Considering an NSX as a daily driver

[superpippo]

Hi guys

I'm considering buying an NSX as a daily driver. I already have my week-end toys and cannot afford a third one as I have no more garage room ;-)
But I could buy it and get rid of my current dd.

Do you guys think the car can cope with staying outside and being driven daily ? Will it run reliably ? I'm looking at a 1991 or 1993 car, if that makes a difference. I'm in Switzerland.

Thanks, I'm hopeful to have one soon.

 

[Dynamic-uzed-auto]

It's a honda it can and will handle whatever you throw at it, if you don't need a back seat it's a perfect daily driver.

 

[Aaron94T]

This gets asked 1-2 times a month and most people respond with it is a Honda they will never break. I personally would not want to daily drive a 25 year old car. I am sure if you kept up with the maintenance a Model T would keep running as well but the likelihood of breaking down is greater versus a 5 year old car.

 

[95nsxtc]

This gets asked 1-2 times a month and most people respond with it is a Honda they will never break. I personally would not want to daily drive a 25 year old car. I am sure if you kept up with the maintenance a Model T would keep running as well but the likelihood of breaking down is greater versus a 5 year old car.

To each their own, but I'm half and half on this topic because of exactly what Aaron just said. It is a reliable car for what it is but it is still old. So ill give you my answer that i tell everyone and you seem to fall in my category. It's totally a DD when you have another vehicle. What im saying by this is that, it wont really break unless u break it, and its easy to fix, but sometimes it just takes a lil longer to fix some of the stuff/get items shipped in, so you may b out a car for a few days. I only consider things a tru sole DD if you can fix almost anything in a day and if your tires can b found at any normal store lol

but hey then again, i remember going with a friend to buy a 2011 m5 and it completely self destructed on the way back from the dealer with 12mi on it...

 

[Jerry@Mobile]

The NSX is a very reliable car. I have used mine as a daily driver for 11 years. I own a mobile medical company and currently have three cars in my mini-fleet with over 350K miles. If you stay on top of them by doing routine maintenance, they will last decades. The NSX is a well designed and built car. There is no reason it cannot be driven every day. That said, I still use my wife's MDX to pick up lumber at Home Depot. Jerry

 

[LMR]

Been daily driving mine for 5 years with over 75K miles during that time with a total of 137K, so yes it can be driven daily.

 

[superpippo]

Thanks guys for your reply. Hope to bring one home very soon!! sounds like it's feasible ;-) I can live with the car at the shop for a few days every now and then but not too often. Hopefully the prices for the repairs and maintenace are more honda-like and not like exotic italian cars....have enough of those... ;-)

 

[Larry Bastanza]

Besides reliability, which most have covered, do you have a full winter weather climate where you are in Switzerland? That would be the downside IMO. Not a good snow covered road car.....

Regards,
LarryB

 

[davidf]

These cars all have their share of issues. By now most have been resolved by previous owners. Some may not have. Some things will need addressing as time/mileage goes by so don't be disappointed in the car for something that is "typical"
to happen that may have not been addressed by previous owners.

 

[NSX2398]

Besides reliability, which most have covered, do you have a full winter weather climate where you are in Switzerland? That would be the downside IMO. Not a good snow covered road car.....

Larry has a good point .. but his conclusion is not. If you want to drive in snow/ice, just get yourself some winter tires. I currently have about 25-30k winter miles on mine since '91 .. snow, ice, slush, salt. I've driven in snow deep enough to be levelling it & haven't been stuck yet. Larry has also looked at mine on a hoist and said that it was no worse than most others he sees .. or something to that effect .. although I don't think he'd ever seen a block heater.

Aaron94T mentioned above "I personally would not want to daily drive a 25 year old car". Mine is a '91 so that's as close to 25 years as you get with an NSX and it has been daily driven since 2001 during which time I put about 100k miles on it. It's currently over 190k. And that not only includes the 25-30k winter miles mentioned above, it also includes track time by the previous owner as well as myself. I can also confirm that it will start at -40C without the block heater being plugged in. In spite of all that abuse, I have only had the usual 'non-wear' things fail .. the Bose amps (twice); an a/c condensing fan; main relay; upgraded the a/c compressor; upgraded the ABS; tie-rods (IIRC); a modded ECU. Parts can be expensive by Honda standards and are getting harder to find .. but I've rarely had anything approaching $1000.

 

[goldNSX]

Not a good snow covered road car.....

Homer Simpson's snow plow? Most cars here are driven in dry weather only. So you will face quite a big hit in resale value if you drive it during the winter season.

superpippo, did you buy an NSX recently? There's quite a lot of people putting them for sale now. Don't ask me in what country I reside...

 

[FF Drifter]

superpippo, I daily drive my NSX and that also included very hot and very cold temperatures including snow, ice, etc. Honestly the only downside is that your daily driver will cost a little more to repair versus a cheaper, more boring car. As mentioned, switching between summer and winter tires will go a long way towards making the car driveable in all conditions but you are probably doing that already anyway.

 

[NSX9]

Mine is a '91 so that's as close to 25 years as you can get with an NSX and it has been daily driven since 2001 during which time I put about 100k miles on it. It's currently over 190k. And that not only includes the 25-30k winter miles mentioned above, it also includes track time by the previous owner as well as myself. I can also confirm that it will start at -40C without the block heater being plugged in.

At the last NSXPO Ian was kind enough to give me a lift in his car. I was amazed at how well it went and what great condition it was in. Just the same as most NSXs I have driven or ridden in. A testament to brilliant design and engineering by Honda initially. Daily Driver? Go for it!

Cheers Scott

 

[scbeast]

i had more reliability in my '02 than my '15 impreza. the nsx was built right. subaru is on the "reliable" end of modern cars but i've now had 3 bs "lights" to deal with and only 5K miles.