M3 vs. GTR
 

I bought a 2008 M3 and have tracked it several times, but I'm thinking about selling it and buying a GTR. Some of the things I read concern me - transmission, warranty, weight, and maintenance costs. I must admit some of the reviews on forums haven't been great. The M3 has a bumper to bumper 40K/4 year warranty on everything. Any help would be great. Thanks.

Nissan does offer an extended warrantee. 84 months total. You need to buy it before the 36 warrantee expires. Costs $10K. A new transmission costs $15K, so this sounds like a good deal if you intend to keep the car.

dont plan on driving the GTR hard, but i did alot comparing the two before i bought my GTR.

The biggest differences are, the M3 is a better car, and the GTR is the better performance car.

If your looking for a daily driver to take to the track every now and then, stay with the M3. Its more comfortable, and more tuned for everyday driving.

If your looking for a daily driver to take to the track EVERY weekend, go GTR. Its resale value will be alot greater as well.

Take what he said with a grain of salt! After al, he doesn't even own one.

The one thing lacking on the GTR is the lack of space for rear seated passengers! Other than that.....IT"S PERFECT!!

what does this $10k extended warrenty matter if Nissan doesn't warrenty the parts anyway?

Because of "Misuse".........

I guess one needs to avoid "misuse."

There's lots to protect on the car above and beyond the tranny. At the 34 month mark, if I plan to keep the car, I will surely give the extended warranty a close look.

Buying and extended warranty and keeping a car past the original warranty experation is almost always a bad idea.

Paying $10k for an extended warranty is a colossally bad idea! Paying cash would be the ultimate bad idea.

Just do the math... Lets say you bought a GTR new and got it for MSRP. On a 60 month loan at 5% you would have a payment of about $1600 a month. Four years later you are still paying $1600 a month for a four year old car. Why?

Would you pay $1600 a month to buy a four year old GTR? Probably not. You could probably buy the four year old GTR for about $1000 a month. Buying new or over MSRP also has disadvantages, unless you must be the first owner...

-AL

Some would disagree with this. Some think that driving a car until the bumpers fall off is the most economical way to go with a depreciating asset. On the other hand, the GTR could prove to be an evergreen investment, holding its value over years, and then even taking an upturn as the car becomes a classic. Hard to predict the future.

Also hard to predict the true value of an extended warranty, at least at this stage of the game. I take comfort in the fact that I can wait until the eve of the original 36 month warranty expiring before I have to make that choice. Same holds if I decide to sell. Is the car more or less valuable on the resale market if it's bundled with the extended warranty? I need more tea leaves.

Except you're not paying $1600 per month for the car. You're leveraging $1600 p/m for the cost of money (the asset value). As an owner, you get to enjoy driving an $80K car for only $1600. (Actually, at 5% over 5 years it's less than $1600, but that's not the point.)

4 years at $1600 p/m is $76,800. If you sell the car for $30K, the 4 year ride cost you $46,800. Divided by 48 months equals a the true cost of ownership at $975.

Guess it's all in the way you look at things.

GTR
Hands down. Now I had it for about a month and I have owned and driven many cars, GTR is the most technologically advance car out there. (Yes even more so than Ferrari 599 which I traded in for Scuderia) I'm not saying Nissan is better than Ferrari but what I'm saying is if you are choosing between GTR and M3, there shouldn't be any question.
I take GTR to Virginia International Raceway for track events and it does awesome. M3s with slicks barely keep up at turns. I don't do drag racing so whole launch control issue is meaningless, unless state of your ego is dependent on beating someone off the line at quarter mile basis. (which GTR can beat almost any car but is it worth blowing your tranny?)
I hope you buy a GTR!

Xeviuus,

Were you the guy with the black GT-R this past weekend at Summit Point?
One thing I noticed (saw a black GT-R at the track this weekend) is that it's dead quiet at all throttle levels compared to every other car I saw. For example, you could hear every car except the GT-R blasting out of the last corner onto the main straight. The GT-R just whizzed by quietly. It struck me as being quite odd that one of the most powerful stock cars on the track was the quietest and most comfy looking.