Hello from S.Texas

Hello all, my name is Joey and of course I'm new to the site but not imports or modding. I've been looking around for an older comfy luxo DD import sedan to give my GC8 (GM6) coupe a break and to start on the swap, plus in my old age I would like an auto.  So with being a gear head, I can't drive this new to me sedan around stock but I still want a DD with style if you know what I mean:coolugh: :laugh: so I've been combing the internet looking for answers and found this site. What I have my eye on is a 00-01 Y33 touring sedan, saw one a few years back and immediately fell in love with the lines of the car. But now that I've been searching through CL, AutoTrader and here, I now like the 03-04 M45 and the F50s as well.

Now I've seen a few low mileage M45s that are in my price range but that would make modding a little slow since extra funds would go to payment and to the GC swap. I can get mid to high mileage Y33 for considerably less with some change left over for aftermarket or JDM stuff but, I would have a car that has more miles than my current one which for some reason scares me:dunno:. But from what Ive read these cars are very reliable if maintained, but that's just it, the cars I'm looking at are at very small lots with no records other than a carfax . 

So with that in mind, I kinda have a plan of what I would like to do to whatever platform I purchase,since this will be a DD, static drop, wheels, some exterior and interior work, just simple, clean and a comfy ride in or out-of-town. I've seen a few examples of that here and on Google, but if anyone would like to give any advice (yes I know about the stickeys and I have a lot of searching and reading to do) from one gear head to another, that would be greatly be appreciated=) 

Thanks. And hope to join the ranks of you guys and gals soon.

P.S. I really like the way you guys have this forum setup with the whole 101 thing, makes us newbs actually use the search engine. We're getting a lot newbs and younger people over at RS25.com that are asking the same questions that have been asked or done 18465415671 times and it just floods the search engine with useless crap when you really want to find something.


P.S.S Here's my current pita GC.:giggity:
[IMG]http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x204/showoval/DSC00852.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x204/showoval/DSC00851.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x204/showoval/DSCF0356.jpg[/IMG]

sounds like you got a good plan. just keep an eye out on craigslist for that grandma owned, dealer maintained gem with your name on it. cool thing about y33s is the s chassis suspension option. y34/f50 are sick as well and the price is getting well under $10k (f50 moreso than the y34) for something in "less than great" condition.

[QUOTE=OG;371141]sounds like you got a good plan. just keep an eye out on craigslist for that grandma owned, dealer maintained gem with your name on it. cool thing about y33s is the s chassis suspension option. y34/f50 are sick as well and the price is getting well under $10k (f50 moreso than the y34) for something in "less than great" condition.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, I've got my eye on a few and I'm checking those sites every morning and night.  S chassis suspension??? I guess I"m gonna have to look that up.

Nice! If you don't mind me asking, what head unit do you have there?

Oh, and about the noob issue, we have the same problem over on Club Lexus.

Man,trying to get a loan for a ten year old car is almost next to impossible and it's getting me down. Almost every lender I researched online or called wont touch anything after 04 and 75k miles and my CU will only give me $4400 at 5.9% for 36 months(I think) on a 01 Q45T with 135k on the clock, lot wants $5900+ttl. I finally find a lender that will do it and I get approved for the loan with a very nice rate of 3.9%, but the car I'm looking at is 10k miles over the 125k miles allowable limit of my lender.:madgo: When I was on the phone with the csr, he told me they would allow 135k miles and the year was no prob, so I was like :giggity:, went on line to apply, get to the car info and BAM! Mileage exceeds limit :signdammit:.  Call the lender and apparently my original csr mis-heard and the limit was 125K. :pat:.  My plan was to go to the lot, talk'em down, get 100% financed, and have money in my savings to do a little modding. Now I may have to just bite the bullet and use some money down or wait it out till another 01 Y33 tourer comes along that's below $8700 and under 125k miles.:sad:.



@ ThomasGS4: That's my old headunit, it was a Pioneer AVH-P6800DVD. Currently running a Pioneer AVIC-110BT in a custom mounted pod in place of the factory upper storage compartment.

 Pic of old unit in pod:
[IMG]http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x204/showoval/DSC00164.jpg[/IMG]

welcome to the Jungle! lol 
 
glad to see Texas stepping up! =P like the suby and looking forward to your new build!

Thanks GM0_M45, I'm trying. Went up to Spring Tx, this past Friday to look at that 01 45T, get to the lot and it was nowhere close to immaculate as described in the ad:madgo: . As soon as I walk up to the back of the car I notice that the bumper skin looks like it had been painted with a brush:pat: . I think great, it's been a fender bender. I was gonna over look that since it had a clean Carfax and Autocheck but apon further inspection of it I noticed it was missing clips that hold the skin to body, the trunk hinge was rubbing on the tension bar, overspray on the trunk area, the paint itself looked like crap(swirls, scratches, couple of big noticeable dings, really bad buff mark on f/pass door, etc), needed four new tires (these were almost bald!), ant was busted, the recirculation button on the nav was busted (no biggie since my plan was to replace with a standard Hvac control), a burnt tail light bulb, and a vibrating sensation coming from somewhere on the right side (could have just been the bad tires). 

The motor itself seemed solid with no leaks or oily residue on any of the undercarriage, all the interior electronics functioned, the leather was in good shape (driver side could be better) just needed a little TLC and a pine tree (it had some funky odor, could have been whatever they used to clean it). The car needed more work than I wanted to put in to it but I gave the guy a reasonable offer and what I saw wrong. He said he couldn't do it and that he would be able to get his asking price :innoutrofl2:, now I know it's a 10 year old car but Jeez it doesn't have to look like one. So I left my number in case he changed his mind and made the 3 hour trip back home empty handed:sad: .

So the search continues. But on a good note, my CU said they had no problem financing the whole thing with a nice APR for a used car :biggthumpup:. Since my CU said no prob, a Y34 is not looking too bad, Hmmm......