Two cars, one badge, and two completely different buying problems.
The R35 was sold new in Australia until 2021, so buying one is an ordinary used car transaction. The R34 was never sold new here at all, so buying one means importing it, and that import has only just become straightforward for the newest R34s. Comparing them on paper looks simple. Actually choosing between them depends on which problem you would rather deal with.
The R34 you cannot buy yet, and the one you almost can
Every R34 GT-R has to come in through the older vehicles import criterion, sometimes called the 25-year rule, and that rule does not work the way most people assume. It is not a calendar cutoff that flips every January. It rolls forward month by month against the car’s actual build date.
The R34 ran from 1999 to 2002. Cars built in 1999 and 2000 have been eligible for a while now. 2001-build cars are becoming eligible right now, month by month, as this is written. The V-Spec II Nür, the most sought-after of the lot, was built in 2002 and does not clear the threshold until sometime in 2027.
So the state of play as at October 2026 is this: an early-2001 R34 is likely importable today, a late-2001 car is close, and the Nür is still over a year away. We have set out exactly how the eligibility test works, including the modification trap that catches a lot of buyers, in the JDM legends you can legally import right now.
What we will not do is hand you a landed cost. Shipping, compliance, duty, GST and state registration vary enough car to car that a single number would mislead more than it helps. Get quotes from two import agents in writing before you commit to anything.
The R35 is the opposite problem: known price, no import, and one specific mechanical worry
Buying an R35 is straightforward by comparison. It was sold new here until Australian Design Rule 85/00 ended local availability in November 2021, and the final list prices are on the public record: $193,800 for the Premium, $256,700 for the T-Spec, $393,800 for the NISMO SV, all before on-road costs.
The trade-off is different, not smaller. The R35’s GR6 dual-clutch transmission is the thing every conversation about ownership costs eventually turns to, and no Australian workshop publishes a standard rebuild price for one. We have gone through what that means for a buyer, along with the rest of what to inspect, in what one costs in Australia now.
There is also no reliable used price to quote for either car. Australian listings show what sellers are asking, not what buyers are paying, and we do not treat asking prices as market data.
Two different cars to drive, not just two different problems to solve
Set the paperwork aside and they are genuinely different experiences.
The R34 is the analogue one. Twin-turbo inline six, a manual gearbox, hydraulic steering, and a chassis designed before anyone was chasing a Nürburgring lap time. It is smaller and lighter than people expect if their only reference is the R35, and that is a large part of why it is chased so hard.
The R35 is the modern one on purpose. All-wheel drive, launch control, and a dual-clutch gearbox that makes it dramatically easier to drive quickly than the R34 ever was. It gives up some of the R34’s mechanical charm for a car that is genuinely usable every day, wet or dry, by a driver who has not spent years learning where the limit is.
So which one
If you want the car with the reputation, and you are prepared to spend months on ROVER paperwork and import agent quotes for a result that is still uncertain at the edges, the R34 is the one worth chasing, and the window on 2001 cars is open right now.
If you want to be driving something with this badge next month rather than next year, with a known price history and a single, well-documented mechanical risk to budget around, the R35 is the car in front of you today.
Neither is the wrong answer. They are not really the same decision wearing two badges, and the sooner you pick which problem you would rather have, the sooner you stop comparing spec sheets and start looking at actual cars.
Figures in this article match those verified and published in our R35 ownership guide and our JDM import eligibility guide, both checked against primary sources in August 2026.
Where this came from
Every changeable figure above, what it was checked against, and when.
Figures are correct as at the dates shown. We re-check cars on sale every three months and tax thresholds every July. How we check our facts.
Side-by-side specs, Australian pricing and performance figures for every exotic and luxury car we cover.