# Skyline running costs



## theotherme (Oct 8, 2005)

I am sure this has been covered before but can’t find any posts so here we go.

If I want to run a GTR 33 like this, what are the servicing costs and intervals and realistically, how reliable are they?

How many miles it too many?

I know there are going to be good ones and bad ones but just as a rule of thumb, would you say Bullet proof or TVR like reliability?

Thanks.


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## Geordieboy (Dec 27, 2005)

Use the search button mate its all there spread about....as for running costs if your concerned about it dont buy a skyline get something thats easier on your pocket


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## Durzel (Dec 5, 2001)

Bullet proof, as a rule.

However - that is tempered by how well its been treated, and how well its been tuned/serviced. Either of those variables can turn a once perfect runner into a heap of crap.

A Stage 1 GTR like the one you've linked to shouldn't be any more or less expensive than a standard GTR, or one with more BHP (e.g. 400). I ran a 520bhp R34 for over a year and the costs weren't radically different, if at all, from the 412bhp R33 I had before it. 

The key things to remember about any Skyline - be it R32, R33 or R34 is that:

1) They all drink fuel like its going out of fashion. Higher BHP cars will by definition drink more of it, but lower BHP ones can drink just as much through overly-rich mapping, etc.

2) They cost more than your average car to service and get oil changes, unless you do it yourself with imported parts which is a whole other debate. Because there is no main dealer network expect to pay premium prices for practically everything (even if you take it to Middlehurst).

3) Regardless of how much you pay for one it is worth bearing in mind that they all cost A LOT more money when they were new. Cars that originally cost £40k+ are made up of expensive parts, so if the big parts go wrong - expect to have to write cheques for £thousands. Just because you buy an R33 GTR for £12k doesn't mean a new gearbox won't set you back £5k+ (it will).

The old axiom of "you can only comfortably run a Ferrari if you can afford two" applies in a lesser way to Skylines. You should, if you want to be comfortable, budget to have a pool set aside for a rainy day - especially if its an older car.

The above all said, if you can find a decent example you should still be able to run them on a moderate budget. I was lucky/careful with my R34, drove it like Driving Miss Daisy for the most part, and it rewarded me with zero mechanical failures. If you value price over quality, drive it like you stole it 24/7 or generally treat it like a normal car then you should expect it to bite you on the ass eventually.

Just my 2p!


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## lynchy (Aug 21, 2004)

Depends what your used to really, it's all relative. My car has been very reliable but I've still spent a fair bit on it, granted most of that was mods. The UK cars were sold for about 55K, so if you comapare it to other cars of similar value you won't be too far wrong. If you can do alot of the work yourself and source the parts overseas and this will make a big difference, but then you really need a 2nd car. Fuel consumption is also pretty shocking, I do about 18mpg and that's taking it easy. 

You really do need to have a descent bit of spare income and access to a few bob if/when something goes wrong.

Typical costs (fitted):
gearbox rebuild - 1500
basic engine rebuild/refresh - 3000-3500, with some uprated bits 5000++
twin plate cluth - 1600
standardis clutch - 700+
rebuilt standard turbos - 1500+
group 20 insurance!!

Oil change interval anything from about 3-6000 miles, some do it more often that that, but I'm not convinced that is necessary unless it's getting very hard use and of course it's only the best fully synthetic at about 40-50 quid a go. Quality gearbox oil is over 100.


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## paul cawson (Jul 3, 2003)

The good thing is that now days there are a few cars breaking for spares. I just had to replace my engine block and crankshaft, I found good second hand ones and had the engine back together for a few hundred pounds.


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## GTR-Zilla (May 17, 2005)

Servicing and running costs vary by a great deal, and who you use to do the work... som money can be saved DIY.

Example an oil+filter change/system fluid check I was once quoted 290+vat from a well known place Look around and you can pay about £110 inc vat for the whole lot


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## Crail Loser (Jan 11, 2003)

paul cawson said:


> The good thing is that now days there are a few cars breaking for spares. I just had to replace my engine block and crankshaft, I found good second hand ones and had the engine back together for a few hundred pounds.


It cost you a few hundred pounds to remove, strip and rebuild an engine, plus parts? 

From memory a timing belt, oil and filter, antifreeze, new shells and a head gasket will bring you over a few hundred pounds let alone anything else  

I am not getting at you but I think your post is a bit missleading to someone who is concerned with costs on these cars. NOI.


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## Dave_R1001 (Nov 24, 2002)

Also its quite a daunting engine to work on I find. Maybe its just the ongoing fear of it blowing up!


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## paul cawson (Jul 3, 2003)

Crail Loser said:


> It cost you a few hundred pounds to remove, strip and rebuild an engine, plus parts?
> 
> From memory a timing belt, oil and filter, antifreeze, new shells and a head gasket will bring you over a few hundred pounds let alone anything else
> 
> I am not getting at you but I think your post is a bit missleading to someone who is concerned with costs on these cars. NOI.


Price quoted doing the work myself reusing the metal head gasket and metal manifold gaskets. Timing belt £40 from Nissan,oil filter £8,oil £40 paper gaskets £12 shells £200 rebore £150,block with good unground R33 crank £300,Nissan 87mm pistons £100, new rings £85.A bit of luck priceless 

The thing is in the summer I will once again thrashing the nuts off it so I can either spend thousands to make it robust, but it could still blow up? or go the route I have and enjoy the car knowing that if it goes again I am not loosing a fortune.


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## Dave_R1001 (Nov 24, 2002)

paul cawson said:


> Price quoted doing the work myself reusing the metal head gasket and metal manifold gaskets. Timing belt £40 from Nissan,oil filter £8,oil £40 paper gaskets £12 shells £200 rebore £150,block with good unground R33 crank £300,Nissan 87mm pistons £100, new rings £85.A bit of luck priceless
> 
> The thing is in the summer I will once again thrashing the nuts off it so I can either spend thousands to make it robust, but it could still blow up? or go the route I have and enjoy the car knowing that if it goes again I am not loosing a fortune.


While alot of people may think its skimping, its interesting to see how cheaply it CAN be done


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## GTR-Zilla (May 17, 2005)

Cost me about 60 quid in parts to do my Inlet gaskets, a tuner quoted me best part of £800 in labour!...


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## Crail Loser (Jan 11, 2003)

GTR-Zilla said:


> Cost me about 60 quid in parts to do my Inlet gaskets, a tuner quoted me best part of £800 in labour!...


So how long did it take you which is more relevant than how much did the gaskets cost.

All you have stated is that you saved £800 by doing the job yourself which is cool and applies to any walk of life ... ie. I just saved myself nearly three grand fitting my kitchen and bathroom.

Point is not everybody is willing or able to do there own work.


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## paul cawson (Jul 3, 2003)

Dave_R1001 said:


> While alot of people may think its skimping, its interesting to see how cheaply it CAN be done


The down side would be of course if you damaged 2.5Ks worth of turbos just to save spending the same amount on the engine . Best add another £100 for turbo oil feed filters


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## TREG (May 20, 2004)

Dont even mention petrol-Dont ban me please!!!

Im on first name terms with my local petrol station.
It somehow feels better with a small fuel tank-£30 a half tank,thats nothing untill you visit the garage 2/3 times a week!


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## cokey (Sep 11, 2003)

paul cawson said:


> The good thing is that now days there are a few cars breaking for spares. I just had to replace my engine block and crankshaft, I found good second hand ones and had the engine back together for a few hundred pounds.


I think this is the biggest load of guff I have ever read !!!!

You could not rent an engine crane long enough for that !

If you buy one with engine problems then it could cost you...

House , wife , family !

If you buy a good one and it develops the same problem on the way home.

It will cost you..

House , wife , family , pets and Grandparents !

Once you and your Gtr get to that stage....
Its Cool.
Life has become quiet and peacefull. :smokin: 

And you have loads more money to spent on your GTR !      

Reality check , wannabes !!
These things will eat your bank manager, and send you the funeral bill !!!!
Just thought someone should tell the truth ! 
Cokey


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## Crail Loser (Jan 11, 2003)

lol, cokey ... I take it the "sock" has been taking a beating these days  

You are quite correct though, I was just trying to be more diplomatic about it


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## paul cawson (Jul 3, 2003)

cokey said:


> I think this is the biggest load of guff I have ever read !!!!
> 
> You could not rent an engine crane long enough for that !


 Good job I own one then  as I have said in past posts its only worth doing your own repairs if you have your own tools and somewhere warm to work in.


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## cokey (Sep 11, 2003)

Mark , She told you about the sock ! 
Thats cause I sold her Vr6 to fund the new spec   

There is still some in there you can have if you have a quiet day soon !!
Will phone,

Just thought a thread like this needed a pessimist  
I was a certificated Optimist till I bought one !  

My advise stands... 
Get one if you think your rich enough  
.
.
.
.
.
Ha proved wrong by a piece of tin eh ?

cokey

Edit... Hey essex girl, did we not sort this out ages ago !
In the how many men to lift an rb26 thread !
Too many where you come from love XX


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## koopa (Aug 18, 2005)

tell us more about this SOCK business lmao


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## manage13 (Jan 10, 2006)

Durzel said:


> The old axiom of "you can only comfortably run a Ferrari if you can afford two" applies in a lesser way to Skylines. You should, if you want to be comfortable, budget to have a pool set aside for a rainy day - especially if its an older car.


Mmmmmmmm! GTR's are a money pit especially when something goes wrong.


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## GTR-Zilla (May 17, 2005)

Crail Loser said:


> So how long did it take you which is more relevant than how much did the gaskets cost.
> 
> All you have stated is that you saved £800 by doing the job yourself which is cool and applies to any walk of life ... ie. I just saved myself nearly three grand fitting my kitchen and bathroom.
> 
> Point is not everybody is willing or able to do there own work.


it took me a day to do out on the drive.. ok so it was a saturday wasted  if you see it that way or 800 saved


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## cokey (Sep 11, 2003)

Hey Gtr Zilla.
You wanna fit my bathroom ?? 
Or Mark whilst the knowledge is fresh ?
I'll make you a Big tea  

I have socks file'd in alphabetical order now  

Having to admit to having a skyline sock , in an emergency, whilst abroad, fortuitous as it was at the time  
Led to a baring of souls ...
and a new depository 
Sock rumour quashed  
C


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## GTR-Zilla (May 17, 2005)

I believe crail looser is a bathroom expert, so ask him


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## Thrust (Jun 8, 2004)

Insurance may be a bigger factor depending on your age and location. And the temptation to upgrade will suck money out of every crack...


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## Cord (Aug 21, 2002)

paul cawson said:


> Price quoted doing the work myself reusing the metal head gasket and metal manifold gaskets. Timing belt £40 from Nissan,oil filter £8,oil £40 paper gaskets £12 shells £200 rebore £150,block with good unground R33 crank £300,Nissan 87mm pistons £100, new rings £85.A bit of luck priceless
> 
> .


Top marks for doing it so cheap, but not everybody has the room, tools, or skills to do it so it ain't exactly a fair comparison.

Re-using the head gasket is definately un advisable, all the work you've done could be down the swanny for the sake of £150 (or whatever they cost?)
And £300 for block and crank is a FOOKIN good deal.

p.s. don't jump down my throat as i am not having a go, just my opinion/experience.


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## Crail Loser (Jan 11, 2003)

GTR-Zilla said:


> it took me a day to do out on the drive.. ok so it was a saturday wasted  if you see it that way or 800 saved


Hehe, never a Sat wasted if you enjoyed it and got the results you wished for  

My reasoning was that £800 seems ike a lot of money just to chuck up out of the blue and that its only relevant to the amount of hours put into it.

If you say £800 but thats for 8 hours labour, so £100 and hours - 17.5% tax, -wages for the mechanic, - rent/mortgage, -rates, -NI, -Insurance, -Tools and Equipment, some more Tax, etc etc etc its actually not that bad compared to some other trades who would be a similar labour rate but have none of the overheads  so in real life terms by the time they had paid all there bills having a garage open for you to take it to they were about £35 and hour  

As for bathrooms, not a problem m8  easy work   

Cokey, it was you who told me about the sock m8, then it turned out you were not alone  I have two sock using Skyline owners  

Sorry Martin, Cokey will have to explain it ... all I can say is the intrest rate is not great but its close to hand and comes with its own built in theft deterant


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## paul cawson (Jul 3, 2003)

Cord said:


> Re-using the head gasket is definately un advisable, all the work you've done could be down the swanny for the sake of £150


I have used this gasket a couple of times before and it has been ok. I noticed the orange marks where the water ways go through the gasket have not changed shape,even on areas where the Black coating has flaked off. I would not ask a tuner to refit a metal gasket because as you say it may not seal and the risk of paying for the job twice would not be worth it. 
Think I will get a new one thinking about it and a Jun oil pump


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## Cord (Aug 21, 2002)

paul cawson said:


> I have used this gasket a couple of times ,even on areas where the Black coating has flaked off.


       Can't believe you re-used even with the coating having fallen off, talk about living life on the edge!!!



paul cawson said:


> and a Jun oil pump


Did you know that Jun is actually spelt with a K on the end?  
I'd use any other make if i was you.


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## madenglishman (Oct 18, 2004)

I'll agree that GTR's are potentially very very expensive to run and maintain b ut if you buy wisely and dont rush in then they can be no more or less expensive than most performance cars.

I bought my car fron Ron (RKTUNING) who was in the process of rebuilding the engine with forged pistons and rods and the like and I managed to convince him that I needed to buy it....lol....anyway that was in March 05 and it has now covered 9000 miles. Those 9000 miles include trackdays and alot of drag days and I drive it hard in between. In the time from the day I picked it up until now it has cost me in hard cash about £700...3 oil changes and an AFM went belly up.I do have a boost leak at the moment and the other AFM is ill but I am having the d-jetro fitted so these will be sorted by ron in a week or so ....all in all mine has cost me a huge amount less to run than I expected so the money I had budgeted for bits that were going to fall off I'm spending on mods anyway:smokin: 

I could of got a lowish milage 32 in very good overall condition for the money I paid or shop about and wait until a rebuilt one by one of the leading tuners came up.....I went for the second option and got one with a couple of war wounds on the bumpers but mechanically tip top....it's paid off big time for me to go down this route 

Good luck with the car m8.

Dan


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## Big Sev (May 15, 2005)

The way I see it if you can't afford the insurance you can't afford to have skyline

Period.


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## GTR-Zilla (May 17, 2005)

Insurance in only one part of the skyline ownership expense.. biggest killer is for those who are not mechanically mind get shafted by over hungry garages and over inflated prices online tuning companies charge for prices..

I know few people will come on and try and justify, A. cost of running a garage and over heads ...B. trying to make a profit and stay in business.

But why is it some specialists charge a reasonable rate yet others charge double or more??? answer is they charge as much as they can as long as they get away with it... and people are dumb enought to keep paying..

Please dont bother justifying their actions, because its damn right rip off!!


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## paul cawson (Jul 3, 2003)

Thrust said:


> Insurance may be a bigger factor depending on your age and location. And the temptation to upgrade will suck money out of every crack...


Age does help I pay one weeks wage for mine. Tin hat on


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