RB vs. Motorex and the future?

[Cyphatic]

First thanks to everyone for all the info from the FAQ and multiple posts. Kudos to RazorGTR for cleaning all the useful information of the random banter. I understand the difficulty of managing a bunch of people who are more or less finding out that their dream car is going to be a hell of alot harder to obtain than they thought.

As I sit here looking through car ads (my first project is going to most likely be a 71 Cadillac, sorta like a contrast to the import scene ), I think about how things will fare in the future for getting an R32 or R33 or R34.

From my understanding, RB Motorsports (Sean?) will soon be in the business of legalizing Skylines. Is it right to think that they will be directly competing with Motorex? How will this effect legalization prices (which I understand costs alot for Motorex, but competition would cause the pinching of every penny).

And as common as Skyline's are in Japan, will we be seeing collectors prices here? I guess if an R34 GTR in 10 years will be costing $200k USD, I can forget about the idea now. But I'll still remain a fan of this great vehicle.

I guess more or less I just wanted to get a clear understanding for when this topic gets brought up in my conversations with friends, just as I want to be knowledgeable about alot of cars.

If this post goes too far into violating the "no more importing topics" rule, my apologies and feel free to remove it/ban me. But I would still like to thank everyone that has contributed to this forum for all the info.

-Cyphatic

[oi_boy]

i think that RB Motorsports might have a little bit better pricing, but i dont know what motorex will do, because they WILL be in direct competition with RB. This will more than likley bring down legalization costs greatly, seeing as each company will want to attract more customers. Maybe one day in the future the cost of legalization will be closer to the price of the actual car, then an absurd amount of money.

[VQuick]

Originally Posted by oi_boy

Maybe one day in the future the cost of legalization will be closer to the price of the actual car, then an absurd amount of money.

The prices won't be that close to the price of the car. Motorex and RB Motoring(if they begin legalizing Skylines) will still have to pay for the different materials used, such as glass, bumper reinforcement parts, etc. Then the people who do install the parts need to be paid. The guys that run the business need their money, too. Finally, the companies will need to sell the car so that they can make a profit. They aren't charities, you know.

If RB Motoring does start legalizing cars, they'll be competing with Motorex. There's no denying that. However, these companies won't run themselves into the ground because of a price war. In fact, the prices may not change all that much, depending on how much profit each company wants.

[SkylineUSA]

Originally Posted by VQuick

The prices won't be that close to the price of the car. Motorex and RB Motoring(if they begin legalizing Skylines) will still have to pay for the different materials used, such as glass, bumper reinforcement parts, etc. Then the people who do install the parts need to be paid. The guys that run the business need their money, too. Finally, the companies will need to sell the car so that they can make a profit. They aren't charities, you know.

If RB Motoring does start legalizing cars, they'll be competing with Motorex. There's no denying that. However, these companies won't run themselves into the ground because of a price war. In fact, the prices may not change all that much, depending on how much profit each company wants.

Very well siad.

I would think along those same lines.

[oi_boy]

what i ment by closer to the price of the car was that the price of the cars might be in a more reasonable 30-40k range for r33s and 50-60k r34s instead of 80k. you can buy an r34 in japan for around 10-12k US and then perhaps the price of legalization wont be 25k....maybe a more reasonable 15-20k

[VQuick]

Originally Posted by oi_boy

what i ment by closer to the price of the car was that the price of the cars might be in a more reasonable 30-40k range for r33s and 50-60k r34s instead of 80k. you can buy an r34 in japan for around 10-12k US and then perhaps the price of legalization wont be 25k....maybe a more reasonable 15-20k

That's what I'm referring to as well. Barring a price war between the two companies, the only other way prices might go down is due to depreciation. Eventually the cars would decrease in value, Motorex and RB Motoring would be spending less to buy them, and in theory, could pass those savings on to the customers.

Where on Earth can you buy an R34 GT-R for $10-12k USD?? That's some horrible depreciation right there, considering they were about $50k new.

The cost of legalization probably won't go down either, because the materials will likely cost the same. Motorex and RB Motoring will probably still be paying the same for materials, paying their workers and themselves the same salary, if not more, and will still need to make a profit.

From my perspective, it seems like you're saying that prices should be going down, but don't know or understand why there would or wouldn't be a change in price.

[oi_boy]

if there is competition between RB and Motorex, they will most likley drop the prices a bit at first to attract more customers, thats how the ethics of marketing happens. once the cars decrease in value, the savings more than likley will be passed on to the customer. if there are more people purchasing skylines, then the RIs can purchase the materials required in bulk which would be cheaper for them. anyways....i was looking at japanese websites for used skylines and you can get a NICE 98-2000 skyline for around 1,500,000 JPY which exchanges into around 13.5k USD.

[SkylineUSA]

Originally Posted by oi_boy

if there is competition between RB and Motorex, they will most likley drop the prices a bit at first to attract more customers, thats how the ethics of marketing happens. once the cars decrease in value, the savings more than likley will be passed on to the customer. if there are more people purchasing skylines, then the RIs can purchase the materials required in bulk which would be cheaper for them. anyways....i was looking at japanese websites for used skylines and you can get a NICE 98-2000 skyline for around 1,500,000 JPY which exchanges into around 13.5k USD.

It will not work that way.

[VQuick]

Originally Posted by oi_boy

if there is competition between RB and Motorex, they will most likley drop the prices a bit at first to attract more customers

There you have it. The prices may drop 'a bit.' It's highly improbable that they would drop to the figures you mentioned earlier.

thats how the ethics of marketing happens.

I'm a marketing graduate, and let me tell you: There are no ethics in marketing. People are ignorant/foolish enough to buy almost anything, and there will be marketers around to take advantage of these gullible ones. Ever hear of the pet rock? Maybe you meant principles of marketing.

once the cars decrease in value, the savings more than likley will be passed on to the customer.

It's a possibility that there will be some savings due to depreciation, but then again, I already said that before. The rate of depreciation on Skylines would need to be looked into. If they hold their value pretty well, forget about it. It would take too long for the value to go down much.

if there are more people purchasing skylines, then the RIs can purchase the materials required in bulk which would be cheaper for them.

Motorex is probably buying the conversion materials in bulk as it is. There's no logic in buying a set of the materials for only one car at a time, especially since they probably buy their Skylines 'in bulk' as well, getting a few in each shipment. If RB Motoring becomes certified to do legalization, they will probably do the same thing. Basically, there probably aren't any real savings to be found.

[SkylineUSA]

VQuick,

Yep.

[oi_boy]

let my just save my ass and say you guys are correct. maybe im just fooling myself, thinking it will be cheaper in 10-15 years. you guys know tons, and most of the stuff i learned about skylines i learned form you guys (and razorgtr). anyways...gooday.

[VQuick]

I didn't know you were talking about that far down the road. I was thinking you meant short term, as in 2-3 years.

Well in 10-15 years, the Skylines will be much cheaper...but primarily because of depreciation. In fact, that may be the only reason.

The parts used in legalization probably won't change in price. There's very little reason for them to.

[Cyphatic]

I myself am thinking 5-10 years. I wouldn't really want to own an R34 GTR right now... Too hot a commodity, they get stolen alot.. and I wouldn't surprised getting Keyed by some random jealous ricer..

In 5 years the trends will have moved on, the ricers will have grown up, or discovered that life isn't like 2F2F.. And since Motorex/RB Motoring only do the Skyline's as a side business, they'll probably still be around and doing it for cheaper.

The other nice thing is there's enough Skylines in Japan, a place where you can't drive fast, don't have alot of distance to travel, etc, that in five years we might still be able to get them with under 100k miles, maybe under 75k..

Even looking further, there's a slight chance that regulation changes might require less modifications to make Skyline's street legal, though they'll probably change for the more restrictive/expensive =/

So either way, unless I win the lottery, I'll keep it all a future dream. As for the present I'm still deciding if I'm going to restore and old caddy or get a mid-nineties car (300zx, 3000gt, camaro, etc)

Thanks to all that have contributed to this forum, not to mention my thread. This has pretty much wrapped up everything I wanted to know about Skylines. ^^

I'll keep an eye open on this forum,

-Cyphatic

[oi_boy]

im not THAT stupid. you wont see a significant price drop in at least (and this is a very on the line number) 5-10 years.....wed be lucky to see that. let alone over night. its just stupid to think prices will drop like crazy all of a sudden because of a new competitor.

[SkylineUSA]

Originally Posted by oi_boy

im not THAT stupid. you wont see a significant price drop in at least (and this is a very on the line number) 5-10 years.....wed be lucky to see that. let alone over night. its just stupid to think prices will drop like crazy all of a sudden because of a new competitor.

Your the kid that said you can put a R33 body on an R32 Chassis.

It was never mentioned 10 years down the road, it was implied that these were current prices, that is what we were talking about.