Considering Porsche 996 or NSX. Anyone familiar with both?
- Thread starter jf308
- Start date
Had a 99 carrera and an 01 carrera cab. The nsx is much more forgiving than the carrera. The Porsche's rear mounted engine is the trouble. They can get away with you and there is no chance of recovery when that happens. The NSX on the other hand is much more predictable. I'm on my third NSX and vow to stay with them. Both of my 996s had 296hp and the NSX has 270hp but is lighter. I would go with the NSX any day of the week. I think you will be totally satisfied. My cabriolet felt a lot slower and had some squeeks and rattles upposed to my 91 NSX that had no rattles or squeeks. There are a lot more aftermarket resources for the NSX as well.
Drive both and go from there.
To note, my 99 had 25k miles on it in 2000 when I bought it and my 01 had 4k on it when I bought it in 02. The 01 decided to kill itself and almost killed me. I had a blow out doing the speed limit. The right rear tire blew and threw me into a spin and a truck hit me in the gas tank doing over 70mph. I was at a dead stop when he hit me. My car exploded with me in it. Luckily a friend saw it happen and he unbuckled me and pulled me out of the burning car. I didnt get burned but it did tear my colon. Took a year to get over.
I am probably beating a dead horse with this but 996's really don't hold up nearly as well as NSX's do. I've found 996's have more squeaks, rattles, suspension noise, and show wear quicker than their 993 and 997 counter parts. I would be willing to bet money that any NA2 with the same mileage as a late model 996 will feel and drive tighter.
The 996s are still decreasing. The NSX seems to be increasing with age. They are both exciting, but I do prefer the nsx. The driving experience is totally different though. You get more of a cockpit feeling to the nsx. If you have never driven one, I would suggest it. Dont take anyones word for it. You have to find out what you like and what you think feels good.
Everything else aside, the NSX is not a car you see every day, plus the fact that most non-car people can't tell the difference between a Boxter and a 911 
Based on my scientific research with my co-workers 997 Carrera S:
Porsche = attracts girls
NSX = attracts car guys :redface:
I suggest you drive both to find out which is more fun!
Based on my scientific research with my co-workers 997 Carrera S:
Porsche = attracts girls
NSX = attracts car guys :redface:
I suggest you drive both to find out which is more fun!
A bargain basement 996 will not be maintenance free, expect RMS problems with first year 99's, and a myriad of additional issues and misc gremlins in the first 2-3 years of production. If you want to have the flexibility of deciding which 996 911 to purchase, I would want to go shopping with a budget of $35-40k, and would get a later model.
NSX's are relatively trouble-free, but again, at $25k, you cannot pick and choose the 'best' NSX, you will score an early year, which may or may not be desirable for you. Make sure the clutch and timing belt service are done, and you will have trouble-free motoring, but if you want items like a targa top, 3.2L, 6spd transmission, etc. you need to increase your budget.
Have you considered a Lotus Elise? 1.8L 1ZZ-FE engine from a Corolla, and a first year Elise with a touring pack would fit your budget comfortably.
NSX's are relatively trouble-free, but again, at $25k, you cannot pick and choose the 'best' NSX, you will score an early year, which may or may not be desirable for you. Make sure the clutch and timing belt service are done, and you will have trouble-free motoring, but if you want items like a targa top, 3.2L, 6spd transmission, etc. you need to increase your budget.
Have you considered a Lotus Elise? 1.8L 1ZZ-FE engine from a Corolla, and a first year Elise with a touring pack would fit your budget comfortably.
Under 50k in that price range?
Assuming that you want a clean title and well taken care of NSX - I doubt it.
I would be more concern with how the car was treated as opposed to mileage for a top notch designed and build quality car from Honda/Acura's best car.
Most of what youre going to find in NSXes under 25k is high miles, deferred maintenance, or salvage title. Not saying there arent any out there, but you might be looking for a loooooooooong time.
BTW: Not sure if this is relevant to this thread but here it goes.
I drove my NSX in Fort Collinns CO for a couple of days and there was a substantial difference that could be perceived due to the higher elevation compared to CA. My car was a 3.2 6 speed with about a 100lb weight reduction and with Comptech headers/exhaust, the car felt a bit underpowered. So keep that in mind, when considering the NA1 cars that have the 3.0 and the 5 speed.
Having owned both a 97 NA2 NSX and a 04 996GT3 I would go with the NSX vs a regular early model 996 Carrera.
I drove my NSX in Fort Collinns CO for a couple of days and there was a substantial difference that could be perceived due to the higher elevation compared to CA. My car was a 3.2 6 speed with about a 100lb weight reduction and with Comptech headers/exhaust, the car felt a bit underpowered. So keep that in mind, when considering the NA1 cars that have the 3.0 and the 5 speed.
Having owned both a 97 NA2 NSX and a 04 996GT3 I would go with the NSX vs a regular early model 996 Carrera.
nice discussion from a guy who can type with more than 2 fingers http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120710
If you want the bling factor, unique, or are an attention whore...dont get the Porsche.....I see at least 2-3 Porsches every day. And they are all starting to look alike. I hardly ever see another NSX......My 2cents
I am not sure I could afford to keep a Porsche, but then again i spend way too much money on modding my NSX...
I am not sure I could afford to keep a Porsche, but then again i spend way too much money on modding my NSX...
There's nothing wrong with a 100k mile NSX as long as the maintenance is done. I bought my car with 80k which was more than I was hoping for but I'd do it again because other than the miles it was the perfect car for what I wanted and came with a complete service history. There are cars here rolling around with 250k+ miles on them.
You just gotta find a car at that sweet spot like I did where the drivers seat bolsters were wearing out and the previous owner just recovered the seats. That's the place that the miles really show that you can see.
Of course even with the timing belt and clutch being ok there's a few other things that may need changing in a car that old. Coolant hoses is one of them. That's about a $1000 job to replace all 23 or so rubber hoses. Another thing is the crank pulley, which can come apart due to age and eat your timing belt. That's a lot cheaper than the hoses but has a huge potential for damage if it has never been changed on a 20 year old car.
You might be able to use those things to negotiate some money off the car you find
You can get a low-mile (63k miles, in my case) NSX that needs some maintenance, for under $25k. Then you put ~$2k into it to get the maintenance up to date, and you've got a trouble-free car that still has nice paint, interior, etc.
You forgot to mention that a NA1 91-94 model can easily be woken up with short gears, flywheel, and an sc or turbo. Most of the fastest NSX's out there are the OBD1 NA1 models. I was going to buy a 2004 NSX because I thought that was the best route to go.....but after talking to Jon Martin he set me straight on which car to get since he knew I was going to mod it.
I would take an NSX over any P car unless it was a GT3, GT2, Carrera GT and maybe a Turbo model.
Even some of the guys who sold their NSX's and bought a Ferrari have always mentioned how they missed the NSX....theres a lot of Ferrari/NSX owners on here by the way.....a lot of them are closet Ferrari owners or they do not post on Prime.
I can tell you that there are 355/NSX owners on here, 360/NSX owners, 430 and 430 Scuderia/F40 NSX owners out there too.
Back in 2000,
'91 NSX with 50k miles: around $30-35k vs.
'99 996 with 15k miles: around $55-60k
Fast forward 10 years,
'91 NSX with 50k miles: around $30k +/-
'99 996 with 15k miles: $25k
Wow..
'91 NSX with 50k miles: around $30-35k vs.
'99 996 with 15k miles: around $55-60k
Fast forward 10 years,
'91 NSX with 50k miles: around $30k +/-
'99 996 with 15k miles: $25k
Wow..
FWIW: There is a fellow nsxprimer that goes by latzke (IIRC) who also lives in Fort Collins, CO. IIRC he has a SCed NA1, so that might be an option to consider. Love the NA engine on the NSX, but for higher elevation FI is probably the way to go. BTW: Doubt that the shorter gears or the lighter flywheel will help for CO.
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Great posts...:biggrin:
If you want the "chance" that you will have some serious problems with your car - then buy the early 996. Hey you might get lucky - with a high miler - that has proven not to need the RMS - which is rare in any early 996 but the real serious issue is the Intermediate Shaft bearing failure that happened to only 5 to 10% of the cars and this requires a 17k engine replacement. With another engine that has the potential to do the same thing. There is a boat load of stuff written about it - which it seems you haven't taken the time to study or we wouldn't be having this discussion.
If you are comparing 25k cars price wise you'd be making a mistake not going to the NSX but ......BUT.....you need to factor in expenses as others have said for maintenance. Not things that will go "boom" just deffered maintenance which is the reason, well one of the main reasons, that an NSX with 75k miles on it will sell for 25k. Do not buy a 25k car thinking the purchase price is it......nnnnnnnoooonnnnoooonnnno- unless you have a prime owner that has taken extremely good care of the car and has it up to date or fairly up to date on maintenance - like all the big ticket items taken care of in the past few years. Then you'll be ok at 25k and should only have about 2 or 3k at the most in maintenance. Those are like SUPER RARE ok - just like the 996s - you see nobody sells their really nice cars cheap - when cars get higher miles - naturally things are wearing out. No way I'd go Porsche on a budget - that sounds like a sure fire way to get in a potentially bad spiral down a spending hole! An expensive spending hole!
I wouldn't buy an NSX on a tight budget either unless I bought a high miler for 20k and figured I was going to invest 7k in it. So there you go - if you can find something that fits this description that you'll be happy with - good luck!
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Focus on value not price; it has nothing to do with who many kids you have in college. A 25k NSX that will cost you 5k in maint. over the next 5 years and sell for 18k is not "cheaper" than a 29k NSX that will cost you 2k in maint. over the next 5 years and sell for 25k.
