Conrad

Sorry to drag this well worn argument out further but I feel the need to add a newbies opinion on the Jspec v Uk thingy. I'd say that from my POV i'd prefer (for financial reasons only) the UK car. Simply because it would hold it's value better and insurance is easier. I'm not the slightest bit bothered about steel turbo internals and bigger brakes or which car spools up quicker. However, due to cost and a availability I will be having a Jspec and this doesn't bother me in the slightest. At the end of the day, I'll be having a Supra and will be the envy of everyone I know. Neither myself nor the people who see me driving it will care of it's origin.

Cheers Jurgen, just wanted to clear up whether it was possible to source cars from Japan from anywhere other than an auction. The Young Ones! Quality. Yes mate, I will more than likely buy private (Unless Jurgen/Paul W have a cheap enough one for me). I only went to local importers to test drive the cars to get a feel, I had no intention of buying from them. I don't feel bad wasting a traders time as they probably get it all the time, a private seller doesn't. Also if I buy private I've got more chance of knocking them down on price!

I've test drove a couple N/A's and my car before last was an FTO, the N/A is quicker mate. Looks a damn site better imo too! Paulp, nice looking motor and in the right colour! congrats! Your logic in getting a nice looking N/A within your budget rather than a rough looking TT is the best way to do it! I'm in the same boat as you budget wise but my mate bought the sweetest looking Impreza Turbo in Mica Red yesteraday so now I have no choice but to get a TT. I'll just have to save a bit more cash!

I've been test driving a few Supes to get a feel for them before I buy and also test driving a few GT4's with a mate. We've been to a few local dealers who import direct and seen some real dogs. A couple of these traders when asked about auction grades say they sourced it from private sellers in Japan so have no auction sheet or grading. Or they had it from auction but the auction sheet is at the DVLA. Some dealers don't bother with BIMTA either. Can any of the above be true? I thought all cars from Japan came via auction and if without a BIMTA report can be assumed to be dodgy. Is this not true? Does the DVLA also require the auction sheet to register the car? I wanted to be 100% on this before I start questioning anything dealers say! I weren't gonna be buying from these cowboys but wanted to know for sure either way! Cheers

This is your best bet imho. Failing that just turn your TV up loud so you can't hear them making all the noise!

Quality, it probably wouldn't have detered him! He used to have a menacing picture of a Doberman in his window saying 'Beware of the guard dog' right next to his picture of Jesus saying 'Jesus loves You' What a freak!

A mate of mine is well strange when it comes to food. He has never tried tomotoe sauce or random stuff like peas, prawns or eggs. When we were kids he'd look on in disgust when I munched a Cadburys Cream Egg on the way to school. Only when we dared him to try it he realised he loved em and ate one every day! Up until about 6 months ago he had never had marg or butter on anything because it looked 'disgusting'. Only when he tried it did he realise he liked it! wierdo!

Funny you should say that, I just raided my moms secret stash of Turkish Delight, ate two of em!

Like you say, his Dad may not know what he's up to. Just be civil and polite and try not to be arsey, that may just put their back up even more imo. Not much comfort but at least you never had my old neighbour! Nobody has had worse than him. A retired (but fit and strong) OAP who went to church every week with his missus terrorised us. Too many incidents to list but the highlihgts were: 3 Fire engines being called out to investigate a smelly gas we had supposedly disturbed which was leeking into his property. Tipping petrol into our porch then asking my mom for a light. Spat at my Dad whilst he was pulling off drive, Dad chases to be turned on with kitchen knife. He filmed his own back garden because he was convinced me and my brother were poisening his lawn! Also, he tried kicking our front door down only to be confronted by my Dad who wrestled him to the ground. The neighbour (dressed in just his trousers with no shoes and socks) kept repeating 'I'm not an insect, I don't live under ground!' Before the old bill carted him off This I kid you not is all true! We had a court injunction put out on him to stay away from us. Eventually we moved. We've heard through the grapevine he's since been sectioned!

Cheese? I thought eveybody loved the stuff! Feta is my favourite. Dislikes: Bananas, horseradish sauce, mustard and chopped tomatoe.

Cheers IJ. Would there be a problem fitting wheels the same width (or even a smaller width to standard) to the front and rear of the car? Also, what is the correct offset I should be looking at? 40mm?

Just a couple newbie questions.... Will wheels with a PCD of 114.0 fit a Supra? Does the extra 0.3 of a ml make that much difference? Also, done a few searches on wheel fitments and a lot of people have wider wheels on the back. What's all this about?

Very nice! Being a bit of a Supra newbie I'm not sure on wheel sizes but do 20"s fit straight on the Supe?

Very true. I too would prefer to see the car without the GFX but as Jason says, he wouldn't get the attention he does from magazines and TV. Awesome colour and I love the rims. How much were the rims Jason and what are they?

Me neither, I've owned at least 5 cars on the register and never had a problem with insurance. I crashed an imported CatD stolen/recovered Mr2 a few years back and wrote the other car off (really icey conditions, not entirely my fault ). I was only 3rd party yet obviously the other guy was covered. Surely if the insurance company could have got of paying buy simply doing a HPI check they would have? Or is this irrelevant with me being TPFT? Also, if you can only get insured on V Car vehicles by a traders policy wouldn't this instantly make them almost worthless? Nobody would buy them.

If it is a problem for them to insure you, surely whenever you get a quote they'd ask if it's on the register? I can honestly say that from the 100's of times I've had quotes I've never been asked this. I was under the impression the only way it would affect insurance is should they have to pay out on your registered car, they would decrease the pay-out in line with a registered cars value. I may be wrong though, anyone know this for sure?

This car is pretty local to me and I too intially thought it was too good to be true. However, being on the V car does de-value it somewhat. It doesn't affect the insurance in anyway, only it's value. That's not to say the car is in a particularly bad way. I've owned cars in the past that were on the register and they were the best I've had. It could just be Stolen/Recovered. It could also be Cat D accident repaired, which also isn't so bad. Then again, it could be a complete mess!

I may just take you up on that mate, I was over your way yesterday. Went to look at a GT4 for my mate in Lye, bit of nail though.

Maybe CJ, I don't doubt some people prefer the Auto. Matter of personal preference and all that. But I bet a lot of the Auto drivers wanted a 6spd initially but due to cost and availability ended up having an auto. I know that's why I'm looking at autos, I would normally never consider one tbh.

Toyotas on the whole are bullit proof, including the Supes. If the car has been looked after it will last forever. Both the N/A and TT are reliable it's just the the TT has far more stuff to go wrong. Plus because they're turbos they're more likely to have been modded, especially if it's Japanese! The Japs do all sorts to em. I've been asking the same questions as you cus I want a TT but I'm worried I'll get burnt so I'm looking to the safer N/A. Just educate yourself the best you can on both cars and be patient when buying one. Like you say it's like with all cars really, just use common sense when buying one.

Welcome to the club mate, I too am in a similar position to yourself. I had an FTO tiptronic car before last (GR model - bloody noisey tappets). I'm looking to buy a Supe in the next month or so and also want a TT but because of price having to consider the N/A. I've test drove a manual N/A and it was quick, quicker than the FTO. Looks better too! So if that's all you can afford then you wont be disappointed. Buying the TT is both expensive and scary, mainly becuase the cost to put things right should they go wrong is HUGE. If you only have £7 - 9K then you'll be looking at an Auto TT, getting a decent 6spd manual for that kind of money is gonna be hard.

I just don't get it! I appreciate they may have a lot of traffic congestion and don't want the hassle of changing gear, but so do we and we don't like em that much. Plus if they like em so much why are they only so common in big supercars and not Civics and Micras? The 300ZX's are the same as Supes as they're mainly auto too. I can uderstand the Grand Tourer route but GTO's are GT's yet manuals are more common. Why would the speed crazy Japs opt for something like an auto in big fast cars! Do you think an auto box de-values cars to jap buyers like it does us? I'm not having a pop at the auto box but I bet the majority of auto owners would swap for a 6spd!

Does anybody know if they never had categorys before 1996? ie Cat D, Cat C etc This UK auto is for sale not far from me at a ridiculous price, but on register for accident damage. Chap reckons frontal accident done before the category system came out so not graded so to speak. He has last 6 MOT's and some SH so mileage seems genuine. He's owned it 4 years.

Just checked out the GTR's on Auto Trader. Feck me, they're expensive! And ugly to boot!

I've never once considered buying a Skyline, the kinda look like a long square Ford Orion. loved the ZX but not the Skyline. Anyone know off hand what kind of performance they have and how much they cost? I'm just being lazy mind so I'll probably check it out myself!