R33 Skyline GTS Reliability?

A forum for owners and fans of the legendary Nissan Skyline and Nissan GTR.
SwappedZed
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2015 11:47 am
Car: 1994 300zx TT
370cc injectors
Z1 SMIC
Ashspec ecu

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Hey everyone, I'm going to be buying a 1990 Skyline GTS non turbo with in the next couple months and I was wondering how these cars are as far as maintenance and reliability goes? I understand that these cars are high performance cars and aren't "normal" cars. I own a 1994 300zx Twin Turbo and I'd like to pick up a skyline as a daily driver. How do these cars perform as daily drivers and what are some things I need to look for when I start looking for a skyline? Thanks in advance for answering my questions. I just started doing research on these cars and any info I can get, I'd really appreciate.


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Gold Digger
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Car: Current:
2011 Infiniti G25X

Former:
1995 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec Midnight Purple
1990 Nissan Laurel Club S Turbo Two Tone Pearl

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If it's a 1990 it's not an R33. It's an R32.

Being that it's not a turbo RB20, I wouldn't really call it a performance car. The RB20DE can be a decent and reliable engine as long as you keep up with regular maintenance. Being that it's a 1990 and an R32, one thing you'll want to check for is going to be rust issues. TMS could tell you where to look.

If you're just going to be using it as a daily driver and not beating on it, it should suit you just fine. Be aware, though, that parts for those cars will mostly have to come from Japan. Some parts may be able to cross reference, but not a whole lot of them.

SwappedZed
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2015 11:47 am
Car: 1994 300zx TT
370cc injectors
Z1 SMIC
Ashspec ecu

Post

I realized my mistake right after I had posted it, I kept forgetting to change it. I'll keep in mind the parts thing and I'm definitely going to look at where the main rust spots are. Thanks for the input :bigthumb:

GSX-R35
Posts: 137
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 6:42 pm
Car: 2010 Black Obsidian TSM Pro Eight R35
1999 Midnight Purple 2 R34 V-spec
1990 Gun Metal Grey Nismo R32

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SwappedZed wrote:Hey everyone, I'm going to be buying a 1990 Skyline GTS non turbo with in the next couple months and I was wondering how these cars are as far as maintenance and reliability goes? I understand that these cars are high performance cars and aren't "normal" cars. I own a 1994 300zx Twin Turbo and I'd like to pick up a skyline as a daily driver. How do these cars perform as daily drivers and what are some things I need to look for when I start looking for a skyline? Thanks in advance for answering my questions. I just started doing research on these cars and any info I can get, I'd really appreciate.
You have a 1994 300ZX TT that's about the same vintage as the R32 Skyline so reliability will depend on the same big question: How well was the car treated over all those years? As you probably already know 300ZXs can be decently reliable cars if cared for but horrible if not - the R32 is pretty much the same but with the added issue of reduced parts availability due to not having been sold here in the US officially. Having a non-turbo R32 can be a plus or minus. No turbo means less to go wrong but as far as parts and information availability, it may be harder to get support since most of it is focused on the GT-Rs. Thankfully, a lot of basic parts interchange between the GT-R and GT-S and simple maintenance stuff like filters, plugs, and so on aren't unique to these cars and are fairly easy to come by.

The biggest issue you'll run into is if anything does go wrong with the car, be ready to wait 2 weeks or more to get a replacement part.

If you need more tips on what to check on an R32, here's an article I posted on my blog about inspecting one:

http://23gt.blogspot.com/2015/05/buying ... -tips.html

SwappedZed
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2015 11:47 am
Car: 1994 300zx TT
370cc injectors
Z1 SMIC
Ashspec ecu

Post

Thanks for that link and all the other information as well. It really gave me a better understanding about what to look for. I really appreciate it.


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