Prospective buyer starting the research process.

My name is Ryan and I currently own a 2008 Subaru STi. I love the car, but I'm at a point in my life (25, single, no mortgage, financially stable) where I'm not necessarily married to the practicality of the Subaru. I'm starting to consider purchasing an NSX. In the past it's been a bit of an unnatainable dream, but I feel like I'm at a point where I might be able to make it happen.

I would be looking to purchase with a max budget for purchase price of 28-30k. Obviously dealing with much older used cars is a bit of a risk, but that price range would not put me up against a wall financially if I had a major problem with the car after purchase. Also, to be honest, I don't want a garage queen because I'm going to drive the car. The STi is paid for and I would have to sell it before I could start seriously looking. Of course I have a daily driver that I can depend on in the meantime.

I have some advantages in my situation, one being that I'm well equipped to do all maintenance work on any vehicle I own and I always do so. As you may have guessed from my username I used to do a lot of work on older Porsches. I do all of my own work including paint, so that's not a problem for me. I'm not afraid to buy a vehicle that needs a bit of TLC that might scare others off.

Other than the fact that the NSX is just plain cool, I have other reasons for making the move. The Subaru is a fun car, but it lacks a bit of automotive soul. The NSX delivers that. Also, I hate owning such a new car. That might sound silly to some, but I'm at the wrong end of the depreciation curve with this vehicle and that just bothers the hell out of me. The NSX would I assume provide me with an equal or greater level of enjoyment and may actually increase in value over the time of my ownership.


Now, here are my concerns or negatives on the side of the NSX.

First, I'm scared of the insurance costs. I don't want to break the bank more than I already have to. I'm still paying for some tickets and an accident in the past, which means my rates for the 2008 STi with comprehensive coverage are fairly extreme. I am paying around $2100 a year right now for 3 vehicles including the STi. Yes, I know it's high. I'm afraid that it will go even higher to maintain comprehensive coverage on a 20 year old sports car. Obviously that's something I'll have to talk to my agent about, but maybe someone can chime in here with personal experience insuring an NSX with a questionable driving record. I've read the section in the wiki about insurance as well.

Number two, I will miss out on the flexibility of the STi. I love the AWD, I love the practical nature of the car, and I love the feeling that it can "do everything". Not something I can't live without, but again maybe someone who switched from a more practical car can chime in.

Last - Boost! I love driving turbo cars. I think the boost and potential for power might be the thing I would miss the most about the Subaru. That doesn't mean that I don't love what the NSX is all about, and to be honest I've never driven one to get a feel for it. It's not something I can't live without at all, but I would like to hear personal experiences of people who moved from higher powered cars to the NSX. I'm not worried about it and the NSX has a lot to offer as a total package. I'm reaching here to try and think of some cons for selling the STi, best to consider everything I think.


I few more questions I would like to ask: is it worthwhile to purchase an NSX in the 25-30k area? What is the typical cost of a used engine or transmission in a worst case scenario? Even though I have another vehicle, I plan on relying on the NSX as my primary mode of transportation on a daily basis, just like I do the STi. If it's not suitable for that from a reliability standpoint, then it's out of the question. I don't mind doing work on vehicles, but I won't drive a car if I'm constantly worrying about the next thing to break. I know they have a great reputation for reliability, but I'm not sure how much of that reputation comes from people who are putting real miles on the car every day. How many of you DD your NSX?


Thanks to anyone who can offer insight.

You can get a lot of this answered by a search or just reading the forum more. The NSX is extremely reliable as a whole, if it is taken care of. Thee are plenty of daily cars. Hugh is diving a 666 HP turbocharged nsx he has 250,000 miles on. There are other NSXs over 300K miles. The car is as reliable as an accord if taken care of. I encourage you to forget the 25K price point, and move up to 30 as a minimum where you can get a clean NSX, and perhaps even 35. What you spend now, that extra 5K will get you a much cleaner car and in the long run cost you a lot less.

The nsx is light, stop looking at the power figures. You need brute acceleration on on ramps to keep yourself from falling asleep behind the wheel of other more boring sports cars... Not the NSX.

Welcome Ryan, and good first post.

Your location would help in terms of our helping you decide if the NSX would be a viable daily driver ;^D

Brian

Sounds like he has a third car anyway. He wants to daily the nsx which is fine, but I don't think he has to drive it in a blizzard or a naw-eestah like we get in bawstin or noo-yawk.

TURBO2GO said:

You can get a lot of this answered by a search or just reading the forum more. The NSX is extremely reliable as a whole, if it is taken care of. Thee are plenty of daily cars. Hugh is diving a 666 HP turbocharged nsx he has 250,000 miles on. There are other NSXs over 300K miles. The car is as reliable as an accord if taken care of. I encourage you to forget the 25K price point, and move up to 30 as a minimum where you can get a clean NSX, and perhaps even 35. What you spend now, that extra 5K will get you a much cleaner car and in the long run cost you a lot less.

The nsx is light, stop looking at the power figures. You need brute acceleration on on ramps to keep yourself from falling asleep behind the wheel of other more boring sports cars... Not the NSX.

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Yeah, it's always a struggle knowing what questions to ask on a new forum for a new car. I certainly got some ideas from searching, but at some point I have to decide to ask some questions anyway just to start participating in the forums and hopefully hear some good advice while introducing myself

I certainly don't feel that the NSX is lacking in power, but it would be a step down in that regard and of course a step into a different kind of driving experience. I really need to drive one to make the final judgement, but you are telling me exactly what I hoped you would!

As for the money, I understand your point. That being said, I'm usually not afraid of high mileage cars as long as the ownership isn't sketchy and there are good records. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I wouldn't pay an extra 5k for a car with 50k miles over one with 100k assuming that they have good maintenance records and I feel good about the seller.

For another example, I would jump at the chance to buy a mechanically sound car with paint issues at a discount. I like painting cars and I have no problem investing my own time in that way.

sca037 said:

Welcome Ryan, and good first post.

Your location would help in terms of our helping you decide if the NSX would be a viable daily driver ;^D

Brian

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That's true. I'm currently posting from my phone, but I'll fill out my profile tonight. I'm located in north Georgia. I'm in a suburban area with a garage. My primary commute is about 20 miles each way on highways and interstate. I take long trips occasionally.

No snow. Garage. You are fine.

If I were you, I would look for a 1997+ NA2 with the 3.2 and the 6 speed that has some issue going on that I can fix myself to get it into my price range. They are in the 40s but with high miles or a resolvable issue... You never know.

Welcome Ryan. Turbo2go is right. $30 to $35K will get you a fairly low mileage early NSX in excellent condition if you are patient and do your due diligence investigating the car's past. There are a lot of cars that will blow the doors off an NSX on a straight road. But there still few that can corner as well. Plus as you have observed the NSX has soul. And only after you drive one will you really know what that means. Besides, if you still feel the need for more HP, you can fall into the mod trap that so many on this forum have and get from 400 to 900 HP out of that V6 if your wallet can handle it. Good luck in your search, be patient and find the right car.

insurance shouldn't be too bad since u can leverage multi car discounts and the NSX would be on the low miles usage premium.

Also check with Hagerty and AAA. both are suppose to have offered classic car insurance for the NSX.

U can set agreed value.

Only catch is that ur limited to 3k miles a year and can't use the car for commuting.

I have country company, 3 cars and home insurance with them, I think I pay about 50/month for the NSX with 500 deductable.

I talked to my agent about a hypothetical NSX and the rate was basically the same. I'd have to get the information on a specific vehicle for an accurate quote but that's good news.

I can already see my price range trying to creep up here I'd like to maintain discipline with this purchase and even come in under budget if possible.

I wonder if it would be worth considering searching for a car at auction (friend is an auto broker) under the strict stipulation that the car must be accident free. Probably not, but maybe I'll ask him to keep an eye out anyway.

944turbo said:

I can already see my price range trying to creep up here I'd like to maintain discipline with this purchase and even come in under budget if possible.

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One thing about NSX pricing is that because it has reached its depreciation point you can get your money back out of the vehicle fairly easy.

For example, consider the two scenarios:

Purchase for $25k - dump $5k of work in to the car, drive it for a while, sell it for about what you paid for. Net cost of ownership = $5k + insurance, gas, registration.

Purchase the car for $35k that is clean and ready to drive, no work required. Drive it for a while, sell it for about what you paid for. Net cost of ownership = insurance, gas, registration.

In that case, the "cheaper" car cost more than the more expensive car. If you do an auto loan (with rates the way they are, who wouldn't?), you are losing so little in interest that it is a wash anyways. I am not talking about driving it around for a couple of months either, that $35k NSX is going to remain a $35k car for several years and a few tens of thousands of miles. Unless you do something really dumb or rack up a huge amount of mileage, you simply aren't going to be taking much value out of the car.

So be careful about going with the cheapest NSX you can find and be sure to look at the WHOLE cost and not just that sticker price. Sometimes spending a little up front saves you $$$ down the road.

In your price range, you conservatively want to have $5K set aside to deal with delayed maintenance, part replacement, etc
Save up while you are learning and looking... agree with the $30-35K price point

and save up for a turbo kit, cause you're gonna want it

I had planned on leaving aside 2-3k in case of any issues that pop up after purchase. Looks like used transmissions go for about 2k and I don't really have an idea what a complete engine goes for (worst case scenario).

I have a feeling that because of the value of the cars, finding examples with mechanical or paint issues at a discount may be difficult. I feel that most NSX owners would be able to afford those things even if only to sell the car.

EAC said:

and save up for a turbo kit, cause you're gonna want it

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Don't even go there!

How about a great deal on a supercharger kit then LOL

http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/170951-CT-Engineering-Supercharger-kit-91-05-NSX

944turbo said:

I don't really have an idea what a complete engine goes for (worst case scenario).

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Dropping a new engine in a car takes a BIG chunk off the resale value, so be careful on that route. Take this car as an example - outside of the flaws it would be a highly desired car as a late model coupe, we are talking somewhere in the $55,000 and up price range. As it sits though, it has a hard time fetching $35k. That's a BIG price variation and I think it has something to do with the finicky nature of NSX consumers.

I figure for any car in my price range I might end up needing to do the following from what I understand.

Replace coolant hoses - ~$400

Clutch kit - ~$1400 (ouch!)

Timing belt/water pump and all associated. - $???

All vacuum lines - $75

All fuel lines - $???

Crank pulley/dampener - $???

Valve adjustment - $50 for special tools/seals

It looks to me like the only thing that is a real bank breaker would be the clutch. The rest of it doesn't sound bad at all. Anyone have anything to add to that?

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blue_myriddn said:

Dropping a new engine in a car takes a BIG chunk off the resale value, so be careful on that route. Take this car as an example - outside of the flaws it would be a highly desired car as a late model coupe, we are talking somewhere in the $55,000 and up price range. As it sits though, it has a hard time fetching $35k. That's a BIG price variation and I think it has something to do with the finicky nature of NSX consumers.

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There are a lot of other issues with salvage cars though. It's hard to know the quality of the repair and many insurance companies will not offer full coverage on cars with salvage titles. Tha factors into the price.

Timing belt/water pump and all associated. - $1500-2000

I met this guy back in 2000~ that had a 944 S2 with the 944 Turbo.

not sure what else he did to the engine, but at 1 bar of boost he was well over 400rwhp and was raping sooo many cars.

blue_myriddn said:

Timing belt/water pump and all associated. - $1500-2000

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How are you getting that number? I must be missing something. I just priced the total at around $700. 500 for the pump, $40 for belt, and I'm guessing around $150 for the rollers and whatever else might be needed.

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BATMANs said:

I met this guy back in 2000~ that had a 944 S2 with the 944 Turbo.

not sure what else he did to the engine, but at 1 bar of boost he was well over 400rwhp and was raping sooo many cars.

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It's easy to make good power on them. You can buy a good one for around 12k and for another 6-7k be at over 400whp, if you do your own work.

944turbo said:

How are you getting that number?

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Simple, thats the working number for TB/WP when labor is included

Oh, well that makes sense. All of my calculations are simply parts since I do my own work. Thanks for trying to assist though.

I have a few more questions for NSX owners. I like to take a lot of weekend trips with my girlfriend. Usually with the STi, It's a very simple thing. Plenty of space and whatnot. I've done the same thing in the 944 turbo, which might as well be a two seater with it's tiny back seats. However, it still has an area "behind" the seats to stow things like a small bag that is easy to reach. Plus, the hatch design of both allows me to recline fully for taking roadside naps on very long trips, which I like.

For those of you who have done a lot of trips in your NSX, how much of a nuisannce have those things been? Do you miss being able to just toss things into the back? How far back can you recline in an NSX? Do you feel "cramped" when taking long trips with two people in the car?

I've taken long trips and the only issue has been my loud exhaust. And not for me but for my girlfriend who brought her noise canceling headphones and wore them the whole trip. LOL.... There is plenty of room in the footwell for snacks, drinks, small bag, and the trunk is quite usable and not far away. The seats can recline a bit, but I never found it necessary to do so. They are very comfy.