Jap dealer check

bmoferrall

Has anyone heard anything good/bad/indifferent about Sean Byrne Motors (also know as Byrne Autos)? They used to be based in Coolock and are now based in Dublin Docks. I was talking to them about a Skyline and the guy sounded a little bit shifty (at least about this particular car).
Thanks for help

heggie

somethin that annoy's me about him is he keeps advertising the same damn cars, even when they are not in stock, just to get u to ring up. Had a real nice race car, has been advertised in autotrader for the last 4 months at least, and has never had it in stock when i rang up

DukeDredd

Yip - i know what you mean. He does sound a bit dodge alright, that was what put me off anyway.

Kersh

Hope it s a GTR you are looking for and not a poor mans skyline...a gtst, or god forbid a 2.0....

bmoferrall

Kersh wrote:

Hope it s a GTR you are looking for and not a poor mans skyline...a gtst, or god forbid a 2.0....

Yeah, it's a GTR alright. GTST's are getting pretty common now and they don't look nearly as good as the GTR (I'm referring to R33 model).
At the very least I want a decent test drive in a GTR. I can then decide once and for all whether to stick with what I have or switch.
Hopefully, it will be a disappointment and I can stop wasting my money on silly cars :rolleyes:

Stephen

I believe Ken Lawford has an R33 GTR-Vspec in stock (or had it advertised on CBG recently anyway). Sexy car.

Edit: here it is http://www.cbg.ie/Car_detail.asp?CBGID=255215&ID=509178&frmFilter=

bmoferrall

Stephen wrote:

I believe Ken Lawford has an R33 GTR-Vspec in stock (or had it advertised on CBG recently anyway). Sexy car.

Nice car alright but he's looking for silly money - 43K with mileage over 60K! I reckon you could import one of the same vintage for close to half that. He's had that one for sale for a long time now...hopefully noone will be silly enough to pay that kind of money

bmoferrall

On the point of Byrne Autos and Skylines, he often mentions "2 litre on tax book" in relation to the 2.5 engined cars. Is there some kind of loophole here or is this just sales codology?

Delta_ie

People don't know what the car is cause it was never sold so it is put down on the book as anything. Happens alot with imports just make sure you tell the insurance company everything.

Kersh

Sales codology....when you kill someone , you will know all about falsifying insurance details and not being covered because of it, just like the starlet boys insuring their cars as 1.3s...when they kill someone they will be found out. ...remember its up to you to tell the insurer what type of car it is....anyhow back to Lawfords...christ - they be big windows on that shop...43k for a skyline...dont you know some pleb will pay for it :rolleyes:

bmoferrall

bmoferrall wrote:

Has anyone heard anything good/bad/indifferent about Sean Byrne Motors (also know as Byrne Autos)? They used to be based in Coolock and are now based in Dublin Docks. I was talking to them about a Skyline and the guy sounded a little bit shifty (at least about this particular car).
Thanks for help

I had a quick test drive today in the wine Skyline GTR that Sean Byrne has been advertising lately.

It's an unmodified '97 R33 GTR with, supposedly, ~45K on the clock. He initially had it advertised for 33K and dropped it to 25K after a couple of weeks. When I met him today he claimed the reason for dropping was that he initially overestimated the VRT - hard to believe really for someone of his experience. (I also wondered whether something had happened to the car while in his possession to cause him to drop the price so much so quickly.) When I called him last week he said the car was in getting a new clutch; based on the lowish mileage this suggested to me that the car has had a hard life, or that the mileage isn't genuine. He also mentioned repairs to scratches each side of the car. On viewing today, the paintwork in these areas had a slight 'orange-peel' effect - don't know if this implies a poor repair job, with future implications. Overall, though, the car looked stunning from the outside - the wine/black colour suits the car very well. Engine looked in good shape too, though I'm no expert here. Auction grade is supposedly 4 and, although I didn't see the sheet, I can just about believe it. Interior was pretty dirty though (full service w. timing belt change, full valet and NCT guarantee would be included in the price).

Unfortunately, I only had a quick test drive down around Dublin Port. The road surface is pretty bad there so I didn't want to push above 4000 rpm; there was enough urge low down to hint at the potential lurking underneath though. (An extended test drive in this, or another GTR, will follow soon.) There were too many squeaks and rattles in the cabin for my taste, but I guess this could be down to the poor surface. When he got back in the driver seat he fairly thrashed the car about; not sure if I'd want him 'minding' a future car of mine.

I'm pretty sure a GTR will be my next car - not sure if it will be this particular one though.

As someone mentioned elsewhere he seems to be more a broker than a dealer. He must have some kind of arrangement with S&B Motors and High-Grade imports in the docks (claims all his cars are kept in their yards).

Overall he was a nice, knowledgeable, chap, but I'd be surprised if 50% of what he told me was true.

Cyrus

for that kind of money id be looking for a better example than that, seems to be a lot bits and pieces and thats only what he is telling you.

Try this guy maybe www.japnuts.com

ciarsd

this 95 GTR VSpec was in cbg.ie not so long ago

with the GTR being so rare in this country they do fetch big money (the VRT is paid and its on Southern Irish plates)

ciarsd

Kersh wrote:

anyhow back to Lawfords...christ - they be big windows on that shop...43k for a skyline...dont you know some pleb will pay for it :rolleyes:

think thats bad you should see what the R34 GTR is fetching :eek:

that R33 in lawfords has been there quite sometime now

bmoferrall

There are a few nice '95 skylines on sale at the moment, all for around 25K though. I wouldn't pay 25K for a 10-year old GTR, however nice it is.
This one is particularly tempting though:
http://www.cbg.ie/Car_detail.asp?CBGID=304996&ID=533746&Make=Nissan&Model=Skyline%20Vspec%20GTR&frmFilter=
Looks like he imported it from here (I'd love to know what he bought it for):
http://www.bestjapancar.com/nissan3112112.htm

Japnuts have a '95 GTR 'in stock':
http://www.japnuts.com/Sports_deal_050416.htm
I think I'd want to see this one in the metal before committing as the picture doesn't do it any favours.

Cyrus

that jap nuts guy will get one for you tho, a friend was looking at getting the new shape skyline (looks like a 350z type thing) and he was very helpful