97 red/black JH4NA2166VT000316

[mungwi]

Hi everyone, newbie here with a question on a prospective car, hope you guys can chime in and offer your thoughts on this one. This is my rookie attempt looking at nsx's, I believe I still have lots to learn. This particular car, according to the current owner, has had a odometer repair done (unknown reason), so while it's currently showing ~45k miles, according to carfax, the car had 101,989 miles before the said odometer "repair", which was said to be at 43k miles. Cosmetically, the car looks ok, at least to my untrained eyes. Panels seem to line up, seems to be original paint (i think. i saw a lot of scratches on the patch underneath the door handle, so i assume that if it was repainted they would've taken care of that?), clean engine bays. Interior looks ok, I wouldn't say "excellent", but ok for a 100+k miles car, with pretty worn out driver seat bolster. Unknown about timing belt, water pump, clutch, if any, replacements.

The owner was asking 36k for the car, and I had high hopes before I looked at the carfax report and found out the high mileage. With the high asking price, can anyone suggest any negotiating tactics to bring it down? I know from reading the forums that the TB/WP replacement is about $2500(?), but how about clutch? And due to the high mileage, there are bound to be numerous other small things that are just waiting to be replaced, right? I'm worried too much about it's resale value as I'm buying for keeps, so as long as the car will operate and not cause me worries, I have no problem spending the $ to get it to that condition.

I'm upgrading from a s2000, which I feel is not mature enough for me, I'm just getting older I guess.

 

[White92]

Did the owner tell you about the odometer or are you getting this info from CarFax? Because carfax sucks and odometer misreads pop up all the time. It's only as accurate as the person entering the info, if they bother to enter it at all.

 

[nsxter]

IMO anything less than 40k for a na2 is cheap, real cheap. so for 36k their could be some major issues. I would recommend you have a PPI done by a local reputable NSX shop (or even a dealer..gasp I said that? ) I would ask for the service records, If they do not have any at all..well buyer be ware.
That being said....
TB and water pump should cost around 1600$ Clutch on the other hand is a major expense, (although lately it seems na1 clutches are more than na2). probably around 2.k to 3.5k including labor.
Check for the VIN stickers on each of the body panels, if they are not there, there is a chance the body panels were replaced.
Other issues for a car with those miles are: clutch master cylinder (check near the floorboard where the clutch rod goes thru for wetness or even gooey carpet around that area) As well as the clutch slave (located under the engine twards the front of the car) Neither of these are major, probably 350 including labor.

 

[mungwi]

Did the owner tell you about the odometer or are you getting this info from CarFax? Because carfax sucks and odometer misreads pop up all the time. It's only as accurate as the person entering the info, if they bother to enter it at all.

ok, this is getting interesting. i saw the car on autotrader and called the number listed, but the guy who answered the phone says that he doesn't have the car any more as the seller bought back the car due to mileage inconsistencies, and directed me to call the guy who has the car.
seller informs me the odometer was replaced several owners ago due to supposed malfunction which gave incorrect readings, and that the previous owner had "gone through lengthy investigations to determine the correct original mileage to be 43,000".

now i know carfax doesn't always keep the most accurate records, but according to carfax, the car's had 4 previous owners. vehicle was originally "Registered as corporate fleet vehicle", which went on for 3 yrs 5 months. first mileage from report is in 97, at 3 miles. then next one is on 05/14/1999, at 30,890 miles (anyone know why there would be a big gap in between?) and then fairly regular records showing increasing readings from source of "Service Facility", with various things serviced, electrical system at 53k, transmission at 63k, suspension at 67k and 71k. up to 09/11/2005, odometer reading shows 101,989 mi, but on 10/21/2007, it shows 45,551 miles. and 2 more worrying entries, which showed it failed emissions on 2 occasions, as recently as 2 months ago.

from the above description, would u say that the mileage is a "misread"? the seller claims to not have seen the carfax report (he bought a car w/o looking at carfax?) and swears the car's had only 4x,xxx miles on it with the engine in perfect condition. welcomes me to take the car down to any mechanic to get it checked out. should i first figure out this mileage inconsistency, if it had been serviced at an acura dealership, they would be able to provide me with some information right?

 

[4AU4LIFE]

If any vehicle is brought into a dealership for service of any kind, the mileage at the beginning of service is always noted. For good reasons.
The person listing it on AT says that the person he bought it from decided to buy it back out of the 'goodness of his heart' because of the odometer deal?? That sounds very odd to me.
Unless you plan on keeping that car forever, I think I would shy away from it because you can only imagine what the next person that might want to buy it from you would think.
Like a previous poster said, CARFAX is only as accurate as the person inputing the info. DON'T trust it entirely. To many folks think that it is 'THE life history of a car when in fact it isn't.

 

[hofffam]

It seems entirely possible the odometer was replaced. Not common, but surely a few NSXs had a bad odometer.

Remember that Autotrader reads public sources of information. Dealer data isn't public information in many states. I don't think safety inspections make it to a public database in Texas for example.

I paid $43K for my 97 with 23K miles in Nov 2006. It had no uncertainties about mileage. It did have three owners before me. It did not have a TB/WP service, which I did last December for about $1600.

I would pay to get an NSX mechanic to assess the car. The mileage discrepancy is a question mark but wouldn't be a show stopper to me if the car is sound. If there is no evidence of a TB/WP you must plan on that since the car is past due both on miles and age.

 

[mungwi]

If any vehicle is brought into a dealership for service of any kind, the mileage at the beginning of service is always noted. For good reasons.
The person listing it on AT says that the person he bought it from decided to buy it back out of the 'goodness of his heart' because of the odometer deal?? That sounds very odd to me.
Unless you plan on keeping that car forever, I think I would shy away from it because you can only imagine what the next person that might want to buy it from you would think.
Like a previous poster said, CARFAX is only as accurate as the person inputing the info. DON'T trust it entirely. To many folks think that it is 'THE life history of a car when in fact it isn't.

Yeah, if I was keeping the car I might not worry too much as long as the car is sound mechanically, but since there's possibility of moving out of the country for work couple years down the line, there's a high chance I might have to sell it when that time comes. this would indeed be headache, as I imagine it is for the guy selling it, or, for the next guy who's gonna buy it (unless the price is right i guess).

 

[sahtt]

Just be aware that you'll be selling this car to a very small part of a very small market unless you are able to sell it very cheap. Any extra money you put in to it will be proportionally less valuable as well.

It's a buyers market and there are a lot of clean NSX's around. I wouldn't trouble yourself for this car.