Galant VR4.

"HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles" (hondasfordsvolvo)
05/07/2015 at 13:59 • Filed to: None

So I’m thinking about buying a 1991 Galant Vr4 with 155,00 miles. It’s only 20 miles from my house and the owner is asking 2000 for it. Went an drove it today. I like it, but it needs an overhaul.

Actual car not pictured lol

Know issues. Ranked in order of Importance.

1. Brakes: it has no brakes till about the last inch of pedal travel. It’s missing a boot that goes under the reservoir cap. And the owner claimed “it they just need to be bled. the front rotors also looked very warn.

2. Tires, and Alignment. The front tires were very warn, but only on the outside edge of the contact patch, even showing threads in some spots. The tires did match on all four corners, and the inside edge of the fronts looked about the same as the rears. Also the steering wheel pointed to about 10 o’clock when driving straight. There is also a dent on the right front fender that I think is connected to the problem, tho the owner swears the wheel wasn’t hit when that happened...

3. It has an uneven Idle, which these cars are notorious for. When started cold it idled at 2000rpm which doesn’t seem normal to me, when it warmed up (about 3 minutes) it droppde to 12-1300, but when I started it later after a drive it idled at 700-800rpm, occasionally bounced up to 1200rpm, and sounded very rough It could be anything from a 3 dollar O ring causing a vacuum leak, or a “fried” ECU, at least that’s what I found.

4. It needs new shoulder belts. The owner left his dog in the car and it chewed up the automatic shoulder belts, even eating through the driver’s side which is now held together with black duct tape. This is especially concerning since I could not find replacements on line. I’m also not sure if the DSM car’s auto belts are the same or not.

5. The shifter he a ton of side to side wiggle, but that should be easily fix, as it’s most likely just the bushings between the shifter base, and the car.

6. A/C isn’t cold. Not a big deal to me

7. just typical 24 year old car stuff, faded black plastic on the exterior, small chips and scratches that have begun to rust, power antenna is bent and stuck up. the car is 24 years old a spent a few years sitting so a lot of bushings are dried out, and just need to be replaced, the fog lights don’t work, the leather is dried out, and the driver’s seat has a rip.

That’s everything I can think of. I liked driving the car a lot despite all of that tho, and it’s a 4 door which is unfortunately something I need. Does any one know of a good source for new/reman/used parts for these cars?

DISCUSSION (14)

RallyWrench > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
05/07/2015 at 14:03

A good friend of mine had one of these, in white. We tuned it and hooned it for all it was worth. No one suspected it to be as fast as it was. Unfortunately it got crashed and burned to the ground. For parts, you can mostly use all the 1G Eclipse/Talon stuff.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
05/07/2015 at 14:15

Sounds like a $1,000 car not a $2,000 dollar car.

Kanaric > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
05/07/2015 at 14:28

If you don’t mind spending a bit more (let’s say $3000-$5000) you can get a VERY VERY clean one or get one delivered to your house form Japan for that. The Japanese ones that are 1990 models which are legal now also have 280hp with all sorts of upgrades and are called “Galant VR4 Evolution”. Over there they sell for $2000-$3000 and could probably be at your house for under $5k all in.

You could get this and make it a project car but these are not worth much money when nice even.

Really with Japanese cars of this vintage I don’t really consider stateside ones worth it anymore unless they are exceptionally clean AND reasonably priced. You could have a Pulsar GTIR, Familia GTR, Galant Evolution, or Legacy RS for under $5k from Japan. All of which are superior cars to start with and will have much less miles and, if you look, less issues. All of which are Rally homologations and not despeced ones like the USDM Galant VR4.

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
05/07/2015 at 16:24

That sounds like more of a project/restoration car and not something fit for daily driver duties. A duct-taped together seat belt is not a good sign.

Schaefft > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
05/07/2015 at 16:47

It definitely sounds like its beat to shit, not sure where those illusions of 2 grand are coming from but I’d negotiate the hell out of that price. There are plenty reasons to lower it after all.

If you got the space/time/tools/knowledge to work on the car, I don’t see much of a reason why you shouldn’t buy it though (once the price is down). It would be a shame to see a car like that end up at the junkyard, thats the main reason why I would say buy and restore it to its former glory.

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > Kanaric
05/07/2015 at 16:48

Mmmm. Pulsasr GTI-R...

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > RallyWrench
05/07/2015 at 16:50

What he said. They have the same 4G63T engine from the Eclipse GST/GSX and Talon TSi, so any engine parts should swap over just fine.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Schaefft
05/07/2015 at 23:07

I think I’m going to trow 1200 t him and walk away at anything more than that. I mean bare minimum the car will need 1000 dollars worth of parts just to make it a safe reliable driver. And that’s if everything is solved by the more simple solutions.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy
05/07/2015 at 23:08

no kidding. the car has been a bit neglected

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Kanaric
05/07/2015 at 23:09

It’s not that I wouldn’t love to do that, but I have 4 grand max to buy a vehicle.

Kanaric > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
05/08/2015 at 16:13

It’s POSSIBLE to get one for that but you would have to find one for $2k. I’ve seen quite a few of those cars I listed at that price.

Street Surgeon > Kanaric
05/27/2015 at 14:36

Please show me where I can buy a VERY VERY clean '90 GVR4 for 5k delivered here in the US, I eagerly anticipate your response :)

Kanaric > Street Surgeon
05/27/2015 at 17:55

Pacific Coast Auto, watch their auctions for about 5 months. I did looking for a clean skyline and found two clean ones, 4 Familia GTRs, and two lancia delta integrales.

The GVR4s and the Famlias were topping at about $2k final bid. $2k to import. So that’s 4k into the US. If you are close to a coast that is either then at that point $4k landed or you can pay someone to ship it to your house for less than $1k.

The deltas were about $4k for one $6k for the other.

I didn’t know about Eterna’s otherwise I would have bene searching for htem over that time as well and might have actually pulled the trigger on one.

Both the VR4s had less than 100k miles but were around 120s-130s KM.

Do that and get back to me in a couple months when you buy one. The JDM EVO ones are 10 times better than the USDM ones anyways so might as well spend that time instead of buying someones craigslist build.

There is actually a REALLY mint GTS-4 R32 Skyline on there now in showroom condition in white with fender mirrors option. If I was shopping now I would pick that up.

As you are looking on there for Galant VR4s do not forget Eterna ZR4s. They are the same car except the Eterna is a lift back and is rarer but it will still increase your chances.

Street Surgeon > Kanaric
05/27/2015 at 23:40

Hmm, there were no examples of “sold” units to look at pricing, 5k is a big gamble as far as what if anything actually shows up. I’d gladly pay 5k for a clean GVR4 w/JDM bumpers to daily but going through some semi-functional website and a company I’ve never heard of to get it here seems iffy at best.

Ugh, Eternas are so ugly! Not that the GVR4 is much better, but woof. How are the JDM cars 10x better than the US cars if you don’t mind me asking? As a bit of a reference, I’ve been an active member of the GVR4 community since about ‘03 or so.