of the road....
as long as you are careful your gonna be just fine
some things to think about getting replaced right away are :
timing belt - if it snaps no more engine
oil pump - only good to 6500rpm past that and it could fail due to
oil pump drive shaft - it doesnt fit properly and at rpms above 6500 it can sheer off making your pump not pump and your engine seize due to lack of oil
brake fluid, water, oil should all be changed
basically treat the car as if it were an old car that needs lots of TLC
Do you have any pic of your car? I'm also planning to buy a skyline. I just got a bug. And I so tired of maintaining it just to make it run. I want to kiss a car with nice side mirror, mine is terrible.
Thanks in advance.
__________________
My 4 Steps before riding my car.
1. Check my car for any problems.
2. Clean my wind shield.
3. Say I love you.
3. Kiss my side mirror.
yeah!!! I do that. I'm a girl you know.
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i live in canada so its only 15 years and i decided to get to LHD because i cant stand it RHD i found a guy who said he would do it for around $3,000 and he said it wont make the car perform any differnet. found an insurance quote which cost me $240 a month. i will try to post pics of my car soon hopefully will have the car done buy june
3,000 to convert it to LHD.... lol hes blowing smoke up your arse... how many conversions has he done? lets see pics of his work...
you do realise that inorder to convert it to LHD he will have to cut holes in your firewall, and swap everything over to the other side, doing that will change the structural integrity ofthe car...
part of the desire with the skyline is because its a RHD vehicle... its your car and ultimatl you will do what ever you want, but keep in mind that converting it could destroy it and then what are you gonna do? part it out for scrap?
also how can you say you cant stand it being RHD if you havent even tried to get used to it, your 17 and should be able to adapt even better than i am able at 27 yet i have no problems and find it easy and more fun to do...
still id question anyone in Northamerica for convertingh RHD tio LHD, the only people i have ever seen do a good job of it and make it look factory is people in the UAE
Last edited by Shadao : Apr 15th, 2008 at 08:13 PM.
in fact just double checking over on GTRCanada.com and there arent any shops that have done a perfect swap in canada, the only place to get the dash is from a company in UAE and they dont ship it out, so unless your planning on shipping your car around the world to get a proper and perfect conversion i suggest you either learn to drive RHD or find another vehicle to buy...
i just dont wanna see or hear about how your car got butchered after you had been warned about it...
and if you dont beleive me then join up at GTRC and see what goes on when you mentiuon this... and 9,500 for a GTR is a VERY low price and i would be very worried about its condition
After years of driving LHD cars, I find driving RHD cars a pain, particularly those with manual transmissions. I didn't buy my Skyline because RHD is cool or unique, here all cars are RHD. I got it because it was a good looking, well modded car, and the price was too good to pass up.
My last American car was a 2006 Pontiac GTO. I loved the power, and the speed, but my Skyline is almost as fast, though it isn't nearly as easy to drift around the corners (you gotta love low-end V8 power).
On the other hand, the total price for my Skyline (they are CHEAP here in Japan) was smaller than the down payment on my GTO, and I definitely don't miss the $750 per month car payment.
You'll have to track down all of the correct flanges, bends, a flex pipe, catalytic converter (unless you are a polluter, then Captain Planet will kick your ass, green mullet style)
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