gheba_nsx said:
When I wrote 1500$/year in services a couple days ago above in this thread I was not joking. Me and my friend did a lot of research when looking for the perfect 355 for him. We read a lot of service records from different owners and that seemed the average...
I'd have to own my NSX for 10 years just to get to $1700 a month in maintanace, as I put $17k into it last year. Mind you, this car is a 1995 with only 25k miles on it, every problem I had is considered normal, and every other change, i.e. all belts and hoses is normal preventative maintanence. I'm not saying the NSX is "unreliable", but it's 10yrs. old. Things need fixing. At least Ferrari dealerships know how to work on their cars. Acura dealerships make most of their money working on rebadged civics.
Sure, there are guys driving '91's with 100k that say they have no problems, but their cars are leaking oil & clutch fluid everywhere and their Acura mechanics haven't told them their cars are screwed up becuase they don't even know it.
Acura dealerships (3 different "Certified" NSX techs) screwed me a couple of times. Example:
-Replaced the AC Control Panel for big $$$ when I could have gotten the capacitors replaced
-Replaced 02 sensor, didn't check out the cause of the problem, had to replace another 02 sensor. The problem was the leaky cam seals, which is understandable since the car is old, but the dealership NEVER even had any idea that was causing my sensors to fail. I had to go to a REAL NSX mechanic to get the problem sorted.
-Replaced the starter motor, it was just a loose wire, that's $1000 down the drain
-Told me that "all oil pan's 'sweat' like that. Bullshit, my mechanic replaced the seal. Could have cost me big $$$ down the road.
Then, I had an idiot back over my front end, and the Aluminum hood was harder to fix than most, so that was another $900.
I love the NSX, but I'm not about to get on the "bargain daily driver" bandwagon with everyone else. Unless your car is perfect, and you've had that verified by a independent shop that consistently has 5 NSX's being modded at a time, don't even talk to me about "Honda reliability". Yes, I drive mine EVERY SINGLE DAY, so it has to be perfect.
Fortunately, I knew that I wasn't buying a car for it's reliability. I was buying it for the handling, that's it. I could have bought a fully warrantied new M3, but they handle like barges, and I could have bought a few year old 911, but they just feel wierd. When I chose a 10yr. old car, I wasn't obtuse enough to believe that it would be reliable, or I would be very angry about all of these costs.
Short on Mods, long on "restoration"
Starter Motor $1000
A/C Motor/Control Panel replacement $3000
Relpaced all belts & hoses ? >$2k
Timing Belt $1500
ABS High pressure hose $400
2 O2 Sensors $1k
Tires $700
Cam Plugs
Reseal oil gally plugs
Vtec Spool Valve Gaskets
Oil Pan Gasket
Clutch Master Cyclinder
Clutch
Valve Adjustment
Valve cover gaskets
Spark plugs
Spark plug seals
New Battery
--------------
$5k
And because the stock NSX brakes SUCK >$1000 installed
+Comptech stainless steel brake lines
+Project Mu two piece slotted front rotors
+Hawk HPS Brake pads all around
Truthfully, the F355 is a great car, but it's not as good as a 360.
Here's my Dad's car.