Thinking about getting a VR4

[foxdie]

Hi all, I'm thinking of getting a 8G Galant VR-4 Type-S as my next car and could do with some advice;

After seeing the regular 8G Galants (the GLS I think) and Legnums around and love the front styling of the car, looked them up on AutoTrader and saw they came in varying engine sizes but wanted to find out more. Took a quick look up on wikipedia and was amazed to find out they did a 280BHP high-spec version :smitten:

Saw a legnum this morning on my daily commute into Birmingham near the NIA and just thought "lucky git" :)

I currently drive a Daihatsu Sportrak 1.6 EXI (cheap, not bad for its size, modified intake and its pushing roughly around 100BHP) as I had a fancy for offroading, but alas despite being a fun drive (nippy and corners well) I'm gonna be selling it to a mate who is gonna use it for the Mongol rally. As my next car I fancied something with a bit more grunt, namely because I want to keep up with my friends MG ZS 180+ :twisted: as well as having a nice car to take friends out with and to go visit my family around the country.

My questions are these,

1. What are they like as an "everyday" car, ie. commuting to work through heavy traffic (lots of stop-starts)?
2. Is there anyone in the South Birmingham area (namely, Longbridge / Redditch / Bromsgrove areas) willing to show me what they're like to drive?
3. How much I should typically be paying for a 8G VR4 these days?
4. Apart from having to change the diff oils every 4500 miles and being quite thirsty, are there any other running costs?
5. How easy is it to give the car its 4500 mile servicing? I'd like to do it myself to save on cost

Hopefully you can share your collective wisdom with me :)

Kind regards,

[Nick Mann]

I live in Redditch and would be happy to take you for a spin in mine. Please don't take offence, but I am a bit partiular about who drives my car....

I also do all my own servicing and repairs, so can help you with that side of things too.

I work in Aston - you didn't see a dark blue Legnum on the A38, perchance? :P

[Nick Mann]

Oh and to answer a few more of your questions:

1. Fine - most are auto, so easy to launch from lights, pull out of junctions quickly and very easy in stop/start traffic.
2. Answered above!
3. £3k to £8k depending on age and mileage.
4. If you are not too young with decent NCB will mean that a VR4 is cheap to insure for what it is. The other running costs (except petrol) are greatly reduced with DIY servicing and assuming you can DIY they are not really much different to many other more every-day cars.
5. There are some DIY quirks, but nothing that you can't overcome with the expertise on this site.

[TAR]

Hi and welcome to the club.

If you haven't already seen it take a look at the buyers guide (http://www.clubvr4.com/index.php?page=BuyersGuide)

I would take up Nick's offer and go see his car, then you will be able to base your decisions on knowing what a good car should be like.

[foxdie]

I live in Redditch and would be happy to take you for a spin in mine.
That'd be much appreciated :) maybe sometime in Feb?


Please don't take offence, but I am a bit partiular about who drives my car....
Bit of a shame but totally understandable, I'm quite sure you've got a lot of pride in your motor.


I also do all my own servicing and repairs, so can help you with that side of things too.
Again, that would be much appreciated :)


I work in Aston - you didn't see a dark blue Legnum on the A38, perchance? :P
The one I saw was more of a black but didn't really get a good luck at it, it was turning off King Edwards Road onto the A457 Sand Pits, google map link Here (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=18086207085618379343,52.482500,-1.916190&time=&date=&ttype=&saddr=King+Edwards+Rd+%4052.482500,+-1.916190&daddr=52.482552,-1.914829&mra=mi&mrsp=1,0&sz=17&sll=52.48231,-1.91469&sspn=0.004659,0.010042&ie=UTF8&ll=52.48229,-1.914518&spn=0.004659,0.010042&z=17&om=0)


Hi and welcome to the club.

If you haven't already seen it take a look at the buyers guide

I would take up Nick's offer and go see his car, then you will be able to base your decisions on knowing what a good car should be like.
Thankyou, yes I have read it and have made some notes for when I go to look at one, and Nick's decision permitting, I should do too :)

[bradc]

Nick's car is so dark you'd swear it was black unless you saw it in direct sunlight

[Nick Mann]

Nah - not me. I have driven through that junction a few times, but not for a while.

Any time I am not busy you are welcome to come and have a nosy! Send me a PM nearer the time and we'll swap phone numbers...