here goes:
I just went by there this morning and got back a few minutes ago. I was going to Private email you about the findings but I wanted to let everyone see it so they can know about his specific car and also help with coming up with a REAL price for it.:
1992 NSX VIN# JH4NA1151NT000077 Red ext. Black Int.
79,483.5 Miles (before we drove it a couple)
Cosmetic
Wheels: TSW 17" back w/ 245/40/17
TSW 16" front w/ 225/40/16 (stick out way more than stock= wrong offset?)
Trunk was clean and had an after market Alpine 6 disc CD changer that looked a little banged up. Had a strange smell too, like they shampooed the hell out of it for some reason.
All hydraulic lifts (arms for engine cover/trunk) worked fine.
Engine:
Looked clean and stock except for after market Cone type Intake/Filter added
Interior:
All trim; Dash, doors...the finish was rippling a little bit in key areas and the passenger side door trim and vents were cracked and broken in places.
The Clock button cover was broken off and missing
Leather was all in better than average condition for this year/mileage NSX and there was no visible wear through on the side bolsters.
The Drivers seat worked fine in all positions, however the Passenger side seat failed to move front to back on 95% of my tries. Even with the floor mats removed it felt like it came off track or was grinding a gear in the seat motor on one side.
Passenger side sun visor vanity mirror cover was torn off but held in place.
Dash was cracked slightly near the center on a small 1.5 inch plastic piece closest to the windshield.
The rest of the interior "seemed" well maintained and pretty clean.
Exterior Cosmetic:
The Passenger side door had a huge ding. Although it did not have any paint damage as wasn't very DEEP...it was about 4 inches or so long and would bother me.
I noticed and area on the stock exhaust where in the center of the main housing it seemed like it had been dented, then fixed and sanded down. (Don't know what this is all about...I have seen very few STOCK NSX exhausts up close)
From the nose back the car seemed in nice condition from my POV. Nothing seemed misaligned or out of place. From the nose BACK.
The nose was where the most questionable area lies, as most of you can tell from the pictures above. There has definitely been a repaint that much is obvious with slight spider webbing in the paint as it is now. So it may not have been a very good job, although the color seems to match well. The Bumper fits the fenders well and the fenders seemed to be the correct proportions, but the hood was definitely damaged in some way. I do believe it was a minor collision of some sort but enough to where the hood had to be straightened a little and rubbed up against something black and plastic underneath. There was still some evidence of the rub when opened. This looked to me like the original hood but you can tell that it was bent as the under side support structure doesn't quite fit the shape of the hood now in some areas.
The blinkers are definitely NEW and must have been replaced. But due to what...is up in the air.
The chin spoiler is missing all together but I don't know if it had been ripped off or LEFT off.
The Lip is also BENT at the bottom edge of the air intake in the nose. It is slightly visible in the pictures above as well.
Under the front hood, everything looked very clean. The radiator looked NEW, but might not be. The original SPARE tire was in place and none of the fittings looked to be molested or moved. The BOLTS holding on the front bumper were actually LOOSE and could almost be hadn tightened. The washers between parts could be spun freely on the drivers side of the assembly leading one to believe a new bumper has been put on but not very well. I couldn't tell if it was due to parts not lining up correctly or careless work.
The Passenger side head light goes up slower than the driver's side, and also makes a terrible rattle noise and vibrate horribly when going back down. (Also consequences of collision)
Driving
The engine seemed to run pretty strong and the engine pulled smoothly with no strange noises or problems. The Clutch and gearbox engagement was good and also felt very smooth with good pedal play and no signs of abuse.
The front end however, was a bit twitchy and seemed to pull. I don't know if this is due to the tire/wheel set up in front, or air pressures (which LOOKED good) or alignment. I just know, it felt a bit light and twitchy compared to other early year NSXs I've driven. The Turn in seemed normal though and there were no noises that made me think the steering or suspension was out of whack. (?)
VTEC worked ok too... ^_^ However, the sales guy was white knuckling the door handles at 7000 PRM in 2nd...barely going highway traffic speeds. But, there was no problem with the engine's ability to rev up and make power.
And that nearly concludes the inspection I was able to give. I was not able to get tranny number to check for snap ring range...and the sales guy had no idea either. This led to the most interesting bit about the car's history though. In his search for whatever records they had on the car, he brought me a recent repair sheet that listed some things of note.
I don't remember the exact wording but I will put in quotes what I DO recall exactly:
"water damage shorting"...the ECU or something
"Ignition coils" replaced or worked on due to shortage
other various little things listed...but the scariest part was the mechanics comments at the bottom of the page. It went something like this:
"Due to CARELESS actions on this car"...(then some more words I don't remember exactly)..."there could be more problems yet to occur"...something, something...blah blah.
When I asked the guy to make me a copy so I could send it in email...he just said he would send YOU (net viper) a copy himself and quickly policed it up and put it back in the file. It was a yellow repair sheet and once I think he read what I was reading he wasn't too eager to let me have a copy to show you.
I asked about price too and he said 29K. I would think with a CLEAR history on what this car has been through and based on the visual cues this is a 25K$ car at most. The parts I'd be most worried about are the things I have the least info about regarding their recent repairs. Words like "shortage", "water", and "CARELESS Actions" raise big red flags to me.
Oh and BTW, the A/C worked ok but never got super cold. I also noticed that there was something on the repair sheet about the A/C as well.
So there you have it.
Hope this helped. ^_^
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