Test Drove a S15 Today

[Petey099]

Ok Guys went and viewed/Tested a 2001 S15 Today.

First time I've properly looked around one let alone driven one.

It has 59k on the clock up for ?10k

First impresion.

What a Damn nice looking car, the bodywork was MINT, seriously, no stone chips that I could see at all, no scratches nothing.

No spoiler on it tho which doesnt look to bad but i think it could use a subtle one.

So outside of the car I couldnt fault.

Inside of the car is pretty immaculate, Seats look hard wearing and no marks what so ever, aircon nice and cold..

Only thing with the inside is on the hard silver (plastic?)
there was a few marks looking like somthing sticky had been spilt on it but it wasnt, it wouldnt come off is this a problem with other S15's ?

Onto the drive.

The car has had a little work done to it, it has a Nismo Exhaust and i think it was a apexi/blitz dual entrance induction cone filter.

The dealer said it had Nismo suspension bits ?

Im a biggish bloke and it felt a little bit cramped behind the wheel, not to bad, was a nice place to be, especialy like the ferrari esque air vents.

Ride is quite firm but nice, felt nimble and steering was light, gears and clutch felt nice to.

There was a fair bit of induction noise under accelteration probbaly the big cone filter/turbo noise.

The only bit I wasnt sure about was the power, I have read it should take around 5.6 to 60?, I wasnt razzing it so thats probably the reason but the 300zx I have feels alot quicker, maybe a bit more urgency to it.

Anyways, gonna think about it and make a decision later.

Any comments apreciated

Pete.

 

[Nicely]

5.6 is on 100+RON fuel. It won't achieve that on lower RON. However, the S15 comes on boost very smoothly, so it may have been deceptive.

The centre console can be very easily marked/scratched.

Is this a private sale or a fresh import? Only reason for asking is that it is, apparently, not possible to ESVA an S15 younger than December 2000...

 

[JEZ 8553]

Is this a private sale or a fresh import? Only reason for asking is that it is, apparently, not possible to ESVA an S15 younger than December 2000...

Isnt it 'older' than December 2000 ?

*edit - My bad...read it wrong, cant ESVA cars newer than DEC 00

I test drove one in the wet...spent most of the time skitting the back end out all over the place when ever i tried to test the power

 

[Petey099]

Its a Trade sale, but a fresh import Id be first UK owner.

its a 2001 reg, whats ESVA

 

[Nicely]

Its the test the car has to undergo to ensure that it meets EU type approval (and therefore be road legal). In the case of the S15, that's mainly noise and emissions. According to a number of importers, it isn't possible to ESVA a 2001 S15...

 

[Petey099]

Should I check somthing out then or ?
It has 9 months MOT on it ?

Are you saying that any car after 2001 isnt legal here ?

You said younger then 2000 a few posts up

 

[Nicely]

I'm checking for you. Waiting for a reply

Yep, 2001 is younger than 2000. The impression I'm getting is that the Spec R ESVA report (what the actual test is based on) only covers S15s from 01/1999 to 12/2000. If its after that, i.e. younger, it cannot be ESVAd. However, this is fairly recent news to me, which is why I'm checking. The government constantly moves the goal posts, so I wouldn't be surprised

If you want the month and year confirming, PM me with the chassis number

 

[Topper]

Havent heard of that mate, anyone in the UK have a post 2000 S15? there must be some.

 

[Petey099]

Now im really confused, so any S15 in this country which is newer then 2000 Reg is illegal ?

The dealer is the first owner since import, It has 9 months MOT on it so its been MOT'd in this country and registered as it has plates etc

 

[Bry]

A 2001 s15 could have been imported before the ESVA rule came into force in which case all it would have needed was to pass a standard SVA test (no model report needed) and pass an mot.I saw my first S15 a red spec R with red seats when I worked for a car importer back in july 2002,back then that car was 18k

 

[Petey099]

Why wouldnt it meet ESVA standards ?

 

[Petey099]

Just found this
http://www.bmsesva.co.uk/ESVA.htm

It should fit into Exception 2 Shouldnt it ? And wouldnt need the ESVA

 

[Nicely]

Every S15 brought into the country since July 2004 needs an ESVA test. No exceptions.

A personal import means that you have lived and owned the car abroad for six months or more.

I've got an answer back from our friends at Torque GT

The model report used for the test, as developed by http://www.modelreportsdirect.com/ is only for 1999/2000 cars. You can see on the pricelist section that only vehicle manufactured before 2001 are eligible for the test.

The only ways round this I'm aware of are:

• Vehicles manufactured in 2000 but not registered in Japan until 2001 or later.
• Fraudulent alteration of the Japanese Dereg document (we have heard of people doing this, not for Silvias specifically but for R34 GTR's etc)
• A one off emissions test to prove UK compliance (?4k +)

So, I'd be interested to see how a 2001 manufactured car was ESVA'd... For it to be road legal, it would have to have been imported into the UK BEFORE July 2004.

 

[Petey099]

Do you think it would be a dodgy buy then? Or as it has tax/MOT its legit ?

Edit: Looking back, the advert online says 2001 reg, the car is actualy a X reg I saw when I went down, thats 2000 isnt it ?

 

[Nicely]

:nod: X is 9/2000 to 2/2001

 

[JEZ 8553]

http://www.svaimports.com/details.php?ID=227

How ??

 

[Petey099]

Ah ok so then with that new Info reckon the cars Ok ?

If so I guess its make my mind up time

 

[Nicely]

Erm...no. You need to verify the month and year of manufacture. Get the chassis number and I'll do that for you. You also don't want to buy without a full BIMTA check. Its like a Jap HPI...

Regarding the ad. The law hasn't changed just because an importer advertises a '2002' S15. From the past record of several people on the forum, I would tend to doubt SVA Imports' advertisements.

Be in no doubt. An S15 cannot be road legal without undergoing an ESVA test. For it to pass the test, it has to comply with the strict ESVA report for that specific model (in this case a Silvia 6 speed manual). This means that it has to be returned to near factory standard to pass. It also means that, in the case of this particular report, the car has to be manufactured before the end of Dec 2000.

If the S15 is not the same model, e.g. an Autech, Varietta, Spec R Auto, etc, It has no model report and cannot be ESVAd and, therefore, cannot be registered in the UK. The same applies if a Spec R 6 speed manual was manufactured AFTER Dec 2000.

So, either SVA Imports (or someone else) has commissioned a new model report (doubtful) or they have falsified the ad or they are going to do something illegal to get it registered. Take your pick. The only definite is that a newly imported 2001 and 2002 manufactured S15 cannot be legally registered in the UK (unless its a personal import).

 

[LuPix_S15]

Petey - you've got some sound advice from Christian and the other fellas.

S15OC always want new and current members to get the right info and believe me, we've all been through part if not all of the process for getting hold of an import car. You can trust our judgement when we say something doesn't sound right.

Have a look at the recommended importers section because whilst there's a few that are highly recommended (Torque GT is one of them), there are quite a few with horror stories. We don't want to openly discuss or slate the ones that aren't doing things right - just make sure you check with someone on here first.

Fancy websites, big ads in the Jap mags should mean nothing - they are a starting point. The real advice comes from customers who have experienced use of the company at first hand.

Don't let issues like ESVA put you off - we all had to learn from ground zero and the more you read and ask on the forum, the more you'll realise it's not a complicated process - just one that needs to be done right!

Hope you get the car you want - good luck... :thumbs:

James

 

[als_jordan]

yeah exactly.... I went to see that one (was down that way visiting family)..
Hint: check the fixings of the bodykit on this one... the front bumper is pretty loose!

As Nicely says 2002 isnt possible from what i have read so far! :wack:

http://www.svaimports.com/details.php?ID=227

How ??